.AVIF File Extension
AVIF Image
| Developer | Alliance for Open Media |
| Popularity |
2.9 | 73 Votes |
| Category | Raster Image Files |
| Format | Binary |
What is an AVIF file?
An AVIF file is an image saved in the AV1 Image File Format developed by the Alliance for Open Media. It contains compressed image data, similar to a .JPEG or .PNG file. The AV1 Image format was designed as an alternative to the JPEG, PNG, and .WEBP formats.
In 2015, several high-profile tech companies, including Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix, formed the Alliance for Open Media. This non-profit workgroup began developing several open-source media technologies and standards, including the AV1 video codec.
Eventually, the workgroup realized that the AV1 codec could be applied to images saved in the .HEIF file format. This allowed the workgroup to create the AV1 Image File Format, which can be used to save high-quality, compressed images within files that are the same size as lower-quality JPEGs. Notably, AVIF files contain less blocking, blurriness, and other visual distortions than similarly-sized JPEGs.
AVIF supports HDR and monochrome images and color depths of 8, 10, and 12 bits. The format also supports both lossless and lossy compression.
As of late 2020, many companies have begun using or adding support for AVIF files. Notably, Netflix has begun using AVIF files internally, and Google has added AVIF support to Android 12 and the Chrome web browser. Microsoft has also provided users with a codec that can be used to view AVIF images in programs like Microsoft Paint.
How to open an AVIF file
You can open AVIF files in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or qView (multiplatform). Windows users can also open AVIF files in Microsoft Paint or Microsoft Photos, after installing the AV1 Video Extension.
Advanced users can use the open-source libavif library (multiplatform) to encode and decode AVIF images.
How to convert an AVIF file
With the AV1 Video Extension installed, Windows users can use Microsoft Paint to convert AVIF images to the following formats:
- .BMP - Bitmap Image
- .JPG - JPEG Image
- .GIF - Graphical Interchange Format
- .TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
- .PNG - Portable Network Graphic
- .HEIC - High Efficiency Image Format
You can also use the online MConverter tool to convert AVIF images to other image formats.