Supported image formats (rendering)

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Supported image formats (rendering)

Maya can save rendered image files in several image file formats. The following table lists these formats alphabetically.

For more information on mental ray specific image formats, see mental ray for Maya renderer

File Format	Class	Maya Software	Maya Hardware	Maya Vector	mental ray
Adobe^® Illustrator^® (.ai)	Vector	--	--		--
Alias PIX (.als)	Movie
AVI (.avi)	Movie
Cineon (.cin)	--			--
DDS (.dds)	--			--
Encapsulated Postscript (.eps)	Vector	--	--		--
EPS (.eps)	--			--
GIF (.gif)	--			--
JPEG (.jpg)	--			--
MacPaint (.pntg)	Mac	--	--	--	--
Adobe ^®SWF (.swf)	Vector	--	--		--
Maya IFF (.iff)	--			--
Maya16 IFF (.iff)	16-bit				--
PNG (.png)	PSD Layered
PNG (.png)	--			--
PSD (.psd)	--			--
PSD Layered (.psd)	PSD Layered
Quantel (.yuv)	Quantel				--
QuickDraw (.pict)	Mac	--	--	--	--
Apple^® Quicktime^® Image (.qtif)	Mac	--	--	--	--
Apple^® Quicktime Movie (.qt)	Mac	--	--	--	--
RLA (.rla)	--			--
SGI^® (.sgi)	--			--
SGI16 (.sgi)	16-bit				--
SoftImage^® (.pic)	--			--
SVG (.svg)	Vector	--	--		--
Swift3DImporter (.swft)	Vector	--	--		--
Targa (.tga)	--			--
Tiff (.tif)	--			--
Tiff16 (.tif)	--			--
Windows^® Bitmap (.bmp)	--			--

Image formats are divided into seven classes: Vector, Movie, Sixteen Bit, PSD Layered, Quantel, and Mac. A description of each class is listed below:

Vector

An image format comprised of segments of vector data. Vector graphics are resolution independent: they appear smooth and crisp regardless of the magnification level.

True Vector: True vector art outlines every line in the figure and contains points.

Movie: An image format used to store video and audio information. This information can be played back as a sequence of images from within the movie file.
Sixteen Bit: A bitmap image format. Bitmaps store a single raster image in any color depth. For a 16-bit image, thirty-two thousand different colors can be represented. Unlike vector images, bitmap images are resolution dependent: image degradation occurs when images are magnified at a high level.
PSD Layered: Photoshop Drawing Layered image format. Layers are independent images that can be manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. PSD layered images can be multi-layered. In multi-layered images, each layer is a part of the final image. You can work on each layer independently without interference from any graphical elements that are on other layers.
Quantel: An image format made by Quantel. This 16-bit uncompressed image format contains video and RGB channels. Quantel image formats are typically used for broadcast.
Mac: An image format unique to Macintosh applications. These formats are only supported on Macintosh machines.