{
 "id": "flexible-image-transport-system",
 "name": "Flexible Image Transport System",
 "category": "image",
 "identifiers": {
  "extensions": [
   "fits",
   "fts",
   "fit"
  ],
  "mime": [
   "image/fits",
   "application/fits"
  ],
  "puid": [
   "x-fmt/383"
  ],
  "wikidata": [
   "Q1428303"
  ],
  "loc_fdd": [
   "fdd000317"
  ],
  "magic": [
   {
    "offset": 0,
    "hex": "53494d504c4520203d202020202020202020202020202020202020202054",
    "notes": "FITS"
   }
  ],
  "signatures": [
   {
    "name": "FITS",
    "sequences": [
     {
      "position": "bof",
      "offset": 0,
      "pattern": "53494d504c4520203d202020202020202020202020202020202020202054{50}42495450495820203d{19}(2038|2b38|3038|3136|3332|3634){50}4e415849532020203d"
     }
    ]
   }
  ]
 },
 "status": "writable",
 "summary": "Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) is an open standard defining a digital file format useful for storage, transmission and processing of data: formatted as multi-dimensional arrays (for example a 2D image), or tables. FITS is the most commonly used digital file format in astronomy. The FITS standard was designed specifically for astronomical data, and includes provisions such as describing photometric and spatial calibration information, together with image origin metadata. The FITS format was first standardized in 1981; it has evolved gradually since then, and the most recent version (4.0) was standardized in 2016. FITS was designed with an eye towards long-term archival storage, and the maxim once FITS, always FITS represents the requirement that developments to the format must be backward compatible.",
 "tools": [
  {
   "name": "ImageMagick",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org",
   "license": "ImageMagick License",
   "open_source": true,
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Affinity Photo",
   "url": "https://affinity.serif.com/de/photo/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Aladin Sky Atlas",
   "url": "https://aladin.cds.unistra.fr/aladin.gml",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 3.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Converseen",
   "url": "https://converseen.fasterland.net/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 3.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "DevIL",
   "url": "http://openil.sourceforge.net/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "GIMP",
   "url": "https://gimp.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 3.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "GIMP 2.0.2",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q64739349",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Graphic Workshop",
   "url": "http://www.mindworkshop.com/gwspro.html",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "imageio",
   "url": "http://imageio.github.io/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "2-clause BSD License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "IrfanView",
   "url": "https://www.irfanview.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "freeware"
  },
  {
   "name": "Konvertor",
   "url": "http://www.logipole.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "kst",
   "url": "https://kst-plot.kde.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "KStars",
   "url": "https://kstars.kde.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 2.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "LabPlot",
   "url": "https://labplot.kde.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 2.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Mathematica",
   "url": "https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "Montage Image Mosaic Software",
   "url": "http://hachi.ipac.caltech.edu:8080/montage",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "3-clause BSD License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "OpenImageIO",
   "url": "http://www.openimageio.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "BSD licenses",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "PhotoRec",
   "url": "http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Q650922",
   "url": "https://www.xnview.com/",
   "reads": false,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "freeware / proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "SAOImage DS9",
   "url": "http://ds9.si.edu/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "BSD licenses / GNU General Public License / GNU Lesser General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Siril",
   "url": "https://siril.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "VisAD",
   "url": "http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  }
 ],
 "projects": [
  {
   "name": "File Formats Wiki",
   "url": "http://fileformats.archiveteam.org/wiki/Flexible_Image_Transport_System",
   "kind": "wiki"
  },
  {
   "name": "PRONOM x-fmt/383",
   "url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/x-fmt/383",
   "kind": "format-doc"
  },
  {
   "name": "Wikidata Q1428303",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1428303",
   "kind": "wiki"
  }
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "sources": [
   "converters",
   "ffw",
   "pronom",
   "wikidata"
  ]
 },
 "updated": "2026-10-24",
 "aliases": [
  "FITS"
 ],
 "conversions": [
  {
   "to": "portable-network-graphics",
   "tool": "ImageMagick",
   "command": "convert in.fits out.png",
   "fidelity": "lossless",
   "losses": "Pixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped.",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "tagged-image-file-format",
   "tool": "ImageMagick",
   "command": "convert in.fits out.tif",
   "fidelity": "lossless",
   "losses": "Pixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped.",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "jpeg-file-interchange-format-1-02",
   "tool": "ImageMagick",
   "command": "convert in.fits out.jpg",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Lossy compression.",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "webp",
   "tool": "ImageMagick",
   "command": "convert in.fits out.webp",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Lossy compression.",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "gif",
   "tool": "ImageMagick",
   "command": "convert in.fits out.gif",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Reduced to 256 colours.",
   "url": "https://imagemagick.org"
  }
 ],
 "structure": [],
 "parsers": [],
 "samples": [],
 "claims": [],
 "verification": []
}