Windows Bitmap 2.0

Readable

image · also known as BMP (2.0)

This is an outline record only, and requires further details, research or authentication to provide information that will enable users to further understand the format and to assess digital preservation risks associated with it if appropriate. If you are able to help by supplying any additional information concerning this entry, please return to the main PRONOM page and select ‘Add an Entry’. Windows bitmap 2.0 and OS/2 bitmap 1.0 are effectively the same format - the only difference is the data type of the width and height fields of the bitmap header – for Windows 2.0 bitmaps they are signed short integers, for OS/2 1.0 bitmaps they are unsigned shorts. For positive numbers the representation is the same. Consequently, the file formats cannot be distinguished with a file signature test. The PUID for OS/2 Bitmap 1.0 (x-fmt/25) has therefore been deprecated.

Identify it

Extensions	`.bmp.dib`
MIME types	`image/bmp`
Signatures	`424d` at byte 0 (Windows Bitmap 2.0)
PRONOM	`fmt/115`
Wikidata	`Q27596184`
Apple UTI	`com.microsoft.bmp`

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Open it

3DSlicerOpen sourcereads and writes · BSD licenses
AvogadroOpen sourcewrites · 3-clause BSD License
Bad PeggyOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
bmp-jsOpen sourcereads and writes · MIT License
Classic ColorsOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
DendroscopeOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
DevILOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1
digiKamOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
GD Graphics LibraryOpen sourcewrites · BSD licenses
GDALOpen sourcereads and writes · MIT License
GIMPOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
ImageMagickOpen sourcereads and writes · ImageMagick License
InVesaliusOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 / GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3.0 or later
KmPlotOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
LibreOffice DrawOpen sourcereads and writes · Mozilla Public License, version 2.0
PhpThumbOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License
Q141647655Open sourcereads and writes · Apache Software License 2.0 / MIT License
Q6861478Open sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
ShotwellOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later
SimThyrOpen sourcewrites · BSD licenses
SVG-editOpen sourcewrites · MIT License
Visualization LibraryOpen sourcereads and writes · BSD licenses
Visualization ToolkitOpen sourcereads and writes · 3-clause BSD License
ConverseenOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
AbydosOpen sourcereads · GNU Lesser General Public License
AndroidOpen sourcereads · Apache Software License 2.0 / GNU General Public License, version 2.0
Apache TikaOpen sourcereads · Apache Software License 2.0
ArchivistaOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
AudiverisOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
Bio-Formats LibraryOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
CinePaintOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
DearkOpen sourcereads · MIT License
ExifToolOpen sourcereads · Artistic License / GNU General Public License, version 1.0 or later
Ginkgo CADxOpen sourcereads · GNU Lesser General Public License
GodotOpen sourcereads · MIT License
GQViewOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
imageioOpen sourcereads · 2-clause BSD License
Insight Segmentation and Registration ToolkitOpen sourcereads · Apache Software License 2.0
KolourPaintOpen sourcereads · BSD licenses
KPaintOpen sourcereads · BSD licenses

And 254 more in the JSON record.

Convert it

To	With	Fidelity	Command and losses
Portable Network Graphics	ImageMagick	Lossless	`convert in.bmp out.png` Pixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped.
Tagged Image File Format	ImageMagick	Lossless	`convert in.bmp out.tif` Pixels kept; some metadata, colour profiles or layers may be dropped.
GIF 89a	ImageMagick	Lossy	`convert in.bmp out.gif` Reduced to 256 colours.
JPEG File Interchange Format 1.02	ImageMagick	Lossy	`convert in.bmp out.jpg` Lossy compression.
WebP	ImageMagick	Lossy	`convert in.bmp out.webp` Lossy compression.

Documentation

kaitai grammar: https://github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct_formats/blob/master/image/bmp.ksy

Sources

From Kaitai Struct format gallery, PRONOM, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-24.

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