--- title: GIMP Is Finally Replacing Its 30-Year-Old XCF Project Format description: GIMP 3.3.2 introduces a new zipped XML-based project file format intended to eventually replace the 30-year-old binary XCF format. The change addresses slow... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/gimp-is-finally-replacing-its-30-year-old-xcf-project-format-cy8pvubf7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: GIMP Is Finally Replacing Its 30-Year-Old XCF Project Format | daily.dev og:description: GIMP 3.3.2 introduces a new zipped XML-based project file format intended to eventually replace the 30-year-old binary XCF format. The change addresses slow... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/gimp-is-finally-replacing-its-30-year-old-xcf-project-format-cy8pvubf7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Cy8pVUbF7.png og:image:alt: GIMP Is Finally Replacing Its 30-Year-Old XCF Project Format og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # GIMP Is Finally Replacing Its 30-Year-Old XCF Project Format **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 4 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary GIMP 3.3.2 introduces a new zipped XML-based project file format intended to eventually replace the 30-year-old binary XCF format. The change addresses slow saves, difficult autosave implementation, and scaling issues with large multi-layer projects. XCF remains supported for now and old files still open, but upcoming features like GIMP 3.6's animation support are being built around the new format. The release also adds Spectral Blending for brushes, non-destructive filters on layer masks, improved PSD import/export, and native file chooser dialogs. ## Content GIMP is building a new default project file format, the first real change to how it saves files since XCF showed up in 1997. That's almost three decades of the same binary format, and it's starting to show its age. ## Why XCF needs to go XCF was designed in an era before GIMP had animation support, multi-page documents, or the kind of massive layered projects people throw at it now. The format struggles with large, complex files, and because it's binary, saving is slower than it needs to be. There's also no real path to autosave with the current setup, which is the kind of feature you don't miss until you lose an hour of work. ## What's replacing it The new format uses a zipped XML structure, the same basic approach office suites like LibreOffice and Microsoft Office have used for years. It's a sensible move: zipped XML makes incremental saves faster and makes autosave much easier to implement, since you're not rewriting a giant binary blob every time. The file extension and other technical details are still being worked out, so don't expect a final spec yet. But the direction is set, and animation features planned for GIMP 3.6 are expected to benefit directly from the new format's structure. ## XCF isn't going anywhere This isn't a rip-and-replace situation. GIMP will keep opening XCF files indefinitely, and that includes properly ancient files (developers have tested this against Google's original 1998 logo file, which still opens fine). If you've got old project files sitting around, they'll keep working. That said, new features tied to the new format will require actually using it going forward, so XCF will gradually shift from ## Questions this post answers ### What file format is GIMP replacing XCF with? GIMP is building a new default project format based on zipped XML, the same general approach used by office suites like LibreOffice and Microsoft Office. This structure makes incremental saves faster and autosave easier to implement, since the entire binary blob no longer needs to be rewritten on every save. The exact file extension and technical details are still being finalized. _daily.dev surfaces format changes like this for developers tracking GIMP's evolving file ecosystem._ ### Will GIMP still be able to open old XCF files after the new format ships? Yes, GIMP will keep opening XCF files indefinitely, including very old ones. Developers have tested this against Google's original 1998 logo file, which still opens correctly. New features tied to the upcoming format will require switching to it, but existing XCF project files will continue to work. _Anyone maintaining legacy design assets can follow GIMP's backward compatibility commitments on daily.dev._ ### Why is GIMP moving away from the XCF format after nearly 30 years? XCF was designed before GIMP supported animation, multi-page documents, or today's massive layered projects, and its binary structure makes saving slow and autosave impractical. The move to a zipped XML format addresses these limitations, and animation features planned for GIMP 3.6 are expected to benefit directly from the new structure. _daily.dev helps developers stay ahead of format migrations affecting tools like GIMP._ --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#image-editing](https://daily.dev/tags/image-editing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/gimp-is-finally-replacing-its-30-year-old-xcf-project-format-cy8pvubf7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"GIMP Is Finally Replacing Its 30-Year-Old XCF Project Format","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/gimp-is-finally-replacing-its-30-year-old-xcf-project-format-cy8pvubf7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/gimp-is-finally-replacing-its-30-year-old-xcf-project-format-cy8pvubf7"},"datePublished":"2026-08-18T07:14:11.704Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:02:08.441Z","description":"GIMP 3.3.2 introduces a new zipped XML-based project file format intended to eventually replace the 30-year-old binary XCF format. 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