Virtual slide formats understood by OpenSlide

OpenSlide’s support for these formats is not endorsed by their respective vendors and may be incomplete. Problems should be reported to the OpenSlide mailing list or issue tracker.

Aperio

Single-file pyramidal tiled TIFF, with non-standard metadata and compression.

File extensions: .svs, .tif
OpenSlide vendor backend: aperio
More info: Aperio format

DICOM

International standard multi-file medical imaging format.

File extensions: .dcm
OpenSlide vendor backend: dicom
More info: DICOM format

Hamamatsu

Multi-file JPEG/NGR with proprietary metadata and index file formats, and single-file TIFF-like format with proprietary metadata.

File extensions: .vms, .vmu, .ndpi
OpenSlide vendor backend: hamamatsu
More info: Hamamatsu format

Leica

Single-file pyramidal tiled BigTIFF with non-standard metadata.

File extensions: .scn
OpenSlide vendor backend: leica
More info: Leica format

MIRAX

Multi-file with very complicated proprietary metadata and indexes.

File extensions: .mrxs
OpenSlide vendor backend: mirax
More info: MIRAX format

Philips

Single-file pyramidal tiled TIFF or BigTIFF with non-standard metadata.

File extensions: .tiff
OpenSlide vendor backend: philips
More info: Philips format

Sakura

SQLite database containing pyramid tiles and metadata.

File extensions: .svslide
OpenSlide vendor backend: sakura
More info: Sakura format

Trestle

Single-file pyramidal tiled TIFF, with non-standard metadata and overlaps. Additional files contain more metadata and detailed overlap info.

File extensions: .tif
OpenSlide vendor backend: trestle
More info: Trestle format

Ventana

Single-file pyramidal tiled BigTIFF, with non-standard metadata and overlaps.

File extensions: .bif, .tif
OpenSlide vendor backend: ventana
More info: Ventana format

Zeiss

Single-file binary format with overlaps, often using JPEG XR compression.

File extensions: .czi
OpenSlide vendor backend: zeiss
More info: Zeiss format

Generic tiled TIFF

Single-file pyramidal tiled TIFF.

File extensions: .tif
OpenSlide vendor backend: generic-tiff
More info: Generic tiled TIFF format