What is a .CGM file?
CGM is a Computer Graphics Metafile - a vector graphics format standardised in the 1980s and still used for technical illustration in aviation and engineering.
- Did you know
- CGM is so entrenched in aerospace documentation that it remains a required illustration format in standards like S1000D decades after its debut.
- CGM was first standardised as ISO 8632 in 1987, making it one of the earliest vendor-neutral vector-graphics standards.
- A CGM can be stored as plain text, binary or a character-encoded form, all describing the same picture, with binary chosen for compactness.
- What Analyser reads
- Decode and preview extra still-image formats in pure JavaScript - Truevision TGA, QOI, Netpbm (PPM/PGM/PBM), PCX, farbfeld, WBMP, XBM/XPM, Sun Raster and SGI are fully rendered - and read header metadata from codec-heavy formats: Radiance HDR, DirectDraw Surface (DDS) game textures, OpenEXR, JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, EPS/PostScript, Windows WMF/EMF metafiles, Apple ICNS icons, CUR/ANI cursors, MNG and Lottie animations.
- Depth of analysis
- .CGM is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .CGM file
- Drag a .CGM file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.