GIMP drops 28-year-old XCF format: new project file format arrives in 3.3.2

The GIMP development team has announced a major change to the application's default project file format, marking the first such shift in nearly three decades. Version 3.3.2 will replace the binary XCF format, introduced in 1997, with a zipped XML-based format.

According to the GIMP team, the decision stems from the growing limitations of XCF, particularly when handling large and complex projects. The old format struggles to support features planned for GIMP 3.6, such as multi-page documents and animation capabilities. The new format is designed to enable faster saving and, more importantly, will make it easier for developers to implement autosave functionality.

The team emphasized that XCF support will not be dropped — users will still be able to open legacy project files after the update. However, to take advantage of future features, including those in GIMP 3.6, users will need to adopt the new format.

The transition to a zipped XML structure is expected to bring performance improvements and greater flexibility, allowing GIMP to handle more complex workflows without the technical debt accumulated over 28 years of XCF usage.

GIMP 3.3.2 is expected to be released in the near future, with GIMP 3.6 — featuring multi-page and animation support — planned for a later release. The change represents a significant step forward for the open-source image editor, which has recently gained momentum with features like non-destructive link layers introduced in March.