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What are image formats that can store multiple image in a single file?

(I don't mean image formats such as GIF or APNG, which can store multiple images as animation frames. I mean file formats that support multiple images per file natively.)

I know TIFF and HEIF can do it. (HEIF is lossy, unfortunately.) Are there other ones, preferably lossless and, importantly, not too obscure to use for a general-purpose user?

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  • Hi. What are you going to use it for? PDF, EPS, and SVG can contain multiple embedded raster images and vectors.
    – Billy Kerr
    Aug 15 at 7:33
  • Hi, Bill. Well, are you sure you really need to know this? I have a writing-related OCD and to workaround this, I invented a workflow that works quite good to me. The cornerstone is to use multipage TIFFs and my own script font and to add text there that should be immediately rasterized, so that I won't be able to obsessively edit it later. TIFFs are great, but I'm not really happy they are so huge: this shortens SSD lifespan, if I understand correctly. So I wonder for a more suitable alternative.
    – jsx97
    Aug 15 at 10:19
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    Sure, knowing why you want it always helps to find a solution! Here's an idea. Use a vector image editor such as Inkscape, which is free. When you have finished writing a page or section you don't want to edit again, select the text box and turn the text into vector outlines using Path > Object to path. This will remove the text editability. When you have finished the entire document export as a PDF.
    – Billy Kerr
    Aug 15 at 11:11
  • Honest suggestion: How about using a typewriter or simply writing with a ball point on paper?
    – Wolff
    Aug 15 at 15:11
  • Using pen and paper, and then making a photo is what l sometimes do. Typewriter is an option I have considered earlier, but it is not flexible enough.
    – jsx97
    Aug 15 at 18:27

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  1. Vector files.

Illustrator, Corel Draw, Affinity Designer, Inkscape, will accept multiple raster images. Some can handle multiple artboards, some multipage.

  1. Native format.

Psd for Photoshop, Xcf for Gimp, Cpt for PhotoPaint, Kra for Krita and so on. They can store them as layers.

A note. They are not "image format". They are native working files.

Probably the only image format is TIF multipage.

  1. PDF.
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