How to view a .SID file online
No app, no account, no upload.
Open your .SID
Drag a .SID file onto the viewer, paste one with Ctrl+V, or choose it from your device.
View and inspect
Zoom in close, pan around, rotate or flip it, and read the exact color of any pixel.
Save a copy
Download it as PNG, JPG or WEBP with your rotation applied, at the quality you choose.
What is a .SID file?
Everything worth knowing about MrSID (Multiresolution Seamless Image Database) image.
A SID file is a MrSID geospatial image, aerial or satellite photography compressed with wavelet encoding and used in GIS software. The best free way to open one is QGIS (Windows, macOS, Linux) or the GDAL command-line tool. To share it with people who lack GIS tools, convert to GeoTIFF in QGIS or run gdal_translate.
Programs that open .SID files
- Windows
- ERDAS IMAGINE, ArcGIS Earth, ArcGIS Pro / ArcGIS Desktop, GDAL (gdal_translate), IrfanView (+ plugins), QGIS
- macOS
- GDAL (Homebrew), QGIS
- Linux
- GDAL, QGIS
| Full name | MrSID (Multiresolution Seamless Image Database) image |
|---|---|
| Developer | LizardTech (technology from Los Alamos National Laboratory); now Extensis / Celartem |
| First released | Mid-1990s (Los Alamos National Laboratory; commercialized by LizardTech ~1998) |
| Category | Images |
| MIME type | image/x-mrsid |
| Signature | 6D 73 69 64 ("msid" - MrSID file tag) |
Related tools
More free tools for working with images.
Frequently asked questions
Is my .SID file uploaded to a server?
No. The viewer decodes your .SID file with your browser's own image engine. Closing the tab removes it completely.
How do I open PSD, TIFF, RAW or HEIC files?
HEIC and HEIF (iPhone photos) open right here — we decode them with libheif. PSD, TIFF, JPEG 2000, camera RAW, HDR and texture files have their own viewers, linked above; the Image Viewer sends you to the right one automatically.
What does the Photo details panel show?
The EXIF data your camera or phone saved in the photo: camera and lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, the date it was taken and, if location was on, where. Files you save from this viewer don't include this data, which is handy when you share photos.
Is there a file size limit?
There's no fixed limit; it depends on available memory. Very large images (over 40 megapixels) are previewed at reduced resolution so the viewer stays fast, but the reported dimensions are always the original ones.
How does the color picker work?
Point at any pixel to see its HEX and RGB value with a magnified view of the surrounding pixels. Click to copy the HEX code and save it to your palette.
Should I save as PNG, JPG or WEBP?
PNG keeps every pixel and transparency, which is best for screenshots and graphics. JPG makes photos small. WEBP is usually the smallest of all and works in every modern browser.
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