File Formats

A number of distinctions for different file types used by Surfer are compiled in the tables below. The tables are organized first by the type of content and then alphabetically by the abbreviation for the file format. The tables provide links to detailed information about the file formats. Some file types have more than one content type and this is noted in the tables. Beneath the table are remarks about the file formats that have drawing properties or text blocks.

Content Types

Files can contain raster (image) information, vector (lines) information, or both. There is no raster to vector conversion in Surfer. If you have an image on the screen and try to export it as a vector format, such as a DXF, the resulting file will be blank. If you have an image on the screen and have drawn polylines or polygons and export as a vector format, only the drawing objects are included in the file. In addition to the raster and vector content types, Surfer supports data, grid, and other file formats.

Coordinate Types

Different types of coordinate systems control how the coordinates are shown on the map. In the tables below, the coordinate systems for the file types are noted as one of these three:

Real world coordinates are those such as latitude/longitude, UTM, etc.,
Pixel coordinates,
Other coordinates such as page coordinates, metafile coordinates, etc.

Surfer automatically converts real world coordinate systems to the map's target coordinate system, so maps with different coordinate systems can be easily combined in Surfer.

Raster (image) Files

To export most raster files, use the File | Export command in the plot window.

File Format	File Name	More Than One Content Type	Coordinate Type	Import	Export
AN?	ACR-NEMA Medical Image		Pixel	X
ASI	Amira Stacked Images	Raster and Vector		X
BMP	Windows Bitmap		Pixel	X	X
CLP	Windows Clipboard	Raster and Vector	Other	Paste	Copy
DCM	DICOM 3 Medical Image		Pixel	X
DIC	DICOM3 Medical Image	Raster and Vector	Pixel	X
ECW	ER Mapper		Real world	X
EMF	Windows Enhanced Metafile	Raster and Vector	Other	X	X
EPS	Encapsulated Postscript		Pixel		X
GIF	Image		Pixel	X	X
GSI	Golden Software Interchange	Raster and Vector	Real world	X	X
IMG	Analyze 7.5 Medical Image			X	X
IMG	ERDAS Imagine Image	Raster and/or Grid	Pixel, Real world	X
IMG	Idrisi Raster Image			X
INFO	Leica Confocal Raw Slices			X
JP2	JPEG2000 Image		Real world	X	X
JPG	JPEG Compressed Bitmap		Pixel, Real world	X	X
PBM	Image		Pixel	X
PDF	Portable Document File (Raster)		Pixel	X	Save as PDF
PGM	Image		Pixel	X
PNG	Portable Network Graphics		Pixel	X	X
PNM	Image		Pixel	X	X
PPM	Image		Pixel	X
RAS	Sun Raster Image	Raster and Vector	Pixel	X	X
RGB	SGI-RGB Image		Pixel	X	X
RGBA	SGI-RGB Image		Pixel	X	X
RST	Idrisi Raster Image		Pixel	X
SID	LizardTech MrSID Image		Pixel, Real world	X
STK	Metamorph			X
SUN	Sun Raster Image		Pixel	X	X
SVG	Scalable Vector Graphics	Raster and Vector	Real world		X
TGA	Targa (TrueVision)		Pixel	X	X
TIF	Tagged Image		Pixel, Real world	X	X
WMF	Windows Metafile	Raster and Vector	Other	X	X

Vector (lines) Files

Most vector files can be opened or imported using the Home | New Map | Base command and the Import dialog. A blank cell means the file cannot be imported.

Use the File | Export command in the plot window to export most vector files.

File Format	File Name	More Than One Content Type	Coordinate Type	Import	Export
000	S-57 Electronic Navigation Chart		Real world	X
ASI	Amira Stacked Images	Vector and Raster		X
BNA	Atlas Boundary	Vector, Data	Real world	X	X
CLP	Windows Clipboard	Vector and Raster	Other	Paste	Copy
DCM	DICOM 3 Medical Image		Pixel
DDF	SDTS Topological Vector Profile		Real world	X
DGN	Microstation Design v7		Other	X
DIC	DICOM3 Medical Image	Vector and Raster	Pixel	X
DLG	USGS Digital Line Graph		Real world	X
DXF	AutoCAD DXF		Real world, Other	X	X
E00	Esri ArcInfo Export Format^{*see note at bottom of page}		Real world	X
EMF	Windows Enhanced Metafile	Vector and Raster	Other	X	X
GDB	Esri File Geodatabase		Real world	X
GEOJSON	GeoJSON Data Interchange		Real world	X
GML	Geography Markup Language		Real world	X
GPX	GPS Exchange File		Real world	X	X
GSB	Golden Software Boundary		Real world	X	X
GSI	Golden Software Interchange	Raster and Vector	Real world	X	X
HTM	HTML Image Map		Pixel		X
KML	Google Earth KML		Pixel, Real world	X	X
KMZ	Google Earth KMZ		Pixel, Real world	X	X
LGO	USGS Digital Line Graph		Real world	X
LGS	USGS Digital Line Graph		Real world	X
MDB	Esri Personal Geodatabase		Real world	X
MIF	MapInfo Interchange		Real world	X	X
PDF	Portable Document File (Vector)		Other, Real world	X	X
PLT	Golden Software PlotCall		Other	X
PLY	Stanford Polygon		Real world	X
RAS	Sun Raster Image	Raster and Vector	Real world	X	X
RT*	TIGER/Line File		Real world	X
SEG	SEG-P1 Exchange Format	Data and Vector	Real world	X	X
SHP	Esri Shapefile		Real world	X	X
SP1	SEG-P1 Exchange Format	Data and Vector	Real world	X	X
SVG	Scalable Vector Graphics	Vector and Raster	Real world		X
TAB	MapInfo Table		Real world	X
TAR	SDTS Topological Vector Profile		Real world	X
TAR.GZ	SDTS Topological Vector Profile		Real world	X
TGZ	SDTS Topological Vector Profile		Real world	X
VCT	IDRISI Binary Vector File		Real world	X
VTK	Visualization Toolkit		Pixel	X
WMF	Windows Metafile	Vector and Raster	Other	X	X
ZIP	SDTS Topological Vector Profile	Vector	Real world	X

Grid Files

Most grid files can be opened with the Open Grid dialog (i.e. Home | New Map | Contour).

The File | Save | Save As command in the grid editor or one of the grid menu commands in the plot window can be used to save this format with the Save Grid As dialog.

File Format	File Name	More than One Content Type	Coordinate Type	Import	Export
?10G	Globe DEM			X
ADF	Esri ArcInfo Binary Grid			X	X
AGR	ArcInfo ASCII Grid			X	X
AIG	ArcInfo ASCII Grid			X	X
AM	Amira Mesh			X
ASC	ArcInfo ASCII Grid			X	X
ASC	CPS-3 Grid Format			X	X
ASC	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X
BIL	Banded Interleave Grid By Line			X	X
BIN	Raw Binary Grid			X	X
BIP	Banded Interleave Grid By Pixel				X
BSQ	Banded Sequential Grid			X	X
BW	SGI-RGB Image		Pixel
COL	Amira Mesh			X
CPS	CPS-3 Grid			X
CPS3	CPS-3 Grid			X	X
CSV	Formatted Text Grid			X
DAT	ETOPO-5			X
DAT	Z-Map Plus Grid			X
DDF	SDTS Digital Elevation Model			X
DEM	USGS Digital Elevation Model			X	X
DOS	ETOPO-5			X
DTED	Digital Terrain Elevation Data			X
E008	Esri Grid Format		Real world	X
ERS	ER Mapper Grid			X	X
ERS	ER Mapper Grid			X	X
FLD	AVS Field			X	X
FLT	Esri Float Grid Format			X	X
FTG	Formatted Text Grid			X
GGF	Geosoft Binary Grid				X
GRB	World Meteorological Organization Grid			X
GRD	ArcInfo ASCII Grid			X	X
GRD	CPS-3 Grid Format			X	X
GRD	NetCDF Grid File			X
GRD	Surfer Grid			X	X
GRD	Geosoft Binary Grid			X	X
GRD	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X
GXF	Grid Exchange			X	X
HDF	Hierarchical Data	2D and 3D Grids		X	X
HDR	GTopo-30		Real world	X
HGT	SRTM Elevation Data		Real world	X
IMG	ERDAS Imagine Image	Raster and/or Grid	Pixel, Real world	X
LAT	Iris Explorer			X	X
NC	NetCDF Grid File			X	X
RAW	Binary Grid			X	X
TAR	SDTS Digital Elevation Model			X
TAR.GZ	SDTS Digital Elevation Model			X
TGZ	SDTS Digital Elevation Model			X
TXT	Text Data	Data and Grid		X	X
TXT	Formatted Text Grid			X
XYZ	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X
VTK	Visualization Toolkit	2D and 3D Grids		X	X
ZIP	SDTS Digital Elevation Model			X
ZMAP	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X	X
ZYC	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X	X
ZYCOR	Z-Map Plus Grid Format			X	X

Data Files

The File | Open or Data | Merge command in the worksheet can be used to open data files or merge the contents of data files into an existing worksheet.

Use the File | Save | Save As command to save data files or the File | Export command to export data files.

File Format	File Name	More than One Content Type	Coordinate Type	Import	Export
ACCDB	Microsoft Access			X
ASCII Data	ASCII Data Files		Real world	X	X
BNA	Atlas Boundary	Vector, Data	Real world	X	X
CSV	Comma Separated Variable			X	X
DAT	Data			X	X
DBF	Database			X	X
LAS	LAS Log ASCII		Real world	X
LAS	LiDAR LAS Binary Data		Real world	X
LAZ	LiDAR LAS Binary Data		Real world	X
MDB	Microsoft Access
MID	MapInfo Data			X	X
SLK	Sylk Spreadsheet		Real world	X	X
SP1	SEG-P1 Exchange Format	Data and Vector	Real world	X	X
TXT	Text Data	Data and Grid		X	X
XLS	Excel Spreadsheet		Pixel	X	X
XLSM	Excel Spreadsheet 2007			X
XLSX	Excel Spreadsheet 2007			X	X

Other File Formats

Export STL files with the Save Grid As dialog. Convert an existing grid to STL with the Grids | Edit | Convert command, or save a grid in the grid editor with File | Save | Save As.

File Format	File Name	Content Type	Coordinate Type	Import	Export
STL	Stereolithography 3D Mesh				X

Drawing Properties

The following file types have drawing properties such as line color, fill, etc.:

CLP Windows Clipboard, EMF Windows Enhanced Metafile,
Encapsulated Postscript,
KML Google Earth KML and
Google Earth KMZ,
MIF MapInfo Interchange,
SVG Scalable Vector Graphics,
TAB MapInfo Table,
WMF Windows Metafile

The DGN Microstation Design v7 and DXF AutoCAD DSF have some drawing properties.

Editable Text Blocks

The following file types have text blocks that are editable. Note that when the All text as lines option is chosen in the export options, the text is not editable.

CLP Windows Clipboard,
E00 Esri ArcInfo Export Format, ,
EMF Windows Enhanced Metafile,
GSI Golden Software Exchange,
PLT Golden Software PlotCall,
WMF Windows Metafile

The DXF AutoCAD DXF file format has some editable text block properties.

Remark about .E00 File Format

The .E00 file format is not publicly documented by Esri. Although Golden Software has tested this .E00 import filter software with a number of publicly available .E00 files, it may not be compatible with all .E00 files created by all versions of Esri application programs. Golden Software is not affiliated with Esri, and this import filter software is not a product of, nor endorsed by, Esri.