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File Signatures & Magic BytesRutvij Khatri•8 min read•Published 2026-10-14

The Definitive Guide to Image File Signatures and Hex Headers

Comprehensive reference table of magic bytes, container markers, and EOF delimiters for JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP, and TIFF.

Canonical Header & Trailer Reference

JPEG: Header FF D8 FF E0 (JFIF) or FF D8 FF E1 (EXIF). Trailer: FF D9.

PNG: Header 89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A. Trailer: 49 45 4E 44 AE 42 60 82.

GIF: Header 47 49 46 38 39 61 (GIF89a) or 47 49 46 38 37 61 (GIF87a). Trailer: 3B.

WebP: Header 52 49 46 46 (RIFF) followed by WEBP.

#image file signatures list#jpeg magic bytes#png header hex#file signature database
RK
Rutvij KhatriSecurity Analyst

Security Analyst and Aspiring Security Engineer passionate about digital image forensics, OSINT research, CTF steganography challenges, and client-side application security.

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