This article explains what an AVIF file is, how it relates to JPEG, and how to open, create, or convert an AVIF file.

An AVIF file is an image in the AV1 Image file format. Similar to JPEG, it uses compression in an attempt to maintain quality at a smaller file size. Unlike JPEG, AVIF files have a higher quality-to-compression ratio, so they can be much smaller without the same loss of quality.

The format was developed by the Alliance for Open Media, an association governed by companies such as Amazon, Netflix, Google and Mozilla. Files are compressed using AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) algorithms and stored in the HEIF container format.

The AV1 compression technology that this image format uses is royalty-free. So there are no licensing fees, which means that compressing and decoding files can be done without paying royalties.