# Install flif with Homebrew Free Loseless Image Format. Version 0.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:flif ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install flif ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:flif - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.4 - **Source summary:** Free Loseless Image Format - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** LGPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-18T02:28:57-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - apng2flif (cli) - dflif (cli) - flif (cli) - gif2flif (cli) - viewflif (cli) - apng2flif (alias) - dflif (alias) - flif (alias) - gif2flif (alias) - viewflif (alias) ## Dependencies - libpng - sdl2-compat ## Build dependencies - cmake - pkgconf ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.4 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-18 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/FLIF-hub/FLIF - Upstream latest detected: v0.4 (current) ## Project history and usage FLIF, the Free Lossless Image Format, is a lossless image format and reference implementation based on MANIAC compression. Its official README says development has stopped because it was superseded first by FUIF and then by JPEG XL. ### Project history The project presented FLIF as a still-image and animation-capable lossless format that outperformed PNG, FFV1, lossless WebP, lossless BPG, and lossless JPEG 2000 in compression ratio according to its own documentation. FLIF's reference implementation included command-line conversion tools, a decoder library, and a viewer example. The repository shipped build instructions for Linux, Windows, and OS X and linked users to release binaries and a Snap package. ### Adoption history FLIF attracted ecosystem experiments around viewers, browser polyfills, GUI converters, Qt and Windows Imaging Component plugins, JavaScript and Rust bindings, and Node.js wrappers, all listed by the official README as related projects. The format remained a package-manager curiosity rather than a web standard: it was packaged in Homebrew and Snap, but the official project now directs attention to JPEG XL as the successor. ### How it is used The package provides the flif command-line encoder/decoder plus helper tools such as gif2flif and apng2flif. Users generally used it to test lossless compression ratios, convert PNG/GIF/APNG inputs, or inspect FLIF's progressive rendering behavior. FLIF's progressive interlacing meant partial file prefixes could produce usable lossy previews, a feature that made it interesting to image-format researchers and compression hobbyists. ### Why package nerds care FLIF is significant as a transitional compression project: its ideas fed into FUIF and then JPEG XL, so package histories often treat it as part of the path from experimental lossless image formats to a more broadly standardized successor. For package maintainers, FLIF is also a snapshot of format experimentation before wide adoption: useful binaries, library pieces, and plugins existed, but upstream development explicitly stopped. ### Timeline - 2015: v0.1-alpha was published on GitHub. - 2016: v0.2 and v0.2.2 releases followed. - 2017: v0.3 was published. - 2021: v0.4 was published. - Later: The README was updated to state that FLIF development had stopped and that JPEG XL superseded it. ### Related projects - Direct successors named by the project are FUIF and JPEG XL, with JPEG XL described as based on a combination of Pik and FUIF. - Officially listed ecosystem projects include Poly FLIF, UGUI: FLIF, flifcrush, libflif.js, flif.rs, FLIF Windows Codec, qt-flif-plugin, go-flif, flif-wasm, and node-flif. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** flif - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Archive and compression packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/archive-compression-tools/) - Matched archive or compression metadata. - [libpng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libpng/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [sdl2-compat](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sdl2-compat/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [openexr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openexr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-format, media. - [wavpack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wavpack/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, codec, compression, media. - [webp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/webp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compression, image-format, lossless, media. - [epsilon](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/epsilon/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compression, media. - [jpeg-turbo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jpeg-turbo/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, codec, compression, media. - [musepack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/musepack/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, codec, compression, media. - [a52dec](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/a52dec/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, codec, media. - [jpeg-xl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jpeg-xl/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, codec, compression, format, image. - [openjpeg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openjpeg/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, codec, compression, image, libpng. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/flif.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/flif.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph