Install openexr with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• exr2aces
• exrenvmap
• exrheader
• exrinfo
• exrmakepreview
• exrmaketiled
• exrmanifest
• exrmetrics
• exrmultipart
• exrmultiview
• exrstdattr

Project history

Industrial Light & Magic developed OpenEXR in 1999 to answer the visual-effects industry's need for higher color fidelity. ILM released the format and C++ library as open source in 2003, after using and refining it in production.

OpenEXR 2.0, released in 2013 through work associated with ILM and Weta Digital, added deep images and multi-part files. Those features made the format better suited to deep compositing and complex render-pass workflows where separate but related image data needs to travel together.

OpenEXR joined the Academy Software Foundation in 2018 alongside OpenCue. In the OpenEXR 3 generation, Imath was promoted out of the old IlmBase component into a separate dependency, making the math and half-float infrastructure more independently reusable across graphics software.

Adoption history

ILM says OpenEXR became its main image file format and was used in every motion picture to which ILM contributed visual effects work starting in 2000. Early film uses included Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Men in Black II, Gangs of New York, and Signs.

The Academy Software Foundation and ILM describe contributions from Weta Digital, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixar Animation Studios, Autodesk, DreamWorks, and others. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave Florian Kainz a 2007 Technical Achievement Award for the design and engineering of OpenEXR, citing its 16-bit floating-point HDR files, compression support, and visual-effects suitability.

OpenEXR's adoption also shows up in its packaging breadth: the input metadata lists packages across Homebrew, Alpine, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE. For downstreams, the library is not just a command-line tool bundle but a dependency that image IO libraries, renderers, compositors, and DCC applications build against.

How it is used

Artists and pipeline tools use EXR files to store scene-linear HDR images, arbitrary channels, alpha, depth and auxiliary render passes, tiled or scanline images, and compressed production frames. Developers use the libraries and utilities to inspect headers, transform layouts, validate files, convert color-management-adjacent data, and integrate EXR IO into rendering and compositing software.

The command set exposed by the package, including tools such as `exrheader`, `exrinfo`, `exrmultipart`, and `exrstdattr`, reflects how the format is operated in production: metadata inspection, multipart/deep-file handling, preview generation, environment-map conversion, and conformance checks matter alongside ordinary image reading and writing.

Why package nerds care

OpenEXR is a canonical example of a domain-specific format becoming shared infrastructure. Package maintainers care about ABI stability, compiler settings, compression support, Imath version compatibility, Python bindings, and tool availability because a break in OpenEXR can ripple through render farms, asset pipelines, and desktop graphics applications.

Its evolution also shows how packaging boundaries change over time. The OpenEXR 3 split made Imath a separate dependency, so distributions had to track compatibility between OpenEXR and Imath instead of treating the old IlmBase stack as internal implementation detail.

Timeline

• 1999: ILM began developing OpenEXR for high-fidelity visual-effects imagery.
• 2000: ILM began using OpenEXR as its main image file format for visual-effects film work.
• 2003: ILM released OpenEXR publicly as open-source software.
• 2007: OpenEXR received an Academy Technical Achievement Award.
• 2013: OpenEXR 2.0 added deep data and multi-part image files.
• 2018: OpenEXR joined the Academy Software Foundation.
• 2021: OpenEXR 3.0 and Imath 3.0 moved the former IlmBase math pieces into the separate Imath project.

Related projects

• Imath is the closest related package because OpenEXR 3 depends on it for math types and the half 16-bit floating-point type. OpenImageIO, renderers, compositors, and DCC applications are major downstream consumers rather than sibling projects.

Sources

• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/openexr
• https://openexr.com/en/latest/OpenEXRFileLayout.html
• https://openexr.com/en/latest/TechnicalIntroduction.html
• https://openexr.com/en/latest/about.html
• https://www.aswf.io/news/aswf-deep-dive-openexr-origin-story-part-1/
• https://www.aswf.io/news/aswf-deep-dive-openexr-origin-story-part-2/
• https://www.aswf.io/news/openexr-and-opencue-join-aswf/
• https://www.aswf.io/news/openexr-debuts-new-version-3-0-with-improved-imath/
• https://www.ilm.com/openexr-joins-academy-software-foundation-projects/
• https://www.oscars.org/sci-tech/ceremonies/2007