Extract text from CCITT files
To convert your CCITT file to another format, you need XnView or other Raster Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Fax Bitstream" file type, you need software like XnView or a similar tool.
A .CCITT file contains raw bitmap image data compressed using the CCITT Group 3 or Group 4 algorithms, standards originally developed by the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) for fax machines. Unlike standard image files like JPG or PNG, a raw .CCITT file often lacks a file header. This is a significant problem: because the file doesn't explicitly tell software its dimensions (width and height) or the specific compression version used, most modern image viewers (including standard Windows and macOS previewers) will fail to open it, displaying an error or a corrupted, static-like image.
To make these files usable, they must be wrapped in a container that supports this compression scheme or converted to a modern format. For archiving documents without losing the original binary structure, converting to TIFF is ideal, as TIFF was designed to hold CCITT-compressed data. For general viewing and sharing, converting to PDF or PNG is recommended.
Convert.Guru analyzes your CCITT file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert CCITT file to , you can use XnView or similar software from the "Fax Image Compression" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to CCITT, try XnView or another comparable tool in the "Fax Image Compression" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our CCITT converter.