| Format | Extensions | Import | Export | Uses GDAL | Notes |
| Adobe Illustrator | ai | Y | Simple paths only | ||
| ArcInfo ASCII grid | asc | Y | Y | For importing | |
| ArcInfo binary grid | adf | Y | Y | ||
| ASCII point cloud | asc, xyz | Y | |||
| Binary Terrain | bt | Y | Y | Y | |
| BLX topography | blx | Y | Y | Y | Untested |
| Carrera MSH | msh | Y1,2 | Y | ||
| CDED 50K | Y | Y | Y | ||
| DirectDraw surface | dds | Y | RGB encoded normal map | ||
| DTED | dte, dt* | Y | Y | Y | Levels 0, 1, and 2 |
| DXF mesh | dxf | Y | Y | 3DFACE entities only, export can be plain or optimized | |
| DXF contours | dxf | Y | Polylines used to create convex hull heightfield | ||
| ESRI shapefile | shp | Y | Polylines used to create convex hull heightfield | ||
| Generic Binary | bil | Y | Y | Untested | |
| GeoTIFF | tif, tiff | Y1 | Y | ||
| GIF | gif | Y | Y | ||
| GTOPO30 | Y1 | 16-bit only | |||
| HGT | hgt | Y | |||
| Japanese DEM | mem | Y | Y | ||
| MicroDEM | dem | Y1 | Older MicroDEM only | ||
| MicroGDS Things | thf | Y1,2 | Elevations are along Z axis | ||
| NTF | Y1,2 | ||||
| OGC Web Coverage Service | xml | Y | Y | ||
| PNG | png | Y | Y | Y | POV-Ray HF interpretation when multichannel color |
| Portable graymap | pgm | Y | Y | ||
| Raw binary | raw | Y | Y | ||
| Rayshade | hf | Y | Y | ||
| Rhino/OpenNURBS | Y | Texture is also exported | |||
| Second Life | raw | Y | Y | Elevation channels only. Export requires existing SL file | |
| Simple Terrain Model | stm | Y | Y | ||
| SRTM | hgt | Y | Y | Y | Files must observe HGT limits (resolution, extents, etc.) |
| SRTM30 | Y1 | 16-bit only | |||
| Stereo lithography | stl | Y | Y | ||
| Surfer GRD | grd | Y | Y | ||
| Targa | tga | Y | Y | POV-Ray HF interpretation | |
| Terragen | ter, terrain | Y | Y | Y | Can also import using ""File, Open"" |
| UKOS DTM (DXF) | dxf | Y | Point cloud | ||
| USGS DEM | dem | Y | Y | Y | |
| USGS SDTS | ddf | Y | Y | ||
| Vistapro | Y1,2 | ||||
| Visual Nature Studio | elev | Y | Y | Legacy datums/projections unsupported | |
| Wavefront | obj | Y | Plain or optimized | ||
| Windows bitmap | bmp | Y | Y | Y | POV-Ray HF interpretation |
| World Construction Set | elev | Y | Y | Legacy datums/projections unsupported | |
| Xpand Rally | height | Y | Y | ||
| Format | Extensions | Read | Write | Uses GDAL | Notes |
| ADRG image | gen, thf | Y | Y | Untested | |
| BSB nautical chart | kap, nos | Y | Y | Untested | |
| CEOS | Y | Y | Untested, 8-bit only | ||
| DIPEx | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| EIR | hdr | Y | Untested | ||
| EOSAT FAST | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Erdas 7 LAN/GIS | lan, gis | Y | Y | Untested | |
| Erdas Imagine | img | Y | Y | Untested | |
| EUMETSAT archive | nat | Y | Y | Untested | |
| FIT | fit | Y | Y | ||
| FITS | fits | Y | Y | ||
| Fuji BAS | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Geosoft GXF | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| GIF | gif | Y | Y | Y | |
| GSC Geogrid | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Idrisi RST | rst | Y | Y | Untested | |
| ILWIS | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| ISIS2 | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| ISIS3 | cub | Y | Y | Untested | |
| JPEG | jpg, jpeg | Y | Y | Y | |
| L1B | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Leveller selection mask | lvs | Y | |||
| NASA ELAS | elas | Y | Y | Untested | |
| NASA PDS | lbl | Y | Y | Untested | |
| NDF (NLAPS data format) | h1, h2, hd | Y | Y | Untested | |
| NITF | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| NOAA L1B | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| OpenEXR | exr | Y | |||
| PCI Aux | aux | Y | Y | Untested | |
| PCIDSK | pix | Y | Y | ||
| PCRaster | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| PNG | png | Y | Y | Y | |
| PPM | ppm | Y | Y | Y | |
| Radarsat 2 | xml | Y | Y | Untested | |
| Radiance | hdr | Y | |||
| RIK | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| RMF image | rsw | Y | Y | Untested | |
| RS2 | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| RST | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| SGI | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Targa | tga | Y | Y | ||
| TIFF/GeoTIFF | tif, tiff | Y | Y | Y | |
| USGS DOQ1 | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| USGS DOQ2 | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Vexcel MMF | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Vexcel MMF2 | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| Windisp 4 IDA | img | Y | Y | Untested | |
| Windows bitmap | bmp | Y | Y | Y | |
| X11 Pixmap | xpm | Y | Y | ||
| Format | Extensions | Import | Export | Uses GDAL | Notes |
| Adobe Illustrator | ai | Y | Y | Gray fills can be mapped to elevations | |
| Arc/Info ASCII | Y | Y | E00 coverages, untested | ||
| Arc/Info Binary | Y | Y | Version 7 coverages, untested | ||
| BNA | bna | Y | Y | Untested | |
| CSV text | csv | Y | Y | Untested, geometry type usually limited to points | |
| DGN | dgn | Y | Y | Untested | |
| DXF generalized | dxf | Y1,2 | Y | Many entity types supported, including smoothed polylines | |
| DXF polylines | dxf | Y | Y | Legacy internal driver, may handle some files GDAL does not | |
| ESRI shapefile | shp | Y | Y | Dataset can be single-file or in multiple files in folder for multilayer import | |
| GeoConcept | gxt, txt | Y | Y | Untested | |
| GeoJSON shapefiles | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| GML | gml | Y | Y | Untested | |
| GMT | gmt | Y | Y | Untested | |
| GPS exchange | gpx | Y | Y | Untested | |
| IHO S-57 | 000 | Y | Y | Untested | |
| Keyhole Markup | kml | Y | Y | Untested | |
| MapInfo TAB/MIF/MID | tab, mif | Y | Y | Untested | |
| PGeo | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| EPInfo REC | rec | Y | Y | Untested | |
| SDTS TVP | ddf | Y | Y | Untested | |
| SVG | svg | Y | |||
| TIGER/LINE | Y | Y | |||
| UKOS NTF | Y | Y | Untested | ||
| X-Plane/Flightgear | dat | Y | Y | Untested | |
1. Not all format variants or features may work.
2. Algorithm based on reverse engineering instead of format specs.