What is a .tga file?
Truevision TGA (Targa) · Image · Truevision · 1984
TGA, also called Targa, is an older raster image format that supports transparency and simple lossless compression. It lingers in games, 3D texturing and some video work, though PNG has largely replaced it for new images.
What is a .tga file used for?
TGA stores pixels with an optional alpha channel and optional run-length compression, which made it a solid, simple choice in the early days of digital imaging and 3D.
It stayed popular in game development and 3D texturing, and you still find it alongside other texture formats in art pipelines.
Unusually, a TGA has no signature at the very start; version 2 files are identified by a 'TRUEVISION-XFILE' marker at the end. Open one in IrfanView, GIMP or Photoshop.
What opens a .tga file?
The .tga format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- IrfanView
- GIMP
- Photoshop
macOS
- GIMP
- Photoshop
- Preview (some)
Linux
- GIMP
- ImageMagick
Web
- Not natively; convert to PNG first
Open a .tga file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .tga. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with IrfanView or GIMP.
- On Mac, use GIMP or Photoshop.
- On Linux, try GIMP or ImageMagick.
- Still stuck? Convert the .tga to PNG, which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .tga file?
Almost always because no installed app understands TGA. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads. If double-clicking opens the wrong program instead of nothing at all, the file association is set to the wrong app rather than the file being broken.
The other possibility is that the file is not really a .tga at all. Drop it into the file identifier to check it by its bytes instead of its name. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert a .tga file
You can convert a .tga file to PNG, JPG using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
Convert images free: ImageConvert
TGA has no fixed magic number, so there is no signature table on this page. Its bytes alone do not prove the format: identification relies on the extension, the structure of the content and the program that created it. The magic-numbers reference lists the formats that do carry one.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .tga file?
TGA, also called Targa, is an older raster image format that supports transparency and simple lossless compression. It lingers in games, 3D texturing and some video work, though PNG has largely replaced it for new images.
How do I open a TGA file?
Use IrfanView on Windows, or GIMP and Photoshop on any system. Browsers do not display TGA, so convert it to PNG for the web.
Should I use TGA or PNG?
For new images, PNG: it is smaller, lossless, supports transparency and opens everywhere. TGA is mainly worth keeping when a game or 3D tool specifically expects it.
Related formats
Sources
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