All about CEL Files

The CEL file type is primarily associated with GeneChip.

CEL	File extension: CEL
	File type:	probe result

What is a CEL file?

CEL files mostly belong to GeneChip by Affymetrix. CEL filename extension is associated with drum samples created by version 3 of Battery drum sampling software. Such a CEL file contains drum sounds, rhythm, effects, tone, and reverberation. CEL is also the filename extension of audio loops created by Audition music production software. A CEL loop is actually an MP3 file containing custom audio data which allows the file to loop continuously. MicroStation 2D/3D computer-aided design software, saves a cell library in a CEL file. A cell library contains cells consisting of geometry, symbols, and information used as building blocks for creating larger designs. Celestia space travel simulation software, saves its 3D rendering script in a CEL file. A different CEL file format is used to store text and binary probe results extracted by Affymetrix DNA microarray image analysis programs and chips in the GeneChip product line. DNA data is saved as a 2D grids in these CEL files.

How to open a CEL file

You need a suitable software like GeneChip to open a CEL file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your CEL file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a CEL file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online CEL File Viewer

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How do you convert CEL files to JPG, PDF, HTML, DOC, ...

If you want to convert or edit a CEL file, you can use our free Online CEL File Converter (powered by Convert.Guru):

To do this, click the button "Choose your .cel file to view this image" on this page.
Your CEL file will then be displayed in the browser.
Now click on "Save as..." at the top of the page.
Then click the file format (e.g. PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
Your file will be converted and downloaded.

Programs that open and convert CEL files:

GeneChip by Affymetrix
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. CEL files are often referred to as GeneChip data files because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
Animator (animated image) by Autodesk
Animator is a discontinued 2D animation and painting program designed for classic MS-DOS operating system. It saved animated images in a CEL file encoded in FLIC file format. This file format is classified as Raster Image.
Audition (loop) by Adobe
Audition is a professional audio production software for recording, editing, and mastering music on Windows and macOS platforms. Audio loops used by the program are saved in CEL files. This file format is classified as Audio.
Battery (drum sample) by Native Instruments
Battery is a music production software used to create drum samples. A drum sample created with version 3 of this program is saved in a CEL file. Later versions can import and use samples saved in this format. This file format is classified as Audio. Related links: IMPORT AND COMPATIBILITY
Celestia (3D rendering script) by Celestia Development Team
Celestia is a real-time 3D space simulation software. It saves 3D rendering scripts in a text-based CEL file. This file format is classified as Developer. Related links: Motherlode of Celestia Tours
GIMP (paper doll) by GIMP Development Team
GIMP is an open source photo editing software which is suitable for editing vector and raster graphics. It can open a paper doll image created by KiSS and saved in a CEL file. This image format is obsolete. This file format is classified as Raster Image. Related links: XnView, Kisekae Set System
Lumena (image) by Time Arts
Lumena is a discontinued image manipulation program. 15bit and 32bit images edited with Lumena are saved in CEL files. This file format is classified as Raster Image. Related links: XnView
MicroStation (cell library) by Bentley
MicroStation is a 2D/3D computer-aided design program used by architects, engineers, contractors and GIS professionals. It is optimized for designing/modeling buildings, civil engineering projects, power plants. MicroStation is also used to process and visualize geospatial information. Its CEL file contains a cell library. This file format is classified as CAD. Related links: AutoVue MicroStation File Viewer

CEL file format details:

To find out what program is needed to open CEL files, you need to determine the file format. Each file format has a unique extension and almost always a unique signature. For example, Microsoft Word documents have the extension .docx and the signature (usually the first 3 characters in this file) PK. However, different programs can use the same file extension, and file extensions can be assigned incorrectly. Knowledge is power - this also applies when dealing with unknown or faulty files. Our analysis of the CEL files produces the following result:

The CEL file type is a very commonly used file extension and covers different formats for different programs. The file formats most commonly found in CEL files are:

40% of all CEL files belong to Affymetrix Probe Results. These files are binary files, so they do not contain text, but only cryptic characters. CEL files are between 3 MB and 65 MB in size. This file type is based on cutting-edge technology. The files contain the following words: en-US, affymetrix-algorithm-name, affymetrix-calvin-intensity and DFeature Ex. These files can be linked to human, clariom, hugene, mogene, prime, view, mouse, control, spinal, cord, huex, moex and plus.
25% of all CEL files start with the bytes 40 00 00 00 crucial for this file format. These files are binary files, so they do not contain text, but only cryptic characters. The files are often between 5 MB and 13 MB in size. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as GridCornerLL, GridCornerLR, GridCornerUL, GridCornerUR, OffsetX=0, OffsetY=0, Axis-invertX=0, AxisInver, Cols=1164, Rows=1164, TotalX=1164 and TotalY=1164.

All other CEL files (35%) have no uniform format, the following 8 formats exist: Bentley MicroStation CAD drawing, Audition Loop, Chasm CEL bitmap, KiSS CEL bitmap, Celestia script and Bentley MicroStation CAD Cell library. Often described as beat, pump, haworth, moebel, sample, cell or tblk. Just click the "Choose your .cel file to view this image" button on this page to find out what your CEL file is.

Technical Data for CEL File Extension

File classification:

Data

Related files:

gz, chp, tar, cell, probe, cle, flc, aml, zip, text, xlsx, vrt, pxp, scn, dat, lic

Related links:

Tiling Analysis Software

Mime type:

application/octet-stream, image/x-kiss-cel, text/plain

The following listing is compiled from the database produced by the 'Associate This!' program, selected data from the main FILExt database and file extension information submitted by users.

ProgramID: GraphicsConverterPro.cel, FileType: Lumena CEL, AppName: GraphicsConverter-reg
EXEFile: GraphicsConverter.exe

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel, FileType: FLC Animation, AppName: QuickTime Player
EXEFile: QuickTimePlayer.exe

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel, FileType: FLC Animation, AppName: QuickTime Player Application
EXEFile: QuickTimePlayer.exe

ProgramID: ACDSee 7.0.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ACD Systems\ACDSee\7.0\ACDSee7.exe %1

ProgramID: Adobe.Audition.loop.file
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Audition 1.5\Audition.exe %1

ProgramID: CEL_UV
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Advanced Image Viewer and Converter\ImgViewer.exe %1

ProgramID: celestia_script
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Celestia\celestia.exe --once --dir %ProgramFiles%\Celestia -u %1

ProgramID: Cool.Edit.Pro.loop.file
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\coolpro2\coolpro2.exe %1

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QUICKT~1\QuickTimePlayer.exe %1

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel
EXEFile: C:\QUICKT~1\QuickTimePlayer.exe %1

ProgramID: TheGIMP20
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\GIMP-2.2\bin\gimp-win-remote.exe %1

ProgramID: AVIFile
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe /prefetch:8 /Open %L

ProgramID: SmartPixImage
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Smart Pix Manager\SmartPix.exe %1

ProgramID: TheGIMP13
EXEFile: C:\GIMP-1.3\bin\gimp-1.3.exe %1

ProgramID: XnView.Image
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\XnView\xnview.exe %1

ProgramID: Cool.Edit.Pro.loop.file
EXEFile: C:\coolpro2\coolpro2.exe %1

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QuickTime\QuickTimePlayer.exe %1

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QUICKT~1\MoviePlayer.exe %1

ProgramID: TheGIMP20
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\GIMP-2.0\bin\gimp-win-remote.exe gimp-2.2.exe %1

ProgramID: QuickTime.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\QUICKT~1.1\QuickTimePlayer.exe

ProgramID: AUD20.Adobe.Audition.loop.file
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Adobe Audition 2.0\Audition.exe

ProgramID: Adobe.Audition.loop.file
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Audition 1.0\Audition.exe

ProgramID: ACDSee 8.0.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ACD Systems\ACDSee\8.0\ACDSee8.exe

ProgramID: ACDSee Pro.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ACD Systems\ACDSee\8.0.Pro\ACDSee8Pro.exe

ProgramID: AUD30.Adobe.Audition.loop.file
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Adobe Audition 3.0\Audition.exe

ProgramID: ACDSee.cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ACD Systems\ACDSee\5.0\ACDSee5.exe

ProgramID: celfile
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Media Player Classic\mplayerc.exe

ProgramID: GIMP-2.0-cel
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Gimp-2.0\bin\gimp-2.6.exe

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a cel probe result is a special file format by Affymetrix and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with CEL files

Associate the CEL file extension with the correct application.
Update your software that should actually open probe results. Because only the current version supports the latest CEL file format. Search, therefore, e.g. on the Affymetrix manufacturer website after an available GeneChip update.
To make sure that your CEL file is not corrupted or virus-infected, get the file again and scan it with Google's virustotal.com.
Click here to open your .CEL file online - secure, fast, and no downloads needed.