Opening CIF Files

The CIF file type is primarily associated with Easy CD Creator.

CIF	File extension: CIF
	File type:	cd image file

What is a CIF file?

CIF files mostly belong to Easy CD Creator by Sonic Solutions. CIF stands for Crystallographic Information File and is the standard format to facilitate the exchange of crystallographic data and has been first published by Hall, Allen, and Brown in 1991.

Main Use: International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) has chosen the CIF file format as the standard to store and share crystallographic information. It consists of various categories of crystallographic data that are used in archiving and distribution such as _audit_, _atom_, _cell_, _database_, and _refine_. These categories contain information about the atom type and cell parameters among others. CIF is also used to refer to the Crystallographic Information Framework which consists of a wider system of exchange protocols depending on data dictionaries and relational rules that can be expressed in various machine-readable manifestations such as Crystallographic Information File (CIF) and XML.
Other Uses: CIF format is also associated with CD disc image files created by Corel. The CIF disc image can also be used by Roxio Creator to open the contents of the file on a Windows PC by mounting it as a virtual CD drive. This is useful in maintaining backup copies of CDs.

How do you open CIF files?

You need a suitable software like Easy CD Creator to open a CIF 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 CIF file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a CIF file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online CIF Text Viewer

Choose your .cif file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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How to extract texts from CIF files or capture a screenshot to PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...

You can extract texts from CIF file or capture a preview screenshot using our online CIF file viewer:

To do so, click the "Choose your .cif file to view" button above.
After your file is opened in browser,
click "Save as..." in the menu.
Then choose the file format (e.g. JPG, PDF, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
Download the converted file.

Programs that open and convert CIF files:

Easy CD Creator by Sonic Solutions
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. CIF files are often referred to as Easy CD Creator disk images because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
Ariba Buyer (Catalog Information Format) by Ariba Inc.
Used by suppliers and buyers to communicate electronic catalogs between two trading partners.
Avogadro (crystallographic information file) by International Union of Crystallography
Avogardro is an open source product developed for the Crystallographic Information File specification by the International Union of Crystallography. The CIF file extension is used by Avogadro for storing crystallographic data. This file format is classified as Simple text file. Related links: Manual, Avogadro (software)
Buyer (catalog information file) by Ariba Inc.
CIF files are used by suppliers and buyers to communicate electronic catalogs between two trading partners through the Buyer program, developed by Ariba. This file format is classified as Data.
Colombo Ipermedia by Euro Sistemi
The CIF file extension for Colombo Ipermedia, a program developed by Euro Sistemi for document management and storage. The file extension has been marked as obsolete for Colombo Ipermedia and is no longer supported. This file format is classified as Data.
Creator (document file) by MultiAd, Inc.
Creator is a program developed by MultiAd as a desktop publishing software. CIF files are used by Creator to store information about documents. This file format is classified as Page Layout. Related links: Tech notes
pcAnywhere Caller (caller data file) by Broadcom
CIF files were used to store caller data for pcAnywhere Caller, a program which allows users to remotely connect to their desktop. CIF files have been marked as obsolete for use with pcAnywhere Caller and are no longer supported. This file format is classified as Data.
Ventura by Corel Corporation
Ventura is obsolete and no longer supported by Corel Corporation. It has been replaced by an alternative within another product from the same company, CorelDRAW. This file format is classified as Data. Related links: CorelDRAW
Ventura Converted Image File

CIF format details:

If you can determine the file format, the associated program can also be determined. The first characters in a file identify the file format, for example, HTML files start with the bytes <html>. If the file extension does not match the file format, double-clicking on the file will cause an error upon opening. Exact knowledge of the format is therefore important in order to solve problems occurring in files. Below you will find our evaluation of the CIF files:

The CIF file extension is quite common and includes different formats for the applicable programs. The following file formats are most commonly found in CIF files:

25% of all CIF files use the same file format, which have the signature data_. These files are text files, so they contain words and text. CIF files can be up to 22 MB in size, but are often around 1 KB - 1 MB. The file type was created 10 years ago, but is still used today. The keywords data, date, _audit_creation_method, name and number are typical for these files. Files like these are about unit and data.
15% of all CIF files start with the magic bytes #-------------------------------------------------, which are always the first bytes of this file format. These files contain text and words, not binary data. The files are on average 2 KB in size and range from 2 KB to 5 KB. The keywords #-----------, Date, Revision, #$URL: svn://www.crystallography.net/cod/cif and #$URL: file:///home/coder/svn-repositories/c are typical for these files.

The remaining 60% of all CIF files are different files with different signatures, frequently e.g. CleWin CIF layout, Easy CD Creator disk image, data and generated. These files sometimes refer to conventional, standard, computed, symmetrized, catalog, copper, code, coll, face, icsd or mgal. If you want to find out which format your CIF file belongs to, just click on the button "Choose your .cif file to view".

Technical Data for CIF File Extension

File classification:

Disk Image

Related files:

ciff, mcif, hkl, zip, cis, gz, txt, clf, cip, sif, cfi, pdb, res, fcf, exe, jsf, gem, html, tif, 7z, cl3, cl4, lth

Related links:

IsoBuster Data Recovery Tool

Mime type:

chemical/x-cif

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: CallerFile, FileType: pcAnywhere Caller File

ProgramID: EasyCDCreator.DiscImage.3, FileType: Easy CD Creator Image File, AppName: Adaptec EasyCDCreator

ProgramID: EasyCDCreator.DiscImage.4, FileType: Easy CD Creator Image File, AppName: Adaptec EasyCDCreator

ProgramID: EasyCDCreator.DiscImage.4, FileType: Easy CD Creator Image File, AppName: CREATR32

ProgramID: EasyCDCreator.DiscImage.5, FileType: Easy CD Creator Image File, AppName: Roxio EasyCDCreator
EXEFile: Creatr50.exe

ProgramID: EasyCDCreator.DiscImage.6, FileType: Easy CD Creator Image File, AppName: Roxio EasyCDCreator
EXEFile: Creatorc.exe

ProgramID: WinISO, FileType: CDROM Image Files, AppName: WinISO
EXEFile: WinISO.EXE

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

ProgramID: ciffile
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\TigerColor\ColorImpact 2\ColorImpact.exe %1

ProgramID: CifFileImage
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\IsoBuster\IsoBuster.exe %1

ProgramID: CifFileImage
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Smart Projects\IsoBuster\IsoBuster.exe %1

ProgramID: CifFileImage
EXEFile: D:\IsoBuster\IsoBuster.exe %1

ProgramID: CifFileImage
EXEFile: E:\Isobuster\IsoBuster.exe %1

ProgramID: CreatorImageFiles
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\FarStone\VIRTUA~1\Create.exe %1

ProgramID: DiscCopier Document7
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Roxio\Easy Media Creator 7\Disc Copier\DiscCopier7.exe %1

ProgramID: Childcare Manager Center Information File
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Personalized Software\Childcare Manager\ChildcareManager.exe %1

ProgramID: UltraISO
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\UltraISO\UltraISO.exe %1

ProgramID: SDDocuments.Atomistic3dDocument.1
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Accelrys\MS Modeling 3.2\Studio\MatStudio.exe

ProgramID: DiscCopier Document8
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Roxio\Easy Media Creator 8\Disc Copier\DiscCopier8.exe %1

ProgramID: IsoBuster.cif
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Smart Projects\IsoBuster\IsoBuster.exe %1

ProgramID: PowerISO
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\PowerISO\PowerISO.exe

ProgramID: MimarSinan Codex
EXEFile: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /idlist,%I,%L

ProgramID: IsoBuster.cif
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\IsoBuster\IsoBuster.exe

ProgramID: DiscCopier Document9
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Roxio\Disc Copier 9\DiscCopier9.exe

ProgramID: Pagis.Image
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ScanSoft\Pagis\XIFVIEW.EXE

ProgramID: Pagis.Image
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Xerox\Pagis\XIFVIEW.EXE

ProgramID: PowerISO
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\_CDvD\PowerISO\PowerISO.exe

ProgramID: cifDIL10Mount.File
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Roxio\Virtual Drive 10\DiscImageLoader10.exe

ProgramID: ciffile
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\TigerColor\ColorImpact 3\ColorImpact.exe

Show all 29 listings To Top

a cif cd image file is a special file format by Sonic Solutions and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with CIF files

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