What is AVIF
The AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) format is for storing images compressed with AV1 in HEIF file format. AVIF files have an extension of .avif. The first version of the AVIF was completed in February 2019. Among its features are High Dynamic Range (HDR), support for 8, 10, and 12 color depths, and support for any color space (ISO/IEC CICP and ICC profiles, wide color gamut, etc.). Support for the AVIF file format is increasing. It was announced on December 14, 2018, that Netflix published the first AVIF images. With the 19H1 release of Windows 10, Microsoft also added support for it. Since September 2019 and August 2020, Paint.net provides support for opening and saving AVIF files. Browsers are also adding support for AVIF. Google Chrome added support for AVIF in August 2020, and Mozilla Firefox is currently working on adding support. On December 3, 2020, Cloudflare announced that it would support the AVIF standard.
What is Photoshop?
For Windows or macOS computers, Adobe Photoshop offers image editing and photo retouching capabilities. Photoshop allows users to create, enhance, or otherwise edit images, artwork, and illustrations. Adobe Photoshop allows changing backgrounds, simulating a real-life painting, or creating an alternative view of the universe. It is the most widely used software tool for editing, manipulating, and retouching images and videos in numerous formats. Photoshop includes tools that you may use to edit both individual pictures and a large number of photos at the same time. With fewer features, Photoshop is available in several versions, such as Photoshop CC, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and Photoshop Express, Photoshop for iOS. As part of the Creative Cloud subscription, Adobe Photoshop is available as a standalone subscription, including Photoshop Lightroom. Photoshop is a valuable tool for designers, web developers, graphic artists, photographers, and other creative professionals. The application is widely used to edit images, retouch them, create image compositions, mockup websites and add effects. Scannable or digital images can be edited for use online or in print. It is possible to design website layouts in Photoshop, allowing the designs to be finalized before the development phase. You can create standalone graphics and export them for use in other programs.
Photoshop AVIF support
In the Photoshop Feedback Forum, a thread asking for AVIF support has been active since September 2020. Given the widespread support of AVIF in modern web browsers, the need to include AVIF as a save as or export to option would be beneficial. Suppose you still use Photoshop as your primary graphic editor (even to create simple websites). In that case, this will become increasingly important as JPGs are phased out. Unfortunately, Photoshop does not currently support AVIF, and Adobe has not specified whether or when Photoshop will support AVIF.
This is a surprise as Adobe is an active member of the Alliance for Open Media, which developed the AV1 video codec and the AVIF format derived from it. This however leads us to the estimation that AVIF will be supported soon.
Photoshop AVIF plugin
A plugin for Adobe® Photoshop® allows users to load and save AV1 Image (AVIF) images. Users can load individual photos and save them in 8, 10, or 12 bits per channel. The latest version of the plugin uses libheif with the AOM decoder and encoder. This plugin uses Photoshop's 16-bit and 32-bit editing capabilities. 16-bit data must be remapped to 10 or 12-bit when saving. RGB images that use 32-bits-per-channel can be saved as AVIF HDR.
Download it here.