ANBR File

What are ANBR files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an ANBR file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your ANBR files.

What is an ANBR file?

An .ANBR file is an AnimBrush file.

AnimBrush is a variant of the ANIM file format designed to store animated brushes for use in Deluxe Paint (DPaint) version III (and IV) on Amiga computers. These brushes let an artist paint using a sequence of frames rather than a single still image, so every brush stroke can animate as you use it. The format was created by Dan Silva at Electronic Arts.

Files are produced by the Anim Brush feature within DPaint. The first "frame" is stored as a full still image in the ILBM structure, and subsequent frames record only the difference (delta) from the frame before, using special IFF chunks. These delta frames include an ANHD (animation header) chunk and a DLTA chunk which encodes the changes. During use, programs treat them like brushes that animate with each paint stroke, cycling through the sequence of frames as long as the brush is active.

At the binary level, an AnimBrush file is an IFF (Interchange File Format) form with type identifier ANIM (first frame as FORM ILBM) plus subsequent FORM ILBM entries for each animated frame. It includes chunks named BMHD, CMAP, BODY, CAMG, GRAB, DPAN, as well as ANHD and DLTA in later frames. The format signature includes "FORM" at offset 0, "ANIMFORM" at offset 8, "ILBM" at offset 20, and contains strings like "ANHD", "DLTA", "BODY", "CAMG", "CMAP" among others.

How to open ANBR files

Important: Different programs may use files with the ANBR file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your ANBR file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 18, 2026

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