CIT File

What are CIT files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a CIT 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 CIT files.

What is a CIT file?

CIT files have multiple uses, and Fortune Cite Data is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Fortune Cite Data

Fortune Cite Data files store digital audio samples for the Atari Falcon, created by the program Fortune written by Harald Schönfeld and Bernd Spellenberg. These files contain sampled sound data, typically mono or stereo, in 8-bit or 16-bit form, with information about sampling rate, packing (compressed or unpacked), and sample length.

Fortune is a tool that captures or converts sound samples on the Atari Falcon; it writes these files which are later converted, played back, or manipulated by sound utilities (such as sample converters or sound players). Workflows include recording a sample in Fortune, producing a file in this format, then importing or converting it via utilities like 525-Five to Five or other Falcon-sound software to other formats (AVR, SND, WAV, etc.).

Files begin with a signature that supports identification: the first bytes are the ASCII string "FortuneV01" at offset 0. Within the header there is also an embedded "DVSM" string at offset 66, matching the DVSM sample format used by Fortune and WinRec on Falcon.

How to open CIT files

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

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different CIT openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 31, 2026

All known file formats using extension .CIT

While Fortune Cite Data is a popular type of CIT-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .CIT file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Intergraph Raster Bitmap (CCITT Group 4, 1-bit)

Intergraph Raster Bitmap (CCITT Group 4, 1-bit) is a monochrome raster image format used to store black-and-white (bitonal) data compressed with CCITT Group 4 (also known as Modified Modified READ or MMR) compression. It is part of the INGR (Intergraph Raster) suite and is chosen when images require lossless, compact representation of sharp edges - for example text or line art. The format is created by Intergraph software or tools that support the INGR file family. It is valuable where high contrast detail must be preserved without colour, such as archival documents or engineering drawings.

When creating this file, the image data is reduced to a single bit per pixel and compressed using Group 4, which encodes runs of black and white pixels in two dimensions. The file begins with a header composed of fixed-size blocks to describe image dimensions, resolution, compression type and other metadata. Applications reading it must interpret the header, decompress the CCITT G4 stream, and render the resulting monochrome raster. The file cannot express colour data or greyscale; if more bits per pixel or colour are needed, another INGR subtype (such as RGB or 8-bit formats) is used instead. Conversion is possible into bitonal TIFF or other image formats that support CCITT G4.

Files of this format can be identified by specific byte-level signatures: they begin with bytes 08 09 FE at offset 0; at offset 4, the DataTypeCode value is 0x0018 (which corresponds to CCITT Group 4, 1-bit); byte 7 is zero; and at offset 508 there is a three-byte sequence of zeros.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of CIT files. Remember, different programs may use CIT files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about CIT file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.