MIX File

What are MIX files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a MIX 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 MIX files.

What is a MIX file?

MIX files have multiple uses, and Microsoft PhotoDraw Drawing is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Microsoft PhotoDraw Drawing

MIX is an acronym for Microsoft Image Extension. Files that contain the .mix file extension typically store Microsoft PictureIt! and PhotoDraw images. PhotoDraw was similar to the Fireworks application that is distributed by Adobe.

Microsoft PhotoDraw used to be a component of the Microsoft Office suite of software applications, although it was also sold as a stand-alone software product. Microsoft discontinued the distribution of PhotoDraw after PhotoDraw 2000 Version 2 was released.

MIX files contain vector and raster graphic images that these two software applications have created. The images stored in the MIX files are commonly used in Microsoft Office documents.

How to open MIX files

We have identified one MIX opener that is compatible with this specific type of MIX file.

Programs that open Microsoft PhotoDraw Drawing files

Last updated: August 9, 2026

All known file formats using extension .MIX

While Microsoft PhotoDraw Drawing is a popular type of MIX-file, we know of 5 different uses of the .MIX file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Project Dogwaffle Mixing Palette

Project Dogwaffle Mixing Palette files store custom color palettes used by the Project Dogwaffle (Howler) painting program for its color mixer features. These files let artists save and reload a set of pre-mixed colors ("palette mixer" or "wells") that they create during their work.

Such a palette file is written by Project Dogwaffle when the user selects "save mixer palette" or "save wells" in the Color Mixer panel. Later the same program reads that file to restore the mixer settings and the saved colors. These files are not full images, brushes, or texture maps - only the color definitions and mixer state.

Internally the file begins with a 4-byte ASCII header "MIX2" at offset zero. That signature distinguishes it from other .mix file types. Other internal structure details (number of colors, color component encoding) are proprietary to Dogwaffle and not publicly documented.

MIX opener for Windows

We have identified one MIX opener that is compatible with this specific type of MIX file.

Atari Digi-Mix Music Module

We know that one MIX format is Atari Digi-Mix Music Module. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

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

Meshmixer Scene

The Meshmixer Scene format, with extension .MIX, is the native scene file type used by Autodesk Meshmixer, a 3D mesh-editing program. It saves all the parts of a scene - meshes, their positions, transformations, visibility settings, object hierarchies, and units - so that when you reopen the file in Meshmixer, you get exactly what you were working on before. This format is intended for ongoing editing within Meshmixer, not for sharing models with other programs.

Meshmixer itself both writes and reads .mix files. When saving a project, using File→Save or Save As, Meshmixer stores scene information in this format; when opening, it restores the full scene with all objects, their spatial layout, local frames, and settings. Because many other mesh formats lack support for things like scene hierarchy, transforms, or visibility of individual objects, .mix files allow Meshmixer users to preserve these extra details. Old .mix files continue to open in newer versions of Meshmixer, but files created in major newer releases may not be backward compatible with older versions.

On a technical level, .mix files are binary files that include XML-style structures as part of their internal data. A distinctive signature appears near the start: at byte offset 4 (zero-based) there's the ASCII string "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n<SceneObjects>\n <RecordID>" along with keywords like SCENEOBJECTSTRINGID, WORLDUNITINCREMENT, WORLDUNITSSCALE, SCENETRANSFORM, FILETRANSFORM, MESHPOLYGONS, BINARYBLOCKID, and others. These internal markers help Meshmixer parse scene objects, mesh polygons, coordinate units (often millimeters), visibility, and transforms.

Programs that open these MIX files

We have identified one MIX opener that is compatible with this specific type of MIX file.

Microsoft Picture It!

We know that one MIX format is Microsoft Picture It!. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of MIX files. Remember, different programs may use MIX 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 MIX file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.