WMF File

What are WMF files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a WMF 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 WMF files.

What is a WMF file?

WMF files have multiple uses, and Windows Metafile Image is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Windows Metafile Image

These WMF files contain a graphic file format consisting of a series of drawing operations used to create vector images and raster graphics.

The WMF file format was initially created in the 1990s. However, this particular image format has been widely replaced by more recent and versatile image file formats, including the JPG and GIF file formats.

How to open WMF files

We have identified nine WMF openers that are compatible with this specific type of WMF file.

Programs that open Windows Metafile Image files

Last updated: August 14, 2026

All known file formats using extension .WMF

While Windows Metafile Image is a popular type of WMF-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .WMF file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

L3DT Water Map File

L3DT Water Map File (extension .WMF) is a binary map file used by L3DT Standard for modelling water across terrain. It stores per-pixel water level, type, and body identification so the terrain generator can assign where lakes, rivers, ocean, or underground water bodies are. It is output by L3DT during its simulation of flooding, ocean, and water-table processes and often used alongside heightfield files to display or compute water features.

The WMF file is written and read by L3DT (Water Map File v1.0). The program generates this file during its water-modelling phase. Other tools rarely use this format directly; to use the water data elsewhere you generally export or convert it after creation. L3DT uses it to determine where water intersects the terrain, how deep it is, and what kind of water body applies at each point.

The file begins with an ASCII signature "L3DT", then a binary map-type marker (USHORT 600 for WMF v1.0), then the ASCII map-type string "WMF_v1.0". The header defines width, height, vertical scale, vertical offset, horizontal scale, pixel data size (either 2-byte integers or 4-byte floats), whether floating point is used, tiling or wrapping behaviour, and auxiliary data type/size. Each pixel holds a water level value followed (if enabled) by auxiliary bytes that include a water type identifier and a water body index.

WMF opener for Windows

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

Various apps that use files with this extension

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

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