CFITSIO is a library of C and Fortran subroutines for reading and writing data files in FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) data format. CFITSIO provides simple high-level routines for reading and writing FITS files that insulate the programmer from the internal complexities of the FITS format. CFITSIO also provides many advanced features for manipulating and filtering the information in FITS files.

Download the CFITSIO Software Library:

• Latest V3.310 source code package - compile it yourself (see what's new) :
  • Unix .tar file - see the README file for instructions
  • Windows PC .zip file - see the README.win32 file for instructions
• Windows PC precompiled binary DLL libraries - see the README.win32 file for instructions
  • Microsoft Visual C++ DLL (Previous 3.30 version, built with Visual Studio 2010 Express on Windows 7)
    • Previous 3.260 version (built with Visual C++ 6.0 on Windows XP)
  • For Borland C++ (version 3.020 - newer versions are not available)
• How to build CFITSIO as a Universal Binary on a OS-X Macintosh PC.
• Various sample multi-threaded test programs.
• Unsupported previous versions of CFITSIO and FITSIO

• Go directly to the ftp area

Click here if you have problems downloading files.

Documentation:

• CFITSIO Quick Start Guide (also PDF version or .tar file of all the html pages).
• C Programmer Reference Guide (also PDF version or .tar file of all the html pages).
• Fortran Programmer Reference Guide (also PDF version).

• Examples of CFITSIO's Extended File Name Filters
• Data compression support in CFITSIO.
• Background information about CFITSIO
• Acknowledgements of contributors to CFITSIO
• Major users of CFITSIO

• FITS resources - General information about the FITS format
• The FITS Support Office - a large and fairly complete source of information about FITS

Related Software Tools:

• Example C programs - Suite of small FITS utility programs in C showing how to use CFITSIO
• Example Fortran program - Fortran example program that calls CFITSIO subroutines
• Verify any FITS file using a Web form. Can also download this utility program to run on your local machine.
• fpack and funpack - FITS image compression utilities that give higher compression and are faster than gzip
• Fv - The FITS file viewer and editor
• Hera - a large package of FITS file analysis programs that can be run from your web browser.

Interfaces for calling CFITSIO from Other Programming Languages:

Contact the original developer for questions about these interfaces.
• C++: CCfits
• C-sharp: FitsLib (no longer supported; use CSharpFITS instead.)
• Perl: CFITSIO.pm
• Tcl: fitsTcl
• Python: PFITS
• Ruby: RFits
• S-lang: CFITSIO wrappers for the S-lang programmer's library and interpreter.
• MatLab: MFITSIO
• LabVIEW: GFITSIO
• Adobe Photoshop: Liberator

E-mail Notification List

To receive e-mail notification about new releases of CFITSIO, subscribe to the fitsionews mailing list at the following web site: https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/fitsionews