What is the ASE file format?
.ase is a binary file format for storing color swatches (color samples). The format is used by Adobe applications and has broad use across the design industry. .ase files are typically used in graphical projects such as posters, leaflets, brand identity work, and software UI design, where maintaining a consistent color palette across all projects is essential. Adobe Photoshop also saves color swatches in .aco files - an older proprietary format - but .ase is the cross-application interchange standard, introduced with Adobe Creative Suite 2 in 2005.
Color palettes
A color palette is a curated set of colors chosen for a project. .ase files contain only named color samples, not pixels, keeping them very compact - typically under a few kilobytes. Each swatch stores a name and floating-point channel values in one of four color models: RGB, CMYK, LAB, or Grayscale. Swatches can be organized into named groups within a single file. .ase files can be used to share color samples across various graphical projects and are supported beyond Adobe's own suite by tools such as Inkscape, GIMP (which uses .gpl as its native palette format), and Adobe Color on the web. Creative Cloud Libraries use .ase for cloud swatch synchronization.
Be aware that .ase is also used by Aseprite for pixel-art sprite files - a completely unrelated binary format. The containing application determines which format applies.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWAn .ase is a tiny static color list with no executable content, so it is safe to open. The only real caution is identity: make sure your .ase is an Adobe Swatch Exchange palette and not a 3ds Max scene export or an Aseprite sprite before importing it into a design app. Download converters/palette tools from reputable sites to avoid bundled adware.
Format details
in a nutshell- Autodesk 3ds Max ASCII Scene Export - 3ds Max can export a scene as a text .ase (ASCII) file of mesh/material data - unrelated to the Adobe color palette.
- Aseprite sprite (legacy extension) - Aseprite's pixel-art sprites can be saved as .ase (same as .aseprite), a binary frame/layer format with nothing to do with color swatches.
Programs that open ASE files
Windows4 apps
Adobe Photoshop
Paid Swatches panel > menu > Import Swatches, choose the .ase; the colors appear in your swatches. 
Adobe Illustrator
Paid Open the Swatches panel > menu > Open Swatch Library > Other Library, pick the .ase to load the colors. 
Inkscape
Open-source Place the .ase in Inkscape's palettes folder (or import) to use Adobe swatches in the free vector editor. 
macOS2 apps
Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop / InDesign
Paid Use each app's Swatches panel (Load/Import Swatches) to import the .ase, same as on Windows. 
Linux2 apps
GIMP
Open-source Convert the .ase to a GIMP .gpl palette (script/online), then load it via the Palettes dialog.
Inkscape
Open-source Import or drop the .ase into the palettes folder to use the swatches in Inkscape. 
Android1 app
Adobe Capture / Adobe Color
Free Save or sync palettes through Adobe Color libraries; export/import as .ase across Adobe apps.
Adobe Color
Free Create a palette and export it as .ase, or import an .ase to read the colors - no install. Technical details
deep spec| Developer | Adobe Systems |
| Format type | Binary color swatch / palette library |
| File signature (magic bytes) | ASEF - four ASCII bytes at offset 0 (hex 41 53 45 46), followed by 2-byte major and 2-byte minor version fields (big-endian) |
| Byte order | Big-endian |
| Internal format version | ASEF 1.0 - major bytes 0x00 0x01 and minor bytes 0x00 0x00 stored immediately after the magic signature |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream |
| Color models supported | RGB, CMYK, LAB, Grayscale |
| Color component precision | 32-bit IEEE 754 floating-point per channel |
| Group support | Named swatch groups nestable within a single file via group-start and group-end block types |
| Typical file size | Under 1 KB to a few KB (color definitions only, no pixel data) |
| File structure | ASEF signature + version + block count + sequence of typed blocks (color entries, group-start, group-end), each prefixed with a block-length field |
| Related formats | .aco (Photoshop color swatches), .act (Photoshop color table), .acb (Adobe Color Book), .gpl (GIMP palette) |
| Released | 2005 (Adobe Creative Suite 2 - shared swatches across apps) |
| Latest version | Stable since CS; no public versioning beyond the internal block version 1.0 |
| Specification | www.adobe.com |
ASE conversions
Community Q&A
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