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Pic to PCX Converter

Convert PNG, JPG, and other formats to ZSoft Paintbrush true-color PCX images offline.

Drag & Drop Your Images Here

Supports PNG, JPG, WEBP, GIF, BMP, SVG, TIFF (Max 20MB per file)

Transformation Settings

Width (px)
Height (px)

Opaque formats like PCX do not support alpha transparency. Transparent pixels will be filled with this solid background color.

Understanding the ZSoft PCX File Format Structure

The Personal Computer eXchange (PCX) format was one of the earliest widely accepted graphics file formats on MS-DOS and Windows platforms, popularized by the PC Paintbrush software. Operating as an uncompressed or simple run-length compressed bitmap file, PCX is highly lightweight. A standard PCX file consists of a fixed-size 128-byte header followed by the image data:

  • Manufacturer: Always set to 10 (represented as 0x0A in hex) to indicate ZSoft Corporation.
  • Version: Version number indicating color configuration capabilities. Version 5 supports 24-bit true color images.
  • Encoding: Set to 1 to indicate ZSoft Run-Length Encoding (RLE) compression.
  • Bits Per Pixel per Plane: Always 8 bits for 24-bit true-color images.
  • Color Planes: Set to 3 planes (Red, Green, and Blue) to store 24-bit RGB datasets.
  • Bytes Per Scanline: The buffer length per plane scanline. In accordance with PCX requirements, this value must always be an **even number** to maintain byte alignment. If the image width is odd, a dummy pad byte is added.
  • Pixel Data: Raw pixel planes packed scanline-by-scanline and compressed using ZSoft RLE.

How ZSoft RLE Compression Works

ZSoft PCX compression is a simple byte-oriented RLE (Run-Length Encoding) scheme:

  • It analyzes sequential bytes inside each scanline plane.
  • If it finds a run of identical bytes (up to 63 bytes), it packs them: the first byte acts as a count byte (with the top two bits set to 11, i.e., 0xC0 | runLength), and the second byte holds the actual color value.
  • If a byte is unique (run length of 1) and its value is less than 192 (0xC0), it is written directly in 1 byte. If its value is 192 or higher, it must be written using the 2-byte RLE code even with a count of 1.
  • RLE sequences never cross scanline boundaries, preventing buffer overflow errors in legacy decoders.

Solid Background Blending: Handling Transparency

Modern web formats like PNG and WEBP support alpha transparency. Since PCX is an older, opaque format without an alpha channel, transparent pixels must be flattened. Our tool blends transparent layers with your selected backdrop color picker (defaulting to white) before RLE encoding occurs, preserving visual clarity.

Actionable PCX Integration & Best Practices Checklist

1. Keep Aspect Ratio Locked for Resizing

When resizing your target images for legacy MS-DOS games or retro setups, keep aspect ratios locked to prevent stretching.

2. Handle Transparency Proactively

Since PCX is opaque, check your transparent PNG assets. Adjust the background color picker to make sure text remains legible.

3. Verify Even Scanline Alignment

Our compiler automatically adds padding bytes for odd-width layouts, guaranteeing full compliance with retro decoders.

4. Secure Client-Side Execution

Our converter processes files locally in the browser sandbox. No images are sent to any remote database.

PCX Specifications

MIME Type

image/x-pcx

Color System

24-bit True Color (RGB, 3 planes at 8 bits per pixel per plane).

Compression Method

ZSoft Run-Length Encoding (RLE) with a maximum run count of 63 bytes.

Header Size

Fixed 128 bytes with even-aligned bytes per scanline setting.

Why PCX?

PCX is a classic format used extensively in classic DOS games, hardware emulator pipelines, and legacy desktop publishing files. Its simplicity and low computing requirement make it highly useful for retro hobbyists.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a PCX image file?

PCX (Personal Computer eXchange) is a raster graphics file format developed by ZSoft Corporation. It was the native format of PC Paintbrush and became one of the first standard image formats used in Windows and MS-DOS environments.

What color formats does this converter support?

This tool converts your color images (PNG, JPG, WEBP) to 24-bit True Color PCX files. It organizes the pixel data into 3 separate color planes (Red, Green, Blue) at 8 bits per pixel per plane, ensuring full color depth is preserved.

How is ZSoft RLE compression configured?

It encodes runs of identical bytes. If a color value repeats, it writes a length byte (values 193 to 255) followed by the actual pixel color byte. Unique bytes below 192 are written directly as single bytes, saving space without any quality loss (lossless compression).

Why does PCX need even bytes per scanline?

The original ZSoft PCX specifications require that each scanline plane's byte length be an even number. If the image has an odd number of pixels in width, our tool automatically appends a trailing 0 padding byte to ensure perfect compatibility with legacy readers.

Does PCX support transparent layers?

No. PCX files are opaque and do not contain an alpha transparency channel. Transparent pixels in your source graphics are automatically blended with your chosen backdrop color picker (defaulting to white) before encoding.

Is the PCX conversion safe?

Yes. All file encoding is executed locally in your browser sandbox using HTML5 Canvas. No image data is transmitted to external servers, providing 100% security.

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