PICT

File Format
Name	PICT
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Graphics PICT
Extension(s)	.pict, .pct, .pic
MIME Type(s)	image/x-pict, image/pict
PRONOM	fmt/341, x-fmt/80
Released	1984

PICT, or QuickDraw/PICT, is a graphics file format native to Macintosh computers. It is associated with the QuickDraw API.

Though it is a vector format, it is often used as if it were a raster format. Many files contain just a single bitmap image.

PICT format is complicated and quirky. Although plenty of documentation about it exists, there does not appear to be any single source that provides a reasonably clear and complete specification.

Identification

A version 1 PICT file has (hex) bytes 11 01 at offset 522, and ends with ff.

A version 2 PICT file has bytes 00 11 02 ff 0c 00 at offset 522, and ends with 00 ff.

Application data

Custom application data can be stored in PICT files by using the "LongComment" opcode. Each comment has an integer that identifies its "kind".

• A file with a list of comment kinds

Notable comment kinds:

• 100 is an Application Comment (see below).
• 220 is used for ICC profile data.
• 498 appears to be related to Photoshop, though it might also be used for other things.

The "kind" does little to identify the application, or prevent collisions. A better way is to use kind 100, which has a standard way to include a 4-byte application signature.

Related formats

• Many bitmap images are compressed using PackBits.
• Opcodes 0x8200 and 0x8201 use a format based on QuickTime or QTIF. This, in turn, is often used as a wrapper for an image in JPEG format.
• PICT is used for graphics stored within Keynote documents.
• Encapsulated PostScript

Specifications

• Inside Macintosh: Imaging With QuickDraw
• PICT File Format Notes
• Macintosh Technical Note QD14 (a.k.a. TN21): QuickDraw's Internal Picture Definition - PICT version 1 (from archive.org)
• PICT.ZIP - Probably a lot of information here, but in inconvenient formats
• Macintosh Technical Note QD06 (a.k.a TN181): Every Picture [Comment] Tells Its Story, Don't It? - PICT Application Comments (from archive.org)
• HELIOS ICC profile tagging specifications - Tells how to embed an ICC profile in a PICT file

Software

• Netpbm
• ImageMagick
• IrfanView

Sample files

• http://www.fileformat.info/format/macpict/sample/index.htm
• http://cd.textfiles.com/cdreview/cdreview66/PCT01_01/PC0101P/
• http://cd.textfiles.com/fantaziasampler/CLIPART/PCT/ - Version 1
• http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/geology/lazarus/ch7/pict_plots/ - Vector-only PICTs

Resources

• Macintosh PICT File Format Summary, from the Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats
• ExifTool: PICT Tags
• Wikipedia article