PCPaint BSAVE

File Format
Name	PCPaint BSAVE
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Graphics PCPaint BSAVE
Extension(s)	.pic
Released	1984

PCPaint BSAVE refers to a raster image format associated with the PCPaint family of software. For more information about PCPaint and its other formats, see PCPaint PIC.

It is really a set of two formats, which we might call "standard" and "compressed".

Format details

Standard

Standard PCPaint BSAVE is a subformat and extension of BSAVE Image format.

The signature "PCPaint V1.0" or "PCPaint V1.5" usually appears in the file, usually at offset 8007. Following it are two bytes: one giving the palette (0 to 5), and one giving the color of the first palette entry (0 through 15).

Note that the version number in the signature does not necessarily indicate the version of PCPaint that created the file.

The extension does not appear in all BSAVE files created by PCPaint. It depends on the image type and PCPaint version.

Compressed

Compressed PCPaint BSAVE was introduced in PCPaint 1.5. It looks superficially like a BSAVE format, but it may be better to think of it as a special compressed file format. It can be decompressed to standard PCPaint BSAVE format in a straightforward manner.

It is identified by the "data size" field (two bytes at offset 5) being 0.

Starting at offset 11 is a sequence of compressed blocks, each with a 5-byte header, with the same format as in PCPaint PIC.

Identification

Standard:

The only way to distinguish standard PCPaint BSAVE from other BSAVE files is by the presence of the "PCPaint V1.0" or "PCPaint V1.5" signature, usually at offset 8007.

Compressed:

Known files start with bytes fd 00 b8 00 00 00 00 00 40 02 00 ?? ?? 00 20, though this might not account for all possible files. A less strict signature would be just the first 7 bytes.

The ASCII string "PCPaint V1.5" very likely appears somewhere in the file, but it is theoretically possible for it to be messed up by the compression.

Specifications

• Pictor PC Paint File Format Summary from the Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats - Section named "BSAVE format"

Software

• PCPaint/Pictor: Refer to PCPaint PIC#Software. Most PCPaint software can read compressed format, but perhaps only the hard-to-find v1.5 can create it.
• Deark

Sample files

Standard:

• PC Paint 1.00A, at WinWorld → *.PIC

Compressed:

• PC Paint 2.x, at WinWorld - About half of the included .PIC files are compressed BSAVE.