What is a PCX file
The PCX file extension was developed during the golden period of the PC age in the 1980s by ZSoft. Even though the PCX file format was one of the first bitmap image formats for DOS and Windows computers, in today's time it has been replaced by other, more common image file formats, including JPG, PNG, and GIF. While the usage of this file format is reduced more and more, ZSoft Corporation who developed the format is not in business anymore either.
This raster image was initially designed to support colored (24-bit) and greyscale (8-bit) images as well as indexed color images. Simple 1-bit black/white images were supported as well. Compression of PCX files was done with RLE encoding methods. Most contemporary image editing programs do not support PCX files anymore. However, some scanning or fax application may still support and use this image file format.
Here's a small, but not exhaustive list of programs that can open PCX documents:
- Adobe Photoshop CC
- Core PaintShop Pro X6
- Corel Presentations X7
- Microsoft Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
