{"id":"image-vnd-zbrush-pcx","mimeType":"image/vnd.zbrush.pcx","name":"Pixologic ZBrush PCX","shortName":"ZBrush-PCX","category":"3D Graphics \u0026 Gaming","extensions":[".pcx"],"description":"The image/vnd.zbrush.pcx MIME type represents a vendor-specific registration of the legacy ZSoft PCX (PiCture eXchange) image format, explicitly mapped for Pixologic's (now Maxon) ZBrush digital sculpting software. Structurally, it is identical to a standard PCX file. Historically, before PSD and 32-bit TIFF/EXR became the industry standards, ZBrush heavily utilized the 8-bit grayscale PCX format to import and export alpha brushes, height maps, and basic texture maps due to its simple, lossless Run-Length Encoding (RLE).","seo":{"title":"image/vnd.zbrush.pcx MIME Type | Developer Reference for ZBrush PCX","description":"Complete reference for the image/vnd.zbrush.pcx MIME type: Pixologic ZBrush history, PCX alphas, Run-Length Encoding, and legacy 3D texturing.","faqs":[{"question":"Is a ZBrush PCX file different from a standard PCX file?","answer":"Structurally, no. It is a standard ZSoft PCX file. Pixologic simply registered the image/vnd.zbrush.pcx MIME type with IANA to ensure proper file association and content negotiation for ZBrush assets (like alpha brushes and textures) within their software ecosystem."},{"question":"Why did ZBrush use the PCX format?","answer":"In the early days of 3D sculpting (early to mid-2000s), PCX was a widely supported, lightweight format that provided simple, lossless Run-Length Encoding (RLE). It was perfect for storing the 8-bit grayscale images ZBrush uses for alpha brushes and basic displacement maps."},{"question":"Can I open a ZBrush PCX file in Photoshop?","answer":"Yes. Because it is a standard PCX file under the hood, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, ImageMagick, and most standard image editors can open, edit, and save it without any special ZBrush plugins."}]},"index":{"compression":["Run-Length Encoding (RLE)"],"browserSupport":{"score":1,"label":"None"},"commonUses":["Legacy ZBrush Alpha Brushes","8-bit Grayscale Displacement Maps","ZBrush Texture Exports"]},"technical":{"magicBytes":{"hex":"0A 05 01 08","ascii":"\\x0A\\x05\\x01\\x08"},"container":"ZSoft PCX","compressionAlgorithm":["ZSoft Run-Length Encoding (RLE)"],"colorDepth":["8-bit (Grayscale)","24-bit (RGB)"],"transparency":false,"animation":false,"metadata":{"exif":false,"xmp":false,"iccProfile":false},"alphaChannel":false,"progressiveLoading":false,"hdrSupport":false},"history":{"developer":"ZSoft (Format) / Pixologic (MIME Registration)","released":"1985","specification":"ZSoft PCX File Format Technical Reference"},"browserSupport":{"chrome":false,"chromeVersion":"None","firefox":false,"firefoxVersion":"None","safari":false,"safariVersion":"None","edge":false,"edgeVersion":"None","internetExplorer":false},"softwareSupport":[{"name":"ZBrush (Maxon)","logo":""},{"name":"Adobe Photoshop","logo":""},{"name":"GIMP","logo":"gimp.svg"},{"name":"ImageMagick","logo":"image-magic.webp"}],"conversion":{"convertTo":["psd","tiff","png","exr"],"convertFrom":["psd","tiff","png","jpeg"]},"developer":{"httpHeaders":[{"header":"Content-Type","value":"image/vnd.zbrush.pcx"},{"header":"Content-Type","value":"image/x-pcx"}],"htmlAccept":"image/vnd.zbrush.pcx, image/x-pcx, .pcx","fileDetection":["Check the first byte for the standard PCX manufacturer ID: 0x0A (10).","The second byte indicates the version (e.g., 0x05 for version 3.0, which supports 24-bit color).","The third byte indicates encoding (0x01 for RLE).","The fourth byte indicates bits per pixel per plane (usually 0x08)."]},"prosCons":{"pros":["Extremely simple, lossless RLE compression makes it trivial to parse and encode programmatically","Universally supported by almost every 2D image editor created since the 1990s"],"cons":["Completely obsolete for modern 3D workflows, which require 16-bit or 32-bit floating-point precision (like OpenEXR or TIFF) to avoid stepping artifacts in displacement maps","No support for modern metadata (EXIF/XMP) or native alpha channels","Zero native support in modern web browsers"]},"specifications":{"url":"https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/vnd.zbrush.pcx","rfc":"","mimeAliases":["image/x-pcx","image/pcx"]},"developerSnippets":{"python":"import magic\n# Libmagic detects the standard PCX header, outputting 'image/x-pcx'. It will not specify the ZBrush vendor type.\nprint(magic.from_file('alpha_brush.pcx', mime=True)) # Outputs 'image/x-pcx'","nodejs":"const FileType = require('file-type');\nconst type = await FileType.fromFile('alpha_brush.pcx');\nconsole.log(type.mime); // Generally outputs 'image/x-pcx'. The ZBrush specific MIME is rarely utilized by general sniffers.","go":"import (\n    \"bytes\"\n    \"net/http\"\n)\n// http.DetectContentType will not natively recognize PCX. A custom check is needed:\n// isPCX := len(buf) \u003e 4 \u0026\u0026 buf[0] == 0x0A \u0026\u0026 buf[1] \u003c= 0x05 \u0026\u0026 buf[2] == 0x01","php":"$mime = mime_content_type('alpha_brush.pcx');\necho $mime; // Standard setups will often resolve this to 'image/x-pcx'"},"relatedFormats":["pcx","psd","tiff","exr"]}