Full Name	PCD (Kodak Photo CD)
Format ID	ImGearFormats.PCD
File Extension(s)	*.pcd
Data Type	Raster Image
Data Encoding	Binary
Multi-Page Support	No
Alpha Channel Support	No
Metadata Update Support	No
ImageGear Platforms Support	WIN32, WIN64, Unix, Unix64, .NET, .NET64, MAC

ImageGear Supported Versions

All valid PCD files in 5 different resolutions:

• Resolution 1: 768x512
• Resolution 2: 384x256
• Resolution 3: 192x128
• Resolution 4: 1536x1024
• Resolution 5: 3072x2048

ImageGear Supported Features

• IGFilterFormatFlags.DETECTSUPPORT - autodetection
• IGFilterFormatFlags.PAGEREADSUPPORT - single page file reading
• IGFilterFormatFlags.MPAGEREADPSUPPORT - multi-page file reading

ImageGear Read Support

• ImGearCompressions.NONE - RGB: 24 bpp
• ImGearCompressions.HUFFMAN - RGB: 24 bpp

ImageGear Write Support

No

ImageGear Filter Control Parameters

Filter Control Parameter	Type	Default Value	Available Values	Description
Resolution	int	0	0..4	Resolution level to load: 0 = load last (largest) resolution (Resolution 5: 3072x2048) 1 = load second to last resolution (Resolution 4: 1536x1024) 2 = load middle resolution (Resolution 3: 192x128) 3 = load second resolution (Resolution 2: 384x256) 4 or higher = load first (smallest) resolution (Resolution 1: 768x512)

Comments

"Photo CD" is the informally adopted name for files created using the Photo CD-ROM-based storage and retrieval system created by Kodak. The images are digitized versions of photographic images. Using a Photo CD player, images can be viewed on television. Although intended for photographic images, the data source does not necessarily have to be film. Due to the large storage capacity of the CD medium, this format supports very large and/or intricate images.

Images and their associated information are stored in groups called "sessions". Originally, they were stored at the rate of one session per CD, but later versions allowed multiple sessions per disc.

For each stored image, there are up to 5 bitmaps, each representing the image at a different resolution. The bitmaps at the lowest resolution are intended for such purposes as displaying thumbnails and previewing an image.

To find out the number of resolutions in a PCD image, load image header using ImGearFileFormats.LoadPageHeader Method, and then check ImGearPage.Metadata.Common.ResolutionLayersCount property.

Note that resolutions in a PCD image are not ordered by size. See the list of resolutions and their sizes in the format description above.

References Used

Murray, James D. and William vanRyper. Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1994.