Full Name	Paintbrush (Intel multi-page FAX format)
Format ID	ImGearFormats.DCX
File Extension(s)	*.dcx
Data Type	Raster image
Data Encoding	Binary
Multi-Page Support	Yes
Alpha Channel Support	No
Metadata Update Support	No
ImageGear Platforms Support	WIN32, WIN64, Unix, Unix64, .NET, .NET64, MAC

ImageGear Supported Versions

N/A

ImageGear Supported Features

• IGFilterFormatFlags.DETECTSUPPORT - autodetection
• IGFilterFormatFlags.PAGEREADSUPPORT - single page file reading
• IGFilterFormatFlags.MPAGEREADPSUPPORT - multi-page file reading
• IGFilterFormatFlags.PAGEINSERTSUPPORT - single-page file writing
• IGFilterFormatFlags.MPAGEWRITEPSUPPORT - multipage file writing

ImageGear Read Support

• ImGearCompressions.NONE:
  • Indexed RGB: 1, 4, 8 bpp;
  • RGB: 24 bpp
• ImGearCompressions.RLE:
  • Indexed RGB: 1, 4, 8 bpp;
  • RGB: 24 bpp

ImageGear Write Support

• ImGearCompressions.NONE:
  • Indexed RGB: 1, 4, 8 bpp;
  • RGB: 24 bpp
• ImGearCompressions.RLE:
  • Indexed RGB: 1, 4, 8 bpp;
  • RGB: 24 bpp

ImageGear Filter Control Parameters

None

Comments

This file format was designed to allow multiple PCX files to be stored in one file. This is especially desirable for multi-page faxes (for which the PCX format is often used). Up to 1024 PCX images can be stored in one DCX file.

The DCX construct begins with a simple header, then the PCX files are simply stored end-to-end, complete with their individual headers and palettes. An array in the header called "Pagetable" contains offsets to each PCX. The one piece of vital information not stored with the PCX files under a DCX is their original filenames. See the PCX section of this manual for more about PCX files.

References Used

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