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PSD File Format Structure?

Started by Xempest Apr 21, 2004 at 11:19 PM 2 replies 400+ views

Original Post

Apr 21, 2004 at 11:19 PM

I''ve been searching for detailed information on the .PSD file format, the native image format from Photoshop. The best resource that I have found (a long PDF) is compliant with the 4.0 release of Photoshop. This is a bit outdated. I''m wondering if anyone has any information, or can write up a quick summary of the current PSD file format, as of v8.0 (Photoshop CS).

silvermace

Apr 22, 2004 at 2:17 AM

the Photoshop file format is an advanced one, i dont think
any summary will really help.

your best bet is the Adobe Photoshop CS - SDK
http://partners.adobe.com/asn/photoshop/index.jsp

or you could just try reverse engineer the 7.0/CS format based
on the PDF you have as there will probably only be slight
changes.
Make a simple document, say 30x30 pixels and add in 1 or 2 pixls
and go from there.

Hope that helps

Xempest

Apr 22, 2004 at 6:37 AM

I was trying to avoid using the SDK, as Adobe charges you a $195 minimum to join their developers'' network. Not very convenient. I have taken a look at a PSCS PSD in a hex editor, and in a regular text editor. It seems to have some scripting language at the beginning of it, then later cuts in to something similar to what I found in the 4.0 format specification. I have tried saving a small image from each version after 4.0, to see what changes exist, but I haven''t really looked into it yet. I was hoping maybe someone with access to the Photoshop CS SDK, or an older SDK from Photoshop, could help me out with this file format.

mfawcett

Apr 22, 2004 at 9:38 AM

The DevIL (OpenIL) Image Loading library supports PSDs, and it''s open source, so you could head on over to sourceforge and check it out.

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