A Python GUI application for viewing and converting vintage and legacy image formats including .ART (AOL Art), .MAC (MacPaint), .PIC (PICtor), .PCX (PC Paintbrush), and .TIF (TIFF).
- Multi-format support: Open .ART, .MAC, .PIC, .PCX, and .TIF image files
- User-friendly GUI: Clean interface with file browser and navigation
- Image navigation: Browse through all supported images in a directory
- Previous/Next buttons
- Keyboard shortcuts (Left/Right arrow keys)
- Automatic directory scanning
- Export capability: Save opened images as PNG format
- Scrollable canvas: View large images with scrollbars
- Format auto-detection: Automatically identifies file format variants
- Robust decoding: Handles multiple format variants and compression schemes
- Multiple variants: AOL compressed, PFS First Publisher, standard bitmap
- Various compression schemes including RLE
- Color depths: 1, 4, 8, or 24-bit
- Platform: DOS/Windows (1991+)
- Standard 576×720 monochrome images
- PackBits RLE compression
- PNTG variant support
- Platform: Classic Macintosh (1984)
- PICtor format (DOS/PC)
- PNTG variant (Macintosh/PC)
- RLE and PackBits compression
- Color depths: 1, 4, or 8-bit
- Platform: DOS/PC/Mac (1984-1990)
- Industry standard DOS format
- PCX RLE compression
- Monochrome, EGA, VGA, and true color support
- Color depths: 1, 4, 8, or 24-bit
- Planar and packed modes
- Platform: DOS/Windows (1985+)
- Modern industry standard format
- Multiple compression options (LZW, PackBits, JPEG, ZIP, etc.)
- Full color depth support
- Cross-platform
- Platform: All (1986-present)
- Python 3.7 or higher
- Pillow (PIL Fork) for image handling
- tkinter (usually included with Python)
pip install -r requirements.txtThe requirements.txt contains:
Pillow>=9.0.0
python vintage_image_viewer.py- Click "Open Image" button or use File → Open Image menu
- Browse and select an image file (.art, .mac, .pic, .pcx, .tif, .tiff)
- The image will be displayed in the viewer
When you open an image, the viewer automatically scans the directory for other supported images:
- Next button or Right arrow key: View next image in directory
- Previous button or Left arrow key: View previous image in directory
- Status bar shows current position (e.g., "3/12")
- Open an image file
- Click "Save as PNG" button or use File → Save as PNG menu
- Choose a destination and filename for the PNG export
- The image will be converted and saved
Comprehensive technical documentation for each format is available in the FileFormatDocumentation/ directory:
- ART Format - AOL Art format specification
- MAC Format - MacPaint format specification
- PIC Format - PICtor/PNTG format specification
- PCX Format - PC Paintbrush format specification
- TIF Format - TIFF format specification
Each document includes:
- File structure details
- Compression algorithms
- Decoding procedures
- Common challenges and solutions
- Historical context
- Implementation references
The application includes custom decoders for legacy formats:
- Handles various ART format variants
- Supports word-aligned scanline padding
- Multiple decompression algorithms
- Fallback detection for unknown variants
- Decodes MacPaint files (576×720, 1-bit monochrome)
- PackBits compression support
- PNTG variant detection and handling
- 512-byte header processing
- Dual-mode decoder (PICtor and PNTG)
- Format signature detection
- RLE and PackBits compression
- Palette handling and color scaling
- Full PCX specification support
- Monochrome, EGA, VGA, and true color
- Planar and packed pixel modes
- 16-color and 256-color palettes
- Scanline-based RLE decompression
- Uses PIL's native TIFF support
- Handles all standard TIFF variants
- Automatic color mode conversion
- Support for all TIFF compression types
- PackBits RLE: Used in .MAC and PNTG formats
- PCX RLE: Specialized run-length encoding for PCX
- AOL RLE: Variant used in some .ART files
- PICtor RLE: Simple RLE for PICtor format
- TIFF compressions: LZW, JPEG, ZIP, and more (via PIL)
vintageimageviewe/
├── vintage_image_viewer.py # Main application
├── README.md # This file
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
├── CHANGELOG.md # Version history
├── PROJECT_SUMMARY.md # Project overview
├── FileFormatDocumentation/ # Format documentation
│
│ ├── ART.md # AOL Art format spec
│ ├── MAC.md # MacPaint format spec
│ ├── PIC.md # PICtor/PNTG format spec
│ ├── PCX.md # PCX format spec
│ └── TIF.md # TIFF format spec
└── [sample files] # Test images in various formats
These are vintage file formats from the 1980s-1990s era, with the exception of TIFF which remains current. The decoder attempts to handle various format variants, but some exotic or corrupted files may not load properly.
- Multiple variants: Some extensions (.ART, .PIC) are used by incompatible formats
- Misleading headers: PNTG files contain incorrect dimension information
- Scanline alignment: Many formats use word-aligned scanlines with padding
- Endianness: Mac formats use big-endian, PC formats use little-endian
- Color scaling: Vintage palettes use 6-bit color requiring scaling to 8-bit
The decoders implement format detection cascades and fallback strategies to handle these challenges gracefully.
To add support for a new format:
- Create a new decoder class (e.g.,
NewFormatDecoder) - Implement the
decode(file_path)static method - Add format detection in
open_file()and_load_file_by_index() - Update file type filters
- Update
_scan_directory()supported extensions - Create format documentation in
FileFormatDocumentation/ - Update this README
Test with various file variants:
- Minimum size images
- Maximum size images
- Different compression types
- Corrupted/truncated files
- Edge cases (non-zero origins, unusual dimensions)
Free to use and modify.
- Format specifications reverse-engineered from actual vintage files
- PackBits algorithm from Apple Technical Note TN1023
- PCX specification from ZSoft Technical Reference Manual
- TIFF support via Pillow library (PIL Fork)
Last updated: 2025-11-04