How to Open/Convert Very Old Image Files

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Level 1

76 points

How to Open/Convert Very Old Image Files

I have some old image files from 1992-93. Most have no file extensions. Finder identifies them as two different file types, QuickDraw picture and Document. I believe the QD files are in PICT format, one of them has a .PICT extension, and another file has a .tiff extension. I was able to open most of the QD picts with File Converter, but have not been able to find a converter that will open the other files.

Any idea what format the other files might be in, or what will open them? I don't remember any other formats from back then other than PICT and TIFF. Was JPEG in use back then? I also don't remember what image editing software I was using back then on my Mac IIsi, probably Photoshop. If it makes any difference, the QD pictures were from a scanner, the others are artwork I created.

Posted on Nov 29, 2024 5:52 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Matti Haveri

Level 7

20,490 points

Nov 30, 2024 9:48 AM in response to John Baro1

John Baro1 wrote:

Just discovered that adding .PICT to the file names solves the problem. With that extension, XnViewMP recognizes and opens the files.

Yes, some apps are helpless and just give up when dealing with old Mac files which used file creator and type codes instead these dumbed down file suffixes newer OSs use. Some apps like GraphicConverter can sniff the file signature to figure out which kind of most image files are. GraphicConverter can sniff and add image suffixes via its Browser > Filesystem Attributes > Filename Extension > Verify and correct (some movie codes seem to be still missing so I might again nag GC author about that).

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Answer 2

John Baro1 Author

Level 1

76 points

Nov 30, 2024 8:56 AM in response to John Baro1

Just discovered that adding .PICT to the file names solves the problem. With that extension, XnViewMP recognizes and opens the files.

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Answer 3

John Baro1 Author

Level 1

76 points

Nov 30, 2024 5:54 PM in response to Matti Haveri

Matti Haveri wrote:

Yes, some apps are helpless and just give up when dealing with old Mac files which used file creator and type codes instead these dumbed down file suffixes newer OSs use.

I would think that a program that specializes in converting file formats would be able to check the resource fork for the 4 character file type code. None that I tried did that, at least not successfully. Now that I think about it, I believe there's a copy of ResEdit on my old iBook that will run in "classic mode".

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

137,109 points

Nov 29, 2024 6:05 PM in response to John Baro1

FWIW, you could try the free XnView MP and see if it will open any.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

137,109 points

Nov 30, 2024 9:00 AM in response to John Baro1

Any chance you could have saved them as proprietary Photoshop files (.psd) ? If so, you would need a copy of Photoshop that can open them.

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Answer 6

John Baro1 Author

Level 1

76 points

Nov 30, 2024 8:53 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Yes, GraphicConverter does support PICT. It opened the QuickDraw document files, which are PICT. I have a feeling the others are PICT too, since that's the only format I remember using back in the day. They don't seem to be recognized as such, but appear as executables.

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