Free Online PICT Viewer (No Signup)
Also opens DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES, IFC, SKP, STL, OBJ, GLB, FBX, 3DM and other 3D/CAD files. Drop any file on the viewer.
Works directly in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge
Also from Innerscene: Circadian Lab, a free lighting calculator for room illuminance, melanopic EML, and glare.
What Is a PICT File?
PICT is the picture format of Apple’s QuickDraw, the drawing layer of the Macintosh from 1984 to Mac OS 9. A PICT file is a recorded list of QuickDraw drawing commands: bitmaps and colour pixel maps, lines, rectangles, ovals, polygons and text, and, from QuickTime on, compressed JPEG pictures. Version 2 added colour and high-resolution pixel maps. Files saved to disk usually start with an empty 512-byte header and carry the .pict or .pct extension; some use .pic.
The Mac clipboard, MacPaint and MacDraw, Photoshop, scanner software and page-layout programs such as QuarkXPress, PageMaker and ClarisWorks all used PICT, so it turns up in clip-art collections, CD-ROM artwork, old scans and the picture folders of 1990s design projects. Current versions of macOS and Windows no longer open it. This viewer reads it with its own decoder, in your browser.
The picture opens at its full resolution. It exports as PNG, JPG or PDF, so an old Mac picture can go into a current document, a web page or an archive.
Who Uses PICT Files?
Designers and architects reopening artwork, scans and clip art from Mac OS 9 and earlier, archivists and librarians sorting old Mac disks and CD-ROMs, and anyone who found a folder of .pict files and has no program left that opens them, on Windows, a current Mac, a Chromebook or a phone.
Common Use Cases
- Open a .pict or .pct file from an old Mac without classic software
- Look through clip-art collections and CD-ROM artwork from the 1990s
- Recover the pictures placed in old QuarkXPress, PageMaker and ClarisWorks documents
- View old scans saved as PICT at their full scan resolution
- Save a PNG, JPG or PDF of a PICT for a current document or an archive
- Find out a PICT file’s version, picture size and resolution
Features
PICT Version 1 and 2
Files with or without the 512-byte header, from the black and white Mac to the colour pictures of Mac OS 9.
Bitmaps and Pixel Maps
1, 2, 4 and 8-bit indexed pictures with their colour table, 1-bit black and white, and 16 and 32-bit colour, PackBits compressed or plain.
QuickTime JPEG
JPEG, PNG and GIF pictures compressed by QuickTime are decoded and placed where the PICT draws them.
Drawn Shapes
Lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, ovals and polygons are drawn in their colour.
High-Resolution Scans
A 300 dpi scan in a 72 dpi frame is drawn at the resolution of its bitmap, up to 40 megapixels.
.pic Files Too
A PICT saved as .pic is recognised by its contents and opens like any other.
Text Chip
Text is left out of the picture, and a chip in the status line says when a picture had text.
Files Cut Short
A truncated file shows what it drew before the end.
Export to PNG, JPG or PDF
Save the picture from the Export menu for a current document, a web page or an archive.
Nothing Is Uploaded
The picture is decoded entirely in your browser. No account, no upload, no copy of your file on a server.
Share and Embed
Send a link that opens the picture in any browser, or put the viewer in your own page with one iframe.
Compatibility & Format Notes
The viewer reads PICT version 1 and version 2 files, with or without the 512-byte file header. Bitmaps and pixel maps are drawn from their BitsRect, BitsRgn, PackBitsRect and PackBitsRgn records (1, 2, 4 and 8-bit indexed pictures with their colour table, and 1-bit black and white) and from DirectBitsRect and DirectBitsRgn (16-bit and 32-bit colour, PackBits compressed or plain).
QuickTime compressed pictures stored inside a PICT (JPEG, also PNG and GIF) are decoded by your browser and placed where the PICT draws them. Lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles (drawn with square corners), ovals and polygons are drawn in their colour. High-resolution pictures, such as 300 dpi scans in a 72 dpi frame, are drawn at the resolution of their bitmap, up to 40 megapixels.
Text, arcs and fill patterns are left out, and the status line says when a picture had text. A file that was cut short shows what it drew before the end. Nothing is sent to a server.
Embed on Your Website
Add this viewer to your own site with a single line of HTML. Click Embed in the toolbar to generate an embed code, or use the snippet below with your own file URL.
Your Files Stay on Your Computer
Your PICT files are parsed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or shared unless you explicitly click the Share button. Shared files are hosted for 90 days then deleted.
Frequently Asked Questions
▶How do I open a PICT file?
Drop it on this page. The viewer decodes the picture in your browser and shows it at full resolution, on Windows, a Mac, a Chromebook, Linux or a phone alike. From the Export menu you can save it as PNG, JPG or PDF.
▶My file ends in .pic. Does it open?
Yes, when it is a PICT. The .pic extension is also used by Softimage, PC Paint and Radiance, so the viewer looks at the contents of the file to tell which kind of picture it holds and opens each with its own reader.
▶Why is some text missing from my picture?
Text drawn by QuickDraw depends on the fonts of the Mac that made it, and the viewer leaves it out. Bitmaps, scans, JPEG pictures and drawn shapes are shown, and a chip in the status line says when the picture had text.
▶Is a high-resolution scan shown at full quality?
Yes. A PICT records its size at 72 dpi, but a scan stored at 300 dpi is drawn at the resolution of its bitmap, up to 40 megapixels, and a PNG export keeps that resolution.
▶Is this PICT viewer really free?
Yes, completely free. No signup, no watermarks, no file size limits on the viewer (the optional share-link feature has a 100 MB upload cap). Built by Innerscene as a tool for architects, engineers, and designers.
▶Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. All parsing, rendering, and conversion runs in your browser: nothing is uploaded, stored, or transmitted by default. The Share button is the only feature that uploads a file, and only when you explicitly click it.
▶Can I convert to another format?
Yes, to image formats. Click Export in the toolbar to save the picture as a PNG, a JPG or a PDF. The viewer does not write .pict.
▶Can I embed this viewer on my own site?
Yes. Click Embed in the toolbar to generate a one-line <iframe> snippet you can paste into any HTML page. You can choose whether the embed shows the viewer’s toolbar.
Apple, Macintosh, QuickDraw and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Inc. Innerscene is not affiliated with Apple.