B8 File

What are B8 files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a B8 file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your B8 files.

What is a B8 file?

A .B8 file is a Cubicomp PictureMaker Blue Channel Image Data file.

Cubicomp PictureMaker blue channel image data files store just the blue component of a full-color image as kept by the PictureMaker system from Cubicomp Corporation. PictureMaker creates full-color images by separately writing files for red, green, and blue channels, and this format holds the blue channel's pixel values alone.

This format is written by the PictureMaker software when exporting or saving image data in separate channel files. It is used together with corresponding red-channel (.R8) and green-channel (.G8) files - and optionally an alpha‐channel file - to reconstruct a complete 24-bit true-color image. These files were typical in workflows on MS-DOS systems during the time when high-end 3D animation and modeling required dividing color data for handling and storage.

The format supports any image size unless PictureMaker is set to force a fixed frame size of 512×488 pixels; images larger are truncated, smaller ones padded with black at right or bottom edges. True-color (24-bit) images are supported; 8-bit paletted PictureMaker files are not.

The first bytes of files in this format are 36 0C FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 at offset 0.

How to open B8 files

Important: Different programs may use files with the B8 file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your B8 file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 23, 2026

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