SCR to PBM Converter
FileFlip converts SCR to PBM entirely inside your browser, using ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an SCR file to PBM?#
- Drop your SCR file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to PBM and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs ImageMagick on your own machine.
- Save the PBM file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting SCR to PBM lose quality?#
No. Converting SCR to PBM writes the data out again without discarding any of it, so nothing that was in the SCR file is lost on the way. What changes is the size of the file, not what is inside it.
Is it safe to convert SCR files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts SCR files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What SCR to PBM actually does to the file#
Converting SCR to PBM runs on ImageMagick, downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, writes the data out again without discarding any of it.
| Engine | ImageMagick |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: SCR → PBM |
| Downloaded to your browser | 14.1 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Lossless |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
Worth knowing before you start:
- the target stores one bit per pixel, so the image is reduced to black and white
What is an SCR file?#
An SCR file is a byte-for-byte dump of a ZX Spectrum's display memory, always exactly 6,912 bytes, holding a fixed 256x192 pixel screen the way the Spectrum's own video hardware laid it out.
Use SCR when working directly with ZX Spectrum software or emulators, since it's the format those tools load and save natively without any conversion.
Convert SCR to PNG to view or share a ZX Spectrum screen anywhere outside an emulator or Spectrum-specific tool.
What is a PBM file?#
A PBM file stores a strictly black-and-white, one-bit-per-pixel raster image as plain ASCII characters or packed binary bits, in the Netpbm project's Portable Bitmap format.
Use PBM for a strictly black-and-white bitmap, such as a fax page or a stencil mask, that needs to move between tools without any image library.
Convert PBM to PNG once the image needs compression or has to sit alongside greyscale or colour images in the same pipeline.
SCR to PBM questions people ask#
What is an SCR file?
An SCR file is a raw snapshot of a ZX Spectrum's screen memory, the exact bytes the Spectrum's hardware used to draw the display. It's always 6,912 bytes: 6,144 bytes of pixel data followed by 768 bytes of colour attribute data.
What programs open SCR files?
ZX Spectrum emulators load SCR files directly into screen memory, and general image viewers like XnView MP can open and convert them. Spectrum-specific paint tools such as ZX-Paintbrush also read and write the format natively.
Why are SCR files always exactly 6,912 bytes?
An SCR file is a direct dump of the ZX Spectrum's fixed-size display memory, which is always 6,912 bytes on real hardware, so the file size never changes regardless of what the screen shows.
What does PBM stand for?
PBM stands for Portable Bitmap, the black-and-white member of the Netpbm family of image formats that Jef Poskanzer created to move images between Unix tools. It is the strictly one-bit sibling of the colour PPM and greyscale PGM formats.