File Extension Glossary

http://www.gateway2000.com/support/custserv/glossary/fileformat/p.htm (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)

*.pak*		Pack format. An MS-DOS compression format. Can create self-extraction archives.
*.pas*		Pascal programming language file format.
*.pbm*		Portable Bitmap file format. A lowest common denominator monochrome file format originally designed to make it reasonable to mail bitmaps between different types of machines. Now it serves as the common language of a large family of bitmap conversion filters.
*.pcd*		Kodak Photo CD file format. Used to store scanned photos. Each .pcd file contains a number of scans of the same image at different resolutions.
*.pcm*		Pulse Code Modulation format. A sound file format.
*.pct*		Picture format. Popular Macintosh graphics format used with page layout and graphics applications for transferring documents between applications. See .pic, .pict.
*.pcx*		ZSoft IBM PC Paintbrush file format. One of the oldest bitmapped formats popularized by MS-DOS paint programs that first appeared in the early 1980's.
*.pdf*		Portable Document File format. Adobe document reader that allows portability. Often used on the Web for better control of page layout.
*.pds*		Planetary Data System format. Created by the Planetary Branch of NASA to store solar, lunar, and planetary data collected both on Earth and by spacecraft.
*.pgm*		Portable GreyMap format. Used as an intermediate format for storing greyscale bitmap information. These files may be either binary or ASCII and store pixel values up to 8 bits in size.
*.pic, .pict*		Picure file format. This format is popular with many image programs, including Lotus PIC Graphics, Micrografx Draw!, Pegasus Imaging Corporation, and Video Show.
*.pict*		Picture file format. Popular Macintosh graphics format used with page layout and graphics applications for transferring documents between applications.
*.pid*		Process ID file format. The file used by HTTPd to record the daemon process ID.
*.pif*		Program Information File format. Stores additional information about executables that are foreign to the running multitasking system such as ressource usage, keyboard and mouse virtualization and hotkeys.
*.pit*		Macintosh PackIt format. Archives that were pioneers in Macintosh file compression and archiving but today are obsolete.
*.png*		Portable Network Graphics format. Provides a portable, legally unencumbered, well-compressed, well-specified standard for lossless bitmapped image files. Although the initial motivation for developing .png was to replace .gif, the design provides some useful new features not available in .gif, with minimal cost to developers.
*.pnt*		MacPaint format. Similar to PC paint applications.
*.pol*		InnovMetric Software Polygon Models format. Created to fill the need of storing data representing multi-contour, simple, planular, polygons using a binary file format.
*.pov*		Persistence of Vision Raytracing format. ASCII file used to store a scene description language used by the POV-Ray ray tracing software package.
*.ppm*		Portable PixMap format. Used as an intermediate format for storing color bitmap information. .ppm files may be either binary or ASCII and store pixel values up to 24 bits in size.
*.ppt*		PowerPoint format. Native file format used by Microsoft PowerPoint presentation software.
*.psd*		Native bitmap file format of the Adobe Photoshop graphical editing application.
*.ps, .psid*		PostScript file format.
*.pub*		Native file format of Microsoft Publisher, a program that aids in creating publishing materials.