What is an 8BY file? An 8BY file is a parser plugin for the Windows version of Adobe Photoshop, an industry-standard image editor. It stores information that adds parsing capabilities to the software, which enables the program to open and work with additional image formats or embedded file information that it doesn’t natively support. Users can add 8BY plugins to the app by placing the files in the Plug-ins folder within the Photoshop application folder.

More Information A parser plugin interprets or “parses” particular data types or file formats so that Photoshop can understand and process them. For example, parser plugins can manage proprietary image formats from other software or handle specific metadata embedded in files, making the information accessible directly within the Photoshop interface. The Windows and Mac versions of Photoshop used 8BY files before Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah in 2001. However, Mac versions of Photoshop began using .PLUGIN packages instead of 8BY files. The Windows version of Photoshop supports various plugin types with file extensions representing different capabilities. For example, .8BF files are image filter plugins, .8BE files are export plugins, and .8BI files are format support plugins. NOTE: The discontinued PhotoDeluxe software also supports 8BY plugins. However, Adobe ended support for the software in 2002, replacing it with Photoshop Elements .