3 file types use the .pd file extension.

What is a PD file?

A PD file is a design created by FlexiSIGN 5, a program used to professionally design, print, and cut signs. It contains a graphic design of a sign in a vector graphic format so that the image can be resized without losing quality. PD files may also store raster graphics and text.

More Information

Category: Vector Image Files

Spore Audio Playback File

A PD file may also be a Pure Data (Pd) file used by Spore, a creature evolution and survival video game. Spore's PD files are stored within the game's audio .PACKAGE files. They specify how background music plays and loops.

Pure Data is a visual programming language that developers can use to create interactive computer music. Electronic Arts has created their own version of Pure Data, called EAPd, which is embedded into Spore. EAPd uses PD files to play in-game music.

Spore PD files are plain text files, so you can open and edit them in any text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad (Windows), Apple TextEdit (Mac), or GitHub Atom (cross-platform).

Programs that open or reference PD files

Updated: October 27, 2021

Pure Data Patch

A PD file may also be a patch used by the Pure Data visual programming environment. It contains a program that can be opened in a Pure Data environment and used to create music or other multimedia. PD files are plain text files, so you can also open them and view their contents in any text editor.

Pure Data (Pd) is a visual programming language and environment that developers can use to develop interactive music-creation programs. To create a Pd program, developers connect Pd objects together. Each object typically controls some aspect of the audio that the program produces, such as the audio's frequency or volume.

Pd programs are referred to as patches, and they are saved as PD files. PD files can contain any number of objects. They may also contain comments about how to use the program the PD file contains.

When viewed in a text editor, PD files' contents appear as a series of lines of text. These lines of text define the canvas, objects, and other items that appear in Pd. Each line of text begins with a # combined with a letter (such as #N, #X, or #A) and ends with a semicolon.

PD files are meant to be opened as Pure Data patches. To open a PD file in the default version of Pd, select File → Open from the program's menu bar. Then, navigate to and open your PD file.

You can also open a PD file as a plain text document in any text editor, to review the Pd code it contains.

Programs that open PD files

Updated: October 27, 2021