# Truevision Targa File Format

# Truevision Targa File Format

Truevision defined the TGA file format in 1984 for use with its first videographics products. It was the first truecolor file format widely available. They are still widely used for images with alpha channels. It can store indexed, grayscale, RGB and ARGB images. Targas can be uncompressed or compressed with RLE (run length encoding) algorithm.

## Targa File Format Support

Format | TImageFormat equivalent | Loading | Saving
--- | --- | --- | ---
8 bit indexed | ifIndex8 | Yes | Yes
8 bit grayscale | ifGray8 | Yes | Yes
16 bit ARGB | ifA1R5G5B5 | Yes | Yes
24 bit RGB | ifR8G8B8 | Yes | Yes
32 bit ARGB | ifA8R8G8B8 | Yes | Yes
All above but RLE compressed | - | Yes | Yes
8 bit indexed Huffman, Delta, RLE | ifIndex8 | No | No
8 bit indexed Huffman, Delta, RLE, 4-pass | ifIndex8 | No | No

If anyone has some information about two last formats (TGA image type codes 32 and 33) please tell me.

When working with Targa files you can find useful some options which can be set by SetOption function and their current values can be get by GetOption function. Or you can set them by modifying properties of TTargaFileFormat class.

## Options Related to Targa Files

OptionId | Allowed Values | Usage
--- | --- | ---
ImagingTargaRLE | 0 (false) or 1 (true) | Indicates whether Targa image will be saved with or without RLE compression (efficient only for images with large areas of the same color). Default value is 0 (false).