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Beginner · 20 min

Turn an image into a SCREEN$

Convert a PNG or JPEG into the exact 6912-byte Spectrum screen format and add it to the tape.

STEP 01

Open Graphics Studio

Create a new SCREEN$ graphic, then import the source image.

STEP 02

Choose the conversion

Use Fit to preserve the whole image, Crop to Fill for edge-to-edge art, or Stretch when exact aspect ratio matters less.

STEP 03

Inspect the real result

Judge the 256×192 preview and the 8×8 colour cells. Colour clash is a machine constraint, not a preview defect.

STEP 04

Add it deliberately

Choose Use as Loading Screen, then confirm the SCREEN$ block appears before the code that loads or displays it.

SCREEN$ Graphic Editor with an editable DZX STUDIO title selected on a black canvas, the text layer in Layers, cyan ink, black paper, BRIGHT and selection coordinates.
Keep the title editable

A bright-cyan DZX STUDIO text layer at X 40, Y 64. Its selection, colour palette and 8 × 8 attribute grid remain available before rasterizing.

ZX Spectrum Graphic Editor displaying the original computer photograph converted to the Spectrum colour palette.
A photograph, in Spectrum pixels

The original ZX Spectrum photograph converted to a 256 × 192 SCREEN$ in the Graphic Editor.

Photograph: Bill Bertram · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Converted to SCREEN$.
Tape Layout Editor showing Screen1 at address 16384 before the main BASIC program.
The order on the tape

A 6912-byte loading SCREEN$ followed by the BASIC program in the Tape Layout Editor.

Expected result

Convert a PNG or JPEG into the exact 6912-byte Spectrum screen format and add it to the tape.