BLP Previewer

A Visual Studio Code extension that lets you open and preview BLP2 texture files directly in the editor — no external tools needed.

BLP2 is a proprietary texture format used by Blizzard Entertainment in games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and others.

Features

• Opens .blp files as a custom read-only editor
• Supports all major BLP2 encoding types:
  • DXT1 (opaque and punch-through alpha)
  • DXT3 (explicit 4-bit alpha)
  • DXT5 (interpolated alpha)
  • Palettized (256-color with 0/1/4/8-bit alpha)
  • Uncompressed ARGB
• Displays image dimensions
• Checkerboard background to visualise transparency
• Pure TypeScript — no native dependencies

Installation

From VSIX (recommended)

1. Download the latest .vsix from the Releases page
2. In VS Code: Extensions → ... menu → Install from VSIX…

Or via the command line:

code --install-extension blp-previewer-<version>.vsix

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/BoAW/BLP_Previewer.git
cd BLP_Previewer
npm install
npm run compile

Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host with the extension loaded.

To package:

npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package

Usage

Open any .blp file in VS Code. The extension automatically activates and renders the texture in a webview panel.

BLP2 Format Support

Encoding	Alpha type	Supported
DXT1	Opaque	✅
DXT1	Punch-through (1-bit)	✅
DXT3	Explicit 4-bit	✅
DXT5	Interpolated 8-bit	✅
Palettized	0/1/4/8-bit	✅
Uncompressed ARGB	—	✅
JPEG (type 0)	—	❌ (rare, not supported)
BLP1	—	❌ (out of scope)

Project Structure

src/
├── extension.ts          # Extension entry point
├── blpEditorProvider.ts  # Custom editor provider & webview host
└── blp2Parser.ts         # BLP2 binary parser (DXT1/3/5, palette, ARGB)

License

MIT