About
Block’Ed is a pixel editor for iPad and Mac. It draws artwork for the ZX Spectrum, the Timex and the ZX Spectrum Next, holding each picture in the form the machine displays it: attribute cells for a Spectrum screen, palette indices for a Next layer, patterns for sprites and tiles.
Machines
| Machine | Modes |
|---|---|
| ZX Spectrum | ULA screen with 8 × 8 attribute cells, with or without ULA+ |
| Timex | ULA screen, Hi-Colour with 8 × 1 attribute cells, Hi-Res |
| ZX Spectrum Next | every Spectrum and Timex mode, Layer 2 in 256 and 16 colours, LoRes in 256 and 16 colours, 4-bit and 8-bit sprites, and 4-bit tiles |
Each mode is described on Target Modes.
Documents
A Block’Ed document is a project with the extension .blked: a zip archive of named screens, sprites and tiles, each a PNG. Any program that reads PNG shows a part’s artwork; Block’Ed also stores what the PNG cannot hold, such as attribute cells, palettes, frames and assets. The format is specified on File Formats.
Platforms
Block’Ed runs on iPad and on Mac, built from the same source. The two apps open the same documents. Where they differ, a page says so at the point it applies, marked iPad only: or Mac only:.
Credits
Block’Ed is © 2026 Guy Black, at block-ed.app. It is written in Swift. It reads and writes projects with ZIPFoundation by Thomas Zoechling, under the MIT licence.