The Microsoft DirectDraw Surface (.dds) file format is used to store textures and cubic environment maps, both with and without mipmap levels. This format can store uncompressed and compressed formats, and is the preferred file format for storing DXTn compressed data. This format was introduced with DirectX 7.0. In DirectX 8.0, support for volume textures was added. Many new games use DDS files to store their textures. More information on DDS files can be found in DirectX SDK documentation. Imaging supports loading and saving of all three types of DDS files - standard textures, cube maps and volume textures. Each of these types can be with or without mipmaps and compressed with DXTC. Pixel formats of DDS files supported by Imaging can be found in the table below.

D3DFORMAT	TImageFormat equivalent	Loading	Saving	D3DFMT_R3G3B2	ifR3G3B2	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_R5G6B5	ifR5G6B5	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_X1R5G5B5	ifX1R5G5B5	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_X4R4G4B4	ifX4R4G4B4	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_R8G8B8	ifR8G8B8	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8	ifX8R8G8B8	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A1R5G5B5	ifA1R5G5B5	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A4R4G4B4	ifA4R4G4B4	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8	ifA8R8G8B8	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A16B16G16R16	ifA16B16G16R16	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_L8	ifGray8	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A8L8	ifA8Gray8	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_L16	ifGray16	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_R32F	ifR32F	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_A32B32G32R32F	ifA32B32G32R32F	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_X8B8G8R8	ifX8R8G8B8	Yes	No	D3DFMT_A8B8G8R8	ifA8R8G8B8	Yes	No	D3DFMT_X8L8V8U8	ifX8R8G8B8	Yes	No	D3DFMT_Q8W8V8U8	ifA8R8G8B8	Yes	No	D3DFMT_Q16W16V16U16	ifA16B16G16R16	Yes	No	D3DFMT_V8U8	ifA8Gray8	Yes	No	D3DFMT_DXT1	ifDXT1	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_DXT3	ifDXT3	Yes	Yes	D3DFMT_DXT5	ifDXT5	Yes	Yes

When working with DDS 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 TDDSFileFormat class. Options are divided into two groups - loading options and saving options. Loading options have prefix ImagingDDSLoaded and they store some properties of the last loaded DDS file. You can use saving options with prefix ImagingDDSSave to tell Imaging how to save the next DDS file (save settings persist until they are changed by SetOption call) - ordinary texture or volume texture with mipmaps or other? You can learn how to use these options and how to load and save DDS files in Loading and Saving DDS Files section.

OptionId	Allowed Values	Usage	ImagingDDSLoadedCubeMap	0 (false) or 1 (true)	Indicates whether the last loaded DDS file contained cube environment map or not.	ImagingDDSLoadedVolume	0 (false) or 1 (true)	Indicates whether the last loaded DDS file contained volume texture or not.	ImagingDDSLoadedMipMapCount	1 to N	Number of mip map levels of the last loaded DDS file.	ImagingDDSLoadedDepth	1 to N	Depth (slices of volume texture or faces of cube map) of the last loaded DDS file.	ImagingDDSSaveCubeMap	0 (false) or 1 (true)	Indicates whether DDS files will be saved as cube environment map or not. Default value is 0 (false).	ImagingDDSSaveVolume	0 (false) or 1 (true)	Indicates whether DDS files will be saved as volume texture or not. Default value is 0 (false).	ImagingDDSSaveMipMapCount	1 to N	Number of mip map levels to be saved to the next saved DDS file. Default value is 1.	ImagingDDSSaveDepth	1 to N	Depth (slices of volume texture or faces of cube map) of the next saved DDS file. Default value is 1.