GeoTIFF to PFM Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Convert PFM to PNG or JPG to get a viewable tone-mapped preview of float data. If your files are still in GeoTIFF format, this page is the shortcut: GeoTIFF is a TIFF that carries its geography: embedded tags map every pixel to real-world coordinates and projection (EPSG codes), making it the standard interchange format for satellite imagery, drone orthomosaics and GIS raster layers.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How to convert GeoTIFF to PFM
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your GeoTIFF files onto the area above, or click to browse. You can add multiple files at once for batch conversion.
- 2
Convert instantly
Click "Convert to PFM". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted PFM file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
About the GeoTIFF format
GeoTIFF answers a question plain TIFF cannot: where on Earth is this pixel? It is a regular TIFF image plus a set of metadata tags — ModelPixelScale and ModelTiepoint map pixel rows and columns to projected coordinates, and GeoKeyDirectory stores the projection itself as EPSG codes (UTM zones, Web Mercator, national grids). The result is the de-facto standard for satellite scenes, Landsat/Sentinel downloads, drone orthomosaics, elevation models and every GIS raster layer that has to survive being emailed between software.
Because the geography lives in TIFF tags, the pixel data is ordinary imagery — which means converting GeoTIFF to PNG, JPG or WebP is really just decoding a TIFF and dropping the map metadata. That is exactly what you want for previews: a web page, a slide deck or a chat message has no idea what an EPSG code is, but it will happily show the image. What you lose in the conversion is the georeference itself, so keep the original .tif whenever the file feeds back into QGIS or ArcGIS.
+Strengths
- ✓Self-describing: image + coordinates + projection in one file
- ✓Read by every GIS tool (QGIS, ArcGIS, GDAL, Google Earth)
- ✓Supports 16-bit, float, multi-band and tiled storage
!Limitations
- −Converting to PNG/JPG discards the georeference
- −Files are large — TIFF has no strong compression by default
- −Overkill for images that never touch a map
About the PFM format
PFM (Portable Float Map) stores pixels as raw 32-bit floating-point values — no palette, no compression tricks, just the numbers. It belongs to the Netpbm family (PBM/PGM/PPM) and is the lingua franca for handing high-dynamic-range data between renderers, tone-mapping experiments and radiance research scripts.
Because the values are floats, a PFM can hold sunlight and candlelight in the same image without clipping. Viewers rarely open it directly: convert to PNG or JPG to get a tone-mapped preview of the same data.
+Strengths
- ✓Full floating-point precision
- ✓Dead-simple text/binary layout
- ✓Widely read by research tooling
!Limitations
- −Enormous files (16 bytes per pixel)
- −Almost no viewer support
Why convert GeoTIFF to PFM?
Converting makes sense where the strengths of PFM meet what GeoTIFF cannot give you. Full floating-point precision Meanwhile Converting to PNG/JPG discards the georeference One pass through the converter above puts your file on the right side of that trade-off.
Frequently asked questions
Is this GeoTIFF to PFM converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Will I lose quality converting GeoTIFF to PFM?
No — PFM is a lossless format, so every pixel of the converted image matches your original GeoTIFF file. You can also adjust the quality/size balance before converting when the target format supports compression.
Can I convert several GeoTIFF files at once?
Yes — drop as many files as you like into the tool and they are converted in one batch. When more than one file comes out, everything is bundled into a ZIP for a single download.
Will transparent areas survive the conversion to PFM?
Transparency is kept whenever PFM actually supports an alpha channel. If the target format has none (like JPG), transparent areas are flattened onto a white background — that is a property of the format, not of this tool.