PCX to SVG Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
ZSoft Paintbrush PCX and SVG Vector Graphic exist for different jobs: PCX was THE DOS-era image format: ZSoft Paintbrush's RLE-compressed raster that every 1990s game, scanner and clipart CD shipped in. Simple enough that its spec fits on one page. Because only browsers and design tools handle SVG natively, exporting it to PNG or JPG makes the artwork usable in Office documents, photo editors and ordinary apps.
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 PCX to SVG
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your PCX 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 SVG". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted SVG file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
About the PCX format
PCX was the image format of the DOS decade: ZSoft Paintbrush's run-length-encoded raster that every scanner, game and clipart CD adopted because it was published, simple and fast on 286 hardware. The header is a fixed 128 bytes, the palette hides in the final 769, and the whole file can be decoded by one while-loop.
Retro gaming archives and 90s clipart collections are full of PCX files. Converting them to PNG or JPG finally makes them viewable — the pixels were always fine, the container was just ancient.
+ Strengths
- ✓Decoded by a single RLE loop — no dependencies
- ✓Ubiquitous in DOS-era archives
- ✓Supports paletted and 24-bit variants
! Limitations
- −Effectively dead since Windows 95
- −Rows padded — some files have alignment quirks
- −256-color ceiling for most real-world files
About the SVG format
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is the W3C's XML-based vector format. Instead of pixels, it stores shapes — paths, circles, polygons, text — as math, which means an SVG logo is a few kilobytes and stays perfectly sharp from a 16-pixel favicon to a billboard. Browsers render it natively, CSS can restyle it, and it scales with zero quality decisions to make.
It is the wrong tool for photographs — vectorizing a photo produces enormous, slow files. It is also worth remembering that SVG is executable XML: files from untrusted sources can carry scripts, so sites typically sanitize uploads. For icons, logos, charts and flat illustration, nothing else comes close.
+ Strengths
- ✓Infinitely scalable with zero quality loss
- ✓Tiny files for icons and geometric art
- ✓Styleable and animatable with CSS and JavaScript
- ✓Text stays selectable and searchable
! Limitations
- −Unsuitable for photographs — files explode in size
- −Complex hand-drawn illustrations can grow heavy too
- −Untrusted SVG can embed scripts and needs sanitizing
Why convert PCX to SVG?
Converting makes sense where the strengths of SVG meet what PCX cannot give you. Infinitely scalable with zero quality loss Meanwhile Effectively dead since Windows 95 One pass through the converter above puts your file on the right side of that trade-off.
Frequently asked questions
Is this PCX to SVG 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 PCX to SVG?
No — SVG is a lossless format, so every pixel of the converted image matches your original PCX file. You can also adjust the quality/size balance before converting when the target format supports compression.
Can I convert several PCX 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.
What happens to EXIF data and other metadata?
Conversions here re-encode the image, and re-encoding generally does not carry the original metadata over. If the EXIF data of your PCX files matters (camera model, GPS, timestamps), keep the original file as the master and treat the converted copy as the shareable version.