PFM to HDR Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Portable Float Map and Radiance HDR Image exist for different jobs: PFM (Portable Float Map) stores pixels as raw 32-bit floats — the lossless hand-off format for HDR pipelines, radiance research and render passes, riding the same family spirit as PBM/PGM/PPM. Converting HDR to PNG produces a tone-mapped preview usable in any image viewer.
Because the whole conversion happens on your device, it is instant, unlimited and genuinely private — no accounts, no watermarks, no files on anyone's server. Multiple files are converted in one go.
How PFM compares to HDR
| PFM | HDR | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | None (raw floats) | RGBE (RLE runs) |
| Transparency | Not supported | Not supported |
| Animation | Not supported | Not supported |
| Metadata | Minimal header only | Radiance comments |
| Best for | HDR interchange, render passes | Lighting data, environment maps |
How to convert PFM to HDR
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your PFM 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 HDR". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted HDR file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
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
About the HDR format
HDR (Radiance RGBE) is the veteran high-dynamic-range format of lighting research and 3D rendering: pixels stored as a shared 8-bit exponent plus per-channel mantissas, letting one file hold both a sun and a shadow with no clipping. HDRI environment maps for 3D scenes are almost always HDR files.
Standard image viewers show it badly or not at all, because the values can exceed what a screen can display. Converting HDR to PNG tone-maps the file into an 8-bit preview — good for quick inspection, though the floating-point original remains the render-grade master.
+Strengths
- ✓True high-dynamic-range values
- ✓The standard of HDRI environment maps
- ✓Compact for its precision
!Limitations
- −Not display-ready — needs tone mapping
- −Viewer support is scarce
Why convert PFM to HDR?
Think of it as moving your file to the container that fits the job. Enormous files (16 bytes per pixel) HDR works differently: True high-dynamic-range values If any of that sounds like your task, run the conversion — it takes seconds and nothing leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this PFM to HDR 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 PFM to HDR?
No — HDR is a lossless format, so every pixel of the converted image matches your original PFM file. You can also adjust the quality/size balance before converting when the target format supports compression.
Can I convert several PFM 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 PFM files matters (camera model, GPS, timestamps), keep the original file as the master and treat the converted copy as the shareable version.