VICAR to TAR.XZ Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
VICAR Planetary Image and XZ-compressed Tar exist for different jobs: VICAR is NASA/JPL's planetary image format — Mars rover and Voyager frames circulate in it, with a label block describing the instrument. Produce a TAR.XZ for the smallest possible release artifact, or to match the format a build system expects.
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 to convert VICAR to TAR.XZ
- 1
Select your files
Select your VICAR file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TAR.XZ container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TAR.XZ archive.
About the VICAR format
The VICAR Planetary Image coder of the ImageMagick set — the planetary-science format is written natively by the magick.wasm engine, entirely in your browser.
Obscure coder formats like this are exactly what template-driven converters list and never actually convert — here it really works.
+Strengths
- ✓Written natively by ImageMagick
- ✓Runs entirely in your browser
- ✓Free, private, no watermarks
!Limitations
- −Niche format — few modern readers
- −Feature subset varies by coder
- −Keep the original for re-editing
About the TAR.XZ format
TAR.XZ pairs the tar container with XZ (LZMA2) compression — the highest-ratio member of the tar family and the de-facto release format of modern Linux distributions. The same source tree that lands 5% smaller than TAR.BZ2 and 20% smaller than TAR.GZ is why kernel.org and GNU mirrors standardised on it.
The trade is CPU time: XZ compresses slow (dictionary sizes up to 64 MB) but decompresses fast, which makes it ideal for one-time releases that get downloaded millions of times. When you need speed instead, TAR.GZ or TAR.ZSTD are the neighbouring picks.
+Strengths
- ✓Best compression ratio of the tar family
- ✓Standard release artifact of Linux distros
- ✓Fast decompression despite slow compression
!Limitations
- −Compression is CPU-heavy and single-threaded by default
- −Larger toolchain footprint than gzip on tiny systems
Why convert VICAR to TAR.XZ?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: Niche format — few modern readers TAR.XZ sidesteps that — Best compression ratio of the tar family If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this VICAR to TAR.XZ 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 VICAR to TAR.XZ?
No — TAR.XZ is a lossless format, so every pixel of the converted image matches your original VICAR file. You can also adjust the quality/size balance before converting when the target format supports compression.
Will transparent areas survive the conversion to TAR.XZ?
Transparency is kept whenever TAR.XZ 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.
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 VICAR files matters (camera model, GPS, timestamps), keep the original file as the master and treat the converted copy as the shareable version.