PFM to JPG Converter

PFM, or Portable Float Map, is a simple high dynamic range image format that stores each color channel as a 32-bit floating point number rather than an 8-bit integer. That lets it hold brightness values beyond what a normal image can show. PFM is used in HDR merging, rendering, and computer vision work, but ordinary viewers, browsers, and websites cannot display it.

Click the file area at the top of the tool and choose a .pfm file. Once it is selected, its name and the JPG Quality slider appear. Set the quality from 1 to 100 percent; it starts at 90. Click Convert to JPG and the image downloads as a JPG with the original file name. The converter handles one PFM file at a time. If the file cannot be read, a note next to its name says it is not a valid PFM file or is truncated.

PFM values are linear light, so the converter treats 0 as black and 1.0 as full brightness, and encodes each value with the standard sRGB curve so midtones look natural on screen rather than dark. Values above 1.0 are clipped to white and negative values to black; no tone mapping or exposure adjustment is applied. That suits files already in a normal display range, but an HDR file with very bright areas may show blown highlights. Tone map it first to keep that range.

Both kinds. Color files, which start with PF and store red, green, and blue for every pixel, and grayscale files, which start with Pf and store a single channel, shown as a neutral gray image. The converter reads the byte order from the sign of the scale value in the header, so files written on either kind of system decode correctly, and it flips the rows, which PFM stores bottom to top, so the image comes out upright at exactly its header dimensions.

The default of 90 percent is a good balance for most uses, keeping detail and gradients clean with a reasonable file size. Choose 95 to 100 for images you plan to edit further or print, and 70 to 85 for web previews where small files matter more. Because JPG is 8-bit, it cannot hold the extended range of the PFM, so keep the original file for any further HDR work.

Yes. It is free, adds no watermark, and needs no installation. Your PFM file is read and converted on your own device inside the browser and never leaves it. To use it, you confirm that you are a photographer and create or log into a free account once, after which every tool is unlocked.