Add your HDR file
Drop one or more .hdr files onto the converter above, or browse for them. They load into browser memory only — nothing is uploaded, so there is no size-based pricing and no server queue.
HDR to PNG
Converting a .hdr image to .png re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. Free, private, and validated — the file never leaves your browser.
Private for supported formats — processed in your browser
Runs on your deviceConvert supported files
Drop HDR files here
Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.
Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.About converting Radiance HDR image to PNG image
Converting a .hdr image to .png re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. An .hdr file is a Radiance RGBE image, the original high-dynamic-range raster format. Each pixel stores three 8-bit mantissas and one shared 8-bit exponent, so 32 bits per pixel cover a luminance range no ordinary 8-bit format can express. It is still the everyday container for the HDRI environment maps used to light 3D scenes.
A .png file is a losslessly compressed raster image with full 8-bit alpha transparency, making it the standard choice for graphics that must stay pixel-perfect. Screenshots, logos, UI assets, and diagrams are the classic .png territory, since sharp edges and flat color survive without compression artifacts. For this route the practical draw is perfectly lossless, so files can be opened and re-saved indefinitely and true 8-bit (or 16-bit) alpha channel — balanced against photographic content produces files several times larger than JPEG or WebP, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert HDR to PNG?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .hdr, only about 1 percent precision per channel, and the shared exponent hurts saturated colours. Switching to .png buys you perfectly lossless, so files can be opened and re-saved indefinitely, which is why it is the better fit for screenshots and screen recordings exported as stills. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
HDR vs PNG at a glance
| Aspect | Radiance HDR image (.hdr) | PNG image (.png) |
|---|---|---|
| Format type | Lossy — discards detail it judges invisible to shrink files | Lossless — every pixel or sample is preserved exactly |
| How it stores data | rGBE encoding: three 8-bit mantissas plus one shared 8-bit exponent, 32 bits per pixel | uses DEFLATE compression preceded by per-scanline prediction filters (None, Sub, Up, Average, Paeth) |
| Strongest at | hDRI environment maps and sky domes for image-based lighting in Blender, Unreal, Unity and V-Ray | screenshots and screen recordings exported as stills |
| Weak spot | only about 1 percent precision per channel, and the shared exponent hurts saturated colours | photographic content produces files several times larger than JPEG or WebP |
| Metadata | the text header carries EXPOSURE, GAMMA, PRIMARIES, SOFTWARE and free-form comment lines. There is no EXIF, XMP or ICC profile block, and this converter's raster outputs do not carry the header lines across | text metadata lives in tEXt/iTXt chunks and XMP can be embedded there; standardized EXIF arrived late via the 2017 eXIf chunk, so many tools still drop EXIF when writing PNG |
Pick PNG as the output
Select .png in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if PNG is selectable, the route is real and validated.
Convert on your device
Press Convert. Decoding and re-encoding happen on your device using the browser's native image pipeline and hand-tuned encoders.
Verify and download
Each result is signature-checked before the download unlocks, so a failed encode can never masquerade as a valid PNG file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .png extension.
HDR to PNG questions, answered
Will converting HDR to PNG lose quality?
No new loss is introduced — since hdr is lossy-oriented and png is lossless-oriented, everything the .hdr file still contains is carried over exactly. What was already discarded by the original lossy encode cannot be recovered, though; converting to .png does not "restore" quality.
Is it private to convert HDR files here?
Yes — the .hdr file is processed inside your browser tab and never uploaded. Decoding and re-encoding happen on your device using the browser's native image pipeline and hand-tuned encoders. Close the tab and the file is gone from memory.
Where will the PNG file work?
Every modern browser has rendered PNG with full alpha since Internet Explorer 7 fixed its transparency bug in 2006, and native OS support is universal on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. It is also the required format in many contexts, such as iOS app icons and favicon fallbacks.
Will the PNG file be bigger or smaller than my HDR?
Larger, sometimes much larger. A lossless .png must store every pixel or sample the decoder produced, without the perceptual shortcuts .hdr used. Use this route for editing headroom, not for saving space.
What happens to the metadata in my HDR file?
In .hdr, the text header carries EXPOSURE, GAMMA, PRIMARIES, SOFTWARE and free-form comment lines. There is no EXIF, XMP or ICC profile block, and this converter's raster outputs do not carry the header lines across. Re-encoding through the browser pipeline does not carry embedded metadata into the output, which doubles as a privacy scrub — check the exported file if you specifically need tags preserved.