Free online PEF to PNG converter

Pentax cameras save photographs as PEF RAW files, while many browsers, image editors, and publishing applications accept PNG instead. Converting creates a rendered image for editing, previewing, sharing, or importing into software that cannot read camera RAW files.

What the PEF format is

PEF usually means Pentax Electronic File, Pentax’s proprietary RAW format. Pentax DSLR and mirrorless cameras create .pef files when RAW or RAW+JPEG capture is selected. A PEF contains largely unprocessed sensor data plus exposure and camera metadata, allowing RAW software to set white balance, exposure, color, noise reduction, and shadow recovery before producing an image.

PEF can also refer to an embroidery-design format. If the file came from embroidery software rather than a Pentax camera, use an embroidery application that supports that format; photographic RAW converters will not open it correctly.

What the PNG format is

PNG is a lossless raster image format supported by operating systems, browsers, graphics applications, and publishing tools. It is suitable for screenshots, graphics, web assets, compositing, and repeated editing because it does not add JPEG-style compression artifacts when saved.

PNG stores the rendered pixels, not the original PEF sensor data. It therefore cannot retain RAW editing flexibility, and a full-resolution photographic PNG is often much larger than a JPEG. PNG supports transparency, but converting an ordinary camera photograph does not create transparent areas automatically.

How to convert PEF to PNG

For a conversion without installing software, use the converter on 101convert.com: upload the Pentax .pef file, select PNG as the output format, start the conversion, and download the generated file. Do not upload sensitive photographs unless the service’s storage, processing, and deletion terms are acceptable.

For local processing and control over RAW rendering, use a current version of darktable:

1. Open darktable and import the .pef file through lighttable → import.
2. Select the photograph and open it in the darkroom.
3. Adjust exposure, white balance, color, demosaicing, noise reduction, and sharpening as required.
4. Return to lighttable, select the image, and open the export panel.
5. Set file format → PNG, choose an output folder, and select 8-bit or 16-bit output. Use 16-bit PNG when further tonal editing is planned; use 8-bit PNG for ordinary display and web use.
6. Click export. darktable develops the RAW data and writes a new PNG without changing the PEF.

RawTherapee provides a similar local workflow:

1. Open the PEF in RawTherapee’s file browser and apply the required RAW adjustments.
2. Send the image to the processing queue.
3. Set the queue output format to PNG and choose 8-bit or 16-bit output.
4. Start processing and verify the resulting PNG in an image viewer or editor.

Quality and compatibility limits

This is a RAW development step rather than a simple extension change. The camera profile, white balance, exposure, demosaicing method, sharpening, noise reduction, bit depth, and color space determine the appearance of the PNG. Different RAW applications can therefore produce visibly different results from the same PEF.

Use sRGB for the broadest compatibility with browsers, basic viewers, and consumer applications. A wider-gamut profile can preserve more color for color-managed editing, but unmanaged software may display it inaccurately. PNG may retain selected rendered-image metadata, but it cannot preserve every camera-specific field or the ability to reinterpret unrendered sensor values.

Keep the original PEF and any darktable or RawTherapee sidecar files. The PEF remains the source for changing RAW decisions later; the PNG is a fixed rendered image.