Free online PNG to PAT converter

The .png extension on this page covers Portable Network Graphics images and CAD-generated PNG rasters, which can require different handling before conversion. The converter lets you select either a Photoshop pattern or an AutoCAD hatch pattern as the .pat output.

How to tell which PNG file you have

Check the application that created the file, its visual content, and the original project if available. A graphics PNG usually comes from Photoshop, GIMP, Krita, a browser, scanner, camera workflow, or screenshot tool and contains pixels with optional transparency. A CAD-generated PNG usually comes from AutoCAD, DraftSight, BricsCAD, SolidWorks, Revit, or another design application and shows a plan, elevation, technical drawing, model view, or rendered surface.

Both uses normally follow the Portable Network Graphics specification. A valid PNG is binary and begins with the eight-byte signature 89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A; the header does not identify whether a graphics editor or CAD program created it. Metadata, visible content, the exporting program, and the original project file provide that distinction. A CAD-exported PNG is still a raster image, not a text-based CAD drawing containing editable lines, arcs, layers, or hatch boundaries.

What the PAT format is

.pat has two incompatible common meanings relevant here: a Photoshop pattern is a bitmap tile for repeating an image, while an AutoCAD hatch pattern is a plain-text definition of repeated vector lines, including angles, origins, spacing, and optional dash lengths. Select the required type before conversion; changing the extension does not convert between them.

Portable Network Graphics to Photoshop pattern

A graphics PNG becomes a Photoshop pattern by treating its pixels as a repeating tile. The result is suitable for fills, textures, backgrounds, and brush or layer-pattern resources, but it does not preserve editable layers, vector paths, or the complete PNG document structure.

1. Inspect the image dimensions, color mode, transparency, and tile edges. Crop unwanted margins and prepare matching opposite edges if the tile must repeat without seams.
2. On this page, select Photoshop pattern in the format switch, choose the PNG, and start the conversion. You can convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing software.
3. For a local workflow, open the image in Photoshop and choose Edit → Define Pattern. This registers a pattern preset; creating a transferable .pat file depends on the Photoshop version. Recent versions may provide an export command in the Patterns panel, while older versions use Edit → Presets → Preset Manager, select Patterns, and Save Set.
4. In GIMP, open the PNG with File → Open, then use File → Export As and enter a filename ending in .pat. Confirm the PAT export, enter the pattern description, and export. Copy the result to a folder listed under Edit → Preferences → Folders → Patterns, then refresh the patterns list or restart GIMP.

Photoshop and GIMP PAT files are not guaranteed to be interchangeable. Use the dialect supported by the application that will load the pattern, and keep the PNG as the editable source.

CAD-generated PNG to AutoCAD hatch pattern

A CAD-generated PNG can be used as a visual reference for an AutoCAD hatch, but it cannot directly supply editable CAD geometry. An AutoCAD hatch pattern contains text instructions for drawing repeated lines; it does not contain embedded PNG pixels, colors, layers, or arbitrary shaded areas.

1. Choose AutoCAD hatch pattern in the format switch only when the PNG depicts a simple, regular line-based repeat, such as masonry, tile, insulation, or a uniform technical texture.
2. Upload the PNG and start the conversion. The generated definition is an interpretation of the raster and may need adjustment to its scale, angle, origin, spacing, and line or dash data.
3. Place the resulting .pat file in AutoCAD's custom hatch-pattern folder or another folder included in AutoCAD's support-file search path. Use HATCH inside a closed boundary to reload and test it.

For an exact CAD result, recreate the pattern from the original drawing or use a CAD hatch-pattern editor. A floor plan, scanned drawing, rendered model, shaded image, or irregular illustration requires tracing or vector reconstruction rather than lossless PNG-to-hatch conversion. If the source drawing still exists, use it instead of extracting geometry from the raster.

Quality and compatibility limits

PNG compression is lossless, but it cannot restore detail already absent from the source. A small or blurred raster produces a soft Photoshop tile, and repeated edge mismatches create visible seams. Check the tile at its intended scale; a seamless-tile filter can reduce seams but may alter fine details.

Photoshop-pattern conversion can change or discard transparency, indexed colors, color profiles, metadata, and dimensions that the target editor does not support. Use moderate tile dimensions and RGB or RGBA input when compatibility matters, and retain the original PNG.

AutoCAD PAT output is text-based and cannot reproduce photographic texture, gradients, transparency, or complex raster shading. Verify the hatch at the required drawing scale because line spacing and dash lengths determine its appearance. A Photoshop PAT cannot be renamed into an AutoCAD PAT, and an AutoCAD hatch definition cannot be opened as a bitmap pattern.