ICO to PFM Converter

Change ICO images to PFM format online at no cost

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Icon Liberation

ICO files lock images into icon contexts — converting to PFM frees the visual content for use in presentations, websites, and print materials.

Effortless Process

Converting ICO to PFM takes just a few clicks. The clean, intuitive interface makes format conversion accessible to everyone.

Quick Results

Most ICO to PFM conversions finish within moments — the entire upload, conversion, and download process takes well under a minute.

How to convert ICO to PFM

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose pfm or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your pfm file right afterwards

About formats

ICO is the icon file format for Microsoft Windows, introduced with Windows 1.0 in 1985 and serving as the standard container for application icons, file type icons, and shortcut icons throughout the Windows ecosystem. An ICO file bundles multiple image variants within a single container — each at different sizes (16x16, 32x32, 48x48, 256x256, and others) and color depths (4-bit, 8-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit with alpha) — allowing Windows to select the most appropriate image for each display context, from tiny taskbar buttons to large desktop icons. The container structure consists of an ICONDIR header, an array of ICONDIRENTRY records describing each variant, and the image data itself. Since Windows Vista, ICO files support embedded PNG-compressed images for the larger sizes (typically 256x256), dramatically reducing file size while maintaining quality with full alpha transparency. One advantage is automatic size adaptation — Windows pulls the optimal resolution from the ICO container for each context (Explorer list view, desktop tile, Alt-Tab preview), ensuring crisp display without the application managing separate image files. The format's operating system-level integration is another core strength: ICO files serve as the identity mechanism for executables, file associations, and shortcuts across all Windows versions, and web browsers use favicon.ico for website identity in tabs and bookmarks. ICO creation and editing is supported by image editors like GIMP, Inkscape, and dedicated icon tools, and the format remains essential for Windows application development.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: 1985
PFM (Portable Float Map) is a floating-point raster image format devised by Paul Debevec around 2001, designed to store high-dynamic-range image data with the simplicity of the Netpbm family of formats. PFM extends the PBM/PGM/PPM philosophy — minimal header, raw data, no compression — to 32-bit IEEE floating-point samples, providing direct access to HDR pixel values without the encoding overhead of formats like OpenEXR or the limited range of Radiance HDR's RGBE encoding. The file structure is deliberately minimal: a two-character magic number ('Pf' for grayscale, 'PF' for color), width and height on the next line, a scale/endianness indicator (negative for little-endian, positive for big-endian, with magnitude indicating scale factor), and then the raw 32-bit float data for each pixel. PFM files store one float per pixel for grayscale or three floats (RGB) per pixel for color, with no compression, alpha channel, or metadata support. The format emerged from the HDR imaging research community where Debevec's work on image-based lighting and light stage capture required a simple, unambiguous way to store linear floating-point radiance values that could be easily exchanged between research tools. One advantage is absolute simplicity for HDR data: PFM can be read and written in a few lines of code in any language that supports IEEE floats, with no library dependencies — ideal for research prototyping and quick data exchange between custom tools. The format's widespread adoption in the computer vision and computational photography research community is another practical strength — optical flow benchmarks (Middlebury), depth estimation datasets, and radiance field captures commonly use PFM. The format is supported by ImageMagick, OpenCV, HDR Shop, and Luminance HDR.
Developer: Paul Debevec
Initial release: 2001

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert ICO to PFM?

PFM stores your icon as floating-point image data — used in HDR processing, tone mapping workflows, and professional lighting computations.

How do I open PFM files?

PFM files work with HDR imaging tools, Luminance HDR, GIMP, Photoshop. Check your operating system for built-in viewer support as well.

Does ICO to PFM keep transparency?

If PFM supports transparency (like PNG or WEBP), the alpha channel from your ICO is preserved. Formats without transparency support fill with a solid background.

How long does ICO to PFM conversion take?

Most conversions complete within seconds. Processing time depends on file size and server load, but the entire workflow typically finishes in under a minute.

What happens to my uploaded files?

Your ICO files are automatically deleted right after conversion. The resulting PFM files remain available for download for 24 hours, then they are permanently removed.

Can I convert ICO to PFM for free?

Yes — Convertio offers free ICO to PFM conversion. For professional volumes and larger files, premium plans provide expanded limits and priority processing.