PFA to RGF Converter

Render PFA fonts as RGF robot graphic images online

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Robot-Ready Graphics

Render PFA font characters as RGF images designed for LEGO Mindstorms LCD screens — custom text for your robot projects.

Educational Fun

Combine typography with robotics — display custom font-based graphics on your LEGO robot as part of educational or hobby projects.

Online Conversion

No Mindstorms development environment needed just for graphics — render PFA to RGF in any web browser.

How to convert PFA to RGF

1

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

2

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

3

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

About formats

PFA (Printer Font ASCII) is one of two file representations of Adobe's PostScript Type 1 font format, introduced in 1984 as part of the PostScript page description language. A PFA file contains the complete font program as plain ASCII text — the clear-text header with font name, encoding array, and metrics, followed by a hex-encoded encrypted section (eexec) holding the actual glyph outlines described as cubic Bezier curves with stem hints. Because every byte is represented in printable ASCII characters, PFA files are roughly twice the size of their PFB binary counterparts, but they can be transmitted through any text-safe channel and edited in a standard text editor. PFA became the standard Type 1 distribution format on Unix and Linux systems, where binary font formats were less convenient for PostScript printer pipelines. A key advantage is universal text compatibility — PFA files pass cleanly through email systems, FTP text-mode transfers, and version control without corruption from character encoding transformations. The readable structure also benefits font developers, who can inspect header values and encoding declarations directly. Type 1 fonts in PFA form powered the desktop publishing revolution of the late 1980s and 1990s, with Adobe's font library and the Apple LaserWriter printer establishing PostScript typography as the professional standard. Although OpenType has superseded Type 1 for new font development, PFA files remain in active use within legacy publishing workflows and PostScript/PDF production systems.
Developer: Adobe Systems
Initial release: 1984
RGF (Robot Graphics Format) is a simple monochrome bitmap image format used by LEGO Mindstorms EV3 programmable robotics kits, introduced with the EV3 system on September 1, 2013. RGF files store 1-bit (black and white) images designed for display on the EV3 Intelligent Brick's 178x128 pixel monochrome LCD screen. The format uses a minimal structure: a header containing the image width and height as binary values, followed by the pixel data where each bit represents one pixel (1 for black, 0 for white), packed eight per byte in row-major order. RGF images are used as custom display graphics in EV3 programs — students and hobbyists create them for robot status displays, user interfaces, splash screens, and animation frames shown on the brick's screen during program execution. The images are typically designed using LEGO's EV3 software (which includes a built-in image editor) or converted from other formats using community tools. RGF fits within LEGO's broader educational robotics platform, where the Mindstorms system teaches programming, engineering, and computational thinking to students worldwide. One advantage is the format's role in educational technology: RGF provides a simple, concrete example of how digital images are represented as binary data — a concept that students working with Mindstorms can directly observe by examining the file contents and seeing the corresponding image on the brick's screen. The format's simplicity makes it accessible for young programmers learning about file formats and binary data. RGF files can be created and converted using ImageMagick, the EV3 development environment, and community tools like ev3dev.
Developer: The LEGO Group
Initial release: 2013

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert PFA to RGF?

RGF is the graphic format for LEGO Mindstorms robot LCD displays. Rendering PFA glyphs as RGF lets you display custom text on robot screens.

How to open RGF?

RGF files are used by LEGO Mindstorms NXT/EV3 software and can be transferred to the robot brick. ImageMagick can also read the format.

What resolution is RGF?

RGF images are small monochrome bitmaps sized for the LEGO Mindstorms display — typically 100x64 pixels on NXT or 178x128 on EV3.

Can I use custom fonts on my robot?

By converting PFA glyphs to RGF, you can display typographic characters on the Mindstorms LCD screen as custom graphic elements.

Is this conversion free?

Yes — Convertio handles PFA to RGF conversion at no cost, right in your browser.