PICON to LRF Converter

Turn PICON images into LRF e-reader format online

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Browser-Based Tool

No software to download — convert PICON to LRF entirely in your web browser. Works on any device with an internet connection.

Privacy Protected

Your PICON files are deleted immediately after conversion to LRF. Converted files are automatically removed from servers within 24 hours.

Batch Processing

Upload multiple PICON files at once and convert them all to LRF in a single session — ideal when you have many legacy images to migrate.

How to convert PICON to LRF

1

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

2

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

3

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

About formats

PICON (Personal Icon) is a small-format image type used in the X Window System ecosystem, developed by Steve Kinzler at Indiana University around 1990 as part of the picons (personal icons) database project. Picons are small, typically 48x48 pixel, color images used as visual identifiers for people, organizations, domains, and Usenet newsgroups in Unix mail readers, news readers, and other communication tools. The picon format is essentially an XPM (X PixMap) image stored with specific naming conventions and directory structures that allow software to look up the appropriate icon based on email address, domain name, or newsgroup name. The picons database organized thousands of these small images in a hierarchical directory structure keyed by domain name components (e.g., faces/com/example/user.xpm), enabling mail clients like exmstrstrstr and faces to automatically display a sender's photo or organizational logo alongside their messages. The system predated the modern concept of contact photos and avatars by more than a decade. One advantage is the system's pioneering role in visual identity for electronic communication: picons introduced the idea that email and Usenet messages should display a visual representation of the sender — a concept that eventually became standard in every modern email client, messaging app, and social media platform. The XPM-based format ensures that picons are displayable on any system with X Window libraries. Picon images are supported by ImageMagick, GIMP, and X Window display utilities, and the historical picons database remains archived online at Indiana University.
Developer: Steve Kinzler
Initial release: 1990
LRF is the file format associated with Sony's BBeB (Broadband eBook) specification, jointly developed by Sony and Canon and introduced in 2004 with the Sony Librie EBR-1000EP — the world's first commercial E Ink e-reader. The format supports both reflowable text and fixed-layout page rendering, embedding fonts, images, vector graphics, and metadata within a compact binary container. LRF files use a block-based internal structure with object trees describing page layouts, text streams, image resources, and table of contents navigation. Sony's Reader devices and the companion desktop software (Sony Reader Library) served as the primary ecosystem for LRF content throughout the mid-2000s. A key advantage was its early adoption of high-quality font embedding and text rendering optimized specifically for E Ink displays, delivering a reading experience noticeably superior to many competing formats of the era. The format also supported bookmark synchronization, dictionary lookups, and annotations within the Sony Reader ecosystem. However, Sony officially discontinued BBeB/LRF support in 2010, migrating its Reader platform to the industry-standard EPUB format. Today LRF files are primarily encountered in personal ebook collections from that period and can be converted to modern formats using tools like Calibre. The format remains a historically significant milestone as the native format of the device category that launched the modern e-reader revolution.
Developer: Sony
Initial release: 2004

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert PICON to LRF?

LRF (Sony Reader e-book format) lets you include PICON graphics in e-book collections, accessible on dedicated readers and mobile apps.

What apps support LRF?

You can view LRF with Sony Reader devices, Calibre. These tools cover all major desktop and mobile platforms.

Are my uploaded files kept private?

Completely. Convertio removes uploaded PICON files right after conversion, and the LRF output is automatically deleted within 24 hours.

Does this converter work on mobile devices?

It works on any device with a web browser. Whether you are on Android, iOS, Windows, or macOS — PICON to LRF conversion is fully supported.

Can I convert multiple PICON files to LRF at once?

Convertio supports batch mode — drag in multiple PICON files and they all convert to LRF together, which is much faster than one-by-one.

Does converting PICON to LRF affect quality?

Quality is maintained to the extent LRF supports. Since PICON is a small thumbnail/icon format from Unix systems, the visual data transfers cleanly to LRF.