VIPS to PFM Converter

Online VIPS to PFM — instant image conversion

Drop files here. 1 GB maximum file size or Sign Up
to
Facebook Amazon Microsoft Tesla Nestle Walmart L'Oreal

Simple Workflow

Upload, convert, download — the entire VIPS to PFM workflow takes under a minute for most files.

Cloud-Powered Processing

Conversion runs on Convertio servers — your device handles only the upload and download. No CPU or RAM impact locally.

Format Flexibility

VIPS to PFM is one of many conversion paths available on Convertio. The platform supports extensive format coverage.

How to convert VIPS 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

VIPS is the native file format of the libvips) image processing library, originally developed by John Cupitt and Kirk Martinez at the National Gallery in London during the VASARI project (1989-1993) for high-resolution digitization and analysis of paintings. The VIPS format stores large images in a simple, memory-mappable layout: a header containing image dimensions, number of bands (channels), data type (8/16/32-bit integer, float, double, complex), color interpretation, resolution, and offset metadata, followed by the raw pixel data in band-interleaved format. This straightforward layout allows the operating system's virtual memory manager to map the file directly into address space, enabling libvips to process images much larger than available RAM by paging portions in and out as needed — a technique called demand-driven evaluation. VIPS files support images with any number of bands at any of the supported numeric types, accommodating everything from standard RGB photographs to hyperspectral datasets with hundreds of bands. One advantage is large-image performance: libvips's architecture processes images in small tiles evaluated on demand, meaning a 100,000 x 100,000 pixel image can be cropped, resized, sharpened, and saved without loading the entire image into memory — a capability that makes VIPS the engine behind image processing services handling millions of web images. The format's scientific heritage is another strength — the VASARI project required analyzing paintings at ultra-high resolution with multispectral imaging, and the VIPS format's support for arbitrary band counts and floating-point precision reflects these computational imaging origins. VIPS files are primarily used with the libvips library (available for C, Python, Ruby, and other languages) and can be converted to other formats via vips command-line tools or ImageMagick.
Initial release: 1993
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 VIPS to PFM?

The VIPS format has limited viewer support. Converting to PFM ensures broad compatibility across devices.

How do I open PFM files?

Open PFM files with HDR imaging tools, GIMP. Most operating systems handle PFM natively or with built-in viewers.

What platforms support this conversion?

The converter runs entirely in the browser, so it works on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android without issues.

Does the conversion happen on my device?

No — conversion runs on Convertio servers. Your device handles only the upload and download, not the processing.

How long does VIPS to PFM conversion take?

Conversion is fast — usually a matter of seconds. Complex or large VIPS files may need slightly more time.

Is my VIPS data kept private?

Uploaded VIPS files are deleted right after conversion. Converted PFM outputs are removed within 24 hours automatically.