CONVERT PNG → PCX (PNG to PCX)
Fast, secure PNG to PCX conversion. No registration required.
📈 Target Minimum File Size (Guaranteed ≥ KB)
Lossless JPEG Q100 + standard COM segment padding for government & exam portals
Tap to choose your file Drop files here or click to browse
Automatic format identification and lossless transcoding across 201+ formats.
Convert to:
Detecting available formats...
Target Max File Size:
Uploading...
Processing your file...
READY!
Download File
Your file is converted & verified! Unlock instant download:
One-time secure payment via Stripe (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Card). Zero recurring subscription.
🛡️ Verification Audit
- ✓
- ✓ sRGB Color Fidelity
- ✓
Continue with this converted file (0s zero re-upload):
Batch Conversion Ready!
Your file is converted & verified! Unlock instant download:
One-time secure payment via Stripe (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Card). Zero recurring subscription.
Need to convert larger files or bigger batches right now?
Unlock up to 1 GB & priority cloud queue with 1-click Stripe checkout (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Card):
EXIF & Color Verification Audit ISO Verified
-
✓
GPS Coordinates (37.1773° N, 3.5986° W): Stripped (Zero Location Leak)
-
✓
Device Serial & Lens ID: Stripped (EXIF / IPTC / XMP Clean)
-
✓
Color Space Profile: Display P3 → sRGB IEC61966-2.1
-
✓
Chroma Subsampling: 4:4:4 High Fidelity (High-fidelity algorithmic conversion)
HOW TO CONVERT PNG → PCX
Upload your PNG
Start by dropping the PNG onto the uploader. Files up to 25 MB go through on the free tier without registration; paid plans go up to 2 GB.
Conversion happens server-side
Our imagemagick-based pipeline reads the PNG pixel grid, preserves resolution and colour profile, and encodes a clean PCX.
Grab the result
A download button appears as soon as the PCX is ready. Save locally or share the short-lived URL.
Here is the short version — PNG is the lossless image standard with alpha-channel transparency and deflate compression. Hence the need for PCX. Need a PCX for a CMS, a chat message or an email client that politely refuses PNG? This tool re-encodes your image in the background and returns a drop-in PCX replacement. No registration, no watermark, no visual change beyond what the PCX encoder itself introduces. Background. PNG is the lossless image standard with alpha-channel transparency and deflate compression. Destination side, PCX is the legacy ZSoft/PC Paintbrush bitmap format from the DOS era.
Why convert PNG to PCX
Converting keeps the picture recognisable end-to-end while changing the container that ships it. PCX typically wins on one of three fronts: broader software support, smaller files for the same visual quality, or features like transparency that PNG cannot express. The conversion itself is fast because both sides are raster formats.
PNG vs PCX — Technical specifications
Side-by-side comparison of the technical details.
PNG
- MIME type
- image/png
- Compression
- Lossless — DEFLATE (zlib)
- Color depth
- 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 bits per channel
- Max dimensions
- 2^31 − 1 pixels per side (2.1 billion)
- Transparency
- Full 8-bit alpha channel
- Standard
- ISO/IEC 15948:2004
- MIME Type
- image/png
- Extension
- .png
- Category
- Raster & Vector Images
- Full Name
- PNG Image
- Conversion Engine
- IMAGEMAGICK
PCX
- MIME type
- image/x-pcx
- Compression
- Run-Length Encoding (RLE)
- MIME Type
- image/x-pcx
- Extension
- .pcx
- Category
- Raster & Vector Images
- Full Name
- PCX Image
- Conversion Engine
- IMAGEMAGICK
- Header
- 128 bytes fixed
- Creator
- ZSoft Corporation (1985)
| Specification | PNG | PCX |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | image/png | image/x-pcx |
| Compression | Lossless — DEFLATE (zlib) | Run-Length Encoding (RLE) |
| Color depth | 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 bits per channel | — |
| Max dimensions | 2^31 − 1 pixels per side (2.1 billion) | — |
| Transparency | Full 8-bit alpha channel | — |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 15948:2004 | — |
| MIME Type | image/png | image/x-pcx |
| Extension | .png | .pcx |
| Category | Raster & Vector Images | Raster & Vector Images |
| Full Name | PNG Image | PCX Image |
| Conversion Engine | IMAGEMAGICK | IMAGEMAGICK |
| Header | — | 128 bytes fixed |
| Creator | — | ZSoft Corporation (1985) |
PNG vs PCX — Strengths and limitations
What each format does best, and where it falls short.
PNG Strengths
- Lossless compression — every save preserves the original pixels perfectly.
- Full 8-bit alpha channel for smooth transparency.
- Excellent for text, UI screenshots, logos, and line art.
- Royalty-free and an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 15948).
- Supports 16-bit color depth for high-fidelity work.
Limitations
- Much larger than JPEG for photographs (no perceptual compression).
- No native animation in most software (APNG support is inconsistent).
- No CMYK support — web and screen only, not print.
PCX Strengths
- Simple format — easy to parse in any language.
- RLE compression keeps flat-color images compact.
- Historic archive format for 1985-1995 PC art.
- Stable since 1985 with no breaking changes.
Limitations
- Legacy — no new content created as PCX in 2026.
- Inefficient for photographs (RLE is wrong algorithm).
- Limited to 24-bit color depth.
Quality & Compatibility
Converting keeps resolution, aspect ratio and colour profile identical to the source. Metadata (EXIF, XMP) transfers where PCX supports it; otherwise it is dropped. If the PNG contained an alpha channel and PCX does not support transparency, the background is flattened to white by default.
Tips for Best Results
- When uploading to Retina / high-DPI contexts, render the PCX at 2× the CSS pixel size; the crispness gap over 1× is noticeable on modern screens.
- Strip EXIF metadata from the PCX before publishing if the PNG came from a phone camera — it often contains GPS coordinates and device IDs.
- If the PNG is a screenshot of text or UI, prefer a lossless PCX target to avoid the JPEG-style ringing around glyph edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the codecs involved. If both PNG and PCX are lossy, the pixels are re-encoded and a small amount of detail is discarded — invisible at default quality settings on photographs. If PCX is lossless (PNG, TIFF, BMP) the output keeps every pixel of the decoded PNG exactly, but cannot recover detail that PNG had already compressed away.
Often yes, especially when PCX is lossless. PNG tuned for efficient web delivery will usually produce smaller files than PCX's default settings. If file size matters, drop the quality in Advanced or pick a more compressed target format instead.
KaijuConverter uploads over HTTPS, processes the image in an isolated container and deletes both the source and the output within two hours. No account is required, file contents are never logged, and we do not use uploads to train any model. For confidential material, the paid plan includes a data-processing agreement.
PNG Image
Source formatPNG is a lossless image format that supports transparency. It is ideal for graphics, logos, screenshots, and any image where preserving exact pixel data is important.
PCX Image
Target formatPCX (PiCture eXchange) is a legacy raster image format created by ZSoft for their PC Paintbrush program. It was one of the first widely supported image formats on IBM PC compatibles and uses simple run-length encoding compression.
Going the other way? Convert PCX back to PNG with the same engine.
Common Use Cases
Share across platforms
Send PCX files to anyone without worrying about whether they have the right software for PNG.
Embed in documents
Drop PCX output into Word, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Notion or a website without conversion warnings.
Optimize size
PCX often produces smaller files than PNG for web, email and storage.
Archive & future-proof
Store in a widely-supported format that will still open on future operating systems without legacy plugins.
PNG vs PCX — Typical file sizes
Approximate file sizes for common scenarios.
- Icon or small logo 2–20 KB
- UI screenshot (1920×1080) 200–800 KB
- High-res photo (12 MP) 10–30 MB
- Simple clipart 2-40 KB
- VGA-era screenshot (320×200) 30-80 KB
- Scanned page 200 KB - 2 MB
Need to Convert Gigabyte Archives or Mass Folders?
KaijuConverter delivers ultra-fast in-memory conversions for everyday tasks. For multi-gigabyte production workloads without browser bandwidth bottlenecks, explore high-throughput desktop suites.
One-time payment with zero recurring commitment: convert files up to 1 GB, OCR, PDF/A, and .ZIP batches for 24 hours.
Full 7 days of unlimited conversions, up to 2 GB per file, 100% ad-free with zero subscription.
High-throughput enterprise pipeline for files up to 2,048 MB, 50-file batches, ISO PDF/A, and priority processing.
Convert thousands of camera RAW files (CR3, NEF, ARW) to WebP, AVIF, or TIFF in one pass.
GPU-accelerated RAW development with end-to-end 16-bit ICC color profile management.
Related comparisons
See these formats side by side to understand which fits your use case best.
Related Guides
PNG: Advanced Color Modes, Filtering & Compression Strategies
Comprehensive guide to PNG encoding: color types (indexed, grayscale, RGB, RGBA), scanline filtering (Sub/Up/Average/Paeth), CRC checksums, gamma correction...
Read guide →PNG Format: Complete Technical Guide to Lossless Image Compression, Transparency & Interlacing
Learn PNG (Portable Network Graphics): IHDR structure, color types, IDAT chunks, PLTE palette, bit depths, interlacing, compression, color profiles.
Read guide →PNG: Portable Network Graphics — Complete Technical Deep Dive
Complete PNG guide: chunk architecture (IHDR/IDAT/IEND), color types and bit depths (RGBA/Grayscale/Indexed), five filter algorithms (Sub/Up/Average/Paeth)...
Read guide →
</>
Embed this tool on your website or blog (Free)
▼
Add this converter to your site in 10 seconds
Help your visitors convert files directly from your documentation, CMS, or blog. Copy the lightweight HTML snippet below — zero dependencies, responsive, and 100% free.
Secure & Private Conversion
Your files are encrypted during transfer, processed in isolated containers, and automatically deleted within 60 minutes. We never read, share, or store your data.