Convert PEF to JPG
RAW files from Pentax cameras, developed into JPGs that open anywhere.
- Private by defaultDeleted within an hour
- Super FastProcess in seconds
- No Sign-upStart instantly
How it works
Add your images
Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection.
Pick a quality or a target size
Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need.
Download
Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP.
PEF is the RAW format of Pentax cameras, from the *ist D of 2003 through the K-series DSLRs to today's bodies. Like every RAW file it is a record of what the sensor measured, not a finished picture. Phones, browsers and most office software cannot display it. Add a PEF here and it is developed into a JPG.
Development is done by LibRaw with the white balance the camera recorded, in the sRGB colour space, with the rotation for portrait shots applied. The editor then lets you set the JPG quality, resize, or crop before downloading. We checked the reader against real files from a K10D and a K-r, both of which developed correctly in about a second.
RAW development belongs to the Pro plan; a visitor on the free plan is told before uploading. If you only need the picture once and have the camera at hand, remember that Pentax bodies can develop a RAW to JPG in the camera itself, from the playback menu.
PEF and DNG on the same camera
Pentax is unusual in letting the photographer choose the RAW format. Most of its cameras can save either PEF, its own format, or DNG, Adobe's open one. The sensor data inside is the same. DNG files open in more software without an update; PEF files are a little smaller on some models. Both are read here, PEF on this page and DNG on the DNG to JPG page.
What Pentax applies in the camera
A Pentax JPG gets a Custom Image profile such as Bright, Natural or Monochrome, along with sharpening, noise reduction and corrections for the lens. None of that is baked into a PEF. The JPG made here is a neutral development: accurate in colour, somewhat softer and flatter than the camera's JPG, and without distortion correction.
A PEF shot with a Monochrome profile will therefore come out in colour, because the sensor recorded colour and the profile was only an instruction.
Pixel Shift files
Recent Pentax bodies can take four exposures while shifting the sensor by one pixel and store them together in one PEF, for finer colour detail. Combining the four needs software written for it. Here a single frame of the set is developed, which gives a normal picture at normal resolution without the Pixel Shift gain.
Older and newer bodies
Files from the early six-megapixel cameras are five to ten megabytes; a K-1 file is over forty. All develop the same way. If a body is too recent for the RAW library to know, the full-size JPG the camera embedded in the PEF is returned in place of a development, and the result carries a note saying it is the camera's preview.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Pentax software to open a PEF?
Not for this. The file is developed on our servers and you download a JPG.
Why is this part of the Pro plan?
Developing RAW data takes much more processing than converting a finished image.
Is the picture rotated correctly?
Yes. The orientation the camera recorded is applied, so portrait shots come out upright.
Can I convert PTX files?
Yes. PTX files from older Pentax models are read by the same developer.
How large can the PEF be?
Up to the file size limit of the Pro plan, which is far above any PEF.
Does the JPG keep the shooting data?
The JPG is written without metadata unless you change the metadata setting in the editor.