Converter

PEF to JPG converter

Convert Pentax PEF files to JPG or 16-bit TIFF in your browser, at full resolution with the camera's brightness. Free, a batch at once, nothing uploaded.

Converter

PEF to JPG, on this computer

Files are read and converted in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no limit but your computer's memory.

      Make the picture by

      Developing reads every photosite. The camera's JPEG is the picture it made when you pressed the shutter.

      Save as

      TIFF keeps 16 bits per channel for further editing; it is about six times the size of the RAW. DNG keeps the sensor data exactly as it is, for software that does not know your camera.

      Look

      What a PEF file is

      PEF (Pentax Electronic File) is Pentax's own RAW format; most Pentax DSLRs can record DNG instead, and this converter reads both. A PEF is TIFF-based, 12- or 14-bit, and carries a full-size JPEG.

      Cameras that record PEF include the K-3 Mark III, K-1 Mark II, K-1, K-70, KF, K-S2, K-5 II, K-50, 645Z.

      The JPEG inside a PEF

      A PEF file also carries the JPEG the camera made: full size: 6000 × 4000 on a K-70. “Develop the RAW” gives the neutral look and lets you set the brightness; “Use the camera's JPEG” keeps the Pentax custom image you shot with.

      Converting PEF to JPG here

      1. Drop one or many PEF files on the converter, or choose them.
      2. Keep “Develop the RAW” for the full sensor, or choose “Use the camera's JPEG” for its exact look.
      3. Choose JPG (and its quality) or a 16-bit TIFF, the size, and the brightness if the camera's was not what you wanted.
      4. Press Convert. Each file can be downloaded as soon as it is ready, or all of them as one ZIP.

      What it does not do

      • No lens corrections: distortion and vignetting that the camera removes from its own JPEG stay in the developed picture (most visible on Micro Four Thirds).
      • No sharpening and no noise reduction: the developed picture is what the sensor recorded, which at 100 % looks softer and grainier than a camera JPEG.
      • No picture styles or film simulations: the developed colour is neutral. The camera's own JPEG keeps them.
      • Apple ProRAW and other already-demosaiced (linear) DNGs are refused by name, not guessed at.
      • Memory: a 24-megapixel file needs about 0.5 GB while it is developed, a 60-megapixel one about 1.3 GB. Files are converted one at a time so a batch does not add up.

      Other formats: CR2 to JPG · CR3 to JPG · NEF to JPG · ARW to JPG · RAF to JPG · ORF to JPG · RW2 to JPG · DNG to JPG · every RAW

      PEF to JPG: questions

      How do I convert PEF to JPG?

      Drop the PEF files on the converter above, choose JPG and press Convert. Each file is developed in your browser and offered for download; with several files, “Download all as ZIP” collects them. Nothing is uploaded.

      Is the PEF converter free, and are there limits?

      It is free, with no account and no watermark. The only limit is your computer's memory: a 24-megapixel file needs about half a gigabyte while it is being developed.

      Will the JPG look like the one my Pentax camera makes?

      Its brightness is matched to the camera's own JPEG and its white balance is the one you shot with, but picture styles, sharpening and lens corrections are not in the RAW data, so the developed picture is neutral. The JPEG the camera embedded is full size: 6000 × 4000 on a K-70; choose “Use the camera's JPEG” to keep its exact look.

      Can I open PEF files without converting them?

      On Windows 10 and 11, the Photos app opens most RAW files once Microsoft's free Raw Image Extension is installed from the Microsoft Store. On a Mac, Preview and Photos open RAW from the cameras Apple supports, and newer bodies need a recent macOS. Converting to JPG is what makes the picture open everywhere else: phones, websites, print shops.