BMP to PNG Converter
Convert BMP files (released 1986 (Microsoft), None (uncompressed) or RLE) to PNG (Lossless, typically Larger — 2–10× JPEG for photos). Runs in your browser — no upload, no signup.
Based on 12,431+ conversions delivered
Should you convert BMP to PNG? It depends on where the file is headed. PNG (Lossless, typically Larger — 2–10× JPEG for photos) is the right call when you need Screenshots, icons, logos, any image with transparency and your destination supports it — Universal (every browser since the 90s). BMP stays the better master when you need Legacy Windows tools, embedded devices, industrial scanners. In our sample set, BMP files came out about 74% smaller as PNG. This converter runs the whole job locally in your browser, so a 50-file batch is as private as a single image and nothing is uploaded. Below: a side-by-side of both formats, the real trade-offs, and the edge cases — transparency, animation, colour depth — that decide whether BMP → PNG is a clean win.
Looking to programmatically convert BMP to PNG?
Same engine, available as a JSON API. Drop a file or URL via REST and get the converted output back — no browser, no UI, no rate limits on paid tiers.
Sub-second response on common pairs
Webhook delivery for batch jobs
100+ format pairs supported
BMP vs PNG — side-by-side
The numbers and capabilities at a glance, so you know what you're trading.
BMP
- Year released
- 1986 (Microsoft)
- Compression
- None (uncompressed) or RLE
- Transparency
- Limited (32-bit BMP only)
- Animation
- No
- Browser support
- Universal — read by every browser since the 90s
- Best for
- Legacy Windows tools, embedded devices, industrial scanners
PNG
- Year released
- 1996
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes (full alpha)
- Animation
- No (use APNG / GIF / WebP)
- Browser support
- Universal (every browser since the 90s)
- Best for
- Screenshots, icons, logos, any image with transparency
Real BMP → PNG file sizes
We ran a fixed set of sample images through this exact converter so you can see the typical size impact before converting your own files.
| Sample image | BMP size | PNG size | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | 192.1 KB | 174.4 KB | -9% smaller |
| Screenshot / UI | 256.1 KB | 488 B | -100% smaller |
| Logo / transparency | 256.1 KB | 6.8 KB | -97% smaller |
Measured on a 256×256 sample set with this converter on 2026-05-28. Real-world files vary with resolution, colour and content.
Best practices for BMP → PNG
Concrete settings to pick before you convert BMP to PNG.
- Always preview the PNG output before bulk-downloading — colour shifts, transparency surprises, and quality artifacts show up in the preview before they ship.
- Strip EXIF metadata if file size or privacy matters — camera GPS coordinates, timestamps, and serial numbers travel inside the image bytes by default.
- PNG is lossless, so quality settings don't apply — but you can still shave bytes by quantising the palette (pngquant for PNG, gif2webp for GIF) when the image has a limited colour count.
- Verify the alpha channel rendered as expected — premultiplied vs straight alpha and edge halos around antialiased pixels are the most common surprises when going to PNG.
- Re-encoding a BMP (lossless) source into another lossless format like PNG preserves every pixel, but the file size can swing in either direction with no gain in quality. If the goal is smaller files, pick a lossy target (JPEG, WebP, AVIF); if it's pixel fidelity for archival, keep the BMP original.
The importance of a good image conversion
Why getting BMP → PNG right matters more than you think.
Frequently asked
The basics everyone asks before dropping a file.
Convert BMP to other formats