PBM to BMP
Nothing you choose here leaves your browser. There is no server to send it to — the conversion happens on your own device, using the codecs your browser already has, and nothing is uploaded, stored or seen by anyone.
What this conversion costs you
Every conversion throws something away, and this one is no exception. Here is exactly what, before you do it.
The metadata. Going through a canvas drops EXIF, so the camera, the date and any GPS coordinates do not survive. That is a side effect rather than a feature, and a useful one.
How it works, and why nothing is uploaded
Your browser can already read PBM. It cannot write a BMP — no browser can — so this page writes one itself, which takes about forty lines: a BMP is an uncompressed file header, an info header, then the pixels. That is still entirely on your own device, and it means there is no codec to download and nothing to upload.
It also means the page can tell you when your browser cannot do it, which it will say plainly rather than producing a broken file. The one thing it will never do is hand you a file with the wrong contents: browsers quietly return a PNG when asked for a format they cannot write, so every conversion here checks what came back and refuses if it is not what was asked for.
Where to go next
The same conversion, the other way round, and the other targets:
- BMP to PBM — the same conversion the other way
- PBM to JPG — the format every camera and every website has understood for thirty years
- PBM to PNG — lossless, with real transparency, and the safe choice for anything with text or sharp edges
- HEIC converter — iPhone photographs, which need a different approach
What this does not do
It converts one picture at a time from each file, and does not edit, crop or retouch. It cannot convert a format your browser cannot read — JPEG XL, QOI and HEIC all need something extra, and HEIC has a page of its own.
It does not upload anything, so it cannot work on a file that is not on the device you are using. And it does not preserve metadata: if you need the EXIF kept, this is the wrong tool, and if you wanted it gone, this is a convenient way to do it.