Image format

EXR

HDR raster data for rendering and compositing, with named channels and lossless or lossy codecs.

Convert EXR to

Choose a target format for your EXR images.

JPEGJPEGEXR → JPEGWith caveat PNGPNGEXR → PNGWith caveat WebPWebPEXR → WebPWith caveat AVIFAVIFEXR → AVIFWith caveat HEICHEICEXR → HEICWith caveat HEIFHEIFEXR → HEIFWith caveat

All 21 conversions

GIFGIFEXR → GIFWith caveat TIFFTIFFEXR → TIFFWith caveat BMPBMPEXR → BMPWith caveat ICOICOEXR → ICOWith caveat JPEG XLJPEG XLEXR → JPEG XLWith caveat JPEG 2000JPEG 2000EXR → JPEG 2000With caveat QOIQOIEXR → QOIWith caveat TGATGAEXR → TGAWith caveat PCXPCXEXR → PCXWith caveat PPMPPMEXR → PPMWith caveat PGMPGMEXR → PGMWith caveat PBMPBMEXR → PBMWith caveat PAMPAMEXR → PAMWith caveat HDRHDREXR → HDR PDFPDFEXR → PDFWith caveat

Marked paths may need steps such as flattening, rasterization, tone mapping or animation loss.

Convert to EXR

Choose a source format to convert to EXR.

JPEGJPEGJPEG → EXR PNGPNGPNG → EXR WebPWebPWebP → EXR AVIFAVIFAVIF → EXR HEICHEICHEIC → EXR HEIFHEIFHEIF → EXR

All 36 conversions

GIFGIFGIF → EXRWith caveat TIFFTIFFTIFF → EXR BMPBMPBMP → EXR SVGSVGSVG → EXR ICOICOICO → EXR JPEG XLJPEG XLJPEG XL → EXR JPEG 2000JPEG 2000JPEG 2000 → EXR QOIQOIQOI → EXR TGATGATGA → EXR PCXPCXPCX → EXR PPMPPMPPM → EXR PGMPGMPGM → EXR PBMPBMPBM → EXR PAMPAMPAM → EXR HDRHDRHDR → EXR PSDPSDPSD → EXRWith caveat PDFPDFPDF → EXRWith caveat DNGDNGDNG → EXR Canon CR2Canon CR2Canon CR2 → EXR Canon CR3Canon CR3Canon CR3 → EXR Canon CRWCanon CRWCanon CRW → EXR Nikon NEFNikon NEFNikon NEF → EXR Sony ARWSony ARWSony ARW → EXR Fujifilm RAFFujifilm RAFFujifilm RAF → EXR Olympus ORFOlympus ORFOlympus ORF → EXR Panasonic RW2Panasonic RW2Panasonic RW2 → EXR Pentax PEFPentax PEFPentax PEF → EXR Sigma X3FSigma X3FSigma X3F → EXR Kodak RAWKodak RAWKodak RAW → EXR Hasselblad 3FRHasselblad 3FRHasselblad 3FR → EXR

Marked paths may need steps such as flattening, rasterization, tone mapping or animation loss.

About EXR

OpenEXR

Industrial Light & Magic developed OpenEXR for high-dynamic-range image interchange in visual effects. Named channels store image or processing data rather than requiring one RGB layout. Samples can be 16-bit floating-point half, 32-bit float or 32-bit unsigned integers. This preserves a working range beyond ordinary display-encoded photo files.

EXR supports scanlines or tiles, optional alpha, typed header attributes and several compression choices. Multipart structures hold related images, and deep data stores multiple samples at different depths per pixel. These are not ordinary Photoshop editing layers or a timed animation; readers may support only a subset of the structures.

Use EXR for render passes, scene-linear compositing and HDR working images. Keep channel names, colour-space assumptions and premultiplication explicit. A visible preview needs a display transform or tone mapping. Exporting that preview to a simple image can discard extra channels, deep structure and the original working dynamic range.

Key capabilities

Compression: Lossy & lossless
Transparency: Yes
Animation: No
Extensions: .exr
MIME type: image/x-exr · Unregistered conventional type
Metadata: Typed header attributes, Chromaticities
Best for: Render passes & HDR compositing
HDR: Floating-point working values
Colour depth: HALF 16 / FLOAT 32 / UINT 32
Multiple images: Multipart

EXR supports lossy and lossless codecs. Choose one for the sample types and required precision; .exr alone does not guarantee exact channel preservation.

History of EXR

OpenEXR grows from an ILM production format into an open project with contributions from multiple studios.

Industrial Light & Magic
Production origins
ILM designs the format for HDR effects images. The project credits Florian Kainz, Wojciech Jarosz and Rod Bogart for the original design and implementation.
2003
Open-source release
OpenEXR is first released as open source in 2003. Other studios extend the code, making the working format reusable beyond ILM’s pipeline.
OpenEXR 3
Independent Imath
Version 3 separates Imath, previously part of IlmBase, into an independent dependency. The half type still provides 16-bit floating-point samples.
OpenEXR 3.1
New C I/O core
Version 3.1 introduces OpenEXRCore for lower-level thread-safe file access alongside C++. Existing consumers need not immediately replace their APIs.

EXR compared

Different formats, different trade-offs. Choose for the image and the workflow.

HDR

EXR vs HDR

Radiance HDR stores radiometric RGBE or XYZE values compactly using a shared exponent. It suits lighting environments, but cannot preserve EXR-style arbitrary channels or alpha, and the shared exponent limits precision.

TIFF

EXR vs TIFF

TIFF provides tagged raster storage with multiple images and several sample types and compression schemes. It is a useful interchange choice for scanning and high-precision editing, but the receiving tool must support the particular TIFF variant.

PSD

EXR vs PSD

PSD preserves Photoshop layers, masks and document resources. Keep it for continued editing; a flattened raster export is easier to distribute but cannot recreate the original layer structure.

AVIF

EXR vs AVIF

AVIF uses AV1 coding and supports alpha, image sequences and higher bit depths for HDR workflows. It is worth evaluating for final delivery; codec settings and the receiving application determine whether its additional features survive.

EXR FAQ

What does this format store?

How does compression affect quality?

EXR supports lossy and lossless codecs. Choose one for the sample types and required precision; .exr alone does not guarantee exact channel preservation.

Are EXR channels editing layers?

Channels are named sample arrays. Multipart and deep structures add images or depth samples, but do not automatically preserve Photoshop masks, blend modes or editable text.

What should I check before opening the file?

Check channel types, compression, tiles and multipart/deep support. Agree on colour space and alpha; a reader displaying RGB may omit essential processing channels.

What changes when I export to another format?

SDR export needs tone mapping and channel selection. RGBE cannot retain alpha, negative values or arbitrary channels. PNG/JPEG previews cannot reconstruct deep or multipart data.

When is this format useful?

Sources

EXR