What happens when you convert DDS to PDF
- ImageMagick, the open-source image toolkit, decodes the DDS texture on our conversion server, taking its full-size image rather than the smaller mipmaps, and places it on a PDF page the size of the image, stored losslessly.
- DDS textures in the newer DX10 layout, such as BC7, may not open.
- This conversion runs on our server: the file is uploaded, converted, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result has been sent back to you. Nothing is kept. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.
How to convert DDS to PDF online
- Press "Choose DDS files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. Files up to 25 MB each can be converted.
- There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
- Press "Convert to PDF". The file is uploaded to our conversion server, converted in a few seconds, and deleted together with the result as soon as the result is sent back.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your DDS and the PDF by then.
Why convert DDS to PDF?
DDS files usually come from textures in games and 3D engines, and game mods. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, DDS is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. DDS does not open in browsers; Paint.NET, GIMP and game modding tools open it, and Photoshop with NVIDIA's plug-in, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert DDS to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your DDS files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the DDS files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose DDS files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose DDS files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for DDS to PDF
There are no settings: the image keeps its full size.
Keep the DDS as your original, and convert from it again if you need another format.
DDS vs PDF: the differences
| DDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | DirectDraw Surface | Portable Document Format |
| Type | image | document |
| Created by | Microsoft | Adobe |
| First released | 1999 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Vector |
| Colour | block-compressed colour (DXT1 to DXT5, BC7) or uncompressed 32-bit colour with alpha | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | does not open in browsers; Paint.NET, GIMP and game modding tools open it, and Photoshop with NVIDIA's plug-in | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | textures in games and 3D engines, and game mods | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | image/vnd-ms.dds | application/pdf |
About DDS and PDF files
What is a DDS file?
DDS stores a texture the way a graphics card uses it: compressed in blocks of 4 by 4 pixels that the GPU decodes on the fly, often with mipmaps, smaller copies for distant surfaces. That is why game mods are full of DDS files, and why ordinary image viewers cannot open them.
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
DDS to PDF not working? Common problems
- "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit. Save the image at a smaller size first.
- "The conversion took too long and was stopped." Very long or complex files can pass the 90 second limit. Split the file and convert the parts.
- "This file is not really in DDS format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .dds is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
Convert DDS to PDF from the command line
ImageMagick does the same on your own computer:
magick input.dds[0] output.pdfConverting on your own computer keeps the file entirely local, which is worth it for very large or very sensitive documents. For everything else, the converter on this page does it without installing anything.
DDS to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting DDS to PDF?
No. PDF is stored losslessly, so every pixel of the DDS is kept.
Why is the PDF a different size from the DDS?
Often larger than the DDS, because the pixels are stored in the PDF without lossy compression, and PDF adds its own page description around them.
Are my DDS files uploaded?
Yes, for this conversion. A faithful DDS to PDF conversion needs ImageMagick, the open-source image toolkit, which cannot run in a browser. The file travels over an encrypted connection, is converted in a private temporary folder, and is deleted together with the PDF as soon as the result has been sent back to you. We do not keep, read or share it.
Can I convert several DDS files to PDF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this DDS to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Because this conversion uses our server, there is a fair-use limit of 25 MB per file and a number of files per hour, which stops the service being overloaded.
Can I convert DDS to PDF on my phone?
Yes. It works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. The conversion happens on our server, so it is as fast on a phone as on a computer; the PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.