What happens when you convert WMF to PNG
- The WMF is opened by Inkscape, the open-source vector editor, on our conversion server and saved as a PDF, and MuPDF draws it at 300 dpi, so a drawing 10 cm wide becomes about 1,180 pixels wide. The longest side is capped at 6,000 pixels.
- The drawing is placed on a white background, so the PNG has no transparency.
- PNG is lossless, so lines and text stay exactly as crisp as they were drawn.
- 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 WMF to PNG online
- Press "Choose WMF 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 PNG". 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 PNG with its download button. Our server has already deleted both your WMF and the PNG by then.
Why convert WMF to PNG?
WMF files usually come from clip art collections and pictures in older Word and PowerPoint files. People convert them to PNG to share, print or place the picture anywhere: PNG opens on every phone and computer and keeps lines and text crisp, with no special program needed.
How to convert WMF to PNG on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your WMF files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PNG is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the WMF files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PNG files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose WMF files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PNG appears in Files, in the Downloads folder; to put it in your photo library, open it there, tap Share and choose Save Image.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose WMF files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PNG is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for WMF to PNG
There are no settings: the drawing is rendered at 300 dpi on white, with the longest side capped at 6,000 pixels.
Keep the WMF as the master copy, and convert from it again whenever you need another format.
WMF vs PNG: the differences
| WMF | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Windows Metafile | Portable Network Graphics |
| Type | image | image |
| Created by | Microsoft | the PNG Development Group |
| First released | 1990 | 1996 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Vector | Raster |
| Colour | Windows drawing commands with 16-bit coordinates, which can also hold bitmaps | up to 16 bits per channel with a full alpha channel |
| In a browser | does not open in browsers; Windows shows it, and Word, PowerPoint, LibreOffice and Inkscape open it | opens in every browser and image viewer |
| Common uses | clip art collections and pictures in older Word and PowerPoint files | screenshots, logos, diagrams and anything with transparency |
| MIME type | image/wmf | image/png |
About WMF and PNG files
What is a WMF file?
WMF is the 16-bit ancestor of EMF, from the days of Windows 3.0: a list of drawing commands rather than pixels. The clip art collections of the 1990s shipped as WMF, and Office still opens it, though its 16-bit coordinates make it less precise than EMF.
What is a PNG file?
PNG compresses without losing a single pixel, so screenshots and text stay razor sharp, but a photograph saved as PNG is often three to five times the size of the same photo as JPG.
WMF to PNG not working? Common problems
- "Files up to 25 MB can be converted." Server conversions have a size limit. Compress the images inside the file, or split it, and try again.
- "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 WMF format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .wmf is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
Convert WMF to PNG from the command line
Inkscape does the same on your own computer:
inkscape input.wmf --export-type=png --export-dpi=300 --export-background=white --export-filename=output.pngConverting 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.
WMF to PNG converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting WMF to PNG?
The drawing is rendered to pixels at 300 dpi, sharp for print at its own size. The pixels are stored losslessly.
Why is the PNG a different size from the WMF?
The PNG stores every pixel, so it is usually larger than the WMF, which stores drawing commands.
Are my WMF files uploaded?
Yes, for this conversion. A faithful WMF to PNG conversion needs Inkscape and MuPDF, two open-source tools, 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 PNG as soon as the result has been sent back to you. We do not keep, read or share it.
Can I convert several WMF files to PNG 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 PNG file?
PNG opens in every browser and image viewer. PNG is common for screenshots, logos, diagrams and anything with transparency.
Is this WMF to PNG 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 WMF to PNG 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 PNG is saved to your Downloads folder.