What happens when you convert XCF to PDF
- The XCF is opened by GIMP, the open-source image editor that made it, on our conversion server, and its visible layers are flattened into one picture on a white background, with their opacity and blend modes applied.
- ImageMagick saves the flattened picture on a PDF page the size of the image, stored losslessly. Hidden layers are left out.
- Because the layers are flattened onto white, the PDF has no transparency.
- 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 XCF to PDF online
- Press "Choose XCF 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 XCF and the PDF by then.
Why convert XCF to PDF?
XCF files usually come from work in progress saved from GIMP, the free image editor. People convert them to PDF to share or print the picture: a PDF opens on every phone and computer, and XCF opens almost nowhere outside GIMP.
How to convert XCF to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your XCF 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 XCF 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 XCF 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 XCF 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 XCF to PDF
There are no settings: visible layers are flattened onto white at the image's full size.
To keep transparency or a single layer, hide the other layers in GIMP and use File, Export As to write a PNG yourself. Keep the XCF as your working copy.
XCF vs PDF: the differences
| XCF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | GIMP image (eXperimental Computing Facility) | Portable Document Format |
| Type | image | document |
| Created by | the GIMP developers | Adobe |
| First released | 1997 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Vector |
| Colour | 8 to 32 bits per channel with alpha, in RGB or greyscale | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| What it holds | layers, masks, channels, paths, guides and the current selection | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | does not open in browsers; GIMP opens it, and a few editors such as Krita and Photopea read simple XCF files | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | work in progress saved from GIMP, the free image editor | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | image/x-xcf | application/pdf |
About XCF and PDF files
What is an XCF file?
XCF is GIMP's own working format, named after the eXperimental Computing Facility at Berkeley where GIMP began. It saves everything GIMP knows about an image, layers, masks, paths and even the selection, but it is not meant for sharing: almost nothing else opens it.
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.
XCF 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 XCF format." The converter checks every file before it runs anything, so a file of another format renamed to .xcf is refused. Choose the page for its real format.
Convert XCF to PDF from the command line
GIMP can do the same from the command line, without opening a window:
gimp-console -i -b '(let* ((img (car (gimp-file-load 1 "input.xcf" "input.xcf"))) (d (car (gimp-image-flatten img)))) (file-png-save-defaults 1 img d "output.png" "output.png") (gimp-quit 0))'Converting 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.
XCF to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting XCF to PDF?
No pixels are lost: PDF is stored losslessly. The layers are merged, so they can no longer be edited separately.
Why is the PDF a different size from the XCF?
Usually smaller than the XCF, because only the flattened picture is kept.
Are my XCF files uploaded?
Yes, for this conversion. A faithful XCF to PDF conversion needs GIMP and ImageMagick, 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 PDF as soon as the result has been sent back to you. We do not keep, read or share it.
Can I convert several XCF 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 XCF 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 XCF 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.