PNG to BMP Converter
Some software still reads nothing but bitmaps: old Windows programs, installer builders and the display libraries on small microcontroller boards. Convert your PNG to an uncompressed BMP they accept, and decide what color fills the transparent parts.
Image Converter
or drop JPG, JPEG, JPE … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
85 keeps photos visually identical to the original. Lower it only when you need a smaller file.
JPG, BMP and EPS have no transparency. Transparent pixels are filled with this color.
Hex color used behind transparent pixels, e.g. #FFFFFF.
This format holds a single image. Choose GIF or WebP output if you want to keep the animation.
A multi-size icon contains several resolutions in one file; browsers and operating systems pick the one they need.
Keep the original dimensions, or enter one side and the aspect ratio is kept.
Pixels for the side you chose above.
Percentage of the original dimensions.
sRGB is right for screens and the web. Keep the original for print workflows; grayscale discards color.
Metadata only, 0 keeps the original value. Printers and some portals read this number; it does not change pixel dimensions.
How to use this tool
- 1
Drop in the PNG files
Add up to 20 PNGs, 95 MB each, from your computer or by pasting a copied image.
- 2
Choose the background color
BMP output here has no transparency, so Transparent areas starts on white. Pick black or a Custom color under Advanced settings to match the screen or dialog the bitmap sits on.
- 3
Press Convert to BMP
Download each .bmp file or a single ZIP. Uploads and results are deleted after 30 minutes.
Convert PNG to BMP when software demands a bitmap: pixels stay identical, transparency becomes a solid color, and the file grows because BMP is uncompressed.
Who still needs a PNG converted to BMP
BMP is Microsoft's bitmap format, and its modern layout dates from Windows 3.0 in 1990. Because it is little more than raw pixels behind a 54-byte header, programs can read it without a decoding library. That simplicity is exactly why it survives in places that never added PNG support.
Installer builders are a common case: NSIS, for example, expects .bmp files for the header and welcome images of its Modern UI wizard. Older Visual Basic and Win32 programs load splash screens and toolbar images through Windows functions that read bitmaps. Microcontroller projects with small TFT or e-paper screens read 24-bit BMP from an SD card because decoding PNG costs memory the board does not have.
If the destination needs a Windows icon rather than a bitmap, use PNG to ICO instead; icons keep transparency and hold several sizes in one file.
How big a BMP file gets: uncompressed sizes
6.2 MBa 1920 × 1080 image saved as a 24-bit BMP, however simple the picture
PNG
Portable Network Graphics
PNG is a lossless raster format published in 1996 by the PNG Development Group and later standardised by the W3C and ISO. It keeps every pixel exactly, supports full alpha transparency and handles text, sharp edges and flat colours without artefacts. That precision makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, icons and interface graphics. The trade-off is size: photographs saved as PNG are often several times larger than the same photo as JPEG or WebP. All browsers, operating systems and editors open PNG files.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1996 · PNG Development Group
BMP
Bitmap image
BMP is Microsoft's device-independent bitmap format, native to Windows since its early versions. It usually stores pixels uncompressed, so quality is perfect but files are very large compared with PNG or JPEG. Newer BMP versions can hold an alpha channel, but many programs ignore it. The format is simple to read and write, which keeps it alive in older software, embedded systems and some industrial tools. Windows, macOS and nearly every image editor can open BMP files.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- Microsoft
People turn PNG into BMP because a specific program, installer or embedded display reads only plain Windows bitmaps; nobody picks BMP for size or quality, and the reverse trip is about shrinking those bitmaps again.
BMP vs PNG: what you gain and give up
What a BMP gives you
- Readable without any decompression library
- Pixel values identical to the PNG
- Accepted by legacy Windows APIs and installers
- Predictable size: width × height × bytes per pixel
What you give up
- Files many times larger than PNG
- Transparency replaced by a solid color
- No text metadata or color profile in most readers
- Rejected by many upload forms that ask for JPG or PNG
Convert PNG to BMP with the right size and background
Because a BMP is stored as raw rows, its dimensions matter more than its compression. Set Resize output image to the exact width the target needs, such as 164 × 314 px for an NSIS welcome image or the native resolution of a display, so the program does not stretch or crop it.
For transparent logos, choose the background that the bitmap will sit on. A dialog with a light gray face looks wrong with a pure white box, so enter the exact hex value under Custom color. Converting a whole folder for a firmware project? Batches of 20 files go through in one run, and BMP to PNG turns them back when you need lighter copies.
PNG to BMP questions
Why is my BMP so much bigger than the PNG?
A standard BMP stores every pixel uncompressed: 3 bytes per pixel at 24-bit, plus padding so each row is a multiple of 4 bytes. PNG compresses the same pixels with Deflate, so flat graphics shrink a lot. A logo that is 20 KB as PNG can easily be several hundred KB as BMP; that is normal.
Does PNG to BMP lose any quality?
No pixels are changed. Both formats are lossless and 24-bit BMP holds the same 8 bits per channel as a typical PNG. The only thing that changes is transparency, which is replaced by the background color you pick.
Can a BMP file have a transparent background?
The format allows a 32-bit variant with an alpha channel, but Paint, most Windows APIs and nearly every program that asks for BMP ignore it and show black or garbage instead. That is why the converter flattens transparency onto a solid color you choose.
Which BMP format does an Arduino or ESP32 display need?
Most display libraries, including Adafruit's ImageReader for its TFT screens, load uncompressed 24-bit BMP files from an SD card, which is what this converter writes. Resize the image to the screen's exact resolution first, for example 320 × 240 px, using Resize output image, because the board cannot scale it.
What is the difference between BMP and DIB?
DIB stands for device-independent bitmap, the in-memory layout Windows has used since version 3.0. A .bmp file is simply a DIB with a 14-byte file header in front of it, so programs that ask for a DIB or .dib file accept the BMP.
Should I use BMP for a website or email?
No. Browsers display BMP, but the file is many times heavier than PNG or JPG for no visible gain. Keep BMP for the program that requires it and use PNG to JPG or the original PNG everywhere else.
| JPG to BMP | WebP to BMP | PDF to BMP |
| BMP to PNG | PNG to ICO | Image converter |