TGA to PNG Converter
Open Targa files from game folders, 3D renders and old screenshot directories as PNG images that browsers, chat apps and design tools display, with the alpha channel intact.
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 .tga files
Up to 20 per batch, 95 MB each. Uncompressed and RLE-compressed Targa files are both accepted, at 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits per pixel.
- 2
Leave the defaults on
PNG keeps transparency without any setting. Resize output image under Advanced settings is there if you want smaller previews of large textures.
- 3
Press Convert to PNG
Download each PNG or the full batch as a ZIP. Files are removed from the server after 30 minutes.
Where TGA files come from and why they will not preview
Truevision released the Targa format in 1984 for its TARGA and VISTA graphics boards, among the first PC cards that could show true-color video. The format was simple to write from a frame buffer, and that simplicity kept it alive: 3D renderers, texture painters and game engines adopted it for decades. Unreal Engine still imports TGA textures, and id Software's Quake III Arena saved its screenshots as .tga files.
What never adopted it is the web. No browser shows Targa, so files dragged into a Discord message, a forum post or a Google Drive preview appear as anonymous attachments. Windows and macOS photo viewers handle it inconsistently. PNG solves the same problem Targa solved in 1984, holding exact pixels with alpha, and it is understood by everything.
- RLE (run-length encoding)Targa image types 9, 10 and 11
- Targa's optional compression. A run of identical pixels is stored once with a count, which shrinks flat backgrounds and UI textures but barely helps photographs or noisy renders. It is lossless, so an RLE Targa decodes to exactly the same pixels as an uncompressed one.
TGA to PNG with transparency: what keeps the alpha
| from ↓ · to → | PNG | WebP | TGA | JPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TGA | TGA to PNG: yes | TGA to WebP: yes | TGA to TGA: yes | – TGA to JPG: no |
| DDS | DDS to PNG: yes | DDS to WebP: yes | DDS to TGA: yes | – DDS to JPG: no |
| PSD | PSD to PNG: yes | PSD to WebP: yes | PSD to TGA: yes | – PSD to JPG: no |
| EXR | EXR to PNG: yes | EXR to WebP: yes | EXR to TGA: yes | – EXR to JPG: no |
TGA
Truevision TGA (Targa)
TGA, also called Targa, was created by Truevision in 1984 for its graphics cards. It stores raster images uncompressed or with lossless run-length encoding and supports an 8-bit alpha channel. The simple structure made it a long-standing favourite for game textures, 3D renders and video graphics. Files are large compared with PNG, and browsers and phones do not display TGA. Most image editors, game engines and 3D programs read it.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1984 · Truevision
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
Targa files are converted to PNG when a texture, render pass or game screenshot has to be seen or shared outside the engine or 3D app that made it, and its alpha must stay put.
Targa quirks the converter handles for you
Two header details cause most Targa trouble. The origin flag says whether the first stored row is the top or the bottom of the picture; the converter honors it, so nothing comes out mirrored. The second is the alpha channel itself, which some exporters fill with zeros even when the image has no transparency, producing a PNG that looks empty. If that happens, use TGA to JPG instead; JPG ignores alpha, so the color data appears.
Game modders often meet Targa next to DDS textures. For those, DDS to PNG handles the GPU-compressed side.
TGA to PNG questions
Why can't I see my TGA files in a browser or on Discord?
No web browser has ever decoded Targa, so any site or chat app that previews images in the browser shows a blank icon or a download link instead. PNG is decoded everywhere, which is why converting fixes the preview without changing the pixels.
Why does my converted texture look upside down in other tools but fine here?
Targa stores rows from the bottom up by default and records the real direction in a header flag. Some converters ignore the flag and flip the picture. This one reads it, so the PNG is written top-down the way the image was meant to look.
Is the alpha channel of a 32-bit TGA kept?
Yes. A 32-bit Targa has 8 bits of alpha per pixel, and PNG stores the same 256 levels of opacity. A 16-bit Targa has only one alpha bit, so its pixels are either fully opaque or fully transparent, and the PNG reproduces exactly that.
Will the PNG be smaller than the TGA?
Usually. An uncompressed 2048 × 2048 Targa at 32 bits is 16 MB of raw pixels, and PNG's DEFLATE compression typically shrinks textures well below that. RLE Targa files with large flat areas start smaller, so the saving there is less dramatic.
Can I convert the PNG back for my game or mod?
Yes, PNG to TGA writes a Targa again. Check what your engine expects first: some older games need 24-bit files without alpha, others want 32-bit with alpha in a specific orientation.
What about Targa files with the .icb, .vda or .vst extension?
Those are the original Truevision board-specific extensions for the same format. Rename them to .tga before uploading; the contents are read the same way.