Why convert DCM to PNG?
DICOM files cannot be opened by ordinary image apps or email clients. Exporting a slice as .png produces a lossless flat image shareable by email and viewable without DICOM software. PNG is preferred over JPG when no further compression artifacts should be introduced on top of the processed scan data.
How to convert DCM to PNG
MicroDicom FREE
Open the .dcm file, adjust the window/level for the anatomy you need, then go to File > Export Images and choose PNG as the output format.
Horos OPEN-SOURCE
Import the DICOM folder, navigate to the target slice, adjust window/level, then go to File > Export > as Image File and select PNG.
IrfanView FREE
Open the .dcm file - IrfanView supports many single-frame DICOM files - and use File > Save As to export as .png.
Adobe Photoshop APP
Open the .dcm file using Photoshop's built-in DICOM support, adjust levels, then export via File > Export As PNG.
Programs that convert DCM
About these formats
.DCM
DICOM Medical Image
A DCM file is a DICOM medical image - an X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, or mammogram - bundled together with patient and study information. To open it, use a free DICOM viewer: MicroDicom on…
Open .DCM details →
.PNG
Portable Network Graphics
A PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless raster image format. Every modern OS, browser, and image app opens PNGs natively - just double-click. The most common questions are not about…
Open .PNG details →Quality & what to watch
- DICOM stores grayscale at 12-16 bit depth; PNG output is 8-bit. The window/level setting baked in at export determines what anatomy is visible - bone, soft tissue, and lung windows produce very different images.
- A CT or MRI series can contain hundreds of
.dcmslices; most viewers export only the currently displayed slice, not the full 3D volume. - DICOM metadata includes patient name and ID; verify that the viewer anonymizes this data before sharing the exported PNG.
