DCR to SIXEL Converter
FileFlip converts DCR to SIXEL entirely inside your browser, using ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a DCR file to SIXEL?#
- Drop your DCR file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to SIXEL and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs ImageMagick on your own machine.
- Save the SIXEL file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting DCR to SIXEL lose quality?#
No. Converting DCR to SIXEL writes the data out again without discarding any of it, so nothing that was in the DCR file is lost on the way. What changes is the size of the file, not what is inside it.
Is it safe to convert DCR files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts DCR files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What DCR to SIXEL actually does to the file#
Converting DCR to SIXEL runs on ImageMagick, downloads 14.1 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, writes the data out again without discarding any of it.
| Engine | ImageMagick |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: DCR → SIXEL |
| Downloaded to your browser | 14.1 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Lossless |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
Worth knowing before you start:
- camera raw is demosaiced with ImageMagick's defaults, which will not match the camera's own rendering
- the target holds at most 256 colours, so a full-colour image is quantised to a palette
- some cameras write lossily compressed raw, so the source is not always a complete sensor record
What is a DCR file?#
A DCR file stores raw, TIFF-based sensor data from Kodak's professional DCS-series digital SLRs, the raw format Kodak wrote on cameras from the original 1991 DCS 100 through models like the DCS 760 and DCS Pro Back Plus.
There's no reason to shoot DCR today; it only matters when opening or archiving images captured on a Kodak DCS-series camera.
Convert DCR to DNG or TIFF for long-term storage, since Kodak's DCS bodies are long discontinued and fewer raw converters keep testing against the format.
What is a SIXEL file?#
A SIXEL file holds a bitmap encoded entirely as printable ASCII characters, using DEC's six-pixel-tall encoding scheme, so it can be sent to a printer or terminal over a plain 7-bit serial link and displayed without any separate image protocol.
Use Sixel when an image needs to display inline inside a terminal session, such as showing a chart or a thumbnail over SSH without opening a separate viewer.
Convert a Sixel image to PNG once it needs to be viewed anywhere outside a terminal emulator that understands the encoding.
DCR to SIXEL questions people ask#
What camera made this DCR file?
A DCR file was written by a Kodak DCS-series professional digital SLR, the line Kodak built on Nikon and Canon film bodies from 1991 to 2005. The exact model, such as a DCS 760 or DCS Pro Back Plus, is recorded in the file's TIFF metadata.
What still opens a DCR file today?
DCR files open in raw converters built on the LibRaw library, such as RawTherapee and darktable, which keep support for Kodak's DCS-series cameras. Kodak's own DCS software, which originally handled the format, is no longer maintained.
What should I convert a DCR file to for long-term storage?
Convert DCR to DNG or TIFF, since both are widely supported archival formats and DCR support in current software depends on a shrinking set of raw converters that still recognize a discontinued camera line.
What is a SIXEL file?
A SIXEL file is a bitmap image encoded as printable ASCII text using DEC's six-pixel-tall scheme, originally built in the early 1980s so DEC printers and terminals could receive graphics over the same serial link used for plain text.