DNG to ICON Converter
FileFlip converts DNG to ICON 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 DNG file to ICON?#
- Drop your DNG 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 ICON 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 ICON file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting DNG to ICON lose quality?#
No. Converting DNG to ICON writes the data out again without discarding any of it, so nothing that was in the DNG file is lost on the way. What changes is the size of the file, not what is inside it.
Is it safe to convert DNG files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts DNG 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 DNG to ICON actually does to the file#
Converting DNG to ICON 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: DNG → ICON |
| 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
- some cameras write lossily compressed raw, so the source is not always a complete sensor record
What is a DNG file?#
A DNG file holds either the raw mosaiced data straight off a camera's sensor or, in its demosaiced 'linear DNG' form, already-processed image data, wrapped in a TIFF/EP-based container that also carries the camera settings, colour data and previews a raw editor needs to render it.
Convert to DNG when you want an archival copy of a raw capture that stays readable by future software, instead of depending on one camera maker keeping its proprietary raw format supported.
Convert DNG to JPEG or TIFF when a file needs to open outside raw-capable software, such as for sharing, printing or the web, since a DNG still needs a raw processor to turn its sensor data into a viewable picture.
What is an ICON file?#
ICON is ImageMagick's alternate name for the ICO format, the container Windows uses for small multi-resolution images shown as application, file and shortcut icons, so a file written as ICON is the same Windows icon container as one written as ICO.
Use ICON, or the equivalent ICO, for Windows application icons, favicons and shortcut images, where the file needs to offer several sizes in one container.
Convert to PNG when a single-resolution image is needed for general use, since most software outside Windows icon contexts doesn't expect an ICO/ICON container.
DNG to ICON questions people ask#
What software opens a DNG file?
DNG files open in Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom and Photoshop, in Capture One, and in most other raw-editing software, since roughly 200 imaging products support the format. Apple's Photos and Preview apps also display DNG files on macOS and iOS, usually without the fine-grained raw controls a dedicated raw processor offers.
Does converting a raw file to DNG lose anything?
Converting a proprietary raw file to DNG keeps the underlying sensor data, but camera-maker-specific settings can be left behind, because values one company's software wrote into the file are not always recognized once a different company's software opens the DNG. Adobe's DNG Converter also has to specifically support the camera model being converted, and some older versions of it did not preserve every camera's raw data completely, which is why photographers are commonly advised to keep the original raw file too.
Is DNG actually a raw format, or is it already processed?
DNG can be either, depending on how it was created. A standard DNG stores the same unprocessed, mosaiced sensor data a camera's native raw format would, while a 'linear DNG' stores data that has already been demosaiced and sits closer to a finished image, though it still holds more editing latitude than a JPEG.
Why don't Canon and Nikon cameras shoot DNG?
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Fujifilm have not adopted DNG as a native capture format, sticking with their own proprietary raw formats such as CR3 or NEF instead. Camera makers that do shoot DNG natively include Leica, Pentax and Ricoh, Hasselblad, and some Sigma models, plus a number of phones through Apple's ProRAW and Android's Camera2 API.