3FR to PNG Converter

3FR to PNG — Which Export Format Should a Hasselblad File Get?

A .3fr is Hasselblad's 3F RAW: undeveloped medium-format sensor data that Phocus, Lightroom, Capture One, or RawTherapee can open and almost nothing else can. PNG is the right target when you want a lossless, artifact-free render that opens in any browser or app — a proof, a screenshot-grade crop, a flat graphic, or a file you will paste into another program. If you mainly need something small enough to email, JPG wins; if the file is heading for retouching, print, or a 16-bit archive, TIFF wins. This page renders the RAW on our servers and writes a standard PNG, and the comparison below tells you when that is the wrong choice.

3FR and PNG Side by Side

When PNG Is the Right Export

• You want a lossless deliverable with zero compression artifacts — a proof for a client, or a frame that will be re-saved and re-edited without generation loss.
• The picture is a flat-colour or high-contrast subject (packshot on white, product cut-out, graphic, text). PNG's DEFLATE coding handles large uniform areas better than JPEG, without ringing around edges.
• Something downstream requires an alpha channel — a cut-out placed over a layout or a web component.
• You want a file that opens everywhere with no plugin, unlike both the 3FR and a TIFF.

When to Pick a Different Target Instead

How to Convert 3FR to PNG

1. Upload Your 3FR File: Drag and drop the .3fr onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. You can queue several captures and convert them with the same settings.
2. Check the Quality Preset: It sits on "Very High (Recommended)" by default, which is what you want for a medium-format render — lower it only if you deliberately want a smaller, softer result.
3. Set the Image Resolution (Optional): "Image resolution" starts on "Keep original", so a 100 MP capture stays at its full 11656 × 8742 pixels. Switch to "Preset Resolutions", "Width (Keep aspect ratio)", or "Width x Height" if you need a smaller PNG.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and save the PNG. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does converting 3FR to PNG lose image quality?

PNG storage itself is lossless, so nothing is thrown away in the compression stage — no blocking, no ringing, no JPEG mush. What you spend is RAW latitude. A 3FR holds unprocessed sensor data recorded at up to 16-bit, which is why exposure, white balance, and highlight recovery are still fully adjustable days later. Rendering to PNG demosaics that data and bakes those decisions in. Treat the PNG as a finished deliverable and keep the .3fr as the negative.

Why is my PNG so much larger than a JPG of the same shot?

Because PNG never discards detail. DEFLATE compression is lossless, and photographic content — smooth gradients, fine sensor noise, foliage — is close to incompressible without loss. Hasselblad's own figures put an average 100 MP 3FR capture at 206 MB and its full-size JPG at 40 MB; a lossless PNG of that same render lands much closer to the RAW than to the JPG. If size is the constraint, downscale under "Image resolution" or use 3FR to JPG instead.

Can a PNG hold the 16-bit depth my Hasselblad recorded?

The format can: the W3C PNG specification allows 8 or 16 bits per sample for truecolour images, which is one thing PNG has over JPEG's 8-bit ceiling. Whether a given viewer or editor round-trips that depth is a different question — plenty of consumer apps quietly downsample to 8-bit on open. If a guaranteed high-bit-depth master is the goal, TIFF is the more predictable container and 3FR to TIFF is the page you want.

Will the PNG keep my EXIF — camera, lens, shutter speed, GPS?

Do not count on it. PNG's third edition defines an eXIf chunk for exactly this, but the chunk is a late addition and many encoders and viewers still ignore it, which is why photographers have long treated PNG as a metadata-poor format. If the shooting data has to travel with the picture — for licensing, cataloguing, or client delivery — export to TIFF or JPG instead, and keep the .3fr where the body's original EXIF lives untouched.

PNG or TIFF for a Hasselblad master file?

TIFF, in almost every professional case. TIFF is what print RIPs, InDesign layouts, and retouching pipelines expect; it carries CMYK as well as RGB, it stores EXIF and IPTC reliably, and it gives you a choice of lossless compressors. PNG's advantages — universal viewing, alpha, no plugin needed — are delivery advantages, not archival ones. A common studio pattern is a TIFF master plus a PNG or JPG derivative for whoever needs to actually look at the image.

Do I need Phocus or Lightroom installed to use this converter?

No. That is the point of the page: 3FR is a proprietary format that general-purpose software refuses or mishandles, and Hasselblad's own Phocus is a desktop install. Here the RAW is decoded on our servers and you get back a plain PNG. Phocus, Lightroom, Capture One, and RawTherapee remain the right tools if you want to grade the file rather than simply render it.

Why does the PNG look flatter than the same shot in Phocus?

Because a converter has to pick a development. Phocus applies Hasselblad's own colour pipeline (HNCS) plus whatever adjustments you have made to the file; a generic RAW render applies neutral defaults instead. The pixels are not wrong, they are just undirected. If the look matters, set exposure, white balance, and tone in Phocus on the original .3fr, export from there, and convert that file rather than the untouched capture.

How are my files handled, and how large a 3FR can I send?

Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, rendered on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. We deliberately leave the Quality Preset on "Very High (Recommended)" so a medium-format render is not quietly softened to save bandwidth. The practical constraint is upload time rather than anything on the conversion side: at Hasselblad's stated 206 MB average for a 100 MP 3FR, sending the file is the slow part of the job.