How to convert DICOM to JPG or PNG

Presentations, paper figures, sending a colleague a single image — all of these need a DICOM file turned into an ordinary image format. This page covers what to watch out for, and how to export one image or an entire series.

Renaming the extension does not work

Renaming .dcm to .jpg leaves the internal DICOM structure untouched, so image viewers still cannot parse it. A real conversion re-encodes the pixels, and before that it has to settle one question: which window level should the image be rendered at?

Set the window level first — it decides the result

The raw grayscale range of a CT scan is far wider than a screen can display; window width and window level decide which slice of that range gets mapped to black and white. The same series exported at a lung window and at a bone window looks completely different — so do not export straight after opening.

VolumeShop offers several ways to adjust it:

• Drag: hold the left mouse button on the image and drag up/down for window width (contrast), left/right for window level (brightness).
• Presets: pick bone, abdomen, brain, lung, liver, mediastinum or soft tissue from the window level menu.
• Custom: type exact window width and level values, useful when several images must match.
• Default: return to the window level recorded inside the DICOM file.
• Invert: flip black and white.

Suggested flow: start from a preset, fine-tune by dragging, confirm the screen shows what you want — then export.

Export a single image

1. From the "Save file" dropdown choose Save as image.
2. Pick a format: BMP, JPG or PNG.
3. Choose a folder and type a file name.
4. Click Save.

Tick "Open the saved folder" and Explorer opens that folder right after exporting.

Export an entire series

1. From the "Save file" dropdown choose Save as image series.
2. Pick a format (BMP / JPG / PNG).
3. Choose the destination folder and click Select.

Tick "Rename in numeric order" and the exported images are numbered by slice position, which makes animation or frame-by-frame review straightforward.

Keep your annotations and measurements

"Save as image" exports the image itself — not the arrows, text or measurements you drew on screen.

When you need exactly what you see — measurements already drawn, labels already written, ready to drop into a report — use the Screenshot button instead. It saves precisely what is on screen, including every annotation shown on the image.

Large collections: index first

Use the Database feature to index the DICOM data on your machine. You can then search by study date, patient, modality or device model and export a study or series directly, instead of hunting through folders.

One caveat

A JPG or PNG export is a rendered view, not the raw grayscale data, and it cannot be re-windowed afterwards. Keep the DICOM originals for diagnosis and any quantitative work; treat exported images as presentation material only.

One more thing: if the exported image still carries the patient name and you plan to share it, read how to hide patient information in DICOM first.