Extract text from PDI files
To convert your PDI file to another format, you need PI ProcessBook or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Industrial Visualization File" file type, you need software like PI ProcessBook or a similar tool.
The .pdi extension serves two distinct, incompatible purposes in legacy computing and industrial sectors, creating significant confusion for users trying to open them.
First and most commonly (approx. 62%), it is a ProcessBook Display File created by OSIsoft (now part of AVEVA). These files are used in the manufacturing and utility industries to visualize real-time data from the PI System historian. They contain vector graphics representing plant equipment (tanks, pumps, valves) linked to live data tags. The major issue here is that PI ProcessBook is legacy software; modern workflows have shifted to web-based PI Vision. Users often find themselves locked out of these files without a licensed desktop installation, unable to view critical plant schematics on mobile devices or modern web browsers.
To solve this, users typically need to convert these .pdi files to PDF for static reporting, auditing, and archiving, or to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) to migrate the visual layouts into modern web dashboards like PI Vision. Since the source file relies on a connection to a PI Server to populate data, opening it without network access to the historian often results in a template with "No Data" symbols, making conversion to a static image (like PNG) useful for preserving the layout structure.
Second, in the realm of archival storage, a .pdi file may be a DiscJuggler Disc Image created by the obsolete Padus DiscJuggler software. These are exact byte-for-byte copies of CDs or DVDs, often used for backing up software or Dreamcast games. Because DiscJuggler is long discontinued, modern operating systems like Windows 11 cannot mount these files natively. The best solution is converting these .pdi images to the industry-standard ISO format, which can be easily mounted or burned by virtually any modern disk utility.
Less frequently, you might encounter a .pdi file generated by PlanSwift, used for construction takeoff estimates. These are proprietary data files containing measurements and digitizer information, essentially locking the data inside the software unless exported to Excel or PDF through the application itself.
Convert.Guru analyzes your PDI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DX1, CR1, IM0, DX2, PDF, DICOMDIR, JPG, EXE, IM2, CPI, IM1, IM3 and WEBP files.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our PDI converter.