Convert RLE files online for free
The converter easily converts your RLE file to various formats - free and online. No Photoshop or extra software needed.
The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other Raster Image formats to RLE with high quality output.
The .rle extension creates a unique challenge because it serves two distinct purposes: simulating life and compressing history. Most commonly, it is a Run-Length Encoded pattern file used in cellular automata simulations like Conway's Game of Life. These files contain ASCII text instructions (often starting with header lines like x = ...) that define the initial state of a grid. You cannot view these as standard images; they require simulation software like Golly to interpret the rules and "play" the evolution. Users often need to convert these into animated GIF or video formats to share the simulation results without requiring the recipient to install specialized software.
Alternatively, an .rle file may be a legacy Run-Length Encoded Bitmap. This is an archaic graphic format used in early Windows systems (Windows 3.x), the Utah Raster Toolkit, and various video games (e.g., Stronghold, MapleStory) to save disk space before modern compression like JPEG existed. Modern image viewers and web browsers do not natively support standalone RLE bitmaps. To make these graphics usable for web publishing or editing, the best workflow is converting them to PNG (to preserve the lossless quality of the original pixel art) or TIFF for archiving.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your RLE file.
Users also converted MOV, BMP, PNG, GIF, ZIP, RAR, JPG, PDF, PGM, TIF and PCX files.
If you want to convert RLE file to CUR, you can use Golly or similar software from the "Cellular Automata Pattern" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SVG files to RLE, try Golly or another comparable tool in the "Cellular Automata Pattern" category.
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 RLE converter.