Frequently Asked Questions

Online EXR Viewer is a free, browser-based tool for opening and inspecting OpenEXR (EXR) image files. It provides exposure and gamma adjustment, channel isolation, zoom and pan controls, pixel-level readouts, per-channel statistics, and PNG export — all running entirely in your browser with no server uploads.

Go to the Viewer page and drag and drop an .exr file onto the drop zone, or click 'Open EXR' to browse for a file. Once loaded you can adjust exposure and gamma to see HDR details, isolate individual channels (R, G, B, A, Y), zoom with scroll wheel or keyboard shortcuts, pan by dragging, and export a PNG view.

No. Your EXR files are decoded locally in your browser using the three.js EXRLoader. Nothing is ever transmitted over the network — your file never leaves your device. This makes Online EXR Viewer safe for sensitive or proprietary render data.

EXR (OpenEXR) is a high-dynamic-range image format developed by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). It stores pixel values as 16-bit half or 32-bit floating-point numbers, supports multiple color channels (beyond RGB — e.g. matte, normal, displacement maps), and offers several compression methods (ZIP, RLE, PIZ) to keep file sizes manageable on disk. EXR is the industry standard for VFX, CGI, and compositing pipelines.

EXR files store scene-linear HDR data — pixel values can exceed 1.0 to represent light intensities beyond what monitors can display. When viewed with default settings the image often looks dark because your screen is a standard dynamic range (SDR) device. Use the Exposure slider to brighten or darken (measured in EV stops), and the Gamma slider to adjust the tone curve. A good starting point is Exposure 0, Gamma 2.2.

Online EXR Viewer decodes scanline images (the most common format) using three.js EXRLoader. It supports half-float and full-float pixel types, and common compression methods including ZIP, RLE, and PIZ. Deep images, tiled images, and multipart EXRs may not load — the viewer focuses on single-layer scanline files used in compositing and rendering workflows.

Yes. Open your EXR in the Viewer, adjust exposure and gamma until it looks right, then click the PNG export button. The conversion happens locally in your browser — your file is never uploaded. Note that PNG is an 8-bit SDR format, so HDR values above 1.0 are tone-mapped by your current exposure and gamma settings.

Yes. Online EXR Viewer is completely free to use with no account, no download, and no install required. Just open your browser and start viewing.

You can contact the developer via https://www.taylormadecode.com. Please include details about the EXR file (compression type, dimensions), your browser and version, operating system, and any console errors you see. Feature requests are welcome.

Online EXR Viewer was built by David Taylor / TaylorMadeCode as a free resource for VFX artists, 3D developers, and anyone who needs to inspect OpenEXR files quickly. The project is open-source and maintained on GitHub.