Turn MOV files into PNG
Pick the moments you want out of your MOV and save them as PNG stills. MOV is what an iPhone and most Apple video software record to. The practical difference is that the result opens anywhere, which MOV files do not. Your file never leaves your computer.
How to convert MOV to PNG
- 1 Drop your MOV .mov or .qt file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Pick a single moment, or take a picture every few seconds.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the PNG, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert MOV to PNG
- An MOV will not open in a browser, so anything going onto a web page, into a document or into a message has to become a PNG first.
- Nothing is ever thrown away, so re-saving never degrades the picture.
- Smooth, partial transparency rather than hard on-or-off edges.
- Source images kept for further editing.
- MOV: proRes masters are very large compared to delivery formats.
MOV compared with PNG
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | MOV | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .mov | .png |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossless |
| Typical file size | Depends on mode | Larger |
| Browser support | Some browsers | Every browser |
| Introduced | 1991 | 1996 |
| Developed by | Apple | PNG Development Group / W3C |
| Standard | Proprietary | Open |
Quality and what changes
PNG stores the same content under a different set of rules, so what matters here is compatibility rather than picture quality. Convert once from the best source you have rather than through a chain of intermediate files.
- One PNG limitation to keep in mind: encoding at maximum compression is slow on large images.
Questions about MOV to PNG
Is my MOV file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your MOV is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a PNG. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several MOV files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate PNG downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.