Extract images from a DICOMDIR file
DICOMDIR is an index file — a directory that lists all the studies, series, and instances on a DICOM CD in a standard structure. On a well-organized hospital imaging CD you will find a DICOMDIR file at the root and the actual DICOM images in subdirectories beside it. The DICOMDIR itself contains no pixel data; it just maps the hierarchy.
In practice, to get images out of a DICOMDIR CD you need to find the actual .dcm (or extension-less DICOM) files it references. On most hospital CDs those are in folders named after the Patient ID or Study UID — numeric folder names like 000001 or alphanumeric UIDs. The DICOMDIR file tells a DICOM workstation where to find them, but you can also just browse to those folders directly.
This converter works on the individual DICOM files, not on the DICOMDIR index itself. To process an imaging CD: copy the contents of the DICOM image folders (not DICOMDIR) to your computer and drop those .dcm files into the converter. Each one becomes a rendered JPG, PNG or PDF.
Open the converter — free, no upload
Getting images off a DICOMDIR CD
- Insert or mount the imaging CD.
- Open the DICOM subfolder (usually named DICOM, DCMIMG, or a numeric Patient ID).
- Copy the files with .dcm extensions (or no extension) to your computer — ignore DICOMDIR itself.
- Drop those files into this converter.
Questions
Why are there folders with names like 1.2.840.10008.5.1.4.1.1.2?
Those are DICOM UIDs — globally unique identifiers for the series or study. They look cryptic but each maps to a sequence of slices from one imaging session.
Some files on my CD have no extension. Are those DICOM?
Very likely. DICOM CDs often omit extensions. Drop them in — the converter checks the internal DICOM magic bytes, not the filename.
I only see DICOMDIR and no other files. Where are the images?
Look inside subdirectories — hospital imaging software often stores images several levels deep, organized by patient and study UID. The images are there; they just need navigating to.