How to view a .IMA file online
For patients, students and anyone who got a CD from the hospital.
Find your file
On an imaging CD look in the DICOM folder. Files are often named like IM00001 with no extension. Drop one here.
It opens right away
Your .IMA file is opened, header and pixels alike.
Look, scroll and measure
Drag to change brightness, use presets like Lung or Bone, scroll through slices and measure in millimetres.
Supported DICOM files
DICOM stores pixels in several encodings. Here's what supported.
| Encoding (transfer syntax) | Typical source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Uncompressed (Implicit / Explicit VR, little and big endian) | Most CT and MRI exports, research data | Full |
| Deflated Explicit VR | Some archives and web exports | Full |
| RLE Lossless | Ultrasound, nuclear medicine, older PACS | Full |
| JPEG Baseline (8-bit) | Ultrasound, endoscopy, secondary captures | Full |
| Multi-frame & cine | Enhanced CT/MR, ultrasound loops, angiography | Full |
| JPEG Lossless, JPEG-LS, JPEG 2000, HTJ2K | Compressed PACS archives, CR/DX X-ray | Tags only, image soon |
| DICOMDIR | Index file on imaging CDs | Lists the CD, open images directly |
What is a .IMA file?
The format behind almost every medical image.
An IMA file is a raw, sector-by-sector copy of a floppy disk, usually a 1.44 MB diskette, stored as a plain binary file with no wrapper. To extract files, open it with 7-Zip or WinImage. To run the disk in an emulator, attach it as a virtual floppy in VirtualBox, QEMU, or DOSBox. It is interchangeable with raw .img files.
Programs that open .IMA files
| Full name | Generic Disk Image (raw floppy/disk image) |
|---|---|
| Developer | No single owner — a generic raw disk image; popularized by WinImage (Gilles Vollant) |
| First released | 1990s (DOS/Windows floppy-imaging era; WinImage 1993) |
| Category | 3D & CAD |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream |
Related viewers
More free tools for images and technical files.
Is my .IMA file uploaded anywhere?
No. Your .IMA file is decoded by JavaScript. Nothing, including patient details, is sent to FileExtension.org. You can even disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded.
Which file on my hospital CD should I open?
Open the DICOM folder and drop any image file from it. Files are usually named like IM000001 or have random numbers and no extension. The DICOMDIR file is just an index.
Why is my image completely white or black?
The display window may not suit the image. Pick Full range or another preset, or drag on the image: up and down changes brightness, left and right changes contrast.
Can I hide my name before sharing a screenshot?
Yes. Turn on Anonymize view: patient name, ID, birth date and institution are hidden on the image and in the tag list. The original file is not changed.
Can I use this to make a diagnosis?
No. This is a free viewer for looking at your own images and learning. It is not certified medical software. Always rely on your doctor's report.
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