DicomWorks is a free Windows DICOM viewer and utility created by two French radiologists. It lets you open, review, anonymise and export medical images. People searching for a DicomWorks download are usually dentists, radiology staff or students who need a light tool to open a DICOM CD or folder, or to turn a few slices into JPEG images or PowerPoint slides.
It is also a legacy program. Development stopped around 2011, when the author’s website was replaced by a temporary page that is still online. The installer is still available from the official domain, but there have been no updates for modern Windows. This page covers what DicomWorks can still do, where it fits in a dental practice and when a maintained viewer is the better choice.
DicomWorks at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 1.3.5b, the build still served by the official site (no release date is published; the site has not been updated since 2011) |
| Licence | Free (freeware, closed source). Viewing works without registration; free registration removes the start-up reminder and unlocks some extra functions |
| Platforms | Windows (32-bit application, originally tested on Windows 95 to Windows XP) |
| Developer | Philippe Puech, MD, PhD, and Loïc Boussel (French academic radiology and medical informatics teams) |
| Official website | dicomworks.com |
| Best for | Opening DICOM CDs and folders on older Windows PCs, anonymising studies and exporting images for teaching or presentations |
What it does
- Opens DICOM images from a local or network drive, from unsorted folders, and from CDs or DVDs with a DICOMDIR index. A sorted list of patients and studies is built automatically.
- Reads uncompressed and compressed DICOM (RLE, lossless and lossy JPEG), monochrome or colour, single-frame or multi-frame.
- Offers a viewer with split screen, windowing, zoom, measurements and synchronised navigation through series.
- Anonymises studies and edits DICOM tags, for example to remove the patient’s name before teaching or research use.
- Exports selected images or a whole series to JPEG, BMP or AVI, and inserts them directly into Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Sends and receives images by e-mail (POP3/SMTP) and FTP, a simple teleradiology workflow described by the authors.
- Supports plug-ins for DICOM network transfer and for passing images to third-party 3D or MPR software. A free SDK was offered to developers.
- Includes an offline study manager with keywords, a CD burning tool with optional anonymisation, and basic image statistics that can be exported to Excel.
How dental teams use it
Open a DICOM CD from a radiology centre
Insert the CD, start DicomWorks and open the CD drive. If the disc has a DICOMDIR file, the patient and study list appears straight away. Double-click a series to view it, then adjust brightness and contrast with the windowing tool. This works for panoramic, cephalometric and intraoral images stored as DICOM, and for CBCT slices viewed one by one in 2D.
Prepare anonymised images for a lecture or case report
Select the images you need, run the anonymisation tool to remove or replace patient details, and export them as JPEG or straight into a PowerPoint presentation. Check the exported images afterwards: patient names that are burned into the pixels (as in some screenshots) are not removed by tag anonymisation.
Send a few images to a colleague
DicomWorks can compress and anonymise a selection and attach it to an e-mail. In a modern practice it is safer to export anonymised JPEGs or DICOM files and send them through your clinic’s approved secure channel, because the old e-mail features predate current encryption and privacy expectations.
Install and first run
- Windows: run the installer and accept the default folder. DicomWorks is a 32-bit program written for Windows 95 to XP. The developer has never confirmed support for Windows 10 or 11, so test it on your PC before relying on it.
- Registration: after installation you can register for free to stop the start-up reminder and unlock extra functions such as archiving and some export options. Viewing works without registration.
- PowerPoint export: this feature relies on Microsoft PowerPoint scripting and was designed for Office 97 to XP. It may not work with current Office versions.
- macOS and Linux: there is no native version.
- Gotchas: large CBCT volumes can be slow, because the program was built for the hardware of the early 2000s. If a CD will not open, copy the whole disc to a local folder and open the folder instead.
Limitations
- No updates since about 2011 and no active support. The official site is a temporary page offering only the download and registration form.
- No 3D rendering, no multiplanar reconstruction and no dental tools such as panoramic curves, nerve tracing or implant planning.
- Windows only, and compatibility with current Windows versions is not guaranteed.
- The developer does not claim any regulatory clearance, so do not treat it as a certified diagnostic workstation.
- E-mail and FTP sharing features do not meet today’s privacy standards without extra safeguards.
DicomWorks vs alternatives
| Tool | Main difference |
|---|---|
| ONIS 2.5 Free Edition | A newer Windows viewer with MPR and MIP 3D. It is the limited edition of a commercial product, capped at 15 patients. |
| Aeskulap | A free, open-source (GPL) viewer and PACS client for Linux. Also no longer developed. |
| HorliX | An open-source DICOM viewer for macOS based on Horos and OsiriX, with 3D and MPR. |
For daily CBCT work, the viewer supplied by your CBCT manufacturer is usually the better tool. DicomWorks is most useful as a quick converter and anonymiser.
FAQ
Is DicomWorks free?
Yes. The authors describe it as freeware, not shareware. Registration is also free and only removes the start-up reminder and unlocks some advanced functions.
Where can I get a DicomWorks download?
The official domain, dicomworks.com, still carries a temporary page with the installer and the registration form. Documentation from the original website is no longer online.
Does DicomWorks run on Windows 10 or 11?
The developer never tested or announced support for these versions; the program was built for Windows 95 to XP. Many 32-bit programs still start on 64-bit Windows, but test DicomWorks first and keep a maintained viewer as a backup.
Is there DicomWorks for Mac?
No. DicomWorks is Windows-only. On a Mac, use a native viewer such as HorliX or Horos.
Can DicomWorks open dental CBCT scans?
It can open CBCT data exported as standard DICOM and show it slice by slice in 2D. It cannot build 3D views, cross-sections or panoramic reconstructions.
Is DicomWorks still developed?
No. The last public build is 1.3.5b, and the website has shown the same temporary notice since 2011.
What is a good DicomWorks alternative?
On Windows, try ONIS 2.5 Free Edition or your CBCT vendor’s free viewer; on Linux, Aeskulap; on macOS, HorliX. For 3D segmentation work, researchers often use 3D Slicer.
Last checked against official sources: 26 September 2026 (developer website: dicomworks.com). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in a clinic.
