What is the command line?
NOTE: After installation, you can find several simple batch (*.bat) files for quick and easy usage by
going to Start\All Programs\Convert Image\Example Batch Files. These will work immediately
provided the installation was in the default folder. Email us at
if you have any questions or need additional examples. We will get you up and running fast!
Although we'll discuss the use of the command line here, it's only to give you a taste. For the full, accurate, and up to date
information see the
'Convert Image' command line documentation.
There you will also find a full list of examples and how to troubleshoot. See using the
Windows Scheduler also.
There are two approaches to using the command line:
- Specify one or more conversion tasks in a conversion job
- Specify a single conversion task in detail. See
Convert Image command line examples to get started quickly with specifying a conversion task or
continue reading.
Specifying a 'Conversion Job'
Specifying a 'Conversion Job' is very easy, as you only need to tell
'Convert Image' where to find the associated *.SII 'Conversion Job' file.
A 'Conversion Job' file is created within the user interface. Set up all the conversions you want
within the user interface, then save the conversion job file from the
File menu. All the details
associated with this conversion job are executed in one fell swoop.
The syntax for specifying a 'Conversion Job' is:
ConvertImage
/
J{ConversionJobFile} [/
V]
[/
L{LogFile}] [/
B{LogToJobFile}]
Items above enclosed in square brackets "[ ]" are optional, all other ‘switches’ are
required. Therefore /J should always be specified on the command line.
Example:
To run the 'Conversion Job' specified by "C:\MyJobs\convert-PNG-to-JPG.SII"
type the following in at the 'Command Prompt':
ConvertImage /J
"C:\MyJobs\convert-PNG-to-JPG.SII"
You can include or exclude spaces between switches and parameters. For example, "/F6"
is the same as "/F 6". For long file names you may be required to
use double quotes. For example /J "C:\Program Files\MyApp\PNG to JPG Conversion Job.SII".
Specifying a 'Conversion Task'
Specifying a 'Conversion Task' is a bit more tedious, but does not require the prior creation of a 'Conversion Job' file.
The syntax for the command line when specifying a conversion task is:
ConvertImage /S{Input File(s)} /T{Output
File(s)} [/F#]
[/C#] [/G] [/R] [/L{LogFile}]
[/B{LogToJobFile}]
[/V] [/Z] [/1-9] [/P#] [/a-j]
Items above enclosed in square brackets "[ ]" are optional,
all other 'switches' are required. Therefore /S, /T should always be specified
on the command line. There is one exceptions, however and that is when
/G (Save to input folder) is specified, the /T switch is not necessary.
You can include or exclude spaces between switches and parameters. For
example, "/F6" is the same as "/F 6".
Command switches are case sensitive, therefore /F
is completely different from /f.
For long file names (e.g. a path or file name with spaces in it, or
longer than 8.3 format) you are required to use double quotes. For example:
ConvertImage.EXE
/S "C:\Input Folder\Coffee.jpg" /T "C:\Output folder\cream.png"
/F1 /C8 /V
/S{Input File(s)}
is used to specify which files to convert. You can specify a single file,
or in some cases a whole set of files using the wildcard syntax (i.e.
"C:\MyFiles\*.BMP"). /T{Output
files} should always be different from /S{Input
File(s)}.
/T{Output File(s)}
is used to specify where to save the converted file(s) to. You can specify
a single file, or in some cases a whole set of files using the wildcard
syntax (i.e. "C:\MyFiles\*.BMP"). /T{Output
files} should always be different from /S{Input
File(s)}.
/F# tells 'Convert
Image' what the input file type is. You must supply a number for the #
symbol. Remember the input file, specified by the /S{Input
File(s)} switch, has an extension which determines it's
file type. For all constants see File
Type Constants. /F /C are required if you are not using file names
with standard file extensions (standard file extensions are jpg, tif,
gif, etc). For example if you working with bitmap files with file names
like mybitmap.abc then you definitely need to specify the /F and/or /C switch.
/C# tells 'Convert
Image' what the output file type is. You must supply a number for the
# symbol. Remember the output file, specified by the /T{Output
File(s)} switch, has an extension which determines it's
file type. For all constants see File
Type Constants. /F /C are required if you are not using file names
with standard file extensions (standard file extensions are jpg, tif,
gif, etc). For example if you working with bitmap files with file names
like mybitmap.abc then you definitely need to specify the /F and/or /C switch.
[/G] Save files
to their input folders. Use this instead of /T to place the converted
files in the same folder as the input file. This cannot be used when converting
a single, specified file from within a folder. Use the /T switch instead.
[/R] Seek out
and do all files found in the sub-folders specified in the /S switch.
Recursive subdirectories. You may add this switch if you are processing
whole directories of files. See /S, /T and /G for more details on selecting
whole directories to be converted.
[/L{LogFile}]
Log file path and name (e.g. d:\mylogs\MoreInfo.LOG). If this switch is
specified a log file with the given path and name will be created and
the results of the conversion will be written to it. See also /V and /Z.
[/B{LogToJobFile}]
Save the Log file as a 'Conversion Job' ONLY
IF ERRORS OCCURRED. This is useful if the files that had problems
can be done at a later time, or with a different method. /B is different
from /L, since the file generated with /B will not include extraneous
comments not allowed in a 'Conversion Job' file. Save as a .SII file type
so it can be loaded as a job.
[/V] Verbose
mode. Specify this switch to display a message box indicating how the
conversion went. See also /L.
[/Z] Verbose
Log. All file operations will be recorded in the log.
[/1] TIFF: Pages
to convert. For example if you have a multipage TIFF and you want to convert
the 1st and 3rd
page use "/1 1,3". To do pages 2-5 use "/1 2-5" .
[/2] TIFF: Compression
to use when converting TO a TIFF file (default is no compression). Use
"/2 0" for no compression and "/2 1" for LZW compression.
0 - No
compression. Save image as 24bpp uncompressed TIFF file.
1 - LZW.
Save image as 24bpp TIFF file with LZW compression.
2 - RLE.
Save image as 1bpp TIFF file with RLE compression.
3 - CCITT3.
Save image as 1bpp TIFF file with CCITT3 compression.
4 - CCITT4.
Save image as 1bpp TIFF file with CCITT4 compression.
[/3] TIFF: Append
to existing when converting to a TIFF. Use "/3 TRUE" to append
"/3 FALSE" not to.
[/4] JPEG: Quality
of the resulting JPG from 0 to 100 (default is 100). 0 is lowest and 100
is highest quality. The higher the quality the larger the resulting output
file. Use "/4 100" for highest quality.
[/5] TAG: TITLE
of the image. For example to associate the title of "President"
to the resulting image use "/5 President" .
[/6] TAG: DESCRIPTION
of the image. For example to associate the description of "Money
is the product of a humans capacity to think" to the resulting image
use "/6 Money is the product of a humans capacity to think"
.
[/7] TAG: DATE/TIME
of the image. For example to associate the date/time "July 4th 1976" to the resulting
image use "/7 July 4th
1976" .
[/8] TAG: AUTHOR
of the image. For example to associate the author "Krishnamurti"
to the resulting image use "/8 Krishnamurti" .
[/9] TAG: COPYRIGHT
of the image. For example to associate the copyright "Copyright 2005,
Softinterface" to the resulting image use "/9 Copyright 2005,
Softinterface".
| File Type |
Constant |
| Independent JPEG Group (*.jpg) |
1 |
| Windows Bitmap (*.bmp) |
2 |
| Tagged Image File Format (*.tif) |
3 |
| Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif) |
4 |
| EMF (*.emf) |
5 |
| J2K (*.j2k) |
6 |
| PCX Bitmap (*.pcx) |
7 |
| Portable Network Graphics (*.png) |
8 |
| Sun Rasterfile (*.ras) |
9 |
| Targa File (*.tga) |
10 |
| Windows Meta File (*.wmf) |
11 |
| *Windows Icon (*.ico) |
12 |
| *Windows Cursor (*.cur) |
13 |
| *Windows Animated Cursor (*.ani) |
14 |
Image File Type Constants for Use with /F# and /C#
Example 1: Convert from PNG to a JPG (Single file)
Specify the source (/S) and output files (/T), the PNG format (/F8)
of the input, the JPG format (/C1)
of the output, specify a JPG quality of 78 (/4 78) with on-screen confirmation
(/V):
ConvertImage.EXE
/S "C:\Samples\Coffee.png" /T "C:\Output\cream.jpg"
/F8 /C1
/4 78 /V
To change the output file type change the /T{Output File} and /C#
switch. To change the input file type change the /S{Input File} and the
/F# switch. The /C# /F# switches
are not always needed
Example 2: Convert from PNG to a JPG (Whole folder and sub-folders)
Specify the source (/S) and output files (/T), the PNG format (/F8)
of the input, the JPG format (/C1)
of the output, specify a JPG quality of 20 (/4 20) with on-screen confirmation
(/V), specify subfolders (/R):
ConvertImage.EXE /S "C:\Samples\*.png"
/T "C:\Samples\Output\*.jpg" /F8 /C1 /4 20 /V /R
