GraphicConverter

by Diane Petersen, Kachemacs

Distributor: Lemkesoft
Distributor URL: http://www.lemkesoft.com
Distributor Phone: +49 5171 72202 (English)
Price: $34.95 download, $44.95 box copy

Pros: Great personal software support, longevity, paid upgrades few and far between.
Cons: Utility has faded with several competitors, dated interface, has become a niche application.

I was a poor college student once. I remember being broke and being forced to subsist on popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches. It filled the hole, did the trick, and gave me an opportunity to fantasize upon the fanciest of cuisine. Now that I have the resources to have gourmet meals any time, I look back at college cuisine fondly. Every once in a while I just have to have my old favorite comfort food.

GraphicConverter has been around for a LONG time. It’s inexpensive (even free if you can stand the splash screen!) and it does the job of filling a hole where other software falls short. It’s a great fallback when you just need a quick fix and don’t want to bust out the full version of PhotoShop.

I’ve kept GraphicConverter around since Classic, but never actually paid for it until version 5 on Mac OS 10.0. The next paid upgrade after that was just last fall, 6 years or so later. The free version works just as well as the paid one, but you must pay to get batch processing. In the free version, the splash screen gets longer…and longer…and longer every time. One day, as I did, that delay will just hit you wrong and you’ll be buying a license code just to make it stop. Providing an indefinite evaluation time on a “lite” free version of the software is a great service to Mac users who may not need to use it all the time, thanks Lemkesoft!

GraphicConverter is my default application for most image formats on my Mac. In the paid version, it launches about 10 times faster than PhotoShop. I’m not a graphic designer, and I don’t need PhotoShop every single day for every single image I launch. GraphicConverter has just the tools, and only the tools I need to convert that TIFF someone sent me in my e-mail that took 15 minutes to download. If I need a quick crop and size, I go to GraphicConverter. I have a flatbed scanner I use to bring in media occasionally. I scan right into GraphicConverter. Just like my favorite minute-in-the-microwave snacks from college, GraphicConverter doesn’t let me down.

Some of us who remember when there was no iPhoto remember how GraphicConverter was a must on every Mac. It has the capability to make iPhoto-like catalogs and do camera imports. Most of these functions are fulfilled as part of the iLife experience in iPhoto. Many (but not all) of the editing tools in GraphicConverter are present in iPhoto, which comes on every new Mac. But a couple of glaring omissions in iPhoto’s capabilities include alpha channel support and the ability to apply text directly on an image.

GraphicConverter also can be used to create or draw original images. It is an alternative to high priced PhotoShop Elements for simple graphic design. I find that if I want to clean up an image that I plan to digitize in my proprietary software, I don’t need fancy layers or filters. GraphicConverter does it quite well.

The main niche for GraphicConverter is demonstrated in the name. The Lemkesoft website claims GraphicConverter imports about 190 file formats, and exports about 79. I didn’t know that many even existed. This is a feature that can be used to open files for which you don’t own the software in which it was designed. The files can also be converted to another format or compressed into a smaller file for e-mail.

If you’ve just made the acquaintance of GraphicConverter, you’ll find a steadfast no-nonsense application that can occasionally show up to do odd jobs around your computer. Its UI is stuck in the Classic days, but lack of fashion sense can be overlooked for the sake of utility.
It doesn’t hurt to do the free download and have GraphicConverter available to perform a few tasks on occasion. You’ll know if or when you’ll need to buy when you start cursing the 2 minute splash screen….

Support: 5 – I lost my code from 2001 and Thorsten emailed it to me within 24 hours.
Utility: 3 – I have apps that do almost all of what GraphicConverter does. GraphicConverter just does it in a more streamlined way.
Interface: 3 – An updated interface would attract new users.
Stability: 5 – No problems

GraphicConverter in its present incarnation scores a 4 with me. It’s worthy of being a default application for several file types on my Mac. I’m not quite ready for it to go the way of HyperCard and ClarisWorks.