This release provides third-party command-line executables as optional dependencies for How to Convert. The app invokes these tools through system calls when converting files.
These tools are provided separately from the proprietary How to Convert app for convenience. They are not linked into the app, and downloading them is not required if the same tools are already installed locally and available from the terminal.
License, source, README, and/or notice files are included in the dependency folders where provided by the upstream project or binary distributor.
Included Tools
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is a free, open-source software suite used for editing and manipulating digital images.
ImageMagick is licensed under the ImageMagick License:
https://imagemagick.org/script/license.php
Copyright @ 1999 ImageMagick Studio LLC, a non-profit organization dedicated to making software imaging solutions freely available.
For more information, visit:
https://imagemagick.org/
Platform binary/build sources:
- Windows x86_64 and Linux: official ImageMagick download page
https://imagemagick.org/download/#gsc.tab=0 - macOS build with libraw support: built from source for RAW camera file format conversions
The macOS ImageMagick builds can be replicated from source using the build workflow here:
https://github.com/jakemanger/xcpkg-package-manually-build/blob/main/.github/workflows/build-imagemagick-with-libraw.yml
For rebuilding: fork the GitHub repo, go to Actions, and run the GitHub Action named "build-imagemagick-with-libraw".
FFmpeg
FFmpeg is a multimedia framework for video, audio, and other multimedia file processing.
FFmpeg itself provides source code. Some binaries in this release are third-party builds or binaries built from source for easier installation.
FFmpeg builds that include GPL components are licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). See the included license/readme files in the FFmpeg folders where present.
For more information, visit:
https://ffmpeg.org/
Source code:
https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
Platform binary sources:
- macOS Apple Silicon: Martin Riedl’s FFmpeg Build Server
https://ffmpeg.martin-riedl.de/ - macOS Intel: evermeet.cx FFmpeg builds
https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/ - Windows x86_64: Gyan.dev FFmpeg builds
https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/
macOS Apple Silicon binary details:
- Signed by: Developer ID Application: Martin Riedl (KU3N25YGLU)
- SHA256:
ef4fe121377039053b0d7bed4a9aa46e7912918f5ba6424a1dd155f4eed625b0 - Build script/source information:
https://git.martin-riedl.de/ffmpeg/build-script
Windows FFmpeg details are included in:
windows_x86_64/ffmpeg/README.txt
Pandoc
Pandoc is a universal document converter supporting various markup formats.
Pandoc is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or later. License text is included where provided by the upstream distribution.
For more information, visit:
https://pandoc.org/
Source code:
https://github.com/jgm/pandoc
Installation
For How to Convert to detect these tools automatically, extract this release into:
Mac/Linux:
~/.howtoconvert/
Windows:
C:\Documents.howtoconvert
You can also specify tool locations manually from the "Support more file types" menu in How to Convert.
If FFmpeg, ImageMagick, and Pandoc are already installed locally and can be run from the terminal as ffmpeg, magick, and pandoc, then downloading this release is not necessary. How to Convert will detect and use the local installations automatically.