FileConverter

FileConverter is a macOS menu bar app with a Finder extension that lets you convert files directly from the Finder right-click menu.

Features

• Convert documents, images, media, and tabular files from Finder
• Finder context menu: Convert to...
• Optional SVG vectorization pipeline for raster images (potrace, optional vpype)
• First-run onboarding flow

Install (for end users)

1. Open the installer DMG.
2. Drag FileConverter.app to Applications.
3. Open FileConverter.app from Applications.
4. Follow onboarding and enable the Finder extension in System Settings.

Dependencies

Some conversions require external tools:

• ffmpeg
• pandoc
• imagemagick (magick)
• potrace (for raster -> SVG)
• vpype (optional SVG cleanup)
• LibreOffice (soffice)

Suggested install commands:

brew install ffmpeg pandoc imagemagick potrace
brew install --cask libreoffice
brew install pipx
pipx install vpype

Build (local)

xcodebuild -project FileConverter.xcodeproj -scheme FileConverter -configuration Release -derivedDataPath build_release build

Package DMG

./scripts/create_dmg.sh ./build_release/Build/Products/Release/FileConverter.app FileConverter-Installer.dmg

Production DMG (Recommended for Website Distribution)

For reliable installs from your own website, use Apple signing + notarization.

1. Sign in to your Apple Developer account and install your Developer ID Application certificate in Keychain Access.
2. Create a notarytool keychain profile once:

xcrun notarytool store-credentials FileConverterNotary \
	--apple-id "YOUR_APPLE_ID" \
	--team-id "YOUR_TEAM_ID" \
	--password "APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD"

3. Run the release script:

export DEVELOPER_ID_APP_CERT="Developer ID Application: YOUR NAME (TEAMID)"
export NOTARY_PROFILE="FileConverterNotary"
./scripts/release_notarized_dmg.sh

Output: FileConverter-Installer.dmg signed, notarized, and stapled.

This DMG opens with the normal drag-to-Applications flow, and on first launch the app shows onboarding automatically.

Notes

• Finder extension behavior depends on macOS extension state and signing.
• If Finder menu state gets stale, restart Finder:

killall Finder