QuickScale - an Image Scaler and Format Converter for Mac

Sometimes, as much as I love Mac OSX, I have to admit to really missing Linux. In a recent review I wrote, I had a ton of screen shots (the maximum of 5), and in OSX, when you take a screen shot, it is in PNG format. Unfortunately, Associated Content doesn't accept photo uploads in PNG... only JPG. In Linux, which takes screen shots in PNG as well, I have a quick commandline utility called imagemagick. With imagemagick, all I need to do is run this command (in the folder that contains my images):

convert *.png *.jpg

This immediately converts all images in PNG format to JPG format... that one single command.

With Mac OSX, what I've been doing is opening up all my PNG images in Preview and converting them, one-by-one, to JPG format. This actually involves hitting the "Save As..." option, then selecting the JPG format, and then what quality I want it converted as. Again, with Linux... one command.

Sigh.

Now, in the event that anyone feels like mentioning this to me, I do realize that there are utilities I can download for Mac that will unlock hidden options. One of these options is to change the format screen shots are saved in. I realize this, but as this is something that perhaps not everyone is aware of, I'm going to proceed as if I was also unaware.

So... I went in search of a utility that would allow me to quickly change a bunch of images to a different format.

What I came up with is a utility called QuickScale. At first, just judging by the name, I figured this was solely a program that changed the dimensions of an image. I was happy to see, however, that not only does QuickScale change an image's dimensions, but it also can convert the image to different formats. Not a ton of different formats, but enough so that QuickScale would be all I need.

To use QuickScale, simply start it up and drag all the images you want into its window. You could also drag a folder of images into the window, and QuickScale will quickly scan through the folder and make a list of all the enclosed images. Finally, you can choose to hit the big Plus Sign at the bottom of the window and search for images (or folders), via the standard Mac OSX file chooser.