Converters

#What it is

Converters (app id convert) is Octoolo's app for changing a file from one format to another: documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint slides, pictures, video and sound. It does what websites such as CloudConvert, Zamzar, iLovePDF or Smallpdf do, and what desktop converters such as Format Factory or HandBrake do, but every file is converted on the PC: nothing is uploaded.

Most converters take many files at once and convert them all with the same settings. The video and sound converters use FFmpeg, a video engine Octoolo downloads once (see "Downloads it needs"); the other converters need no download.

#Opening it and what it costs

• On the home screen Converters is the only app in the Convert group. The left sidebar of the home screen lists its converters one by one under Convert: Document converter, Spreadsheet converter, Presentation converter, Image converter, Video converter and Audio converter; each opens Converters on that converter. The shortcut Word to PDF under the home screen's search box opens it too.
• The home search finds each converter by its name, and Converters (or the right converter) by words such as "docx to pdf", "pdf to word", "mp4 to mp3", "csv", "webp" or "markdown".
• Inside the app, the list on the left has four groups: Documents, Spreadsheets and slides, Pictures and Video and sound, and a Find box that filters the list.
• Addresses inside Octoolo: #/app/convert, and #/app/convert/<task id> for one converter (for example #/app/convert/word-to-pdf). A shortcut can open it with Octoolo.exe --open=app/convert/<task id>.
• Converters needs Octoolo Cloud (the subscription) or its free trial. Without it, opening the app shows "Converters comes with Octoolo Cloud" with Start your free week and I have a license key (after a subscription has ended: "Your Octoolo Cloud has ended" with Subscribe). Prices, the trial and the three free apps are in Prices and limits.
• The picture converter (Convert image) can also be opened from the Photo Editor: on its start screen, under Many pictures at once, press Convert pictures (it opens the same tool on the Convert tab of the "Many pictures at once" window). See Photo Editor.

#Tasks

Every converter that works in version 0.8.0, in the order the app lists them:

Documents

• Convert documents (document-convert): Word (.docx), PDF, Markdown (.md, .markdown), web pages (.html, .htm) and plain text (.txt), any of them to any other. Pick the format in Convert to, drop the files, press Convert.
• Word to PDF (word-to-pdf): .docx files to PDF, on the page size the Word file asks for (Letter or A4), with one-inch margins.
• PDF to Word (pdf-to-word): the words of a PDF as an editable .docx, as paragraphs and headings. Pictures, columns and tables are not kept, and scanned pages give no text (see "PDF to Word: what comes across").
• Markdown to HTML (markdown-to-html): Markdown files to a web page, or to Word or PDF (Convert to: HTML, Word, PDF).

Spreadsheets and slides

• Convert spreadsheets (spreadsheet-convert): Excel (.xlsx), CSV and TSV to .xlsx, CSV, TSV, PDF (every sheet) or a web page (every sheet).
• Convert presentations (presentation-convert): PowerPoint (.pptx) to one PDF, or to one PNG or JPG picture per slide.

Pictures

• Convert image (image-convert): PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP or SVG pictures to PNG, JPG or WebP, one or many at once.
• PDF to JPG (pdf-to-jpg): each page of a PDF as a JPG, PNG or WebP picture, at the sharpness you choose, all pages or the ones you list.
• JPG to PDF (images-to-pdf): pictures and scans (JPG, PNG, WebP and other pictures) as one PDF, one picture per page, in the order you set.
• SVG to PNG (svg-to-png): SVG drawings (also .svgz) as PNG, JPG or WebP pictures at the width you choose.
• HEIC to JPG (heic-to-jpg): not available yet. The app lists it with a Soon tag.

Video and sound (FFmpeg)

• Convert video (video-convert): any video FFmpeg reads to one of 16 video formats, 3 animated picture formats (GIF, animated WebP, APNG) or 15 sound formats, or to another format by its extension.
• Convert audio (audio-convert): any sound file (and the sound of videos) to one of 15 sound formats.
• Extract audio (video-extract-audio): a video's sound saved as one of the 15 sound formats, without the picture.

Only one task of Converters is Coming: HEIC to JPG (heic-to-jpg). Its page says "HEIC to JPG is on its way." and "It arrives in a free update, included in Octoolo Cloud." Do not promise a date.

#How to convert documents, spreadsheets, slides or PDFs to pictures

The document, spreadsheet, presentation, PDF to JPG and SVG to PNG converters all work the same way:

1. Open Converters and pick the converter on the left (for example Word to PDF).
2. Choose the output in the options at the top (Convert to, Picture format and so on), if the converter has any.
3. Drop the files on the box ("Drop documents here", "Drop PDFs here"...) or press Choose files. Each file gets a row with its name, its size and "→ PDF" (the format it will become). Remove takes a file off the list. More files can be dropped on Add more files below the list.
4. Press Convert to PDF (or Convert 3 files to PDF). The rows show what is happening ("reading…", "page 3 of 12", "writing DOCX…") and then the new file's size, or the number of files when one file became several (a PDF's pages as pictures).
5. Press Save on a row to save that result through Windows' Save dialog. A file that became several pictures has Save ZIP instead (the ZIP is named after the file, report.zip). When more than one file is converted, Save all as ZIP saves every result in one ZIP named converted.zip.

Clear empties the list. Files already converted stay converted: changing the format afterwards does not convert them again (pressing Convert converts only files not yet done, and tries failed ones again). To make a second format, press Clear, choose the new format and add the files again.

In these converters the list and its results last only while that converter is open. Opening another converter or another app empties the list: results not saved yet are lost, and a conversion still under way stops. Save the results before moving on. (The same is true of Convert image and JPG to PDF; the video and sound converters are different, see "How to convert videos and sound".)

The new files are named after the originals with the new extension (report.docx becomes report.pdf). Inside a ZIP, two files with the same name get (2), (3) added. Nothing is saved until you press Save and choose a place.

#How to convert videos and sound

Convert video, Convert audio and Extract audio share one converter:

1. Open Converters and pick Convert video, Convert audio or Extract audio. The first time, press Download FFmpeg (see "Downloads it needs").
2. Drop files, or a whole folder, on the converter, or press Choose videos (Convert video and Extract audio) or Choose files (Convert audio). The button picks files only: to add a folder, drag it onto the converter. A folder brings the video and sound files in it and in its subfolders (three levels down), up to 500 files per drop. Once files are listed, Add more (or another drop) adds more; a file already in the list is not added twice.
3. Each file shows a picture (a frame of the video, a song's cover, or the sound's waveform) and its facts: length, size in pixels and codec for a video, codec, bit rate and sample rate for sound, the number of sound tracks, "no sound", and the file size.
4. On the right, under Convert to, pick a format (the first time it is MP4 in Convert video and MP3 in Convert audio and Extract audio). Convert video has three tabs: Video, Sound only and Animated. The most used formats show first; All 16 video formats (or All 15 sound formats, All 3 animated formats) shows the rest. The box "Find a format, e.g. FLAC or HEVC" finds a format by its name, its extension or a codec it holds.
5. Pick a Quality: As it is, High, Balanced or Small (see "Video and sound quality"). More settings has the codec, size, frame rate and sound settings.
6. Under Save in, choose The same folder as each original or A folder I choose….
7. Press Convert 3 files to MP4 (the label names the count and the format).

While it works, each file shows a progress bar, the percentage, the speed ("3.5× speed"), the time left and how it is being made (for example "Copied as it is, nothing re-encoded", "H.264 on the NVIDIA graphics card" or "MP3 sound"). A file waiting for its turn says "Waiting its turn…". The x on a row stops that file (it then says "Stopped"); Stop all stops every conversion. When a file is done its row shows the new file's name, its size and how much smaller or bigger it is ("−73%"), with Open (opens it in the program Windows uses for it) and Show in folder. When the whole batch is done a summary says how many files were converted (and how many "did not work"), the sizes before and after, with Show in folder.

The conversions run in Octoolo's background: you can open another converter or another app while they run, and the list of files stays until you press Clear or close Octoolo. Convert video, Convert audio and Extract audio each keep their own list. Pressing Convert again converts every file in the list again (apart from files still converting), to the format now chosen, under new names; so one list can be made into several formats.

Quitting Octoolo stops the conversions still running and deletes their unfinished files. (When Octoolo stays in the notification area because Productivity has something planned, closing its window does not quit it, and the conversions go on.)

#Convert documents: formats in and out

Convert documents (document-convert) reads .docx, .pdf, .md, .markdown, .html, .htm and .txt and writes the format chosen in Convert to: Word document (.docx), PDF (.pdf) (the default), Markdown (.md), Web page (.html) or Plain text (.txt). Every input can go to every output.

What comes across between Word, Markdown and web pages: headings (three levels), paragraphs, bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, links, bulleted, numbered and check lists, tables, quotes, code and pictures. In detail:

• From Word (.docx): the paragraphs and headings with their alignment, the text's bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, color, size, font and highlight, links, lists, tables (merged cells included), pictures and page breaks, and the page size (Letter or A4) and default font. Not kept: headers and footers (and so page numbers in them), footnotes, comments, text boxes, charts and shapes, equations, embedded objects, section breaks, column layouts (the text comes in one column) and pictures in the old EMF/WMF formats; tracked changes are accepted. The converter does not warn about what it leaves out.
• From Markdown: headings (# to ######; levels 4 to 6 become level 3), paragraphs, bold, italics, strikethrough, inline code, code blocks, links, pictures, quotes, bulleted, numbered and check lists (nested by indentation), tables and horizontal rules.
• From a web page (.html): the page's body, without its scripts, styles, frames and embedded objects.
• From plain text (.txt): each line becomes a paragraph.
• From PDF: only the words, as paragraphs and headings (see "PDF to Word: what comes across").
• To Markdown: pictures that were inside the file (in a Word document) cannot be written into Markdown; they become a placeholder ![...](picture). Tables become Markdown tables. Underline, colors, sizes, fonts, highlight and alignment have no Markdown form and are left out.
• To plain text: paragraphs separated by a blank line, lists with bullets or numbers, table rows with tabs between the cells.
• To a web page: one self-contained .html page that any browser opens, with pictures from a Word file inside it.
• To PDF: see "Word and other documents to PDF".

Pictures that a Markdown or web page file only links to (a web address, or a path to another file) are not fetched: they are left out of Word and PDF results (a web page result keeps the link).

Older Word files (.doc) are not read: "Older .doc files need to be saved as .docx in Word first." Other formats (.rtf, .odt, .pages) are not supported; dropped anyway, they are read as plain text and come out as garbled text.

#Word and other documents to PDF

Word to PDF (word-to-pdf) takes .docx files only. Convert documents with PDF (.pdf) and Markdown to HTML with PDF make PDFs the same way.

• The document is laid out as Octoolo's Documents app shows it (fonts, headings, lists, tables and pictures) and printed to PDF by Windows' WebView2, inside Octoolo, without a printer dialog.
• Page size: a Word file's own page size, Letter or A4 (the closer of the two; other sizes such as Legal come out as the closer one, and pages are always upright). Markdown, web page and text files (and a Word file that names no page size) get Letter when Windows is set to US or Canadian English (or US or Mexican Spanish) and A4 otherwise; a PDF converted again to PDF gets Letter only for US or Canadian English. Margins are one inch on every side.
• A font the document uses that is not on the PC is replaced by another (fonts are not taken from inside the Word file).
• A long document can take a while; after 5 minutes the conversion stops with "The page took too long to print."

#PDF to Word: what comes across

PDF to Word (pdf-to-word) and every other conversion from a PDF (to Markdown, HTML, text or another PDF in Convert documents) take only the PDF's words:

• Text pieces on the same line are joined; lines close together become a paragraph; text clearly bigger than the body text becomes a heading (two heading levels); a word split by a hyphen at the end of a line is joined again. Text turned sideways (a watermark, a caption up the side) is left out.
• Not kept: pictures, tables (cells on one line become one line of text), columns (lines that sit side by side in two columns are joined into one line), fonts, bold, colors, the page layout, links and form fields. Bullets and numbers stay as typed characters, not as Word lists.
• Scanned PDFs: a scanned page is a picture with no text in it. Octoolo does not recognize text in PDFs (no OCR); the Word file of a scanned PDF comes out empty. Making scans searchable (pdf-ocr) is not available yet. What works today: turn the pages into pictures with PDF to JPG, then copy the text out of each picture with Image to text (image-ocr) in the Photo Editor (Photo Editor).
• A PDF that needs a password to open cannot be converted: the row shows "No password given".

For editing a PDF while keeping its look, use the PDF Editor instead (PDF Editor: Edit PDF text changes the words of a PDF in their own font).

#Markdown to HTML

Markdown to HTML (markdown-to-html) takes .md, .markdown and .txt files and makes, with Convert to:

• HTML (the default): a web page with headings, lists, links, pictures, tables, quotes and code.
• Word: a .docx.
• PDF: a PDF, as in "Word and other documents to PDF".

A .txt file is read as plain text, not as Markdown, so its Markdown marks (#, **) stay as they are typed: rename the file to .md first.

#Convert spreadsheets

Convert spreadsheets (spreadsheet-convert) reads .xlsx, .csv, .tsv and .txt (CSV text) and writes, with Convert to:

• Reading CSV: the separator (comma, semicolon or tab) is told from the first line. Numbers and dates are recognized. A cell that starts with = is kept as text, not run as a formula.
• Reading Excel: not kept are charts, pictures, pivot tables, comments and conditional formatting; merged cells come out unmerged. The converter does not warn about this.
• "First sheet" is the first tab of the workbook, not the one that was open when it was last saved.
• Older .xls files are not read: "Older .xls files need to be saved as .xlsx in Excel first." An .xlsx Octoolo cannot open says "Octoolo could not read this workbook. If it is an older .xls file, save it as .xlsx in Excel first." OpenDocument (.ods) and Numbers files are not supported.

#Convert presentations

Convert presentations (presentation-convert) reads PowerPoint .pptx files. Convert to:

• PDF (default): one PDF, a 16:9 page (13.333 × 7.5 inches) for each slide.
• PNG pictures or JPG pictures: one picture per slide, at the Picture width you set (320 to 7,680 pixels; 1920 by default; the hint says "1920 is Full HD; 3840 is 4K."). JPG pictures are saved at 92% quality. Several slides give a ZIP (Save ZIP); pictures are named after the file with the slide number (deck-1.png, or deck-01.png when there are 10 slides or more).

What comes across: titles, text, pictures and simple shapes (rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, triangles, arrows and lines) as Octoolo's Presentations app shows them, and solid slide background colors. Not kept: animations and transitions, tables, charts, SmartArt, video and sound, embedded objects, pictures in the old EMF/WMF formats, slide numbers, dates and footers; other shapes (stars, callouts and the like) are left out, though their text is kept. 4:3 slides are centered on the 16:9 page. The converter does not warn about what it leaves out. Older .ppt files (and any other format, such as .key or .odp) give "Older .ppt files need to be saved as .pptx in PowerPoint first."

#Convert image

Convert image (image-convert) changes pictures between PNG, JPG and WebP:

1. Drop pictures on "Drop pictures here" or press Choose files (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP or SVG, one or many).
2. Pick the Format: Same (JPG pictures stay JPG and WebP pictures stay WebP, saved again at the Quality set; every other picture becomes PNG), PNG, JPG or WebP. For JPG and WebP a Quality slider (10 to 100, 85 by default) appears.
3. The picture shown is compared side by side: Original (with several pictures, its file name) and Result, with sizes in pixels, file sizes and the change in percent. With several pictures, each has a row; click a name to see it.
4. Press Save PNG (one picture) or Save all 5 as ZIP (several; the ZIP is named pictures-converted.zip). Each row also has Save.

• The new file has the same name with the new extension (photo.png becomes photo.jpg).
• Transparent areas become white in JPG; PNG and WebP keep them.
• The picture is turned the way the camera says (EXIF orientation), and the photo's hidden details (EXIF, GPS location, camera) are not kept in the result.
• An animated GIF becomes a still picture of its first frame (to turn a GIF into a video, use Convert video).
• An SVG without its own size is drawn 1,200 pixels wide. For an SVG at a size you choose, use SVG to PNG.
• Pictures cannot be added to a list already open: Open another (one picture) or Open other pictures (several) empties the list and shows the drop box again.
• Pictures that cannot be opened are named: "<name> is not a picture this tool can open (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP or SVG)." This includes iPhone HEIC photos and TIFF files.

For resizing or compressing many pictures, see the Photo Editor's Resize image and Compress image (Photo Editor).

#PDF to JPG

PDF to JPG (pdf-to-jpg) turns each page into a picture:

• Picture format: JPG (default), PNG or WebP. JPG and WebP are saved at quality 92% on a white background.
• Sharpness: dots per inch, 36 to 600, 150 by default (the hint: "Dots per inch: 72 small, 150 for screens, 300 for print."). At 150 dpi an A4 page is about 1,241 × 1,754 pixels.
• Pages: blank for all, or a list such as 1-3, 7, 10-12 (the hint: "Blank for all, or 1-3, 7, 10-12."). Open-ended ranges such as 8-, backward ranges such as 5-2 and ranges of more than 2,000 pages are not understood. Pages past the end of the PDF are skipped. While the list cannot be read, Convert stays greyed out. If none of the listed pages exist, the row says "Nothing came out of that file."
• A one-page PDF gives one picture (Save); more pages give a ZIP (Save ZIP). Pictures are named after the PDF with the page number, padded to the page count (report-01.jpg … report-12.jpg).

#JPG to PDF

JPG to PDF (images-to-pdf) makes one PDF from pictures:

1. Drop pictures on "Drop pictures here" (JPG, PNG, WebP and other pictures Windows' WebView2 can open) or press Choose files.
2. Put them in order with the ↑ (Move up) and ↓ (Move down) buttons; ✕ removes one. Add pictures adds more at the end.
3. Page size: A4 (default), Letter or Same as picture. With A4 or Letter, a Margin in points (0 to 144, 24 by default; 72 points are one inch). Each picture is fitted inside the margins and centered; a picture wider than tall gets a sideways (landscape) page. Same as picture makes each page exactly the picture's size, one pixel to one point (1/72 inch), so a phone photo makes a very large page.
4. Press Make PDF of 3 pictures and choose where to save. The PDF is named after the first picture. "Saved a PDF of 3 pages." confirms it.

PNG pictures go into the PDF as they are; JPG pictures are turned upright and saved again at 92% quality; other pictures are stored as PNG. A file that is not a picture stops it with "<name> is not a picture this tool can open." HEIC photos cannot be used yet.

#SVG to PNG

SVG to PNG (svg-to-png) draws SVG drawings (.svg, and gzipped .svgz) as pictures:

• Picture format: PNG (default; keeps transparent areas), JPG (fills them white) or WebP.
• Width: 16 to 8,192 pixels, 1,024 by default. "The height follows the drawing's shape."
• The drawing is drawn by WebView2 as a picture: fonts and pictures it links to outside the SVG file are not loaded, and text in a font that is not installed on the PC uses another font.
• Messages: "That file is not an SVG drawing." (no <svg in it), "The drawing could not be read. Is it a valid SVG?" (the SVG has an error).

#Video and sound: the 34 formats

Convert video can make every format below; Convert audio and Extract audio make the 15 sound formats. Formats marked * are shown first; the others are under All … formats.

Video (16)

Animated pictures (3): GIF* (.gif, "Animated picture, plays anywhere"), WebP* (.webp, "Animated, much smaller than GIF"), APNG (.png, "Animated PNG, full color"). They have no sound and loop forever.

Sound (15)

Any other format: type an extension that is not in the list (2 to 5 letters or digits, for example nut) in the format search box. A tile ".NUT - Any other format, with FFmpeg's own settings" appears; with it, FFmpeg picks the streams and codecs itself and the quality and More settings are not used ("FFmpeg picks the codecs it uses for .nut files. If it cannot write them, the file says why."). The tile also appears in Convert audio and Extract audio; there too FFmpeg decides what goes in, so a video format gets the picture as well. If FFmpeg cannot write that kind of file, the file fails with "FFmpeg cannot write files of that kind."

What goes in: any video or sound file FFmpeg reads. The file picker lists mp4, m4v, mkv, mov, avi, wmv, asf, flv, f4v, webm, mpg, mpeg, m2v, vob, ts, m2ts, mts, 3gp, 3g2, ogv, mxf, rm, rmvb, divx, dv, gif, mp3, wav, m4a, m4b, m4r, aac, flac, ogg, oga, opus, wma, aiff, aif, aifc, alac, ac3, eac3, dts, amr, mp2, mpa, wv, mka, ape, tta, caf, au, ra, weba and spx (a dropped folder brings files with these extensions); a file with another extension can still be dropped and is converted if FFmpeg reads it. Still pictures are refused ("This is a still picture: use Convert image."). An animated GIF counts as a video, so GIF to MP4 works in Convert video.

#Video and sound quality

Quality (not shown for the lossless sound formats WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC and WV, which say "Lossless. FLAC keeps every bit of the sound it is given."):

• As it is (default): the picture and sound are copied exactly when the new format can hold them and nothing about them is asked to change: instant, nothing lost (the row says "Copied as it is, nothing re-encoded", or "H.264 copied as it is" when only the picture is copied). Anything the format cannot hold is converted at high quality, at about the original's bit rate. Example: an MKV with H.264 video and AAC sound becomes an MP4 in seconds.
• High: "Converted at high quality, never needlessly bigger than the original."
• Balanced: "Good quality at about half the size."
• Small: "The smallest files, for sharing and email."

High, Balanced and Small always re-encode. The bit rate of re-encoded video follows the picture's size and frame rate and the codec's efficiency, and is kept close to what the original spends on the same picture (at most about 15% more), so a small, low-quality file does not balloon. With As it is, a video that must be re-encoded gets about its original bit rate, but never less than Balanced quality.

Sound bit rates for stereo at High / Balanced / Small (mono gets half, at least 48 kbps; surround gets more, at most 640 kbps for AC-3 and 768 kbps for the others):

With As it is, lossy sound that must be re-encoded keeps about its original bit rate (between the Small and High rates above); sound from a lossless source gets the High rate. AMR is always 12.2 kbps.

Animated pictures (GIF, WebP, APNG) at each quality:

A GIF gets its own 256-color palette (128 at Small). When a file longer than 20 seconds is in the list, the app warns "Long videos make very big animated pictures. Small keeps them shareable."

#More settings for video and sound

More settings (the count of changed settings shows beside it; Put these back as they were resets them):

• Video codec (when the format holds more than one): "Automatic (H.264)" (the format's first codec) or another codec the format holds (see "Video and sound: the 34 formats"). With As it is, the automatic choice keeps the original video when the format can hold it; when the picture must be re-encoded, it becomes the format's first codec.
• Size: As it is, 4K (2160p), 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p or 240p. It sets the shorter side, so 1080p is 1920 × 1080 for a landscape video and 1080 × 1920 for an upright phone video. "Never bigger than the original.": sizes larger than the biggest video in the list are greyed out, and a video is never enlarged.
• Frames a second: As it is, 60, 50, 30, 25, 24, 15 or 10. The frame rate is only ever lowered, never raised.
• For the animated formats, Size and Frames a second start at Set by quality instead of As it is (the sizes and frame rates of each quality are in "Video and sound quality").
• Keep the sound: on by default; off makes a video without sound.
• Sound codec (when the format holds more than one): "Automatic (AAC)" or another codec the format holds. With As it is, the automatic choice keeps the original sound's codec when the format holds it.
• Bit rate (lossy sound codecs): Set by quality, or 320, 256, 192, 160, 128, 96 or 64 kbps. The number is used as it is, whatever the channels.
• Sample rate: As it is, 48, 44.1, 32, 22.05 or 16 kHz (not for AMR).
• Channels: As it is, Stereo or Mono (not for AMR).
• Bit depth (FLAC, Apple Lossless and uncompressed PCM): As it is, 16-bit, 24-bit, and for WAV also 32-bit float.

Even with As it is, a stream is re-encoded when a setting asks it to change: a codec other than the original's, a smaller size, a lower frame rate, a Bit rate or Bit depth, or a Sample rate or Channels different from the original's.

Rules the converter applies by itself:

• MP3, WMA and MPEG Layer II hold at most 2 channels, AC-3 at most 6 (5.1), the others up to 8: surround sound is mixed down where the format needs it.
• AMR is always mono at 8 kHz.
• Lossy sound above 48 kHz is converted at 48 kHz (Vorbis and WMA refuse higher rates). Lossless formats keep high sample rates.
• MXF gets 48 kHz uncompressed sound. MPEG-2 video (MPEG, VOB, and TS or M2TS when MPEG-2 is chosen) and MXF get the nearest standard frame rate (23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 or 60).
• DVD formats (MPEG, VOB) keep the video bit rate within what DVD players take (at most 8 Mbit/s, peaks at 9 Mbit/s).
• Re-encoded video is 8-bit 4:2:0 color, which every player plays (ProRes is 10-bit 4:2:2, DNxHR 8-bit 4:2:2). 10-bit and HDR video stays 10-bit and HDR only when copied with As it is.
• Sizes are measured as the video shows: an upright phone video counts as upright, and re-encoded sizes are always even numbers of pixels.

#Tracks, subtitles and covers

• Several sound tracks (languages, commentary) are all kept in MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM, M4V, TS, M2TS and MKA. Every other format keeps the first sound track only.
• Subtitles inside the video: MKV keeps all of them as they are (and attached fonts); MP4, MOV and M4V keep text subtitles (SRT, ASS, WebVTT and similar) as their own text subtitles; WebM keeps text subtitles as WebVTT. Picture subtitles (Blu-ray PGS, DVD VobSub) are kept only in MKV. Other formats keep no subtitles. The converters cannot burn subtitles into the picture (the Video Editor's Add subtitles does: Video Editor) and do not take separate .srt files.
• Song covers (JPEG or PNG) are kept when the result is MP3, M4A, ALAC or FLAC.

#Where the converted files are saved

• Documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF to JPG, SVG to PNG, Convert image, JPG to PDF: nothing is written until you press Save (or Save ZIP, Save all as ZIP, Save PNG, Save all 5 as ZIP, Make PDF of 3 pictures); Windows' Save dialog asks where, with the suggested name filled in.
• Video and sound: written straight to disk, in The same folder as each original (default) or in A folder I choose… (Windows' folder picker titled "Save the converted files in"; the folder chosen stays chosen while Octoolo runs).
  • The new file is named after the original with the new extension. If that name is taken, the converter uses clip (2).mp4, clip (3).mp4 and so on: it never overwrites a file, not even the original.
  • If Octoolo cannot make the file in that folder (the original's, or the one chosen: a read-only drive, a protected folder), the file goes to Videos\Octoolo (videos and animated pictures) or Music\Octoolo (sound, or a sound file made into anything) in the user's folders instead, and the row says "Saved in <folder>: Octoolo cannot write in <folder>." If that fails too, the file fails with "Could not write in <folder> (…)."
  • A stopped or failed conversion leaves no file behind.

#How fast it is, and graphics cards

• Copying (As it is) is about as fast as copying the file, even for a long film: nothing is re-encoded.
• Re-encoding video uses the graphics card when it can: for H.264 and H.265 the converter tries an NVIDIA card (NVENC), then an AMD card (AMF), then Intel graphics (Quick Sync), then Windows' own encoder (Media Foundation), then the processor. AV1 tries NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, then the processor. VP9, VP8, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, Windows Media, Theora, ProRes, DNxHR and the animated pictures always use the processor.
• The row says where it runs: "H.264 on the NVIDIA graphics card", "… on the AMD graphics card", "… on the Intel graphics", "… on the Windows' encoder" or "… on the processor".
• Which encoders work is tested once each time Octoolo runs, the first time a codec is needed, with a few black frames. If an encoder fails during a file, the converter starts that file again on the next one: the progress can jump back to 0%.
• One file is re-encoded at a time (it takes the whole processor or graphics card); copies and sound conversions run beside it, up to 4 conversions at once.
• VP9 at High quality is about real time for 1080p on the processor; Balanced and Small use a faster mode.

#Files it opens and saves

There is no size limit of Octoolo's own. The document, spreadsheet, slide and picture converters hold the file and its result in memory, so very large files (hundreds of MB) can be slow or fail. The video and sound converters stream from and to disk and handle files of any size.

Not read: .doc, .xls, .ppt (save them in the newer format first), .rtf, .odt, .ods, .odp, .pages, .numbers, .key, HEIC and TIFF pictures, and e-books (.epub, .mobi).

#Options and settings

Converters has no Settings page of its own. What it remembers:

• The video converter, the sound converter and Extract audio each remember the last format and Quality chosen, also after a restart. The other settings (More settings, the folder) last while Octoolo runs.
• The other converters start with their defaults each time.

FFmpeg is listed in Octoolo's Settings under Downloaded parts ("For the video and audio editors, the Media Player, the converters and the screen recorder."); it cannot be removed there.

#Keyboard shortcuts

Elsewhere the converters use the mouse and Windows' own dialogs. Ctrl+, opens Octoolo's Settings from anywhere.

#Where it keeps things

• Converted files: where you saved them (see "Where the converted files are saved").
• The video and sound converters' list of files and finished conversions: in memory while Octoolo runs; it is gone when Octoolo closes (the files made stay).
• The last format and quality of each media converter: in the storage of Octoolo's window (WebView2), the EBWebView folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app.
• FFmpeg: %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\engines\ffmpeg.
• PDFs being made are written for a moment to %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\print and deleted at once (and at the next start, after a crash).
• Uninstalling keeps %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app (with FFmpeg) unless the uninstaller's "Delete the application data" box is ticked.

#Downloads it needs

• FFmpeg, for Convert video, Convert audio and Extract audio only: a free, one-time download of about 77 MB (80,726,424 bytes; FFmpeg 8.1.3, an LGPL build), from GitHub. The first time one of these converters is opened it shows "Converting video needs FFmpeg" (or "Converting sound needs FFmpeg", "Saving a video's sound needs FFmpeg") with Download FFmpeg. The download shows its progress and can be cancelled; it is checked against its fingerprint and kept for every tool that needs it (the Video and Audio Editors, the Media Player, the screen recorder). If it fails, the message says why and the button becomes Try again.
• Nothing else: the document, spreadsheet, slide and picture converters need no download.

More about downloads: Downloads on first use.

#Privacy

Files never leave the PC: every conversion runs in Octoolo on the computer, and nothing is uploaded. The converters' only network use is the one-time FFmpeg download from GitHub (Octoolo Cloud's license checks are Octoolo's, not the converters'). Converting to PDF, Word or a web page does not fetch pictures that a Markdown or web page file links to on the internet. Octoolo's usage statistics (if left on) note that a converter was opened, that a result was saved (for video and sound: that conversions were started) and error messages without file names or paths: see Privacy and data.

#Troubleshooting

#"Converting video needs FFmpeg" and the download does not finish

The video and sound converters need FFmpeg (about 77 MB, once). Press Download FFmpeg and keep Octoolo open until it is done. If it stops with an error ("The download failed: …"), press Try again; the download comes from GitHub, so a network that blocks GitHub (some workplaces and schools) stops it. See Downloads on first use.

#"This is a still picture: use Convert image."

A photo or other still picture was dropped on the video or sound converter. Use Convert image (PNG, JPG, WebP) or JPG to PDF instead.

#"There are no video or sound files in what you dropped."

The folder dropped on the video or sound converter holds no file with one of the media extensions listed under "What goes in" in "Video and sound: the 34 formats", within three folder levels. A folder only brings files with those extensions; a file with another extension is taken only when it is dropped or chosen itself. Drop the files themselves.

#"It is damaged, or not a video or sound file." or "FFmpeg cannot read it (…)."

FFmpeg could not read the file: it is damaged, incomplete (still downloading, or copied only in part), copy-protected (DRM) or not a media file. "There is no picture or sound in it that FFmpeg can read." means FFmpeg opened the file but found no video or sound in it. Check that the file plays in the Media Player (Media Player). "Reading it took too long." means FFmpeg did not finish reading it within 30 seconds (often a file on a slow network drive): copy it to the PC first.

#"This video has no sound to save."

In Extract audio, the video has no sound track. Nothing can be extracted. In Convert audio the same file fails with "There is no sound in it to save."

#"There is no picture in it to make GIF from."

An animated picture (GIF, WebP, APNG) was chosen for a sound file. Pick a sound format, or use a video.

#"There is nothing in it that MP4 can hold."

Nothing in the file can go into the chosen format: for example a sound file converted to a video format with Keep the sound turned off in More settings. Turn Keep the sound back on, or pick another format.

#"This computer has no encoder for H.264 that works."

No encoder for that codec (H.264, or H.265 (HEVC) or AV1 in the same message) works on this PC, not even the processor's. This is rare; it can mean FFmpeg's files are damaged. Try another codec in More settings (or another format), restart Octoolo and try again, then report it from Help and feedback.

#"The disk is full." or "Octoolo cannot write in that folder."

The drive where the file is being written is full, or Windows does not let Octoolo write there. Make room on that drive, or choose A folder I choose… under Save in (for example a folder in Documents, or on another drive). The converter stops trying other ways when it meets one of these.

#"FFmpeg cannot write files of that kind."

The extension typed as "any other format" is not one FFmpeg can write. Pick one of the 34 formats.

#"FFmpeg stopped: …" or "The file seems damaged, or is not a video or sound file."

FFmpeg met a problem while converting; the text after "FFmpeg stopped:" is FFmpeg's own reason. The converter has already tried copying, then re-encoding on each encoder that works. Try High instead of As it is, another format, or another codec in More settings. If it keeps failing, report it from Help and feedback with the file's facts (the line under its name).

#"FFmpeg made an empty file."

FFmpeg finished but wrote nothing, usually because nothing in the file could go into that format. Try another format.

#"Saved in …\Videos\Octoolo: Octoolo cannot write in …"

Not an error: the folder the file should have gone to (the original's, or the one chosen under Save in) could not be written to, so the file was saved in the Videos (or Music) folder's Octoolo folder. Show in folder opens it.

#"The folder … is not there any more."

The folder chosen under Save in was moved, renamed or its drive was removed. Choose it again with A folder I choose…, or pick The same folder as each original.

#"Octoolo could not see where those files are."

The video and sound converters work on the files where they are, and Octoolo did not learn the files' places within 10 seconds of the drop or the choice. Drop or choose them again. If it keeps happening, copy the files to a folder on the PC (not inside a ZIP or on a phone) and use that copy.

#The converted video is bigger than the original

A converted file can be bigger than the original when the original used a more efficient codec (an H.265/HEVC phone video becomes H.264 in MP4 when it must be re-encoded), when the original was very small (re-encoding with As it is never goes below Balanced quality), or when the format holds uncompressed sound (MXF, or PCM chosen in More settings). Use Balanced or Small, or choose H.265 (HEVC) in More settings > Video codec.

#The video converter is slow, or the PC gets hot and loud

Re-encoding is heavy work. Use As it is when the format allows (copying is fast), choose a smaller Size, or a format whose codec the graphics card encodes (MP4 with H.264 or H.265). VP9, AV1 without a recent graphics card, ProRes and DNxHR run on the processor and are slow. The row's last words tell where it runs.

#My PDF to Word document is empty, or has no pictures or tables

PDF to Word takes only the words. A scanned PDF has no words in it (only pictures of pages), so the document is empty: Octoolo cannot recognize text in PDFs yet. Pictures, tables and columns are not kept. See "PDF to Word: what comes across" for what works instead.

#"Older .doc files need to be saved as .docx in Word first." (or .xls, .ppt)

Converters reads the current Office formats only (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). Open the old file in Microsoft Office (or another office program) and save it in the new format, then convert it.

#"This is not a Word document (.docx). …" or "This is not a PowerPoint presentation (.pptx). …"

The file has a .docx or .pptx name but is not a real Word or PowerPoint file (often an old .doc or .ppt renamed, or a damaged download). Save it again from Office as .docx or .pptx.

#"The page took too long to print." or "The PDF could not be made: …"

Making a PDF took more than 5 minutes, or WebView2 could not print it. Split a very long document into parts and convert them one by one. If it keeps failing, restart Octoolo and report it from Help and feedback.

#"No password given" when converting a PDF

The PDF is locked with a password to open it. Converters cannot open locked PDFs (and Unlock PDF is not available yet). Open the PDF in a program that knows the password, save a copy without it, and convert that copy.

#"Nothing came out of that file."

The conversion produced no result: in PDF to JPG, none of the pages typed in Pages exist in that PDF. Check the page numbers, or leave Pages blank for all pages.

#"<name> is not a picture this tool can open (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP or SVG)."

Convert image cannot open that file: HEIC (iPhone photos), TIFF, RAW camera files and PSD are not supported. HEIC to JPG is not available yet.

#Limits and what it cannot do

• It cannot convert HEIC (iPhone) photos yet; HEIC to JPG (heic-to-jpg) is not available yet.
• It cannot recognize text in scanned PDFs or pictures inside PDFs (no OCR); pdf-ocr is not available yet. PDF to Word keeps the words only, not pictures, tables, columns or fonts.
• It cannot open password-protected PDFs, and cannot add or remove PDF passwords (Protect PDF and Unlock PDF are not available yet).
• It does not read .doc, .xls, .ppt, .rtf, OpenDocument (.odt, .ods, .odp), Apple Pages, Numbers or Keynote files, e-books (EPUB, MOBI), TIFF, RAW or PSD pictures.
• It cannot make PDFs from PowerPoint animations, tables or charts; presentations come out without them.
• It cannot convert to .doc, .xls, .ppt, ODF formats, EPUB, RTF or TIFF.
• The video and sound converters cannot cut, trim, join or crop (use the Video or Audio Editor: Video Editor, Audio Editor), cannot burn subtitles into the picture, cannot add separate subtitle or sound files, and cannot rip DVDs or Blu-rays or convert copy-protected (DRM) files. They do not download videos from websites.
• It cannot upscale a video (the Size setting only makes it smaller) or raise its frame rate.
• It does not keep HDR, or 10-bit color (except in ProRes), when the picture is re-encoded.
• It cannot convert files in the cloud or by link: files must be on the PC (or a drive it can reach).
• The converters do not warn when a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file loses parts it cannot keep (headers and footers, charts, tables in slides...).