Converting SC4 screens from PNG to JPG

[SpecialEddie 3]

Is it like possible to convert all the SimCity pics you take in a game to JPG (instead of "saving as" all the time in MS Paint?) It is sooo friggin' annoying how the screenies have to be PNG...the size is unnessary. Is there like a program that can like mass convert these pics? All the pics I took in my game won't even fit in a 512 MB flash drive.  I believe this is one of the most important issues in SC4 and should be addressed. And lo and behold, here I am asking for help! Please and thanks.

-SpecialEddie

[jmjselect 0]

I don't know much about what your asking for, I've never used an image converter

but here's a start.

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=png+to+jpeg+converter&btnG=Google+Search

[prince_of_sims 0]

do a quick google search for the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulator). it may be more than you need, but it's the best free program i could think of offhand.

[hym 358]

This may be what you were complaining about, but MS Paint can save in JPG formats. Open your picture and resave as a jpeg. I know that that sounds a lot like what you said you didn't like, and it probably is, but I don't know of any programs that will convert the images for you.

[Voar Tok 4]

If you press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R while in a city, it will bring up the record animation command. That has the ability to save as a jpg. Just remember to say yes when the game asks something about exporting the animation (or something to that effect).

[diablo_del_bano 3]

Infranview is what I use.  But I just post the pngs. I don't notice a difference, so...

[choco1 4]

I use photoshop to mass convert screens, it works wonders.  However, it is also extremely expensive. 

Its a good idea to convert them, as you should never post pngs on simtropolis.  They are far too big, and even for fast connections are an annoying wait.  As diablo suggested try Infranview, have a google of it and see what you find.  Remember to dig a little!

Good luck, choco.

[onlyplace4 605]

I use Photoshop too, but you can also use ACDSee which I use extensively when working with my textures for modelling as it also has batch convert and rename functions. Great when you have in excess of ... erm ... I think ... 70,000 textures lol

[Ephphatha 0]

+1 for irfanview. I don't actually use it now (Howies saves screenshots as .jpgs anyway) but the batch convert feature is great.

+1 for the gimp, free and power image editing ftw.

However, if you want to skip all the fuss, get Howies quick screen capture. I can't remember the website, but a quick google should work.

EDIT: Darn. Howies appears to be down. Try this link: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,20080,00.asp

[Peorth 18]

I wonder whose brilliant idea was it to use PNGs for screencaps but it was clearly a mistake on the part of Maxis/EA. PNG is a lossless format, and for photographic image data, it will be anywhere from 5-10x larger than an equivalent high-quality JPG. PNG is better for images with text, line art, and sharp transitions (such as the manga I edit in Photoshop as a hobby).

[Voar Tok 4]

Originally posted by: diablo_del_bano Infranview is what I use.  But I just post the pngs. I don't notice a difference, so...quote>

For those of you who didn't know, there seems to be an issue between PNGs and Internet Explorer.  For some reason, they don't show up.  So, it would be better to use JPEGs or something other than a PNG.

[Peorth 18]

Voar Tok, that's very odd. PNG is one of the accepted web image formats (like GIF and JPG), and IE has been supporting it since version 4. I can view PNG images fine with IE.

[dpk 0]

Paintshop Pro, which has a free trial, has a feature which will do batch conversions (among other things). Personally, I think it's great that SC4 saves in PNG, so I can choose how much I want to compress the image after the fact. Who knows what it would choose for compression, or how badly JPG would mangle whatever part of the image I'm trying to showcase (as in crop).

[SpecialEddie 3]

Wow so many replies and choices! I shall try one of 'em. This has been of great help for me, and anyone else who reads this thread.

[Duke87 1,070]

When I still used IE, I never had problems with PNGs, so it must be a computer issue, not a browser issue.

For mass conversions, I use a program called XnView. Converting is pretty much all it does, though. What makes it handy is that it recognizes quite a few filetypes, including several that MS Paint doesn't, most notably .pcx and .tga.

If you'e looking to save bandwidth, converting pngs to jpgs before posting them on the internet can be helpful. Just whatever you do, don't use MS Paint for it, since it causes dithering.

Note, though, that if you remove the png files from the game folder, you won't be able to view them in the in-game album feature anymore.

Also, PNG is not "lossless", as it does involve some compression. BMP is "lossless", but only if it's a 24-bit BMP. 256 color BMPs are imited to 256 colors. The true "lossless" format of images is RAW. Some digital cameras will let you put pictures on your computer in this format. The filesize is absolutely gargantuan, though, and Photoshop and GIMP are about the only programs in existance that can read them.

[Peorth 18]

Originally posted by: Duke87 ...Also, PNG is not "lossless", as it does involve some compression. BMP is "lossless", but only if it's a 24-bit BMP. 256 color BMPs are imited to 256 colors. The true "lossless" format of images is RAW....quote>

Duke87, PNG IS lossless. What you're getting confused over is compression. If I were to take a plain BMP (like the one you can make in MS Paint) and zip it with Winzip, I'll end up with a smaller file. I can restore the BMP in the zip file in perfect condition because Winzip doesn't throw away chunks of data, it merely reorganized them to take less space.

PNG is much the same thing like zipping a BMP. It is a compressed bitmap format that uses a lossless compression scheme. You can restore and re-save PNGs repeatedly without any loss, in contrast to JPG where a gradual deterioration occurs due to data loss.

If you don't believe me, read the PNG documentation at the official site, or you can just look up the entry in Wikipedia.

[vester_DK 477]

I use PhotoShop a lot, but for converting I use IrfanView. I have set up IrfanView to be the default program to open most graphic file format, becauce it open a lot faster than PhotoShop. As some have mention before there is a batch tool to convert/resize ect a seriel of pictures at the same time.

Maybe you should follow the progress of Sim City 4 - Album to HTML Generator

It convert a SC4 album to HTML and the PNG files are convert to jpg and resize to 600x800px.