PictoDS

Description

PictoDS is the PC tool (created by Nicom00k) that converts your pictures into a .cbds file to be used with ComicBookDS.
Those pictures can be in a folder, a .zip, a .cbz, a .cbr, a .rar.
.pdf files can also be converted thanks to some command line third party conversion programs (like the free Ghostscript or the -not free- PDF To Image Converter v2.1).
PictoDS is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac.
Click here to go directly to download section.

Screenshots (of the 2.1 version)

Special Thanks to

   Nate Drake and Alx06 with their help, support and tests of the Linux and MacosX versions.
   Rudi R. and his help regarding the pdf conversion.
   Thomas L. and his help with the Ghostscript pictods command line.

Troubleshoots and Remarks

• If you ar getting a "could not find main class" error when trying to run pictds, the problem must be that when you unzipped the PictoDS zip file, it didn't create the directory structure (ie 'bin', 'lib', 'nds', folders should be created during the unzipping process).
  Your zip tool must keep the directory structure when unzipping for pictods to work.
  
• If you want to use the the free Ghostscript pdf converter into pictods, here is the kind of command line that you can use : "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.04\bin\gswin64c.exe" -dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=jpeg -r300 -sOutputFile="%outputdirectoryname/image%d.jpg" "%filename"
  
• Another solution to convert your PDF files is to proceed in two steps :
  Use some tools (like the free PDFill) and convert your .pdf into images.
  Once converted, you can use PictoDS with the folder containing those images.
  
• It has been reported that .rar (and .cbr) exctraction doesn't work on Mac and Linux (probably a path problem).
  PictoDS sources are included in the installation .zip.
  If you can solve the problem, please drop an e-mail to Nicom00k
  

Download and Install

Unzip one of the following files, according to your Operating System, in the choosen directory of your PC :

• PictoDS_win32_2.1.0.zip pour Windows
• PictoDS_mac_2.1.0.zip pour Mac
• PictoDS_linux_2.1.0.zip pour Linux

You may need to install Java.
Use pictods.exe (or pictods.sh) to convert your comic books into .cbds files for your Nintendo DS.
Those .cbds files can be read using the ComicBookDS program.

Program History

• 2.1 (26/08/2007):
  • New: Pictods now runs on Linux and Mac.
  • New: Possibilty to link PictoDS to your prefered PDF to JPG software (new command line available in "Path" dialog box).
  • New: In command lines ("Path" dialog box) it was just possible to specify the executable to use. That was annoying if you wanted to add an extra option, so now you can use %filename and %outputdirectoryname and enter the exact command line you want (see pictods.properties to have an example).
  • New: Possibility to change the software to browse the output directory (command line option in 'Path' dialog). Usefull for linux and Mac users or if you don't like the default Windows explorer.
  • New: Possibility to use PictoDS through a command line. Go to 'lib' directory. Enter java -cp org.pictods.jar org.pictods.Pictods. Read the help.
  • Change: File extension is not added in the image names after conversion anymore.
  • Change: ComicBookDS.ini file is now only generated when the generate button is pressed.
  • Change: Output directory has been renamed from 'nds' to 'cbds'.


• 2.0 (16/03/2007):
  • BugFix: Image size settings are now correctly used and saved.
  • BugFix: Sometimes, the image was not correctly resized.
  • BugFix: Better error handling, using popups to display error messages.
  • BugFix: Detect when a .zip (.cbz) file is not a .rar (.cbr) file.
  • New: Drag N' Drop support for file and folder addition.
  • New: 'Open output folder' item added in menu.
  • New: When the ComicBook name is changed, the output filename is changed accordingly.


• 2.0Beta 5 (25/01/2007):
  • BugFix: No more problem for renaming files (in specific cases some images were ot converted).
  • BugFix: No more resizing of little images (before, the size was increased to reach the specified size). It's then quicker to convert small images.
  • BugFix: There was a problem when some entries in pictods were unchecked.


• 2.0Beta 4 (21/01/2007):
  • Change: Adaptation to the new .cbds output (replaced .nds output with cbds output) Testing file is not available anymore. PAFS and .net not needed. New Layout.
  • New: comicbookds.ini file generated with various settings allowing ComicBookDS customization. The different options are available through the pictods interface (User Settings).
  • New: Title,author and provider associated with cbds files


• 1.3 (05/11/2006):
  • BugFix: The pictods icon is back.
  • Workaround:Pictods can be used without the Microsoft .NET Framework (howto explained in the Download and Install section).


• 1.2 (16/10/2006):
  • BugFix: No more size differences between .nds file generated from an archive or a folder.
  • BugFix: Application is visible in taskbar.
  • New: In config path, PictoDs allows to set an 'input path' (by default your home directory).


• 1.1 (15/10/2006):
  • BugFix: No more memory error (freeze) with big images.
  • BugFix: Third party programs in directory with spaces characters are now managed (448 ko files problem).
  • BugFix: "Restore Default" in config dialog box works.
  • BugFix: Images on FAT32 partition are now correctly ordered.
  • BugFix: Lower volume for completion sound.
  • New: Choice of the output (.nds, .sc.nds, .ds.gba).
  • New: Logger activated (pictods/log in lib directory).
  • Warning: Microsoft .NET Framework needed


• 1.0 (05/10/2006):
  • PC Converter released. Now, anyone can create his own Comic Book DS file.


• 1.0 - beta 1 (30/09/2006):
  • Release of the French Comic Book "La Vie De Norman" as a sample.