PixDrop Documentation

Complete user guide for PixDrop v1.0 — batch image converter for Windows.

1. Quick Start

  1. Download PixDrop.zip from itch.io
  2. Extract the ZIP anywhere (no installation needed)
  3. Double-click PixDrop.exe
  4. Drag & drop images onto the window
  5. Choose output format and settings
  6. Click Convert All

That's it. Output files are saved alongside originals by default, or to a folder you specify.

2. GUI Guide

Layout

The window is split into two main areas:

Adding Files

Title Bar

3. Format Reference

FormatInputOutputDetails
JPG/JPEGYesYesLossy, quality 1-100. Default 85.
PNGYesYesLossless, larger files.
WebPYesYesLossy, quality 1-100. ~30% smaller than JPG at same quality.
AVIFYesYesNext-gen lossy, better compression than WebP. Browser support growing.
HEIC/HEIFYesNoiPhone photos. Read-only.
JPEG XLYesNoRead-only.
BMPYesYesUncompressed bitmap.
GIFYesYes256-color palette. Static frames only.
TIFFYesYesLossless, supports ICC profiles. Good for print.
ICOYesYesWindows icon format.
PDFYesYesMerge/split. Requires Ghostscript.
RAW (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG, RW2, ORF)YesNoCamera RAW development.

4. Resize Modes

ModeDescriptionExample
NoneNo resizingOriginal dimensions kept
PixelsSet exact width and heightW: 800, H: 600
PercentageScale by percentage50% = half size
Long EdgeSet the longest side; aspect ratio preserved1200 = longest side becomes 1200px

Keep aspect ratio: When checked (Pixels mode), the image fits within the specified dimensions without distortion. When unchecked, the image is stretched to exact dimensions.

Long Edge mode will not upscale images smaller than the target. A 500px image with Long Edge 1200 stays at 500px.

5. Editing

Rotation

Options: None, 90°, 180°, 270° (clockwise).

Flip

Flip H: Horizontal (mirror). Flip V: Vertical (upside down). Both can be combined.

Grayscale

Converts to monochrome (black and white).

Brightness & Contrast

Sliders from 0 to 200. 100 = no change. Values >100 increase; <100 decrease.

6. Watermarks

Text Watermark

Image Watermark

7. EXIF Metadata

Select a file in the list, then switch to the EXIF tab to view all metadata tags.

Conversion Options

ModeDescription
PreserveKeep all metadata in the output file.
Remove AllStrip all EXIF/XMP/IPTC data. Best for privacy.
Remove GPS OnlyRemove location data but keep camera info (make, model, date, etc.).

8. ICC Color Profiles

ProfileUse Case
NoneNo color profile conversion.
sRGBStandard web color space. Use for web publishing.
Adobe RGBWider gamut. Use for professional photo editing.
CMYKPrint color space. Use for commercial printing.

9. Preset System

Presets save your conversion settings for reuse. Three default presets are included:

PresetFormatResizeEXIF
WebWebP Q80Long Edge 1200Remove All
PrintTIFF Q100NonePreserve
SNSJPG Q85Long Edge 1080Remove GPS

Save a Preset

  1. Configure your desired settings.
  2. Type a name in the preset name field.
  3. Click Save.

Presets are stored as presets.json next to the EXE. You can edit this file manually.

10. Watch Folder

  1. Go to the Watch Folder tab.
  2. Set the Watch path (folder to monitor).
  3. Set the Output path (where converted files go).
  4. Configure format/resize/etc. on the Convert tab.
  5. Click Start Watching.

Any new image file placed in the watch folder will be automatically converted using your current settings. The log panel shows each conversion.

11. PDF Conversion

PDF features require Ghostscript (gswin64c.exe) installed and on PATH.

Images to PDF

Add images to the file list, then click Images to PDF. Choose a save location. All images are merged into a single PDF.

PDF to Images

Add a PDF to the file list, select it, go to Preview tab, click PDF to Images. Choose an output folder. Each page becomes a separate image.

12. Output Settings

SettingDescription
Save to original folderOutput files next to the source files.
BrowseChoose a specific output folder.
Overwrite originalReplace the source file (use with caution).
Prefix / SuffixAdd text before/after the filename. E.g., prefix "web_" + suffix "_final" = web_photo_final.jpg
Sequential numberingName files as 001, 002, etc. with optional prefix.
Max KBTarget maximum file size. Quality is automatically reduced to meet the limit. 0 = no limit.

13. CLI Reference

Run PixDrop.exe <command> [options]. With no arguments, the GUI launches.

Commands

CommandDescription
convertBatch convert images
infoShow image dimensions, format, size
exifDisplay EXIF metadata
pdf-mergeMerge images into a PDF
pdf-splitSplit PDF into images
watchWatch folder and auto-convert
preset-listList saved presets
preset-showShow preset details

Convert Options

# Basic
--input <file>           Input file (repeatable)
--input-dir <dir>        Input directory
--output-dir <dir>       Output directory
--format <fmt>           JPG|PNG|WEBP|BMP|GIF|TIFF|ICO|AVIF|PDF
--quality <1-100>        Quality (default: 85)
--recursive              Include subdirectories

# Resize
--resize <spec>          800x600 (pixels) | 50% (percentage) | 1200 (long edge)
--no-keep-ratio          Don't keep aspect ratio

# Editing
--rotate <deg>           90 | 180 | 270
--flip-h                 Flip horizontal
--flip-v                 Flip vertical
--grayscale              Convert to grayscale
--brightness <0-200>     100 = normal
--contrast <0-200>       100 = normal

# Metadata
--exif <action>          preserve | remove | remove-gps
--icc <profile>          srgb | adobergb | cmyk

# Watermark
--watermark-text <txt>   Add text watermark
--watermark-size <px>    Font size
--watermark-color <hex>  Color (#RRGGBB)
--watermark-opacity <n>  0-100
--watermark-pos <pos>    TopLeft|Center|BottomRight|...
--watermark-image <file> Image watermark file

# Naming
--prefix <str>           Filename prefix
--suffix <str>           Filename suffix
--sequential             Sequential numbering (001, 002...)
--overwrite              Overwrite originals
--save-to-original       Save in source folder
--max-size-kb <kb>       Max file size (0 = unlimited)
--preset <name>          Use saved preset

Examples

# Convert all PNGs in a folder to WebP
PixDrop convert --input-dir ./photos --output-dir ./web --format webp --quality 80

# Resize to 1080px long edge, strip GPS, add watermark
PixDrop convert --input-dir ./raw --output-dir ./out --format jpg --resize 1080 --exif remove-gps --watermark-text "(C) 2025"

# Use a saved preset
PixDrop convert --input-dir ./photos --output-dir ./web --preset "Web"

# Watch folder
PixDrop watch --watch-dir ./incoming --output-dir ./processed --format jpg --resize 1080

# Merge images into PDF
PixDrop pdf-merge --input-dir ./pages --output book.pdf

# Split PDF into PNG images
PixDrop pdf-split --input book.pdf --output-dir ./extracted --format png

14. Language Support

PixDrop supports 9 languages. Select from the dropdown in the title bar. The change takes effect immediately.

CLI: Use --lang <code> to force a locale. Codes: en, ja, zh-Hans, zh-Hant, ko, es, fr, de, pt.

15. Troubleshooting

PDF features don't work

Install Ghostscript (64-bit). Make sure gswin64c.exe is on your system PATH.

HEIC files not loading

HEIC support requires the ImageMagick HEIC delegate. If your system doesn't have it, convert HEIC files to JPG using another tool first, or install the HEIF codec from the Microsoft Store.

Large files are slow

Very large images (50+ megapixels) may take several seconds per file. This is normal. Use the Long Edge resize to reduce size before conversion.

Antivirus flags the EXE

PixDrop is a .NET single-file application, which some antivirus software may flag as suspicious. This is a false positive. You can verify the file by checking the SHA-256 hash against the one listed on the itch.io download page.

App doesn't start

PixDrop requires Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). If you see an error about missing DLLs, ensure you downloaded the self-contained build (the ZIP includes the .NET runtime).