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    #1

    Motic SFC files

    I have about 900 photos taken with my National microscope using Motic software that puts them into their proprietary SFC format. I want to do a batch conversion to jpg so that normal people can see them, but Motic does not have that facility.
    While I can open each picture in Motic as an SFC and then save it as a jpg, this is brutally slow and fraught with error (because the file name isn't retained).
    Anyone know of a converter, if Irfanview can do it?
    Tags: sfc, sfc format
    #2
    I don't think it is very promising to see a proprietary format being converted by someone else's software.

    Your best shot may be to use an automation macro program to have the Motic Image Plus software do it. Here are a few:

    AutoHotkey
    AutoIt

    Comment

      #3
      I'll try that

      I'll try the macro.

      I was hoping that the SFC files were just a standard image format with a different extension, so that I could change the extension and make it work. Like a javascript file with extension .js being able to open up with Notepad when the .js is replaced by a .txt.

      Why would a company create it's own imaging software where there are so many "standards" out there already?

      There must be a way of "looking" at an image file to see how it's encoded, is there?

      Comment

        #4
        No, SFC is proprietary, hence its exclusive nature. Remember, the format can add accompanying sound, measure, etc. It all is to give you an amazing unique product that you can only get from them. So, to use a standard format would be difficult. Maybe it is standard underneath, I don't know. I guess you'd have to guess.

        You can always ask the company itself what to do in your situation, maybe they can provide a solution.

        I thought of something else though. If it is easy to print the files, maybe you could use a PDF print driver or raster image print driver. These are very convenient to use, and I'd imagine printing in batch theoretically should be easy without opening the Motic software. The print driver's can even autosave.

        Let me know.

        Comment

          #5
          The troublesome SFC files

          Hi there,

          Off-topic comments removed.

          Will post any news I get from Motic here and would happily provide both the Motic program and/or SFC files to anyone who has the time and patience to program a plugin.

          Will also have a look at the macro, but don't really get the idea of the PDF print driver. How is that supposed to work? You would still have to open every single picture manually and send it to the printer I suppose, so not much gain there? Or am I being a bit slow here...?

          At least nice to know I am not alone with my desperation
          Last edited by Bhikkhu Pesala; 22.07.2009, 04:42 PM.

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by Isbjoern View Post
            Will also have a look at the macro, but don't really get the idea of the PDF print driver. How is that supposed to work? You would still have to open every single picture manually and send it to the printer I suppose, so not much gain there? Or am I being a bit slow here...?
            You could, but you don't have to. Depending on the PDF program, you can print several ways. You can print via the Print dialog, drag and drop into a Print Monitor, add filenames to a Print Monitor by browsing, use the command line, or use the Windows Explorer shell menu. Plus, with autosave capability, you don't need to provide a filename.

            The easiest ways are dragging and dropping, or selecting your files and choosing a Print command in the shell menu. So, you can convert in batch to many formats simply by printing, plus much more.

            PDFCreator

            Comment

              #7
              Thanks for your help Skippybox, but I still don't really see how this is supposed to work. I mean, in any normal program this sounds quite reasonable, but not with this junk.

              E.g. if I add filenames to a print monitor, what would happen then? Since no Windows program is able to open the files, what would it print/save then? Although the pictures are registered to be opened with the Motic software, you do not get any preview in Windows, and the usual method of double-click opens the associated program (as usual), but does not open the picture you were clicking on, i.e. the only way to see the actual picture is to manually open it from inside the program. And since Windows officially doesn't know what kind of files they are, you do not get any print command in the explorer shell.
              In the Motic program itself the pictures are sort of "locked", i.e. you can not drag and drop them anywhere, neither can you copy and paste them. And the only way to print them is to open a single picture at the time in the program, click on the print icon (there is no print dialogue), which opens them in a new internal window, where you again have to press a print button. After that you have to close that new window manually before you can do the same procedure with the next picture.
              A bit difficult to describe, since it's such an unusal behaviour for a Windows program. Can send you a copy of the program if you like - not that it's worthwhile having, but it's an interesting example of how you can create software that entirely misses out on usability...

              best regards and thanks again for trying to help

              Comment

                #8
                I'll admit I don't know how "bad" this software is, since I have never perused it. If it really is as constrictive as you say, then obviously you are running out of options. You will probably have to do some hard work if you intend to convert an entire collection. Doing a few a day isn't so bad, but when you've got so many, it can seem overwhelming.

                Maybe, depending on the resolution of these files and your monitor, you could do an automated screen capture of each loaded file?

                Comment

                  #9
                  Batch Converter from SFC to JPG

                  Dear Forum-Users,

                  Thanks for using a Motic product, and yes I work at Motic.

                  Please go to the following site and you'll see a new download for a batch converter from .sfc files to .jpg format. (you'll find it on the left)

                  http://www.motic.com/ProductDetail.aspx?r=AP&lang=en&cid=145&pid=48


                  This converter will allow you to convert .sfc files to standard JPEG format. Download and save the 2MB file then you need to select the folder where you have the .sfc files stored. If nothing happens, please click on the vcredist C++ executable file to install some missing components. Then it should work.

                  The reason why we have .sfc formats is because you can save any edits, measurements and so on on a secondary level and so if you later wish to edit them or go back to the original image, you may do so. If you save the image under another format such as .bmp or .jpg, the edits such as measurments will be part of the image.

                  Just a reminder, you can set the default capture mode of the capturing device to a format other than .sfc. Also you can download a "viewer" called "MoticSee" from here:
                  http://www.motic.com/DownloadFiles.aspx?r=AP&lang=en&id=40


                  Regards,

                  Reto

                  Comment

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