1. Features
2. Installation
   1. Install dependencies
   2. Optional dependencies
   3. Install the extension
3. Configuration
   1. Automatic updates
   2. Shown menu items
   3. Other options
4. Updating
5. Usage
6. Warnings and errors
7. Any questions?
8. Credits

Convert between various image, audio and video formats using the context menu. The addon is written in Python and available for Nautilus and Nemo file viewers. It adds a new option to the context menu of the file viewer to create an easy way to convert between a huge amount of file types. The program offers many options to customize the appearance of its context menu. There are also a few extra formats to convert with, which can be added by installing optional dependencies. The tool has a built-in auto-update function to make sure the newest version is always provided. Note that the Nemo port is very new and not as well tasted as the Nautilus version. If you experience any bugs, pleas report them on the issue page.

    flowchart TD
    A[Supported Image Files]
    B[Supported Audio Files]
    C[Supported Video Files]
    D[image]
    E[audio]
    F[video]

    A["JPG<br/>JPEG<br/>JPE<br/>PNG<br/>BMP<br/>AI<br/>EPS<br/>PS<br/>GIF<br/>ICO<br/>PCX<br/>PPM<br/>TIFF<br/>TIF<br/>XBM<br/>FLI<br/>FPX<br/>BIN<br/>WMF<br/>XPM<br/>WEBP<br/>AVIF*¹<br/>HEIC*¹<br/>JXL*²"]
    B["MP3<br/>MPGA<br/>MPG<br/>MPEG<br/>WAV<br/>M3U<br/>M3U8<br/>M4A<br/>MKA<br/>AAC<br/>3GP<br/>3G2<br/>OGG<br/>OPUS"]
    C["MP4<br/>WebM<br/>MKV<br/>AVI<br/>MOV<br/>QT"]

    D["JPEG<br/>PNG<br/>BMP<br/>GIF<br/>WEBP<br/>JXL*²<br/>TIFF<br/>Different square sizes"]
    E["MP3<br/>WAV<br/>ACC<br/>FLAC<br/>M4A<br/>OGG<br/>OPUS"]
    F["MP4<br/>WebM<br/>MKV<br/>AVI<br/>MP3<br/>WAV"]

    A --> D
    B --> E
    C --> F

*¹ Needs pyheif.
*² Needs jxlpy.

pip is a pre-dependency for pillow, it can be installed with the following commands:

Debian based distros:
sudo apt install python3-pip

Fedora based distros:
sudo dnf install python3-pip

Arch based distros:
pacman -S python-pip

python-pillow is needed to convert images. It can be installed using pip:

pip install Pillow

ffmpeg is needed to convert audio and video.

Debian based distros:
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Fedora based distros:
sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Arch based distros:
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

GNOME's file viewer Nautilus should be installed, otherwise it will be hard to install extension to it.

nautilus-python needs to be installed to install extensions:

Debian based distros:
sudo apt install python3-nautilus

Fedora based distros:
sudo dnf install nautilus-python

Arch based distros:
sudo pacman -Sy python-nautilus

Nemo needs to be installed.

Debian based distros:
sudo apt install nemo

Fedora based distros:
sudo dnf install nemo

Arch based distros:
sudo pacman -S nemo

pyheif is needed if you want to convert from heif or avif format.
Install it using this command:

pip install pyheif

You may need to install some dependencies before installing pyheif. Otherwise you could get an error installing it.

yum install libffi libheif-devel libde265-devel

In addition, to convert to avif format you will need this plugin for Pillow.

pip install pillow-avif-plugin

jxlpy is needed if you want to convert from jxl format.
Install it using this command:

pip install jxlpy

Note: jxlpy is in a very early state, you may have issues while installing it using pip. You may need to install it manually.

• Download the nautilus-fileconverter.py file from the release page.
  • Git users can also get the repository with these commands:

    git clone https://github.com/Lich-Corals/linux-file-converter-addon
    
    cd ./linux-file-converter-addon

• For a system-wide installation move the file to '/usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/' using this command in the dictonary with the file:

  sudo mv nautilus-fileconverter.py /usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/nautilus-fileconverter.py

  • For a user specific installation move the file to '~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/' using this command in the dictonary with the file:

    mv nautilus-fileconverter.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/nautilus-fileconverter.py

• Now you only have to restart Nautilus using the following commands:

  #Quit Nautilus
  nautilus -q
  
  #start it again, you can also use the normal launcher.
  nohup nautilus & disown

• Download the nautilus-fileconverter.py and the nautilus-fileconverter.nemo_action file from the release page.
  • Git users can also get the repository with these commands:

     git clone https://github.com/Lich-Corals/linux-file-converter-addon
  
     cd ./linux-file-converter-addon

• Copy the files into the ~/.local/share/nemo/actions folder:

     mv nautilus-fileconverter.py ~/.local/share/nemo/actions/nautilus-fileconverter.py
     mv nautilus-fileconverter.nemo_action ~/.local/share/nemo/actions/nautilus-fileconverter.nemo_action

You may need to enable the action in Nemo's settings. To do so, you can open Nemo and go edit>Plugins (or press Alt+P) and check the checkbox labeled with "Convert to..." in the "Actions" area.

The program can be configured using the NFC43-Config.json file, which will be created in the installation dictionary when the script is executed for the first time. Just modify the file, by changing the 'true' and 'false' values. If the program is installed in a root location, you need to change the configuration inside the script. Don't forget to save your changes, and restart Nautilus after modifying the configuration!

#Quit Nautilus
nautilus -q

#start it again, you can also use the normal launcher.
nohup nautilus & disown

Automatic updates are only working in the home dictionary. If you've installed the script at the system-wide location, you may turn off automatic updates.

To turn off automatic updates, open the config file with a text editor and set the automaticUpdates variable to 'false'. To manually trigger a self-update, just open the .py file with a text editor and change the value of the converterVersion variable.

To turn off the patch note button in the context menu, open the config file with a text editor and set the showPatchNoteButton variable to 'false'.

To turn off the Configure NFC43 button in the context menu, open the config file with a text editor and set the showConfigHint variable to 'false'. Note: This option is not available in Nemo so far.

To turn off the 'convert to square' option, open the config file with a text editor and set the convertToSquares variable to 'false'.

To turn off the 'convert to wallpaper' function, open the config file with a text editor and set the convertToWallpapers variable to 'false'.

To turn off the patch note pop-up, open the config file with a text editor and set the showPatchNotes variable to 'false'. To turn off the Double script installation Warning, open the config file with a text editor and set the checkForDoubleInstallation variable to 'false'. Note: This option may be a bit buggy in Nemo, I'll fix it in the future if it appears to be annoying to some users.

If the script is installed in the home folder (~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/) or has permissions to write in it's dictionary, it will update automatically as long as the automatic updates aren't disabled.

If automatic updates are disabled, you can run the installation commands again to update the program.

Just right click on an supported file and choose the "Convert to..." option. In this sub menu you can select any file type you want to convert to.

Converting a file can take some time. There is no indicator when the process is done.

If you experience any issues with the extension, please report it on the issues page.

Causes:
This warning is caused, because the script is not able to find your pyheif installation.

Possible Effects:
Without pyheif, the converter won't be able to convert from heif file format.

How to solve?
To solve this warning, you need to install pyheif using pip. View the Optional dependencies section to get installation instructions.

Causes:
This warning is caused, because the script is not able to find your jxlpy installation.

Possible Effects:
Without jxlpy, the converter won't be able to convert from- or to jxl file format.

How to solve?
To solve this warning, you need to install jxlpy using pip.
View the Optional dependencies section to get installation instructions.

Causes:
This warning is caused, because the script is not able to find your pillow-avif-plugin installation.

Possible Effects:
Without pillow-avif-plugin, the converter won't be able to convert to avif file format.

How to solve?
To solve this warning, you need to install pillow-avif-plugin using pip.
View the Optional dependencies section to get installation instructions.

Causes:
The program has no permission to write it's own file.
This warning usually occurs when the script is located at "/usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/".

Possible Effects:
The self-update function will not be available.
The script may show the releases page on multiple startups if self-update isn't disabled.

How to solve?
To remove the release popup, you may disable the corresponding setting. To do this, please follow the instructions on the configuration page.
To get self updates, the script needs the permissions to write to itself. This can be done by changing the file permissions using chmod or by running the script as a privileged user.
To be able to self-update, the user, who is executing the script (by starting Nautilus) needs permissions to edit the script itself.

Causes:
The program has no permission to write in the dictionary where it is installed.
This warning usually occurs when the script is located at "/usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/".

Possible Effects:
The self-update function may not be available.
The script needs to be configured by editing the script itself.
If self-updating is enabled, the script's configuration will reset when a update is performed.

How to solve?
To fix this, the script needs the permissions to write inside the folder, where it is located. This can be done by changing the folder permissions using chmod or by running the script as a privileged user.
To use the configuration file, the user, who is executing the script (by starting Nautilus) needs permissions create and edit files inside the installation dictionary.

To prevent the settings from being reset, you can add a config file to the dictionary. Note that the file will not be update if new configurations are added.

Causes:
The script is installed in a home location and finds another script with the same name in the root installation folder ("/usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/").

Possible Effects:
The context menu may appear two times.

How to solve?
To solve this issue, you have to remove one of the files (in "/usr/share/nautilus-python/extensions/" or in "~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/")

Causes:
Automatic updates are enabled and there are updates available. This is not an error, just information to make problems easier to solve.

If anything is not clear...
If you have a problem...
If you need a specific feature...
If any of your files is not supported...
...feel free to write a GitHub issue!

• Linus Tibert

• derVedro
• D10f