pcdMagic 4+

Solid Conversion to TIFF

I used this app to convert my collection of PhotoCDs to tiff format for use in Adobe Lightroom, as Lightroom does not have a direct conversion built into it. The process requires you to load the PhotoCD files into PCMagic’s browser then select photos for conversion. After selecting a place to put the tiffs on your hard drive’s file system, the conversion is then done reasonably quickly. Then you can load the resultant tiffs into Lightroom. This was done without problems. I would not have been able to read my PhotoCDs without this program, so it proved invaluable.

There is a function where you can edit an ex-PCD tiff file that is already in Lightroom by transfering it back to PCDMagic for some editing, but I found this integration to be a bit clumsy. I might change my mind on this in the future as my use of this feature was cursory. Some of the editing features in PCDMagic are claimed to be more effective than other programs, but I have not used these features to a significant extent just yet, although those I tried seemed to work just fine.

When I tried to use editing features more extensively I had a few crashes, probably because I had too many images loaded into PCDmagic. Finally, as I used PCDmagic only as a format conversion program, and the editing features are limited anyway, I found the price to be steep.

Exceptionally poor user interface but converts OK

I am TOTALLY amazed by how poor this user interface is. For some reason those who have developed this software never ever actually tested it on 'normal' users / people? ALL you should have done is to THINK (please!) in terms of what the typical workflows are... like have 238 pictures in an old Kodak Photo CD, in .PCD format that need to be converted into .jpg and then edited using e.g. Photoshop (not your crazy sw); just CONVERT in BATCH please... SIMPLE?... anyhow, classical example of ignorant and poor quality. The ONLY good news is, that it actually converts .PCD images to .jpg well and therefore they are not lost for ever... BTW SHAME on Kodak, that they did not support their own crazy .PCD file format for lifetime... Anyhow, if you must have this conversion, get this TERRIBLE tool, else look for something, that has a proper GUI and follows typical workflows. Good luck!

Developer Response ,

Hi. We're glad that the converted jpegs were of high quality. The process for batch converting multiple images is documented on our site here: https://mcguffogco.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/8000012709. If you have any problem with the process, please contact us via the online support portal - we'd be happy to help.

Lifesaver for old Photo CD images

Like a lot of veteran photographers, I got a lot of my images scanned at the dawn of the digital age, on Kodak Photo CDs. The files, PCDs, were pretty good, but when Kodak faltered and this format went away, Adobe, in their wisdom, decided to stop dealing with this file type somewhere in the Photoshop updates. I didn’t notice it until it was too late…I needed to go back to some early scans and no version of Photoshop I had would recognize them. There were obscure, bizarre workarounds out there, but PCDMagic is the first full featured straightforward program I’ve encountered that unlocked all those old scans and let me access these images again after all these years. A lifesaver.