Portable BPGconv: Lightweight Image Conversion on the Go

Portable BPGconv Tutorial: Convert Images to BPG on a USB Drive

Overview

Portable BPGconv is a lightweight, standalone version of an image conversion tool that converts common image formats (JPEG, PNG, BMP) to BPG (Better Portable Graphics) and back, designed to run from removable media without installation.

What you need

• A USB drive (≥128 MB)
• A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
• Portable BPGconv executable for your OS
• Source images to convert
• Optional: a simple text editor for command scripting

Step-by-step guide

1. Download portable executable

   • Place the correct BPGconv binary for your OS onto the USB root (no installation needed).

2. Organize folders

   • Create folders on the USB: /input for source images, /output for results, /scripts for batch commands.

3. Single-file conversion

   • On Windows, open Command Prompt in the USB folder. On macOS/Linux, open Terminal.
   • Run (example):

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     bpgconv -o output/image.bpg input/photo.jpg 

   • This creates a BPG file in /output.

4. Batch conversion

   • Create a shell script (macOS/Linux) or batch file (Windows) in /scripts:
     • Bash example:

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       #!/bin/bash mkdir -p ../output for f in ../input/.{jpg,png,bmp}; do./bpgconv -o ../output/”\((basename "\){f%.}“).bpg” “$f” done 

     • Windows .bat example:

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       @echo off if not exist ..\output mkdir ..\output for %%f in (..\input*.jpg ..\input*.png ..\input*.bmp) do bpgconv -o ..\output\%%~nf.bpg %%f 

   • Run the script from /scripts.

5. Converting BPG back to PNG/JPEG

   • Use:

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     bpgconv -o output/photo.png input/photo.bpg 

6. Testing & verification

   • Open converted images with a BPG-capable viewer or reconvert to PNG/JPEG and inspect for quality and artifacts.

Tips

• Use lossless conversion when you need exact fidelity (if supported).
• Keep executable and scripts in the USB root for portability.
• For large batches, run from a machine with fast I/O to speed up processing.

Limitations

• BPG support in native OS image viewers is limited; a dedicated viewer or reconversion may be required.
• Performance depends on host machine; USB 2.0 will be slower.

Quick reference commands

• Convert to BPG: bpgconv -o output/file.bpg input/file.jpg
• Convert to PNG: bpgconv -o output/file.png input/file.bpg
• Batch run (bash): see script above