pcdtojpeg’s features include:
  1. 1.No blown highlights. pcdtojpeg correctly translates Kodak’s Photo CD format into modern JPEG images without losing highlight information. The example above shows Ted Felix’s “Blown John” image as converted by pcdtojpeg versus a version that demonstrates the blown highlights problem typical of many other conversion programs.
  2. 2.Converts at full resolution. pcdtojpeg converts all the way up to 64Base resolution, 4096 x 6144, and handles all forms of PCD compression, including those pesky “class 3 - text and graphics, high resolution” images that the other programs can’t process.
  3. 3.Correct color. pcdtojpeg correctly converts from the PCD color space into an sRGB space that’s compatible with any standards compliant viewer or editor.
  4. 4.Extracts metadata. pcdtojpeg extracts all PCD metadata - dates, film type, scanner information, SBA settings, etc.
  5. 5.Fast! pcdtojpeg is designed for modern multi-core processors and is multithreaded to increase speed.
  6. 6.Separate programmers library. pcdtojpeg includes a separate C++ PCD decoder library that’s easy to incorporate into other software, with a clean, well defined API and no dependencies on other packages.
 
Health Warning
In order to be able to use pcdtojpeg, you must be comfortable with using command line utilities on either the Mac or PC - compiled, ready to go executables are provided in the distribution file for both. However, if you want to use pcdtojpeg on another OS (e.g., Linux) you will probably have to compile it yourself. Instructions are provided on the Installation page.
 
pcdMagic
If you’re looking for a GUI based program with lots of additional features, pcdMagic is the answer. Based on the same decoder library as pcdtojpeg, pcdMagic offers:
  1. •Convenient, easy to use GUI
  2. •Film and scanner specific color profiles for stunning color reproduction
  3. •Output to TIFF and DNG
  4. •Batch mode conversions
  5. •Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later
 
You can find out more about pcdMagic for the Mac here, and about pcdMagic for Windows here.
 
System Requirements
  1. •Windows XP or later
  2. •Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later
  3. •Most Unix and Linux systems
  4. •Intel or PowerPC
 
License
pcdtojpeg is free software, released under the GPL. However, if you find pcdtojpeg useful, you should donate to the project. You can donate by selecting the donate link on pcdtojpeg’s project page at SourceForge.net, or by clicking the “Support This Project” box at the bottom of this page.
 
pcdtojpeg - A Photo CD Decoder
pcdtojpeg converts PCD (Kodak Photo CD) image files into high quality JPEG images. Conversions are at the maximum available PCD resolution, and are fully color managed - no blown highlights or color casts.
 
Most PCD conversion programs - blown highlights (“Blown John” image courtesy of Ted Felix)
pcdtojpeg - clean, correct conversions with full highlight detail preserved