SFWJPG - Seattle Filmworks to JPG conversion (Windows)

SFWJPG - Convert Seattle Filmworks .SFW files to .JPG.

SFWJPG is a Win32 port of the UNIX hosted application written by Everett Lipman.
It may be used freely according to the GNU General Public License.

The ZIP file in the download link below includes the Win32 command line executable and 'C++' source code.
sfwjpg_win32.zip.

The April 2016 update adds support for Seattle Filmworks 93A format (SFW93A). The earlier versions understood only for the most common 94A format (SFW94A). 93A formatted files have the "roll number" as filename and the extension is '#' followed by a 2 digit number representing the frame number (e.g. 12345678.#01). On the floppy, they are also stored in a subdirectory whose name is the roll number. All of the 93A files in a directory will have the same file name and different extensions. When processing files without .sfw extension, the program will name the output file the same as input file name + extension and append ".sfw" on the end (e.g. 12345678.#01.jpg). 93A files are very small resolution at 320*240, but with this update to sfwjpg, they can be converted to jpg.

Thanks extended here to Helmut Jurgensen for providing sample 93A content and to Richard Jones for a great write-up on SFW file formats and the differences of 93A vs. 94A.

While digging through the internals of the 93A files, I observe additional data that has not yet been pulled into the output file including the date the film was developed. If I can figure out how to map this into the jpg header, that would be a good addition to the program. With this as a possibility and fixes made earlier this year to fix mirroring, it is a good idea to retain the original SFW content even after conversion.

Update history:

Execution requirements:

Program requires Windows version Vista or beyond (e.g. Vista, Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10).
Support for Windows XP was lost in the 2016 update to unmirror.

Frequently asked questions

  1. After downloading and executing the program, all I see is a flash

    SFWJPG is a command line executable.
    If you run it from graphical user interface, the program will launch, display help text and then terminate.
    From a graphical user interface, this will appear as a flash.
    The program should be run from a command line. (WindowButton-R) then "cmd" <enter>.
    Execute sfwjpg program from command line with no parameters to get information on required parameters.

    This question comes up often, I have created a video to show the process.
    Here's the video, stream with flash or download mp4.

  2. How do I convert many files at once?

    To convert many files, place all .SFW files into a single directory. For example a SFW folder under "Pictures".
    Using command prompt, change directory (CD) to the directory that holds pictures, then "SFWJPG *.SFW".

    The program will create a .JPG for each SFW file that is processed and place that JPG in the same directory.

Comments and feedback, email to "joe" at this domain.

Joe Nord