Single File Conversion

Table of Contents

  1. Launching
    1. GUI Mode (file picker)
    2. Command Line
  2. Conversion Workflow
    1. Example
  3. Cross-Format Conversions
  4. Error Recovery
  5. Cancel Anytime

Launching

GUI Mode (file picker) 

simplyconvertfile

Opens a native GTK file chooser dialog to select files.

Command Line 

# Convert a single file
simplyconvertfile document.pdf

# Can also run as a Python module
python -m simplyconvertfile video.mp4

# Show help and usage information
simplyconvertfile --help

# Show version information
simplyconvertfile --version

Conversion Workflow

  1. Launch SimplyConvertFile with a file argument, or use the file picker
  2. Choose your desired output format from the dropdown list
    • Formats are displayed in alphabetical order
    • The dropdown comes pre-selected with default formats for each file group (configurable)
  3. Click “Convert” and wait for the progress dialog
  4. The converted file will appear in the same directory with the new extension

Example

Converting photo.heic to JPEG:

simplyconvertfile photo.heic

Select “JPEG” → Convert → Result: photo.jpeg created in the same folder.

Cross-Format Conversions

SimplyConvertFile supports conversions between different format groups:

  • Extract audio from video: Select MP4/AVI → Convert to MP3/FLAC
  • Animated GIF to video: Select GIF → Convert to MP4/WEBM
  • Document to PDF: Select DOC/DOCX/ODT → Convert to PDF
  • Images to PDF: Convert images into PDF documents

Error Recovery

If a conversion fails:

  1. Check the error dialog for specific missing dependencies
  2. Install the required tool (see Dependencies)
  3. Retry the conversion

Cancel Anytime

Click the “Cancel” button during conversion to safely stop the process. Files are properly cleaned up with no corruption.