BMPto

BMPto is a cross-platform image conversion tool designed to read BMP bitmap files and output images in other formats such as PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and GIF. It aims to provide a simple, scriptable solution for developers, archivists, and designers who work with legacy BMP assets and need to integrate format conversion into automated workflows.

The software supports batch processing, a command-line interface, and an optional graphical user interface. It handles common BMP variants, including uncompressed and paletted formats, and provides options for color depth reduction, grayscale conversion, and dithering. Output can preserve or adjust metadata where applicable, and the resulting files are created using standard compression schemes appropriate to the chosen format. It emphasizes predictable, lossless behavior when converting to lossless targets and controlled, lossy behavior for JPEG and WEBP.

BMPto is implemented in C++ with modular components and bindings for scripting languages such as Python. It relies on widely used imaging libraries for decoding and encoding, and is designed to be portable across Windows, macOS, and Linux. The project is released under an OSI-approved license to encourage community contributions and reuse in other projects.

Development of BMPto began as a community project to address the need for a lightweight BMP converter. It has an active repository and issue tracker, with contributors from various backgrounds. The project remains focused on reliability, clear documentation, and compatibility with common BMP variants, aiming to serve as a practical tool in digital preservation and media pipelines.