This portal deals with converting the .sfw (and .pwp) image files supplied by Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks. The .sfw files are sometimes discovered on old -- 1994 to mid 2001 -- Pictures on Disk diskettes and CDs. They can also have been created by the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks desktop software (also called PhotoWorks) or extracted from the .pwp files that were downloadable via their PhotoMail service. Occasionally, .#nn files -- .#00, .#01, ..., .#24, etc -- are encountered. They are the earliest known version of a Seattle FilmWorks format and come from their 1993-1994 era diskettes.
The portal will:
attempt to quickly direct you to an .sfw conversion solution that fits your circumstances -- your .sfw file formats, your operating system, your machine architecture, etc;
describe a simple algorithm for differentiating the (compressed) SFW94A, Uncompressed SFW94A, and SFW98A .sfw file formats, the SFW95B .pwp multi-image PhotoMail file format, the SFW93A .#nn format (even if renamed as .sfw), as well as the SFW94A .pwm format and SFW_ALB .alb format;
document some of the undisclosed details of the .sfw (and .#nn) file formats;
allow downloading the free, open source sfwwhichfmt utility which can very accurately identify the different Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks .sfw (and .#nn) file formats, as well as their .pwp, .pwm, and .alb formats;
describe some alternative ways to identify the different .sfw (and other) file formats;
list some existing .sfw to .jpg converters;
show how to download and install the PhotoWorks desktop software;
mention that jonesrh .sfw to .jpg conversion software, sfw98jpgtran, and its read-only equivalent, sfwinfo, are no longer planned for public release; and
list miscellaneous references not covered previously.
** = Contents link jumps to another page.
First, if you have internet access, utilize the Online TrID tool (to simplify later analysis)...
...then try one of these 5 Quick solution Hints:
Quick solution Hint #1:
If you have either: a) Seattle FilmWorks 3 1/2" PICTURES ON DISK!
diskette(s) of .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images, or
b) Seattle FilmWorks or PhotoWorks CD(s) of .SFW or .sfw images, or
c) you know your images came from those diskettes or CDs,
***AND***
if you can use a Vista, Win7, Win8, Win8.1, or Win10 system,
then I suggest you immediately try the
Joe Nord's sfwjpg approach
and bypass reading the rest of this page.
Quick solution Hint #2:
If you have either: a) Seattle FilmWorks 3 1/2" PICTURES ON DISK!
diskette(s) of .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images, or
b) Seattle FilmWorks or PhotoWorks CD(s) of .SFW or .sfw images, or
c) you know your images came from those diskettes or CDs,
***AND***
either d) you don't want to use Joe Nord's sfwjpg,
or e) you can't use one of the MS Windows systems
(ie, Vista, Win7, Win8, Win8.1, Win10) which Nord's sfwjpg works with,
eg, you have WinXP or MacOS or Linux,
then I suggest you immediately try the free
XnView (or XnViewMP) approach
and bypass reading the rest of this page.
Quick solution Hint #3:
If you have either: a) .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images
(that begin with SFW93A), or
b) .SFW or .sfw images (that begin with SFW94A),
***AND***
c) if you are limited to using MacOS,
then I suggest you try the "for pay (~$40)"
Lemkesoft GraphicConverter approach,
then bypass reading the rest of this page.
[NOTE: It is not known if GraphicConverter can convert the SFW93A
format files. But if it can not, I would bet that the author
would be willing to add that facility if you send him some samples
of the .#01, .#02, etc files and point him to
the present page and
sfw_sfw93a_details.html for reference.]
But if you insist on paying $0.00
(and will be converting the files on MacOS),
then I suggest you briefly
review my XnView (or XnViewMP) summary,
then do a detailed read of Barbara P's
How to convert Seattle FilmWork CD's to a JPEG format? thread --
paying particular attention to posts #17, #21, and #23
by jonesrh_sfwwhichfmt, and especially post #25 by Oldflute.
That thread contains info on ways that can very likely be used on a
Mac to convert .SFW files from Seattle FilmWork CD's
(circa 1998 to 2001-05) to a JPEG format.
I detailed the use of XnViewMP on a Win8.1 system to convert files
from a Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks CD that contained .SFW files.
That #23 explanation, paired with the #25 tip, would likely be useful
for successfully using XnViewMP on MacOS to convert the .SFW files
on Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks CDs to easily viewable
.jpg images.
Quick solution Hint #4:
If you have either: a) .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images
(that begin with SFW93A), or
b) .SFW or .sfw images (that begin with SFW94A),
***AND***
c) if you are limited to using iOS or Android --
maybe some relative e-mailed you the images asking you to convert
them and your only computer is your iPhone or Android phone --
then I suggest you try the
Fix Picture online site
(which is based on XnView)
and bypass reading the rest of this page (at least temporarily).
If the Fix Picture site is too tedious, then you could
review my ImageMagick summary
and do a web search for "ImageMagick iOS" or "ImageMagick Android"
to see if some download is available which you could finagle into
working for you
[but remember that (to my knowledge) ImageMagick does *not* yet
convert the .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images
that begin with SFW93A].
Otherwise, you might fallback to the next hint.
Quick solution Hint #5:
If you have either: a) .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#38 images
(that begin with SFW93A), or
b) .SFW or .sfw images (that begin with SFW94A),
***AND***
c) you have free access to a library that has Win7 (or later Windows)
computers which allow running programs from a USB drive,
then download Nord's sfwjpg to a USB stick,
copy the images to that USB stick, go to the library, and
run Nord's sfwjpg from the USB stick,
essentially performing Quick solution Hint #1.
For most people that will not take much time.
[NOTE: Before going to the library, be sure to view Nord's video
(accessed via the "stream with flash" or
"download mp4" links on
Nord's sfwjpg page).
Even though the video is of a prior (pre-2016-04) version of
Nord's sfwjpg, it will still be helpful in preparation for the
conversion using the library's computer.]
If Quick solution Hints #1 thru #5 do not fit your situation, then keep reading...
Hint:
For an outstanding, ultra concise, very high level overview of:
a) the Seattle FilmWorks file formats, and
b) some frequently suggested, free software to convert them to
.jpg and other formats, first spend a minute or two and check out the
archiveteam.org Seattle FilmWorks page.
It's a very quick read. It contains the most essential, core facts
from this SFW portal. And you might not have to research any further
than their page. Kudos to its contributors!
Excellent, excellent overview!
A Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks .pwp file is a multi-image file containing (mangled JPEG, compressed) SFW94A format .sfw files embedded inside that .pwp file. Typically there are 1 to 38 such (compressed) SFW94A format .sfw files inside those .pwp files, corresponding to the pictures successfully developed from a film roll.
The .sfw files embedded inside the .pwp files -- as well as the .sfw files that came on Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks CDs up until mid-2001 -- are compressed like JPEG/JFIF images, except that their JPEG/JFIF markers have been "mangled" for who knows what reason, their APP0 record says "SFW94" instead of "JFIF\0", and they are usually missing their Huffman tables. See Lipman's SFW software details.txt for more information on the mangled JPEG (compressed) SFW94 format image format. And see my Overview of the 4 .sfw file formats for some more information on the .sfw file structure that encapsulates those SFW94 format images.
This .sfw file format, however, is only 1 of 4 different .sfw file formats (that I've seen).
In total, there's actually 7 different Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks file formats that I know of:
See Simple algorithm to detect SFW file formats for details of a fairly simple way to differentiate the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks .pwp, .sfw (including .#nn), .pwm, and .alb file formats by looking at the first several (5-6) bytes of the file, then, when necessary, searching for other signatures. That page also briefly explains some of the differences in the .sfw file formats and it helps a lot in understanding the TrID definitions for the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks files referred to later.
There are 4 distinct .sfw file formats that I've seen:
Here's a detailed overview of each of them:
(compressed) SFW94A, ie, Seattle FilmWorks mangled JPEG. This is the most common .sfw format. The first 6 bytes of a file in this format are SFW94A. A variety of programs can convert this SFW94A file format quite well. Some of the (generally) free ones are listed in the Existing .sfw to .jpg converters section below.
Internally to a SFW94A format .sfw file, there are 1 to 5 SFW94 format images, which are very similar to standard JPEG/JFIF images, except that their JPEG/JFIF markers have been mangled and the string in the APP0 marker has been changed from "JFIF<null>" to "SFW94". The first SFW94 image is the main (ie, regular size) image. The remaining 0 to 4 SFW94 format images inside the SFW94A format .sfw file are thumbnails of various sizes.
There apparently was never a SFW94B or subsequent SFW94x format, judging from the fact that the latest PhotoWorks README.TXT suggests that 94A and 98A are the only .sfw file formats. Consequently, this SFW94A file format is sometimes referred to as simply file format SFW94 (without the 'A' suffix). I try however to use SFW94A for the file format and SFW94 for the internal JPEG/JFIF image formats.
The SFW94 mangling of the standard JPEG/JFIF markers is simple to understand. It is shown in the following table of the hex "FF xx" markers' 2nd byte. The SFW94 column contains the mangled 2nd byte. The JFIF column contains the standard JFIF marker's 2nd byte.
SFW94 JFIF
SOI -- C8 -> D8
APP0 -- D0 -> E0
DQT -- CB -> DB
SOF0 -- A0 -> C0
DHT -- A4 -> C4
SOS -- CA -> DA
EOI -- C9 -> D9
Every single personal .sfw file on the diskettes & CDs that I still have from Seattle FilmWorks or PhotoWorks is in the SFW94A file format. So I'd guess that: if your .sfw files are on an officially labelled Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks diskette or CD, those .sfw files can very likely use one of the .sfw converters listed below.
Additionally, any .sfw file which is extracted from a Seattle FilmWorks .pwp file is most probably (if not definitely) in the SFW94A file format. Every Seattle FilmWorks .pwp file that I've seen begins with SFW95B, but all the extracted .sfw files begin with SFW94A. So if your .sfw files came from uncompressing a .pwp file, then you likely should be able to use a program in the same list of .sfw converters. Some of those .sfw converters can also extract the .sfw files from the .pwp files, making it convenient to both extract and convert the .sfw files in a single operation.
If all your .sfw files fit into one of the above SFW94A format scenarios and you need some immediate answers on how to convert .sfw to .jpg, then there's no need to read any further about the other .sfw file types. Go ahead and jump to the list of .sfw converters below.
For a more thorough review of the SFW94A format, see:
A "vertical flip" is needed for the images whose subject matter has a landscape orientation but otherwise appear "upside down" unless the vertical flip along the horizontal access is performed.
A "transpose" is needed for the images whose subject matter has a portrait orientation but otherwise appear sideways -- with the head at the left and the feet at the right -- unless the transpose is performed along the axis extending from the top left to the bottom right.
SFW98A, ie, Seattle FilmWorks ultra-obfuscated, arithmetically coded, mangled JPEG. This format is only created by the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks supplied PhotoWorks desktop software.
The Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks supplied PhotoWorks desktop software and my (now to remain private) jonesrh SFW98A format .sfw to .jpg converter are the only programs that I know of that can convert this file format correctly.
Some of the programs listed below will claim that they convert it, but really all they convert is the first SFW94 format thumbnail that is contained in the SFW98A format .sfw file. They do not convert the SFW98 format main image. In my opinion, all that those programs are presently good for -- with respect to SFW98A format .sfw files -- is to look at the thumbnail to evaluate its subject matter and thereby help you decide whether to keep the picture vs. to toss it into the waste bin of photographic history.
Internally, a SFW98A file format .sfw file has a SFWF (ie, SFW98) format main image along with 0 to 4 SFW94 format thumbnail images. The thumbnails are just like those in a SFW94A file format .sfw file, ie, they are JPEG/JFIF images with SFW94 mangled markers and with JFIF<null> replaced by SFW94. The main (ie, regular size) image, is always the first one. Its APP0 marker has the JFIF replaced by SFWF. This is what I may call either the SFWF format image or the SFW98 format image.
This SFW98A file format could probably also be referred to as simply file format SFW98 (without the "A" suffix), since (to my knowledge) there was never a SFW98B or subsequent format. However, I'll try not to do that, to maintain consistency with the SFW94A file format descriptions.
The structure of the SFW98 format main image in a SFW98A format .sfw file is much more difficult to discern than that of the SFW94A format .sfw file. It is obvious to me that someone expended a lot of effort to create a proprietary format which others could not easily understand or duplicate.
For obfuscation, the SFW98 format main image uses:
a table-driven mangling of the JFIF markers, driven by the byte which immediately precedes the SOI marker and which is also the 16th byte in the block that begins with JPRS,
Warning:
There are
256 unique combinations of mangled SFW98 markers.
Six of those erroneously (and consistently)
appear as black inside
the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks supplied
PhotoWorks desktop software.
In other words,
~2.5% (ie, 6 of 256) of SFW98
images needlessly appear black in PhotoWorks --
not because the camera or user or film failed,
but because the software failed to read / display the
image data correctly due to the obfuscators getting
"a little too big for their britches".
A simple workaround for the problem is to reopen the
original SFW94A format .sfw file from the CD or diskette
or whereever -- not the visible-to-PhotoWorks-as-black
SFW98A format .sfw file --
and perform again whatever operation that caused the
SFW98A format file to appear black.
There is a 97.5% chance that, on the second try,
it will be saved as a properly colored SFW98 image.
a non-standard arithmetic encoding that uses logic from software that looks like -- by and large -- an IJG v6a release, combined with a hybrid arithmetic entropy encoding mechanism which:
encodes/decodes via the CCITT Recommendation ITU-T T.81 spec's algorithm, ie, the QM-coder, and
uses a Qe & probability estimation state machine table which is the same length as the one in the ITU-T T.81 spec,
yet:
all Qe and probability state estimate machine table values are:
NOT those of the QM-coder of the ITU-T T.81 spec,
and are instead essentially those of:
the Q15-coder as described in the ITU-T Recommendation T.851 of a JPEG-1 alternative arithmetic coder (in Table 5/T.851), and
the MQ-coder as described in both:
except that:
there is NOT a non-zero table entry at index 46 for the fixed probability of 0.5,
the index 46 table entry is zero instead,
all table entries from 47 thru 112 are also zero,
the index 113 table entry DOES have a non-zero entry for the fixed probability of 0.5 (as does IJG libjpeg v8c jaricom.c's jpeg_aritab), however, it is NOT the value used by the ITU-T T.851's Q15-coder nor JBIG2's MQ-coder nor JPEG2000's MQ-coder, nor is it the value specified by the original T.81 spec's QM-coder, but is instead the value unique to Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks podw.exe v2.41's Qe and probability state estimate machine table.
It's no wonder someone hadn't deciphered this arithmetic coding obfuscation up until the time that I did so in 2011-09. And it's no wonder that none of the .sfw converters listed below read the SFW98A format .sfw file's main image, except for the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks supplied PhotoWorks desktop software that created that SFW98A format.
The only way that I knew of in 2011-07 to create SFW98A format .sfw files was by converting an image to the SFW98A .sfw format using the PhotoWorks program. There were (and still are) two different methods to do this in PhotoWorks:
Select SFW Photo (*.SFW) in the List files of type drop-down box that's available while performing the PhotoWorks File / Save As/Convert To function. If you do not also click "Options >>" then change the "Compression Type" from the default of SFW98 to either SFW94 or Uncompressed, then the image will automaticaly be saved as a SFW98A format .sfw file.
Select SFW Photo (*.SFW) in the Choose a new format drop-down box that's available while performing the PhotoWorks Batch / File Format Convert function. Contrary to the first method, this second method automatically converts to SFW98A format without giving you any chance to choose either of the two SFW94 formats (compressed vs. uncompressed).
If your .sfw files have not been converted by the PhotoWorks desktop software, then they should not be in SFW98A format (or Uncompressed SFW94A format), and you can probably use at least one of the .sfw converters listed below.
But if your .sfw files have been saved using PhotoWorks and include some SFW98A format .sfw files, then for the time being, you'll need to download and install the PhotoWorks software using the download links for Internet Archive Wayback Machine's archive of PhotoWorks v2.41. Waiting for the jonesrh SFW98 format .sfw to .jpg converter to be publicly released is no longer an option (as of 2018-08-10).
Uncompressed SFW94A, ie, Seattle FilmWorks mangled BMP. This can also be referred to as simply Uncompressed SFW94. PhotoWorks refers to it as simply Uncompressed in the File / Save As/Convert To / SFW Photo (*.SFW) / List files of type drop-down box. The PhotoWorks software is the only software known (as of 2022-06-23) to convert this file type.
SFW93A, ie, Seattle FilmWorks slightly reformatted JPEG (via mangling the APP0's 5-byte signature, and via including 30 bytes extra at the beginning of the file before the normally expected JPEG markers: SOI and APP0). The first 6 bytes of a file in this format are SFW93A. This is a rarely seen, short-lived, original manifestation of the SFW format that is low resolution (320 x 200 pixels).
It has been seen on three (3) different 3 1/2" Seattle FilmWorks PICTURES ON DISK! diskettes labeled as Release 1.04 (courtesy of Helmut Jurgensen) which contained images dated 1994-06-22 (1st diskette) thru 1994-07-06 (3rd diskette). And it has been seen on 1 film roll's images dated 1994-12-14 (courtesy of Ryan Finnin Day).
The SFW93A format files almost always have a filetype of .#nn (eg, .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#24, etc), though you may also encounter files that have been renamed like ".#00.sfw", or have been renamed as ".sfw" where the 2 digits that originally came after the "#" are moved in front of the dot (eg, "28048871_24.sfw").
Joe Nord's sfwjpg (circa 2016-04 or later) (for Win Vista/7/8/8.1/10), XnView (for PC, Mac, Linux, etc) or XnViewMP (for a variety of platforms), PhotoWorks (in both its PC and Mac form), and the (private) jonesrh's sfw98jpgtran (for WinXP, Win7, Win10) are the only known programs which can convert this SFW93A file format directly (without using hex editors).
For details on how to use XnView and PhotoWorks to convert SFW93A format files, and for details on other SFW93A conversion methods, as well as details of the SFW93A format, see SFW93A format and conversion details.
You would think that the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks software, PhotoWorks v2.41, that created the SFW98A and Uncompressed SFW94A .sfw formats would be able to accurately identify those two formats in its GUI, along with the more common SFW94A (Compressed) format and the earlier SFW93A format. However, I haven't found that to be the case.
So let's check out some ways to accurately identify those 4 .sfw/.#nn file formats (as well as the other Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks formats).
jonesrh's sfwinfo and sfw98jpgtran. (both private)
sfwinfo does a very thorough job of analyzing the .sfw file format. It can definitely identify all 4 of the .sfw/.#nn file formats just mentioned. sfwinfo is the (primarily) read-only sister to jonesrh's sfw98jpgtran, a program that can convert .sfw files to .jpg format, including the SFW98A format .sfw files. However, sfwinfo and sfw98jpgtran are no longer planned for public release. So as far as you're concerned, they are vapor-ware. They are listed here simply for documentation completeness, and because they are the #1 most accurate tools to detect the various .sfw file formats (and document their internal structures).
jonesrh's sfwwhichfmt.
sfwwhichfmt was created for the express purpose of accurately identifying the different .sfw file formats -- now, not in the future -- using the core of sfwinfo's .sfw file format analyzer. sfwwhichfmt is free, open source, and is released under the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.
The intention is for sfwwhichfmt to primarily be used to determine if all your Seattle FilmWorks (or PhotoWorks) image files (eg, .sfw, .SFW) are in the SFW94A (Compressed) format.
The secondary purpose of sfwwhichfmt is documentation of .sfw file format information which was not available on the net (as of 2012-12-30).
The third purpose of sfwwhichfmt is to also recognize all the other Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks file formats: .pwp, .pwm, .alb, and .#nn (the earliest form of the .sfw format).
sfwwhichfmt can perform a more thorough analysis and detection compared to the approaches taken by the Simple algorithm to detect SFW file formats and the Seattle FilmWorks file signatures used by TrID (see TrID definitions for Seattle FilmWorks files). sfwwhichfmt does this by analyzing the .sfw file's internal structures that index and encapsulate both the mangled JPEG (or BMP) image and its associated meta data.
After running sfwwhichfmt to determine your file formats, you will be armed with some crucial info to help decide what solution will work to convert your images on your host computer.
If all your Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks image files are in the SFW94A (Compressed) format, then you can use one of the existing .sfw to .jpg converters to convert them.
If your Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks image files (eg, .#00, .#01, .#02, ..., .#24, ..., .#38, etc, .sfw, .SFW) are in the SFW93A format, then you'll need one of the converters mentioned in the list of SFW93A converters paragraph above.
If your Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks image files (eg, .sfw, .SFW) are in either the SFW98 format or the Uncompressed SFW94A format, then you'll need to use PhotoWorks to convert them (or request the author of this page to use sfw98jpgtran) to convert them).
If your Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks image files (eg, .pwp, .PWP) are in the SFW95B compressed multi-image PhotoMail file format, sfwwhichfmt does recognize that SFW95B .pwp format, however, it does not extract the .sfw files from a .pwp file. So you'll need to use one of the .pwp-capable utilities in the Existing .sfw to .jpg converters section below to convert those .pwp files.
sfwwhichfmt is downloadable as:
sfwwhichfmt_win.zip --
the distribution in its entirety --
which includes the 32-bit x86
sfwwhichfmt.exe Windows executable,
all the source files, all the build files, a
readme file,
and the CC0 1.0 legal code.
The .zip file is small -- only 111,916 bytes.
sfwwhichfmt.c -- the source by itself --
which documents enough of the internal .sfw file
structure to understand how to detect the
different .sfw file formats.
Marco Pontello's TrID File Identifier program, either:
Each of these manifestations of TrID accurately identifies the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks .sfw, .pwp, pwm, .alb, and .#nn file formats. They work almost as well as sfwwhichfmt.
For more details on this TrID mechanism, and to see how the TrID command line utility and the TrIDNet GUI can be enhanced somewhat with jonesrh's more stringent and more informative, "full-blown" TrID defs for Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks files, see TrID definitions for Seattle FilmWorks files.
There are also some alternative ways to identify the different SFW file formats besides sfwwhichfmt, sfwinfo, sfw98jpgtran, and TrID:
PERLSEARCH utility (ie, ActiveState Perl's \bin\search.bat) in conjunction with the -xSFW98A enhancement.
Digital Mars GREP.
UnxUtils GSAR.
WinXP CMD FIND.
Borland C++ TDUMP -Q -S.
WinXP CMD FINDSTR.
XnView.
IrfanView.
Joe Nord's HexDump.
Any other utility that can display the file in hex, eg, hex editors.
Simple text editors, like Windows Notepad.
Some of these alternatives work quite well for detecting the SFW98A format files, simply because they find the SFW98A in the first 6 bytes. I haven't tried them to detect Uncompressed SFW94A files.
For details on some of these alternative ways to identify different .sfw (and other Seattle FilmWorks) file formats, including useful, informative examples, see Alternatives for .sfw file format detection.
You can even "grow your own" .sfw / .pwp identifier using the algorithm described in Simple algorithm to detect .pwp .sfw .pwm .alb format files, or by using the TrID definitions for Seattle FilmWorks files, or by using the sfwwhichfmt.c internals.
For someone that needs to convert Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks .sfw files to .jpg format files, there's a variety of options, some of which are sometimes hard to find when doing a web search and encountering all the "free download" sites, "filetypes" sites advertising miscellaneous software, and transliterated "sfw" - S W F (s h o c k w a v e) sites.
I've put together some lists below that should help the majority of people convert .sfw files to .jpg -- or some other desired format -- preferably for free.
The following operating systems are covered by at least one of the .sfw to .jpg converters in those lists:
There are also some examples of performing the conversion online via your browser.
Good luck in finding something that can convert your .sfw files to .jpg.
The 3rd party .sfw to .jpg converters seem to work well, if the first 6 characters of the file say: SFW94A, and if the remainder of the file is in SFW94A format.
Most of the 3rd party utilities listed below probably use the "forward scanning for 1st JPEG/JFIF image" approach similar to that used in:
That "forward scanning for 1st JPEG/JFIF image" approach is summarized as:
scan for the SFW94 mangled SOI / APP0 markers that begin the JPEG/JFIF image,
replace the SFW94 identifier in APP0 with the standard "JFIF\0" identifier,
convert all SFW94 mangled JPEG markers to be the standard JPEG markers using the following simple table translation of the hex "FF xx" markers' 2nd byte:
.jpg){kind=link}
SFW94 JFIF
SOI -- C8 -> D8
APP0 -- D0 -> E0
DQT -- CB -> DB
SOF0 -- A0 -> C0
DHT -- A4 -> C4
SOS -- CA -> DA
EOI -- C9 -> D9
remove everything after the just converted EOI JPEG marker,
insert the standard Huffman encoding data (at the appropriate spot), if it was missing originally.
Except for a possible check for the initial 3 or 5 or 6 bytes in the .sfw file being SFW, SFW94, or SFW94A, respectively, these "forward scanning" utilities probably ignore all the other internal .sfw structures mentioned in sfwwhichfmt.c's internal documentation.
Some of these utilities also read the SFW95B format .pwp files, then extract each of the .pwp's internal SFW94A format .sfw images into separate .sfw files. However, at least some of them do not preserve the correct filenames of the individual .sfw files (like the PhotoWorks software and Lipman's pwpjpg do).
Quite a few of these programs will also convert to other output formats besides .jpg.
As of 2019-03-19, none of these 3rd party converters (that I have tested) read the ultra-mangled SFW98 format main image -- its APP0 says SFWF -- of a SFW98A format .sfw file.
Here's the list of 3rd party freeware .sfw to .jpg converters (including those that are free for non-commercial use):
Note:
Lipman's original SFW pages seem to have disappeared from
public access sometime during late 2013, so I now link to their
latest Internet Archive Wayback Machine snapshots.
But I've retained Lipman's software at the top of this list,
since I defer to it as the granddaddy of all the open source
.sfw and .pwp converters.
For more Amiga information, see Michael Tobin's Making Digital Photographs and Slides Without a Scanner page and his Seattle Film Works -- Pictures on a Disk page.
Here's some free online .sfw to .jpg converters. Do some searching and you might find more of them. I seem to recall seeing more that are driven by ImageMagick or GraphicsMagick.
For most people, the Fix Picture site is probably the better overall, online choice compared to the ImageMagick Studio page, since Fix Picture is easier to use and it converts more of the most likely Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks formats that would typically be encountered. However, for some people, the ImageMagick Studio page would be the better online choice due to its vastly increased number of output formats and its vast image editing capabilities. You can decide for yourself.
Here's the list of 3rd party shareware .sfw to .jpg converters:
For anyone with .sfw or .pwp files that came on original Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks diskettes or CDs, at least one of the above programs will likely work for you. If that's your case, just choose your converter and get on with the business of converting them. You don't need to read any further.
But if you happen to have .sfw images that:
then you'll probably want to use PhotoWorks to convert those .sfw images to .jpg or some other format.
For example, before developing sfw98jpgtran, I originally used PhotoWorks to do batch converts to .bmp format, then used ImageMagick to batch convert entire directories of these .bmp files to .jpg files with 90% quality, thereby ensuring no visually detectable losses in the conversion.
It's true that most of the 3rd party utilities above can convert an image for a SFW98 format .sfw file, however, it's not the true, main image of the SFW98 format .sfw file, but instead a SFW94 format thumbnail which is imbedded (typically) near the end of the file. These converted thumbnails appear as teeny, tiny images in most programs, and they are extremely low resolution -- 136 x 136 pixels max, and their longest dimension will be 64, 80, 102 or 136 pixels, corresponding to the Tiny, Small, Medium, or Large thumbnails selectable in the PhotoWorks desktop software. In my opinion, these teeny, tiny images are only suitable for evaluating what the subject matter of the image is -- to help you decide if you'll just delete or ignore the picture, rather than going ahead with the conversion to .jpg.
In the future, sfw98jpgtran will remain private, so it will not be available to you as a possible solution to converting SFW98A format .sfw files.
To extract a SFW98 format main image properly, you'll need the free Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks software package that came on some of the diskettes and/or CDs that Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks sent the pictures on. If you have such a diskette or CD, then search around and install that software from the diskette or CD. Otherwise, install it using the instructions in How to locate, download, and install PhotoWorks software.
There were 4 (or 5) kinds of Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks supplied conversion software as I recall:
Apparently, at least 2 (and maybe 3) kinds of software were
provided on the diskettes at one time or another.
EZPOD.EXE --
This is the only old software which I have a copy of.
Each of the three (3) Seattle FilmWorks
PICTURES ON DISK! 3 1/2" diskettes that Helmut Jurgensen
graciously sent to me contained a copy of EZPOD.EXE,
of size 110646 bytes, and dated the same day
as the images on that particular diskette
(1st diskette
was 1994-06-22, 3rd diskette was 1994-07-06).
The images on the diskettes were SFW93A format --
ie, they had a filename which was the roll number,
had a filetype in the form .#nn
(where nn was the image number on that roll), and
each of the images' content began with "SFW93A".
EZPOD.EXE is a full screen DOS-style program that cycles
through the images on the diskette, displaying each one
for a brief time. I consider EZPOD.EXE essentially
useless in the modern world. I strongly advise
not using it, if you happen to have any of those
old PICTURES ON DISK! diskettes.
Nord's sfwjpg would be far better to use in converting
SFW93A format images into .jpg images.
EZSFW.EXE -- EZSFW.EXE was referred to in the Microsoft Support KB161629 article, titled "How to Import Pictures From Seattle FilmWorks Photo Disk". The MS Knowledge Base article's description of EZSFW.EXE behavior was exactly the same as the EZPOD.EXE behavior that I observed. Maybe Seattle FilmWorks just changed the program for marketing purposes. Just like for EZPOD.EXE, I suggest you do not use EZSFW.EXE, if you find it on some Seattle FilmWorks diskettes. Nord's sfwjpg would be far better to use in converting SFW93A format images into .jpg images.
Software that created files in the C:\PHOTOPLS directory -- I don't recall the name of the software, and I don't recall if it came on diskette or on CD, but there was some Seattle FilmWorks software that created files in the C:\PHOTOPLS directory tree, by default. It might be the Seattle FilmWorks software that converted the .pwp files, which were a combination of multiple SFW94 format images. I just can't remember, and I don't have any copies of that software.
Another kind of software came on the Pictures on Disk CDs and dealt with the SFW94 format .sfw files on the CD. This software was known as PhotoWorks, PhotoWorks Desktop, or PhotoWorks desktop. That PhotoWorks product name is the same name that the company Seattle FilmWorks eventually changed its company name to.
Another program came on the Pictures on Disk CDs and was used to display thumbnails of all the images. That software was called SfwIndex.
The PhotoWorks desktop software is by far and away the most complete of those several Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks created ways to perform .sfw to .jpg conversions. PhotoWorks is the only publicly available software that I know of at present that will convert the SFW98 format .sfw images that would be created, by default, when the output format of .sfw was chosen in PhotoWorks (and the source image was not already in .sfw format). PhotoWorks will also process the Uncompressed SFW94 .sfw images, the .pwp multi-image files, and the SFW93A format .#00, .#01, .#02, etc image files. And you'll have a good bit of freedom at what quality level you save the .jpg images, IF you convert them one at a time.
The SfwIndex alternative: If you don't want to (or can't) install the PhotoWorks software on your computer, and you have one of the latter version CDs, there is something called SfwIndex on the CD which can display the images. Some versions of SfwIndex can also do the .sfw to .jpg conversion. However, there is no way to change the default output .jpg quality level. You can only change the input .sfw quality level for those CDs that provided the 3 choices of low, medium, and high quality images.
Hint:
In ~2001-06, the PhotoWorks CDs began to contain .jpg files
(instead of .sfw files). On those PhotoWorks CDs which
already contain .jpg files, any software can be used to view those
.jpg images. If you can't get the SfwIndex software to run on your
computer, then use any software capable of viewing typical .jpg
images.
SfwIndex Warning:
But if you *do* use SfwIndex to view the .jpg images
on those PhotoWorks CDs (created 2001-06 or later),
note that the "JPEG Export" function (on those CDs
which already contain .jpg images) will do just the opposite
of what it did on the pre-2001-06 "Pictures on Disk" CDs --
ie, it will convert the .jpg images into new .sfw images.
That's VERY, VERY non-intuitive. So beware.
Do **not** use the JPEG Export function on the
later year PhotoWorks "Pictures on Disk" CDs
which **already** contain .jpg images.
SfwIndex Note:
The SfwIndex software can successfully be used to convert
.sfw files into new .jpg files for the Seattle FilmWorks or PhotoWorks
"Pictures on Disk" CDs created from 1999-07-09 to 2001-05-14.
On those CDs, SFWINDEX.EXE is dated either 1999-03-09 22:45 (or 23:45)
or 2000-03-29 22:40 (or 23:40), and
the sfw-to-jpg conversion is accomplished via the "JPEG Export"
function. On those CDs,
the supplied, free PhotoWorks software is always v2.41.
The SfwIndex software on Seattle FilmWorks "Pictures on Disk" CDs
created on or before 1999-04-08 does not have the ability
to export in .jpg format, regardless whether the supplied, free
PhotoWorks software was v2.41, v2.40, or a prior version.
Q. How can you get your hands on this vintage PhotoWorks software and install it?
A. If you have a CD containing PhotoWorks software, the easiest way to install it is to just insert the CD, follow the prompts, and take all the defaults.
If you don't have a CD containing the PhotoWorks desktop software, you can still download this free software from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine archive of the old PhotoWorks site. I'd suggest looking at these pages:
Internet Archive's record of PhotoWorks "Pictures On Disk CD FAQ" circa 2006-10-16
Internet Archive's record of PhotoWorks "Download Legacy Software" page circa 2006-10-31 .
You can use either one of those two "Image Conversion/Pictures on Disk software" links, or the "Download Legacy Software" link to download the original:
On the "Image Conversion/Pictures on Disk software" pages, click the "Click here to download PhotoWorks 2.41" link to download pwx95.exe for Windows, or click the "Click here to download PhotoWorks 1.0.1" link to download PhotoWorksv1.0.1.hqx for Mac.
On the "Download Legacy Software" page in its "SFW & PWP File Converter" section, click on the "Download for Windows" link to download pwx95.exe for Windows, or click on the "Download for Mac" link to download PhotoWorksv1.0.1.hqx for Mac.
I found some PhotoWorks "Download Legacy Software" pages recorded by Internet Archive from 2006-09-09 and 2006-10-31. That same page from 2008-09-08 and later dates in 2009-2010 was branded as American Greetings.
If you can't find one of the above 4 downloads, then:
That should show you a calendar of when the Internet Archive has pertinent records of the page you're looking for, if any. Try one or more of the dates until you find what you're looking for.
Here's some Notes and Hints concerning the PhotoWorks software.
MD5 Hash PhotoWorks download -------------------------------- -------------------- 3bf8f2975cd85746e964a88b3a642bd4 *pwx95.exe 410b3480a96524e1a58f63f063d88bc3 *PhotoWorksv1.0.1.hqx SHA256 Hash PhotoWorks download ---------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- 7565d825c52119cdd6047f4f090c568e065c6523fe79edb0a074e3888cc5a7c7 *pwx95.exe 34e7f3a68e8e8ad6d8cb780eaef42122202249d53ec8f5aff8f41b477c3bd0b6 *PhotoWorksv1.0.1.hqx
Hints to get PhotoWorks running on post-WinXP versions of Windows:
I previously had read conflicting accounts whether PhotoWorks
would run on Vista, Win7, or Win8.
One place said that it will not work on Vista, and this
Shutterfly forum thread contains a 2012-07-04 post
claiming PhotoWorks will not work on 64-bit Win7.
However, in this
irfanview.forum.de post dated 2010-10-02,
bionicdan says that it will work on Win7.
It would be easy for me to believe that some people could not get
PhotoWorks to work on those post-WinXP versions of Windows,
since the default location
that PhotoWorks uses for the PhotoWorks' \Albums
and \Images folders
is under the \Program Files\PhotoWorks folder.
That's a no-no on Vista and later Windows versions,
at least it's a no-no for non-Administrator users.
For those users,
both the \PhotoWorks\Albums and
\PhotoWorks\Images folders should be somewhere in the
\Users\yourusername folder tree
or some other location that you have access to.
Maybe that's what bionicdan figured out to do.
Maybe Del Fuller's "MGI Photosuite on Vista, THE FINAL SOLUTION!!!"
post on 2009-07-11 in the
MGI PhotoSuite on Vista thread might be useful
to get the PhotoWorks software (and many other WinXP programs)
running on post-WinXP systems.
2015-02-27 update:
PhotoWorks does run on 64-bit Win7!
I've finally tried myself to install PhotoWorks v2.41
on a Win7 64-bit system and was successful at getting it installed,
then converting each of the Seattle Filmworks / PhotoWorks
.sfw, .#nn, and .pwp file formats to .jpg, .bmp, etc.
For details, see
How to install PhotoWorks on Win7 64-bit.
Note for Mac users:
In some of the later photoworks.com
"Image Conversion/Pictures on Disk Software" pages,
they had this to say about the Mac version of the PhotoWorks
software:
"PhotoWorks 1.0.1 was developed prior to the release
of Macintosh OS X and has not been released in an OS X version.
This program will work under the "Classic" environment on OS X,
but cannot be used on Macintoshes with Intel processors or
other systems that do not have "Classic" installed ...
because this software does not support batch file conversion,
your best bet may be to use a 3rd party program to open your
files, even if you have a system that will run this program."
Hint:
Once you get PhotoWorks installed and running,
if you have problems opening your .sfw files with PhotoWorks
and it displays a dialog box saying:
Cannot find this file.
Please verify that the correct path and file name are given.
then rename the file so it has a shorter filename, directory name,
or path.
Keep in mind that PhotoWorks was developed back when
filename.filetype still oftentimes had lengths of 8.3.
Consequently, PhotoWorks was programmed to allow a pathname/filename
length which is just too small for modern Windows systems
with "deep" directory structures and very descriptive filenames.
PhotoWorks batch conversion to .jpg is at 75% quality:
If you use PhotoWorks to perform batch converts,
beware that it always uses
a 75% quality factor when performing those batch converts of
.sfw files to .jpg. My experience is that this causes lots
of the pictures to have a lower quality which is visually noticeable.
That was unacceptable to me. I found that the ImageMagick default
of 85% was always acceptable (with very few exceptions).
So I try to use 85% usually (and occasionally 90% quality)
in my conversions. If you have only a few .sfw files to convert
and you want to do so at a higher quality than the 75% default
of the Batch Convert function, then it's probably a minor point
that you have to convert them individually to achieve the desired
quality conversion with PhotoWorks. But if you have 1500 images,
you probably want to be able to do batch conversions of some form,
and preferably with absolutely NO loss in quality!
Do not resave black SFW98A format images:
If you are opening old .sfw files which are in the SFW98A format and
encounter some that are totally black,
then do *not* save them again with PhotoWorks.
Normally these SFW98A format files are not problems with the
camera shutters, etc, but instead are due to an error
in the PhotoWorks programming that about 2-3% of the time
saves files in the SFW98A format with SFW98A markers
which PhotoWorks can not itself then interpret properly.
An image which is black for this reason can be changed
by replacing the existing SFW98A markers with another set
of SFW98A markers.
Feel free to e-mail me if you have such a problem and
are dealing with some particularly important / sentimental
photos, since the problem *can* usually be recovered from
and the pictures made visible.
Reminder: Never save a black SFW98A format .sfw image again with
PhotoWorks. Otherwise, you will likely make it
permanently black, not just temporarily black (because
PhotoWorks can't recognize the present SFW98A markers).
First verify that the library allows users to install programs.
If yes, then prepare your .sfw files on a USB stick (if the library allows USB stick insertion), else upload your .sfw files to the internet so you can download them to your library computer (for processing by PhotoWorks).
On the library computer, download PhotoWorks software as described in the How to locate, download, and install PhotoWorks software section, else insert original PhotoWorks CD.
(assuming the library computer uses Win7 or later) Install PhotoWorks on the library's computer while being guided by the How to install PhotoWorks on Win7 page.
Run "PhotoWorks v2.41" to convert your .sfw files, and remember to store the resultant .jpg (or other desired output format) files on either your USB stick or the internet.
Safely remove the USB stick (if used), and, if necessary, dismount the CD drive.
The jonesrh SFW98 format .sfw to .jpg converter, called sfw98jpgtran, and its read-only sister, called sfwinfo, had (for years) been planned for public release as an alternative to the .sfw to .jpg conversion portion of the Seattle FilmWorks / PhotoWorks software known as PhotoWorks v2.41 -- after tidying up some loose ends in sfw98jpgtran / sfwinfo.
Those plans have now been shelved -- probably permanently -- due to a complete lack of demand for SFW98A format .sfw to .jpg conversion (except from me), and no further desire from me to hassle with completing the sfw98jpgtran / sfwinfo project.
Bottom Line:
As far as the public is concerned,
sfw98jpgtran and sfwinfo
can now be considered vapor-ware, instead of future-ware!!
FWIW:
This Seattle Filmworks .sfw to .jpg conversion portal owes its
existence partially to the detailed information gleaned from
many, many, many runs of sfw98jpgtran and
sfwinfo. They do exist.
But alas they are going to have to remain private
(due to security reasons, lack of user need for their capabilities,
and my near complete lack of desire to finish them).
Note:
For details of sfwjpgtran / sfwinfo (that were available
in prior versions of this section), see this section's
2019-12-24 Wayback Machine archive.
Here are some other references you might find useful:
Old PhotoWorks floppy disk thread at newsgroup.xnview.com.
This is an excellent, very informative thread containing
useful info on: XnView, PhotoWorks, Lipman's sfwjpg and pwpjpg,
Nord's sfwjpg (for Windows), Cyrén's sfw2jpg,
how to locate .pwp samples (if any) by searching for
SFW95B,
as well as a Wayback Machine link for the free PhotoWorks v2.41
software [as pwx95.exe]. I am indebted to XnTriq for his
very useful, unselfish posts!!!
Wikipedia's article on Seattle FilmWorks.
This is a useful historical summary of Seattle FilmWorks
operation, including its transition to PhotoWorks in 1999,
then American Greetings by 2010 (or before)
[this actually occurred in 2008], then
finally selling its customer list to Shutterfly in 2011.
It mentions that the .pwp files came via downloading,
whereas the .sfw files came on the diskettes.