-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: MAPS-L: Plea for GeoExpress Help
Date:   Wed, 5 Apr 2006 23:29:13 -0700
From:   Jon McConnel <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>




From hard-won experience, here's one way to convert .sid to geotiff at no cost:


MrSID files can be decompressed into other formats such as .tiff using
a command-line program called "mrsiddecode.exe," which is available
for free at http://www.lizardtech.com/download/dl_options.php?page=tools

It can be run from command line, but for larger jobs it's quicker to
use a batch file.
Several conditions must be met for mrsiddecode.exe to work:

1. mrsiddecode.exe is easier to use when it is resident in the
directory of the files being      decompressed, so copy it to the same
directory as the files. Doing so allows the .bat file to be written
without including the full path of both source file and destination
file in each command. This makes the .bat file both shorter and
simpler to write.
2. mrsiddecode.exe cannot process any command that includes a space in
the target file's name or directory path.

Syntax example:
C:\[path]\mrsiddecode.exe –i [filename].sid -o [filename].tif -of tifg

 where [–i] gives the input file, [-o] names the output file, and the
output format [-of] of the file is specified as geo-TIFF [tifg] (there
are other formats as well).

 As Nick noted, watch your file space if you're decompressing a large
batch--those .tiffs add up in a hurry.

Jon McConnel
Cartography/GIS/Policy Analysis
Berk & Associates, Seattle