-------- 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