Latest Release: Version 0.7.4
Initial Author: Florian Albrecht Current developer : rbodziony
Downloads can be found here. Please read the installation instructions below carefully, otherwise the software will definitely not work for you. You have been warned.
This program enables you to convert photobooks created with the Mein CEWE Fotobuch or My CEWE Photobook software (in short, MCF software) to PDF files. These files then can be used to have a quick and rough impression on how the photobook is going to look after printing.
Calendars and anything else than BOOKS are NOT (yet) supported by this software! (Do not ask me WHEN they will be supported - you will be ignored)
The generated PDFs are NOT, and will never be, a 100% representation of the designed photobook. Also, they do NOT include bleed margins (especially not for the cover pages) and such things, and they use the RGB color model, not the CMYK model used for professional printings. Therefore, you should not use the generated PDFs for any "real" print jobs - you will be really disappointed about the results.
I just developed this program for personal use. So, there will be many features of MCF files not yet supported by this software. This can result in empty or strange looking PDFs, or even in program crashes. Notice that this program is in BETA stage and is not guaranteed to work for ANY of your MCF files. However, if you notice any strange output, feel free to issue a ticket in the GitHub bugtracker. If possible, include a screenshot of the MCF software which shows how the page should look, and then a screenshot of the PDF how it looks after conversion. Also, including the whole .mcf file would help (don't panic, the .mcf files do not include any pictures by theirselves, but TEXT inserted into the photobook can be seen in the .mcf file).
If you are interested in extending the software, feel free to fork the project and start developing! Most important classes are commented. If you create Pull Requests in the main project, I can review them and include them in the software.
Installation is quite easy. Just download and extract the archive (mcf2pdf-x.y.z-bin-windows.zip or mcf2pdf-x.y.z-bin-linux.tar.gz).
To run mcf2pdf, you will have to adjust the startup script by hand, as the program cannot yet automatically determine where the MCF software is installed.
Some notes about the structure of the MCF software first: The installation
locations of the software consist of two components. One component is the
"real" installation directory, like C:\Program Files\Mein CEWE Fotobuch under
Windows, or perhaps /home/myuser/cewe-fotobuch under Linux. Here the binaries
of the software are located as well as the shipped background images, fonts,
cliparts etc.
The other component is the "temporary" directory of the MCF software which can
be set from within the software. Here everything you download from within the
program (e.g. new background images, cliparts, themes...) will be stored.
As files from both locations could be used in your photobook (.mcf) files, you have to "tell" mcf2pdf about both. This is done by editing the startup script (mcf2pdf.bat under Windows, mcf2pdf under Linux) with any text editor you like (Windows: right-click the file and select "Edit").
Look for the line starting with <SET> MCF_INSTALL_DIR= (SET only in the .bat version). After the =, insert the complete path to the "real" MCF software installation location, e.g. "C:\Program Files\Mein CEWE Fotobuch". Notice that you MUST include the path in double quotes if it contains spaces!!
Next, look for the line starting with <SET> MCF_TEMP_DIR= (SET only in the .bat version). The same, insert now the TEMPORARY location of the software. If unsure, startup the MCF software, open any file, select "Options", "Directories" (second item in the Options dialog), and copy the temporary directory listed there.
When finished, save the startup script.
After correct configuration (see above), conversion of MCF files now is rather simple. Just open a command line (Windows: Win+R, then enter "cmd"), change to the directory where you extracted the mcf2pdf program (if you do not know what this means, google for "cd change directory"), and type "mcf2pdf <my MCF file> <my new PDF file>". For example:
mcf2pdf "C:\Documents and Settings\myuser\My Documents\USA 2011.mcf" output.pdf
Notice the double quotes due to the spaces in the path to the MCF file!
If this seems to complicated, you can COPY the .mcf file AND the images folder of it (e.g. "USA 2011.mcf Files") to the directory where mcf2pdf is located, and then just enter
mcf2pdf "USA 2011.mcf" output.pdf
The program will start converting the file and inform you when this is finished. Notice that the program is NOT optimized for speed in any way... It can take a long time.
For advanced settings, enter "mcf2pdf -h". This will give you information on how to adjust the output DPI setting and much more.
As stated above, mcf2pdf is BETA and does not yet implement very much of the MCF software features. Please refer to chapter 1 on how to file a "bug".
If you get any error like "Unrecognized command: java", please make sure that a Java Runtime (1.6.0 or newer) is installed and the Java Executable is on your PATH. Ask Google if you do not know what this means.
If you get an error like "Java Heap Space" or OutOfMemoryException,
there is not enough memory for the page rendering. Adjust the startup
script (see chapter 2) to set higher memory levels for Java. You can find memory
settings in the line containing MCF2PDF_JAVA_OPTS=....
Increase the option -Xmx4G e.g. to 8G.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.