Alchemy For Mac

Alchemy is an open source and easy to use menu bar-based utility created with a single purpose in mind: to help you quickly batch convert your images to PNG and JPG formats, or merge them all into a single PDF document for simpler sharing.

Unfortunately, the first time I tried converting or combining images into a PDF all I got were errors and I just could not understand why that happened. However, on closer inspection of the error messages and after removing all spaces from my images' names, everything worked perfectly.

Alchemy features a minimalist user interface designed to effortlessly batch process any set of images you drag and drop on its window. The app also allows you to instantly merge the images you drag to a PDF document if you hold down the ⇧ key.

The Alchemy app will stay out of your way until you need it, when you can open it with a simple mouse click on its status bar item or by using the ⌘-⇧-8 global hotkey.

Moreover, although there is no dedicated button to quit the app, you can close it using the ⌘ + Q keyboard shortcut while Alchemy is in the foreground. Or, you can do what I did, and use either the Terminal or the Activity Monitor to kill it like a barbarian until I finally figured that the old way of quitting apps might also be a good way to do it.

It is also important to mention that Alchemy does not provide you with a back button which would come in handy if you change your mind and you want to convert the files instead of merging them. If you've chosen wrong, the only way to fix it is to quit the app and start the process all over again.

On the whole, although it still needs a few bug fixes and a couple of extra features here and there, Alchemy is a good choice for users who want an unobtrusive and streamlined little tool capable of batch converting and merging images via drag and drop.

Be aware though: Alchemy does not like images with spaces in their name. Fortunately, your files will still be safe even if your image naming scheme contains exotic characters like spaces since the only thing it will do when it encounters them is to throw out an error or two.