Zamzar: online file-conversion
Zamzar is another competitor in the market for free, online file-converters. up to 5 source-files can be uploaded from local disk (each max. 100 mbytes in size) and converted at a single click. the resulting files are stored for 24h hours on Zamzar’s servers. since the file-link is returned via email, users have to provide a valid address.
I did some random test-conversions to see what Zamzar is capable of:
- .pdf to .doc: worked quite well, even a watermark-image in the background was maintained. tables, headers & footers are converted into text-frames, though.
- .doc to .pdf: quite perfect.
- .mpg to .flv: depending on the source-file, I got postive and negative (=not working at all) results.
- .mp3 to .aac: worked, but with a bitrate reduction from 128 to 64 kbit/s.
the full list of supported source-formats includes csv, doc, OpenOffice (odp, ods, odt), pdf, ppt, xls, bmp, gif, jpg, tiff, ps, mp3, mp4, au, wav, wma, wmv, flv, avi, mov, 3gp and mpg - with even more formats to be chosen as destination-format. while this sounds impressive, Zamzar is missing to support some very basic formats like .png on the input-side. more advanced formats like .psd or vector-graphics would be a nice addition as well.
oh, and here’s a little hint on the service’ name :)…
The name “Zamzar” is based on a character from the Bohemian author Franz Kafka’s book “The Metamorphosis”. In the novel Kafka describes the extraordinary story of a young man who is transformed whilst sleeping into a gigantic insect.
The man’s name - Gregor Samsa - was used as the basis for our company name because of its’ powerful association with change and transformation.
Media Convert is a similar tool, supporting even more formats (png, various archive-formats) but limiting uploads with 50 mbyte each.
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