FAQ and troubleshooting
Does Picmal send my files anywhere?
Section titled “Does Picmal send my files anywhere?”No. Everything happens locally on your Mac. No files are uploaded, no internet is required for processing. The only network call is license activation.
Why does a file show “Already optimized”?
Section titled “Why does a file show “Already optimized”?”Compressing it wouldn’t have made it smaller, so Picmal kept your original untouched. This is common with files that are already well compressed, and with PDFs whose size comes from text and fonts rather than images — there’s simply nothing left to squeeze. Picmal never delivers a file larger than the one you started with.
AI files aren’t converting?
Section titled “AI files aren’t converting?”Picmal reads Illustrator files through their PDF layer. Almost every .ai file made this century has one — it’s on by default when saving from Illustrator. If yours doesn’t convert, re-save it from Illustrator with Create PDF Compatible File enabled and try again.
EPS files are no longer supported: they’re PostScript, which macOS itself stopped being able to read, and keeping support meant bundling a 47 MB interpreter most users never touched. If you have EPS files to convert, open them in Illustrator or Affinity Designer and export a PDF first.
Can I undo a conversion?
Section titled “Can I undo a conversion?”Your original files are never modified. Converted and compressed files are saved as new files alongside the originals (unless you’ve enabled overwrite or delete-originals in watched folder settings).
How do I process files automatically?
Section titled “How do I process files automatically?”Use watched folders. Set up a folder, configure your preferred settings, and any file added to that folder is processed automatically.
For more control, use Shortcuts to build custom automations.
My license isn’t working on a new Mac
Section titled “My license isn’t working on a new Mac”You need to deactivate the license on your old Mac first. Open Settings → License → Deactivate on the old machine, then activate on the new one.
If you no longer have access to the old Mac, you can deactivate it remotely through the license portal.
What formats are input-only?
Section titled “What formats are input-only?”RAW camera formats (ARW, CR2, DNG, NEF, RAF) and Illustrator files (AI) can be read and converted to other formats, but Picmal cannot write to them. See Supported Formats for the full list.
Can I process multiple files at once?
Section titled “Can I process multiple files at once?”Yes. Drop multiple files or entire folders into Picmal. Batch processing works in both Convert and Compress modes, as well as in Watched Folders.
Does Picmal require Homebrew or other dependencies?
Section titled “Does Picmal require Homebrew or other dependencies?”No. Picmal is fully self-contained. All processing tools are bundled with the app.