can't get convert running

[jwackermann]

Hello --
I've installed Image Magick 7.0.3 from a binary distribution on my MacBookPro, running MacOS 10.12.3 (Sierra).
I wish to convert (mostly) TIFF images to Encapsulated PostScript. But I can't get 'convert' up and running.

I followed all the instructions given in https://www.imagemagick.org/script/download.php.
The following is how the environment variables are now set:

MAGICK_HOME /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-7.0.3
DYLD_LIBRARY /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-7.0.3/lib/
PATH /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-7.0.3/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/opt/X11/bin

To test 'convert' I use the file 'logo.png' contained in the distribution

Now, entering

convert logo.png logo.eps

I get the following message:

Abort trap: 6

No idea what this does mean.

I've converted 'logo.png' to 'logo.tiff' (using 'preview') and try to convert it to EPS:

convert logo.tiff logo.eps

Now I get a series of warnings and fatal messages:

convert: UnableToOpenConfigureFile `magic.xml' @ warning/configure.c/GetConfigureOptions/715.
convert: UnableToOpenConfigureFile `delegates.xml' @ warning/configure.c/GetConfigureOptions/715.
convert: NoDecodeDelegateForThisImageFormat `TIFF' @ error/constitute.c/ReadImage/508.
convert: NoImagesDefined `logo.eps' @ error/convert.c/ConvertImageCommand/3253.

It seems to me 'convert' looks for those *.xml files that are stored sub $MAGICK_HOME/etc/ImageMagick-7
but cannot find them. Why if the MAGICK_HOME variable is set correctly?

I've been using 'convert' for years to do TIFF->EPS conversions routinely. After a disk crash and new system
installation I was left without this tool, so I'm trying to get it back. It doesn't work? Can anyone help me?
Thanks.

[fmw42]

How did you install IM? If from binary, then the current binary is only for Mac OS X El Capitan.

So you would need to install for your Yosemite from either MacPorts or Homebrew.

I install all my delegates from MacPorts but install IM from source. See
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21502&p=88202&hilit ... rts#p88202
and
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21502&p=88202&hilit ... ts#p129986

[jwackermann]

Ah well ... I'll take a look at it.
Anyway ... is there a way to _understand_ what's wrong?
or only try another way, hope & pray?
Thanks J

[fmw42]

If you installed IM 7 and not IM 6, then you should be using magick and not convert. See if you can find magick. At the terminal type:

Code: Select all

type -a magick

and

Code: Select all

type -a convert

What do they return?

Does the first agree with /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/, which is where you put the MAGICK_HOME. Perhaps /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/ is where you downloaded Imagemagick and not where it was installed. The default location for Imagemagick programs such as magick, identify ... is /usr/local/bin, unless you installed it somewhere special.

But if you were using IM 6 before and have now upgraded to IM 7, then the binary for IM 7 does not match your OS and probably will not work.

If you had saved your previous install download folder and can access it, then you can reinstall from that one, since it would be for your OS. However, if you had a disk failure and lost everything, then the latest version of IM 7 is not compatible with OS Sierra. So you would need to use either MacPorts or Homebrew to re-install IM compatible with Sierra. If you want IM 7, then use Homebrew. If you want IM 6, then use MacPorts.

[jwackermann]

convert is nothing else than a symlink to magick, this is what ls -l convert tells me

I've installed magick etc. under /Users/j.w/Programs/ImageMagick/bin -- it's a different
location from where I store the downloads (maybe I'm old and stupid, but _not that_ stupid
to not distinguish between the two)

I can't see why should I put it under /usr/local/bin, if PATH and all other environment
variables are set properly, it must find its own location, or not? What else is MAGICK_HOME for?

Another topic:

I have no acces to my previous versions of IM. As you correctly assume, I had a disk crash
and got updated to Sierra with the new disk built in. (I wish I never did ... everything was
fine with Snow Leopard, a true paradise compared to this Sierra b***s***)

If IM7 is not compatible with my OS version, I just give up and will look for another app,
if there is any. I need only simple conversions TIFF -> EPS and such, just that, not thousands
of nifty features. Any recommendation?

(There were bright days when we were using 'xv' on any X11 based system; no polished
interface, just plain functionality. Old fashioned and stable ... by contrast, Apple's
innovation obsession is a way to hell.)

Thanks for your advice, anyway
J.

[fmw42]

I sympathize. I am on Snow Leopard and am about to buy a new computer with the latest OS. But I had to help someone else install IM on a newer version of Mac OS and it was a bit of a pain, but only because I they wanted the same MacPorts configuration of delegates and to install IM from source.

My recommendation would be to install Homebrew (should be easy) and then install IM 7 from Homebrew. That should not be that difficult. It should automatically install the correct version for your OS Sierra. You can then use magick mogrify to convert all tiffs in the same folder to EPS. If you install that way be sure to include Ghostscript in your delegates. I think Homebrew IM does not come with that by default. But it is easy to modify your install command to install both at the same time.

[fmw42]

P.S. If you do not want to do that, then you could search Google for "TIFF to ESP converter" and it will list other tools. I do not know about any of them. One that is listed is:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/tif2eps/

There are also a few online converters.

[jwackermann]

Yes, I think a simple tool will be the best solution here.
Again, thanks for the advice regarding IM.
J.