Documentation

Getting started

Everything you need as a user or contributor.

Installation

Download the latest FileConverterPro_Setup_v1.0.4.exe from the Releases page and run it.

The installer:

Runs without administrator rights
Supports English and French during setup
Targets 64-bit Windows 10 / 11 only
Optionally creates a Desktop shortcut
Optionally associates .fcproj project files with the app
Offers to add a Windows Defender exclusion for the install folder

PowerShell one-liner (silent install)

$f="$env:TEMP\fcp.exe"; Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/Hyacinthe-primus/File_Converter_Pro/releases/latest/download/FileConverterPro_Setup_v1.0.4.exe" -OutFile $f; Start-Process $f "/SILENT" -Wait; Remove-Item $f

Portable version

Download the .zip from the Releases page, extract anywhere, and run File Converter Pro.exe. All settings, history, and achievements are stored in the same folder — move the folder and everything moves with it.

The portable version does not create automatic file associations for .fcproj files. Open projects via File → Open Project inside the app.

PowerShell one-liner (portable)

$z="$env:TEMP\fcp.zip"; $d="$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\FileConverterPro"; Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/Hyacinthe-primus/File_Converter_Pro/releases/latest/download/File_Converter_Pro_v1.0.4.zip" -OutFile $z; Expand-Archive $z -DestinationPath $d -Force; Remove-Item $z; Start-Process explorer.exe $d

System requirements

Component	Requirement
OS	Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
RAM	4 GB min / 8 GB recommended
Disk	~500 MB free
Display	1280 × 720 or higher
Dependencies	None — fully self-contained

Optional tools

FCP works on a clean machine. Install any of the following and it will detect them automatically for higher-quality output — no configuration needed.

Tool	What it unlocks
Microsoft Office	Pixel-perfect DOCX / XLSX / PPTX → PDF via COM automation. Required for legacy .ppt.
LibreOffice	High-quality PPTX → PDF and XLSX → PDF without Office.
Pandoc	Better TXT / RTF / EPUB → PDF; RTF → DOCX with proper formatting.
MiKTeX	Pandoc's LaTeX PDF pipeline for best typographic output.
wkhtmltopdf	Best HTML → PDF rendering — full CSS, fonts, local images.

Windows Defender & antivirus

Adding the install folder to Defender exclusions is strongly recommended. The installer offers to do this automatically. For the portable version:

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Your\Folder\File Converter Pro"

If you get an "application control policy blocked this file" error, run this in an Administrator PowerShell, replacing the path with your actual install folder:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Your\path\to\File Converter Pro" -Recurse | Unblock-File

Adding a Defender exclusion and running Unblock-File are two separate mechanisms. Both may be needed if you downloaded the portable zip.

Languages

FCP ships with built-in French and English. To add a new language: create a .lang file (UTF-8 JSON) and place it in the languages/ folder next to the executable. It will appear in Settings automatically on next launch.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for a step-by-step guide.

Clone & install

git clone https://github.com/Hyacinthe-primus/File_Converter_Pro.git
cd File_Converter_Pro
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Requires Python 3.11 or 3.13.

Project structure

File Converter Pro/
│
├── main.py                       # Entry point — splash, single instance, CLI, drag & drop
├── config.py                     # Encrypted config manager, Windows dark mode detection
├── translations.py               # i18n engine (FR/EN built-in + .lang file support)
├── conversion_worker.py          # Background QThread conversion worker
├── advanced_conversions.py       # Extra conversion routines
├── dashboard.py                  # Statistics dashboard (Matplotlib animated charts)
├── database.py                   # SQLite abstraction layer
├── donate.py                     # Donation dialog — kofi, animated UI, donor flag
├── history.py                    # Conversion history panel
├── widgets.py                    # Shared custom Qt widgets (AnimatedCheckBox, etc.)
├── special_events_manager.py     # Date-aware special events (birthday, new year…)
├── system_notifier.py            # Native Windows desktop notifications
├── quick_check.py                # Companion build-verification tool (Tkinter)
│
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py               # FadingMainWindow, FileConverterApp
│   ├── ui.py                     # AppUIMixin — all UI construction
│   └── logic.py                  # AppLogicMixin — all business logic
│
├── converter/
│   ├── converters.py             # AdvancedConverterEngine — all format pipelines
│   └── advanced_db.py            # SQLite DB for conversion stats
│
├── context_menu/
│   ├── __init__.py              # Package initializer
│   └── window.py                # ContextMenuManager — Windows Explorer context menu integration
│
├── achievements/
│   ├── achievements_system.py    # Achievement definitions and unlock logic
│   ├── achievements_manager.py   # Persistence and state management
│   ├── achievements_ui.py        # Full achievements panel UI
│   ├── achievements_popup.py     # Animated real-time unlock pop-up
│   └── rank_popup.py             # Rank-up celebration dialog
│
├── dialogs/
│   ├── dialogs.py                # General-purpose dialogs
│   ├── terms_dialog.py           # Terms & Privacy acceptance dialog
│   └── word_to_pdf_dialog.py     # Word → PDF options dialog (mode, quality, metadata)
│
└── templates/
    ├── templates.py              # Conversion template definitions
    └── template_manager.py       # Save / load / apply templates

Building the exe

The project uses PyInstaller for the executable and Inno Setup for the installer. See the CONTRIBUTING.md for the full build guide. Note: UPX is used — be careful with Qt DLLs as improper usage can corrupt them.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome — translations, bug fixes, or larger features. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first. For complex changes (Linux port, new format category), open an issue before starting work.

Known limitations

Area	Details
Windows only	COM automation, registry-based dark mode detection, and PyInstaller packaging are Windows-first. macOS / Linux planned.
Build size	~435 MB compiled — inherent to Python + PySide6 + Matplotlib.
PDF → DOCX quality	Depends on source PDF. Scanned PDFs with no text layer are only partially recoverable.
.ppt legacy format	Requires Microsoft Office or LibreOffice. python-pptx cannot open old binary .ppt files.
No cloud / sync	History and settings are local only — no backup, no multi-device profiles.
Solo development	Progression depends on availability outside of studies.

License

File Converter Pro uses a dual licensing model:

GPLv3 — free to use, modify, and distribute. See LICENSE.txt.
Commercial License — required for integration into proprietary or closed-source products. See COMMERCIAL_LICENSE.md.