RBTN004: The "Allow unknown file types" Preference

If you're using Retrobatch Pro, you might have noticed a peculiar preference under the Advanced tab named "Allow unknown file types". Here's what it can be used for.

Let's say you've got a bunch of images in a file format dating back to the mid '90s that MacOS or Retrobatch can no longer read or understand. In this case, you might download a 3rd party tool to use with Retrobatch's Shell node to convert them to a format that Retrobatch can read, and then continue processing them. Or maybe someone has written a Retrobatch plugin to process them. Whatever the case, you've constructed some way for the previously unreadable images to be read in Retrobatch.

But there's a hitch. If Retrobatch doesn't understand the image format, it won't allow it to be loaded up in the Read Folder or Read Files node. That's where this little preference comes in. If the "Allow unknown file types" preference is enabled then Retrobatch will allow anything to go through its read nodes. The image will still need to be converted to a format Retrobatch can read if you want to do any image processing, so if that's what you're after, make sure to put your conversion script / node right after a read node.

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