DropDMG for Mac

3.6.2

3.6.2

See all Versions

Trying v3.6 I had a "no mountable filesystem" error after converting a sparsebundle to LZFSE — though verifying the dmg with DropDMG gave an "ok". So I tried with 3.5.10 and it worked. Trying again with 3.6 it worked! Well, I don't know if it's a MacOS or DropDMG inconsistency, but it's always better to check your files after conversion. ;-)

A must have for anything about disk images! The only app I could find that tells you to what algorithm a dmg was created — then you can decide if it's worth converting or not. It plays seamlessly between the usual formats. Quite perfect!

Switched from iDMG because DropDMG is still well maintained. Great application.

I don't know what's going on, but it's having trouble with 10.12.1 macOS Sierra. Took a very long time to create a blank, encrypted DMG (that wouldn't eject until I forced it in Terminal) while Apple Disk Utility did it in seconds without any trouble. Same thing with a different computer as well.

Great utility - more than ever since 10.12

This seems to be mostly a GUI version of the hdiutil command, that is part of the OSX Unix command structure. Those who want to try their hand at it can create a Service using Automator and the "Run Shell Script" action item with the following command for a simple version of this (ignore brackets):
{hdiutil create -fs HFS+ -srcfolder "__OBJ_PATH__" -volname "__OBJ_NAME_NO_EXTENSION__" "__OBJ_PARENT_PATH__/__OBJ_NAME_NO_EXTENSION__"}

I used a free, old but reliable product called "On My Command" from Abracode to get this service. It is item 509 in the command listings. I have been using it for years. It makes it very handy and fast to have as a Service as opposed to an App.

Fake/bad link. Get directly from C-Command; http://c-command.com/downloads/DropDMG-3.3.dmg

Can also do Image compacting, although not so convenient to use but it does the job.

I think we can keep this one fairly short... The functionality is superb. It works and once its set up I can't imagine for a second it could be any easier to use. But by all the gods its a user experience train wreck. You will figure it out, you will absolutely feel that you have spent your money wisely... you will, at points, think the developers could think about the information architecture of the app. Buy it, there's nothing better.

I am upgrading my former comment of DropDMG. This software is not expansive at all. Just look at the help page: http://c-command.com/dropdmg/manual-ah/ You can try it one month, definitely not the MAS. The devoloper work on MAC since at least 12 years. If we want good product we have to pay for it. I don't work for free. The support seems very good to. I bought it.

Gets better with time, very useful and reliable - and great support!

expensive

Requirements are wrong, it has 64 bits support, it does not require it, also runs on 32 bits Macs!

I occasionally make DMG files so seeing this product updated interested me. That was until I looked at the price and saw some of the other comments, which seemed to portray that that the product comes with mixed reviews. Given that this product does only one thing, create DMG files, and its price, it seems to me to be targeted to a niche market: the professional that regularly creates DMG files for distribution; or the individual who wants their DMG files to look really professional and is willing to pay the price to do this. But for the rest of us, that occasionally makes DMG files for personal use, or to distribute to a few acquaintances, there are other, less expensive solutions on the market to accomplish this that also create reasonably attractively files. So, if you need all the bells and whistles that this product product provides, and the price does not bother you, go for it. Otherwise I suggest you browse the alternatives listed above.

I've been using DropDMG for years, and for those who need a reliable, robust, automated workflow for processing disk images, this software is worth every penny and more. Technically, everything DropDMG does can be accomplished for free using Disk Utility, Terminal, and a lot of time to wash, rinse, and repeat the process. For one-off disk image processing, I often use Disk Utility because I don't need an end-to-end flow for that image. When going through even more than just a few images, though, DropDMG is an incredible time saver. Combined with Michael Tsai's top-notch support, I wholeheartedly recommend this software and his other products (such as SpamSieve) if they are applicable to your workflow.

$24. Or you could DIY with Apple's FREE Disk Utility. It's in your Utilities folder. Of you could automate it yourself with Apple's FREE Automator app using the "New Disk Image" command. Try it! It's not hard! It's FREE!

One of the best apps I ever found, well built, easy to use and very flexible! In a nutshell: - Fast DMG Conversion - It auto splits DMG files in selectable sizes, for example DVD maximum size. - It auto compress other DMG so it gets smaller ;) - Easy saves to a pre selected folder, auto name new DMG files. - The only app I tried that shows estimated time, and info resume of each DMG creation/conversion. - It has great batch support, it even can auto delete de old files after conversion/creation. - It also does ZIP if you want to, and cdr format so it's more compatible with windows etc,...

Before I review, I'd like to resolve an issue where background images do not show up. I tried JPG, PNG, etc. I tried to sign on to the forum. No luck. I just emailed the developer. I bought this but may need to request a refund if it can't do such a basic thing as placing a background image in a layout. Hoping it's an easy fix, or maybe I'm doing something wrong? :) Don

This is really an impressive program that works pretty straightforward and simply yet can do a lot of things when you look under the hood (read through the help). It is great for working with various kinds of archives--dmg's, zips, etc.)--making them, converting them, burning them or what not.

Gave version 2, 5 stars. Version 3 has more features and a new interface so it deserves a new evaluation including them. The features which were available in version 2 are even better and still deserve 5 stars However, I'm still finding the relationship of Layouts to configurations to the final creation dialog choice awkward. As the automated replacement of custom positioned icons in a layout requires filenames EXACTLY matching those in the folder from which the DMG is created, the feature is fairly useless except to a Dev releasing software & updates where the same set of files will be used each time. While it's nice having a grid to to allow easy alignment when positioning icons, there's no way to set the grid to have a correlation to that of the finder to allow proper alignment of icons with background images. This CAN actually be accomplished by nudging except the grid scale cannot be changed. All my attempts to accomplish the reverse; to create graphics in such a way that the icons placed automatically by DropDMG would happen to align with them, failed. (e.g. I created a background image with 6 regularly placed spaces for icons, but instead of the 6 icons falling into those spaces in my 3 x 2 grid, DropDMG decided to allow the icons to bleed off the background image in a 2 x 3 arrangement) The Layout setup allows the choice of the position of the upper left corner of the final DMG window, but lacks a way to specify the SIZE, auto-conforming it's size to that of the background image. Not always desirable. Unlike the finder itself, filenames in DropDMG's layout do not appear to be able to extend to 2 lines. I hope the layout features of DropDMG are enhanced to match the excellence of the DMG creation ones. I still use this for ALL archives not requiring a custom layout and/or license.

Haven't tried to make use of layouts till now. Haven't had much luck. When I first dragged an image to the background box, I got a huge error dialog full of code. Reread the instructions. On the next run everything seemed to go fine, but when I clicked a finished DMG file, the icon wasn't positioned at all where it had been in the layout. The whole layout UI could use some polish.

I've been using this for the last 5 years for instantly backing up folders and particularly changed/ modified files to encrypted disk images for offsite storage, especially those raw files which I may suddenly need and which take up too much room on my HD. Using Drop DMG for this is not enough though as you WILL need a disk cataloging program to scan your DMGs, for later file search and retrieval. Solid, reliable and time saving software. And its ability to instantly segment large sized DMG's into DVD sized chunks for burning at a touch of a button is great too.

Excellent! I had just noticed the minor icon snag with Snow Leopard, and here's a fixed version waiting.

IMO this is way too expensive considering the free/donationware alternatives, such as DMGCanvas

great app

Pretty much the only thing i use to archive my stuff. It's a piece of cake to set up your presets and after that, what could possibly be easier than just dropping what you want to archive on it? Not that it really needs anything more, but a year without an update? I hope it's not being ignored altogether! Okay, there's free stuff around and $20 might be a wee bit steep, but i've had this since there wasn't much, and it's the Best!

Would be nice if this could create a .DMG which when clicked would always open with a specific view, background image, and window size intact. .

Ya, another review by me on this one again! What can I say, it's the BEST of class! Leaves off where Apple Disk Utility falls behind! Well worth it's price if you use it daily! Superb product Michael Tsai , keep up the great work! I'd give it a 10 out of 5 stars!!

Very easy to use. Good!

So far no other tool has the same power and flexibility. Not to mention for those times you need something other than a sparse image, it's very good at compressing disk images too. Smaller images than Toast or Apple's Disk Utility using zlib compression. Works flawlessly on my iMac (MacIntel) running OSX 10.4.10(11). DropDMG is well worth it's weight in gold Michael Tsai ! Great work !

This has become one of my favorite programs of the year. I love it. I'm hoping a future release will include and easier way to add backround images like the same feature you have for the volume icon. And icon size adjustment.

I just purchased DropDMG after trying it for a few days as part of my online backup system onto Amazon S3. What sold me was the ease of use, Automator support and the encryption. I made an Automator set using Drop DMG and JetS3t (through the scripting option in Automator) to securely back up my stuff onto S3. It ran yesterday for the first time, flawlessly! Not to mention the excellent support from Michael Tsai, both pre- and post-sale. Thanks!

This is by FAR my favorite DMG app. Thanks for this awesome software!

I've been using DropDMG for years now and I've never had any problems with it. This little app is a real gem. Kudos to Michael Tsai!

Aahhh! Got a problem with 2.7.1 (may have begun with 2.7) Very often when i have more than one .dmg creation under way simultaneously, at least one will get an: Error FSPathMakeRef (-35) part way through. If i start it over with exactly the same settings, it works fine.

I love this gadget! Hardly ever need Disk Utility now.

it phones home, and it doesn't do anything more than disk utility? and it costs money? I can't see why you'd buy this

coool. thanks for the extra NDIF support. now i can emulate unfettered.

@Michael Tsai: DropDMG v2.5.2 asks me for my Admin-password each time i try to start it. And it tries to phone home. There is no logical explanation for this unacceptable behaviour. There are no preferences to turn this off. Stop this or you will find your application on a spyware-list. You've been warned!

can it make ISO formats? please?

"The StuffIt format is proprietary, so StuffIt needs to be installed if you want DropDMG to convert to/from that format." Yet another reason to stay far, far away...

Question: Is this destined to supplant Stuffit? Just asking. At least it is something to think about.

nice! this is the only alternate dmg utility worth bothering with.

Excellent application, very intuitive, a bit pricey but works as advertised, and much more.

The ability to segment large disk volumes or folders into burnable pieces makes this a very worthwhile tool. On top of that, there is encryption and/or compression.

Corrections to my last post: The 3X includes the original source, so only 2X is needed for the imaging, until the temp.dmg is automatically deleted. I guess the other reviewers were talking about other freeware, not the OS's free capability.

Great app! Other people's comments about free functionality already included in OS are not right. This program can for example split a large Restrospect backup file into 700MB or 4.3GB chunks to burn onto optical media. Since Restrospect doesn't yet support direct burning of segments to firewire optical drives, this feature itself is a Godsend! The icing is that it compresses beyond what Retrospect manage to do on the fly. Only one request: an abort button, to cleanly stop an ongoing imaging job. Also would be nice if it didn't need as many intermediate files. A temp.dmg is first written, and then the final dmg. I don't know if anything can be done about that, but it currently requires 3X the disk space to be free somewhere, of whatever you are trying to image. You can reduce it to 2X by deleting the original source once the temp.dmg is finished, but that is a bit risky.

Take a look at what DropDMG can do before slamming it for not being free. The free image creators don't give you access to as many options, don't have DropDMG's time-saving features (recent folders, preferences overrides, etc.), and aren't AppleScriptable. DMG Maker does support license agreements, but not rich text ones.

Well Aladdin tries to charge for DropZip and you can get free ones of that too. This just allows you to make compressed internet-ready archives very easily.

Why anyone would wish to spend $10 for an application that is also available freely is beyond me. DMG maker for OSX is free and does the same basic task. There are also other apps out there which do this relatively easy task without having to charge for it!