DropDMG is a utility for creating disk images in Mac OS X’s device image (DMG) format. Disk images are a wonderful way of packing entire folders or disks into a single file, either for transport across the Internet or simply for archival. They are typically created using Apple’s Disk Copy utility, and Disk Copy can also “mount” an image—make its contents accessible as if they resided on an inserted CD-ROM.

Although Disk Copy is a standard component of Mac OS X, it makes simple tasks more time consuming than they should be. To create a compressed image from a folder using Disk Copy, you must create a blank read-write image of the appropriate size (specifying the volume name and location for the saved file), manually copy the folder to the image, unmount the image, convert the image to a compressed format, and finally delete the original (uncompressed) image. With DropDMG, you simply drag and drop the folder onto the DropDMG icon.

1. Create a blank read-write image of the appropriate size (specifying the volume name and location for the saved file).
2. Manually copy the folder to the image.
3. Unmount the image.
4. Convert the image to a compressed format.
5. Delete the original (uncompressed) image.

With DropDMG, you:

1. Drag and drop the folder onto the DropDMG icon.

Here’s a brief feature summary:

• Quick and easy creation of compressed disk images. Just drag and drop a folder onto the DropDMG application's icon.
• Creates DMGs in the zlib- and ADC-compressed formats, as well as Mac OS 9's read-only compressed NDIF (.img) format.
• Make encrypted compressed disk images.
• Package-savvy.
• Reliability. Like all good Mac applications (But, sadly, unlike many quick-and-dirty utilities and shell scripts), DropDMG has no trouble handling folders with spaces, quotation marks, dollar signs, or other “special” characters.
• Clean and simple interface that stays out of your way and respects your screen real estate.
• Create images using AppleScript.
• Runs natively on Mac OS X.

For more information, please see the DropDMG Manual.