DropDMG automatically determines what you want it to do based on the files or
folders that you give it. The goal is to create an output file that matches the
options you’ve chosen in the settings. For example, suppose you’ve set
DropDMG to create compressed .dmg files:
- If you give DropDMG a folder, it will create a .dmg disk image
whose contents are the contents of the folder.
- If you give DropDMG a volume, it will create a special device image
(in .dmg format) that is an exact copy of the volume.
- If you give it a disk image file (e.g. .dmg or
.sparsebundle), DropDMG will convert it into a .dmg disk
image with the specified options.
- If you give it an archive file (e.g. .zip or .tar.gz),
DropDMG will convert the archive into a .dmg disk image.
- If you give it a file such as file.001, DropDMG will look for
file.002, file.003, etc. and join them into file.
- If you give it some other type of file, it will create a .dmg
disk image whose contents are that file.
When given multiple files or folders, DropDMG creates a separate disk image or
archive for each. To group multiple items into a single image or archive, move
them into a new folder, and then drop it on DropDMG.
So how do you “give” DropDMG a file or folder to work with? There are many
ways:
- DropDMG Window
- Drag and drop onto the DropDMG window, or click the toolbar buttons.
Control-click or right-click on an entry in DropDMG’s log to operate on that
output file.
- Menu Bar
- All of DropDMG’s commands are available in the File menu.
- Dock Icon
- Drag and drop onto the DropDMG icon in the Dock.
- Finder Icon
- Drag and drop onto the DropDMG application icon in your Applications
folder. You can also add DropDMG’s icon to the Finder’s toolbar.
- Services Menu
- Select a file in the Finder (or another file manager) and choose DropDMG: Use Current
Configuration or DropDMG: Ask for Options from the Services menu
in the applications menu.
- Contextual Menu
- The services menu commands are also available when you Control-click or
right-click on a file.
- Keyboard Shortcut
- Use the Keyboard pane of System Settings to assign a keyboard
shortcut to DropDMG: Use Current Configuration or DropDMG: Ask for
Options.
- Automator
- You can use Automator to
create workflows incorporating DropDMG actions. Frequently used workflows
can be accessed from a contextual menu in the Finder or saved as droplets.
DropDMG includes a Create Disk Image/Archive action for making new
images and archives, and also a Expand Disk Image action for converting
a .dmg disk image back into a folder.
- AppleScript
- In AppleScript Editor,
choose File ‣ Open Dictionary… to see the scripting commands that
DropDMG provides. Example scripts are available to show how the
commands work.
- Command-line Tool
- You can install the dropdmg command-line tool from the Advanced
settings. To see the available options, type man dropdmg in Terminal.
- Quick Action
You can create a Quick Action for DropDMG and then invoke it from the
Finder’s preview pane or the Touch Bar.