User Guide Image Handling

Image Handling

FindRomCover does more than download files: it normalizes everything to PNG, watches the image folder for new arrivals, and renames them to match the selected game. This page describes the full pipeline.

Supported input formats

The following image formats are recognized and converted to PNG:

Format	Extensions
Common web formats	.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .bmp, .gif, .webp
High-efficiency formats	.avif, .heic, .heif, .jxl, .jp2
TIFF	.tiff, .tif
Vector and icon	.svg, .ico

Conversion is performed by Magick.NET (ImageMagick) with automatic orientation correction. Resource limits are fixed and not user-configurable: the image pipeline is allowed 512 MB of memory and 4 worker threads, applied once at application startup.

Cover file naming

Covers are saved as [rom base name].png in the top level of the image folder, where [rom base name] is the ROM filename without its extension. The name is sanitized before it is written:

• invalid filename characters are replaced with _;
• directory separators are removed and .. sequences are stripped;
• trailing dots and whitespace are trimmed;
• reserved device names (for example CON or PRN) are prefixed to avoid conflicts;
• if nothing usable remains, the cover is named unnamed.

For example:

• ROM: Sonic the Hedgehog (USA).zip
• Cover: Sonic the Hedgehog (USA).png

Because matching ignores the image extension and recognizes many formats, covers in other formats are recognized too — but newly saved covers are converted to PNG for consistency.

The file-system watcher

The watcher monitors the top level of the image folder (subfolders are not watched) and reacts to newly created image files:

1. Detect — a new image appears in the image folder.
2. Wait for stability — the watcher waits until the file is no longer being written.
3. Verify (optional) — when Verify images with AI before renaming or saving is enabled, the image is checked against the selected game first.
4. Rename — the file is renamed to match the currently selected missing ROM.
5. Convert — non-PNG images are converted to PNG.
6. Refresh — the game is removed from the missing covers list.

The watcher never overwrites an existing cover:

• If a file with the target name already exists, the new file is renamed to a free name such as Game (1).png.
• For non-PNG sources, if the PNG cover already exists, the conversion is refused and the dropped file is kept under its current name (reported as "kept as-is").

There is no overwrite confirmation dialog in the watcher workflow.

!!! tip The watcher is what makes the Google Web and Bing Web workflow hands-free. Save the image in the top level of the image folder with any filename — it will be renamed for you.

Retries and robustness

• Transient failures such as file locks and slow network drives are retried with a short delay.
• Corrupt or misformatted images are detected immediately and skipped without repeated retries.
• Orphaned temporary files from interrupted conversions are cleaned up on startup.
• Access-denied situations on the watched folder are logged as warnings, and the watcher attempts to recover automatically instead of crashing.

Automatic removal from the missing list

Once a cover with the correct name exists, the game is removed from the missing list the next time the list refreshes. Refreshes happen automatically after watcher activity and saves, or manually with F5.

Manual image management

Task	How
Replace a cover	Click the replacement image on the Local Files or Google API tab while the game is selected — the existing PNG is replaced. Alternatively, delete the old PNG first and then drop or save the new image, so the watcher can rename it
Add a cover manually	Copy any supported image into the top level of the image folder and rename it to match the ROM, or let the watcher do it while the game is selected
Delete a cover	Delete the PNG from the image folder and press F5 to re-scan
Inspect a cover	Right-click the image on the Local Files tab and choose Open File, or open it directly from the image folder

!!! note A plain file drop never overwrites an existing cover. If the target name is taken, the dropped file is stored under a free name instead.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Solution
Image is not converted	Check that the format is supported and that the image folder is writable
Image is not renamed	Ensure a game is selected in the missing list; check the log for watcher warnings
Dropped image got a (1) suffix	A cover with the target name already exists and was protected; replace it through the Local Files tab or delete it first
Non-PNG file was "kept as-is"	The PNG cover already exists; remove it before converting the dropped file
Conversion fails repeatedly	The file may be corrupt; try saving it again from the source
Watcher misses files on a network share	Copy files to a local folder first; network notifications can be unreliable

Related pages

• File Formats
• Web Search
• AI Vision Assist
• Logs & Diagnostics