Convert ART to ODD — Free Online Converter
Convert AOL Compressed Image (.art) to One Document Does-it-all (.odd) online for free. Fast, secure image conversion with no watermarks or registrati...
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How to Convert
Upload your .art file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.
Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.
Click Convert and download your .odd file when it's ready.
About ART to ODD Conversion
ART files are proprietary images from America Online's dial-up era, encoded with Johnson-Grace wavelet compression for transmission over 14.4-56 kbps modems. ODD (OpenDocument Drawing) is the ODF vector drawing format editable in LibreOffice Draw, designed for diagrams, flowcharts, and annotated illustrations.
Converting ART to ODD embeds the decoded AOL-era raster image into an editable OpenDocument Drawing canvas. This transforms a static, obsolete-format photograph into an annotatable document — useful for historical documentation, digital preservation projects, and archival workflows that require adding context, labels, or descriptions to recovered AOL imagery.
Why Convert ART to ODD?
ART files cannot be opened by any modern application, and the proprietary Johnson-Grace codec has no active development. Converting to ODD rescues these orphaned images into an ISO-standardized open format (ISO/IEC 26300) that is guaranteed long-term support through the OpenDocument Foundation and LibreOffice ecosystem.
The ODD format adds annotation capability that bare raster formats lack. Archivists can place recovered ART images onto a drawing canvas and add metadata annotations, provenance labels, date stamps, and descriptive callouts — creating self-documenting preservation records. This is far more useful for digital archaeology than simply converting to JPEG or PNG, which preserves pixels but not context.
Common Use Cases
- Creating annotated preservation records of recovered AOL-era images for digital history archives
- Building illustrated documentation of early internet visual culture with editable captions and labels
- Embedding recovered ART images into LibreOffice Draw presentations for media history courses
- Adding provenance metadata and collection notes directly alongside decoded AOL photographs
How It Works
ImageMagick decodes the Johnson-Grace wavelet compression in the ART container, reconstructing the raster pixel data. This decoded bitmap is then embedded into an OpenDocument Drawing (ODD) file as a referenced image within the ODF XML structure. The ODD output can be opened and edited in LibreOffice Draw, where the raster image sits on a drawing canvas that supports vector annotations, text boxes, and other drawing primitives layered over or alongside the image.
Quality & Performance
The raster image data in the ODD is identical to what the ART file contains — no additional quality loss occurs during conversion. However, ART files were originally compressed with aggressive lossy settings optimized for dial-up speeds, so expect inherent artifacts including color banding, blurring, and blockiness from the Johnson-Grace compression. The ODD conversion preserves these pixels faithfully.
Device Compatibility
| Device | ART | ODD |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Partial |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Partial |
| Android | Partial | Partial |
| Linux | Partial | Partial |
| Web Browser | No | No |
Tips for Best Results
- 1Add provenance annotations in LibreOffice Draw immediately after conversion — note the source, date recovered, and original AOL context
- 2Export a PNG copy alongside the ODD for quick viewing without needing LibreOffice installed
- 3Use LibreOffice Draw's layers feature to separate the original image from your annotations for clean archival
- 4Save as ODD (not ODG) specifically if your preservation workflow requires the drawing-specific ODF variant
Converting ART to ODD transforms dead-format AOL images into annotatable, standards-based documents — the ideal format for archival preservation with added context and metadata.