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# 3.1 Basics

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 preferences. 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 Preferences 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 preferences. To see the available options, type `man dropdmg` in Terminal.

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