A nifty chunk of shareware just got better.

On Friday, Thorsten Lemke’s seminal graphics conversion and editing app GraphicConverter reached version 8.5. The new version, a 153.8 megabyte download, added the following fixes and changes:

New features:
- Retina support added.
- Added support for 16 bit per channel grayscale raw import.
- Split red/green/blue batch added.
- Added batch function to extract all used keywords to convert&modify.
- Added option to disable indicator for unapplied xmp changes.
- Added zoom support to slideshow with gesture.
- Added dialog upon click of rotation indicator.
- Added rating tool to image window toolbar.
- Added option to open a browser with a default path upon launch.
- Added option to use EXIF preview as browser thumbnail.
- Added import of old picture clippings at 64 bit.
- Added import support for some old StartupScreen variants.
- Added editable number fields for display of slider values.
- Added slideshow with find.

Updated features:
- Exif creation does verify gps tags before export.
- Keyword palette supports import of plain keywords list.
- Next/previous icons do now use the last display scale for the new image.
- Improved undo options.
- Improved PhotoRaw options.
- Find and replace colors are stored in the prefs.
- Enhanced edit exif data dialog.

Bug fixes:
- Fixed performance issue after resolution change without resample.
- Added a workaround for a possible issue during keyword change of JPGs on server volumes with 10.7.x.
- Fixed a bug during applying batch settings during html catalog creation.
- Fixed a bug in multipage pdf to tiff conversion.
- Fixed a bug in replace dialog of non image files.
- Fixed a possible memory leak in the slideshow.
- Fixed a bug with the index display in the find and replace dialog.
- Fixed a bug in setting the catalog/picture format.
- Fixed a display issue on 10.6.8.
- Fixed possible crash during import of corrupt WPG file.
- Fixed a bug in JPS to MPO conversion.
- Fixed a bug in flat view.
- Fixed a bug with change of extension if the filename uses dots.

GraphicConverter 8.5 retails for US$39.95 and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.