Member Avatar for Shadowsedge

I got these old Native American pictures and they are .ART files. This is from when I had AoL online on a desktop way back when. I wanted to convert them to .PNG files but I can't even find a program to even open them with. I was thinking of downloading AoL just to install and open them and then convert but I was hoping someone here might have an idea of another program I could use.

I tried google for an answer and gave up after an hour of clicking links.

I tried so far and failed:
irfanview
MS paint
Internet explorer
Firefox
The gimp (ver 2.6.6)

I dont' have photoshop and am not buying it just for a few files.
I was going to try the gimp but for some reason I get an "access violation at address" message and guess I have to figure that out first.

I am not even sure AoL can open these but i loath to install it on my system and find out.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

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Quick summary and safe path: AOL’s “.ART” images are a proprietary, highly compressed image format created for fast dial‑up delivery and are not widely or natively supported by modern apps. Microsoft removed automatic ART rendering from Internet Explorer after a security vulnerability, so relying on old IE/AOL installs on a production machine is unsafe. (en.wikipedia.org)

Given already tried IrfanView, GIMP and browsers (and saw a GIMP access‑violation), the fastest, no‑cost next step is XnView / XnConvert (free) — it reads many ART variants and can batch export to PNG. Typical workflow:

  • Install XnView MP or XnConvert.
  • Add the .ART files.
  • In Output, choose Format = PNG and destination folder.
  • Click Convert.

If XnView fails, the file extension may be one of several unrelated “.art” types; double‑check the file header before chasing other tools. (dateiendung.com)

If a more robust, guaranteed route is required, use Graphic Workshop Professional with the ART plugin (the plugin is designed specifically for AOL .ART and lets you open and Save As PNG/JPEG). Install the trial of Graphic Workshop, add the ART plugin, open the files and export. That is the most reliable local conversion path short of using the original AOL viewer. (mindworkshop.com)

If installing software is not desirable, a small number of online converters advertise ART support (upload → convert → download). Be cautious with private/sensitive images and prefer reputable services or work inside an isolated virtual machine if trying old AOL/IE to export originals. The security bulletin mentioned above explains why older IE/AOL components were removed. (vertopal.com)

Quick troubleshooting notes: the GIMP access‑violation often indicates a corrupted install, plugin mismatch (32 vs 64 bit) or bad DLL — try the portable GIMP build or a clean reinstall. If none of the above works, inspect the file with a hex viewer to confirm it’s the AOL ART variant (then retry XnView or Graphic Workshop).

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Member Avatar for caperjack

hi, cant blame you for not wanting to install AOL, you say you searched with google ,di you come by this one ,info on using IE to convert .
http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-16505.html

Edit : i read a bit more and i guess IE has updated a long time ago a patch that stops IE from opening .ART files

Member Avatar for Shadowsedge

I wonder...I have an old IE5 disk. I think I might try uninstalling and reinstalling the older versino

Member Avatar for caperjack

I wonder...I have an old IE5 disk. I think I might try uninstalling and reinstalling the older versino

wonder! might help,but i think its the patch update that will affect it not the ie version

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