Extract text from QuickChart files (QCT)
To convert QCT files to another format, you need Memory-Map or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Proprietary Raster Map File" file type, you need software like Memory-Map or a similar tool.
The .QCT file extension is predominantly used as a QuickChart Digital Map file by Memory-Map navigation software. These files store raster maps combined with precise GPS calibration data, allowing users to track real-time positions on PCs, marine plotters, and mobile devices. A secondary use for the .QCT format is as a Quality Companion Template for Minitab Quality Companion. In the gaming world, the Valve Source Engine utilizes .QCT files to store game entity properties for titles like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
The massive disadvantage of the Memory-Map .QCT format is its heavily locked-down, proprietary nature. It is designed to trap users within the Memory-Map ecosystem. You cannot natively open these map files in standard image viewers or professional, open-source GIS software like QGIS. Furthermore, commercial .QCT maps often feature strict DRM (Digital Rights Management), requiring a paid license to even render the pixels on your screen.
Users frequently want to convert .QCT files into standard raster formats like JPG or PNG for simple sharing, or into standard GIS formats like .GeoTIFF or MBTiles to retain spatial data outside of Memory-Map. Unfortunately, direct conversion is exceptionally difficult. Standard online converters fail completely because they lack the proprietary decryption keys and specialized parsing libraries required to decode QuickChart data.
This file format is notoriously difficult to open or convert because only the original software can properly read or export the encrypted spatial data. However, you can still rely on convert.guru. Just drag and drop your .QCT file to identify the format, view its underlying structure, and convert it when possible. For example, if our analysis detects that your .QCT is actually a Minitab template (which is fundamentally a ZIP archive), we can instantly extract the embedded XML data and text assets for you.
Convert.Guru analyzes your QCT file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SCORE, OVE and XMB files.
If you want to convert QCT file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use Memory-Map or similar software from the "QuickChart Digital Map File" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to QCT, try Memory-Map or another comparable tool in the "QuickChart Digital Map File" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our QCT converter.