Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your SHC file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert SHC to another file type
To convert SHC contours to another format, you need Adobe Photoshop or other Settings software.
Convert a file to SHC
To convert other file formats to the "Photoshop Preset Contours" file type, you need software like Adobe Photoshop or a similar tool.
About SHC files
The .SHC file format is primarily used by Adobe Photoshop to store Style Hatch Contours and custom vector mapping shapes. These files act as presets that dictate the mathematical distribution of vector paths and layer effects, such as Drop Shadow or Bevel and Emboss, within a design project. The primary disadvantage of the .SHC format is its closed, proprietary nature. It requires an expensive, paid subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud to natively open and utilize. Operating systems like Windows or macOS cannot preview .SHC files, and standard web browsers do not support them. Because they are closed binary files containing specific algorithmic data for Adobe's rendering engine, generic image converters usually fail to process them. Users frequently want to convert .SHC files into universally accessible vector formats like SVG or standard raster formats like PNG to share shapes with non-Photoshop users or use them in web design. However, extracting raw vector data from Adobe's proprietary container is technically difficult. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the data. This is where convert.guru offers a pragmatic workaround. Drag and drop your .SHC file onto our platform to see what it is and convert it if supported. Our tools will instantly identify the file format, inspect the internal binary data, and attempt to extract any readable metadata or embedded graphical elements. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SHC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert SHC file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Adobe Photoshop or similar software from the "Photoshop Preset Contours Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to SHC, try Adobe Photoshop or another comparable tool in the "Photoshop Preset Contours Storage" category.
The SHC Converter Story
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 SHC converter.