Raw Search in Any File Format
Files Stored Inside Other Files
File Juicer extracts files mainly from the composite file types like PDF, Word, Excel. Files containing multiple types of data. File Juicer's extract is not conversion. For example, a JPEG file stored inside a PDF document is extracted as a JPEG file, and a WMV video in a Word document is extracted as a WMV file.
Any File
File Juicer examines the binary data and does not interpret the format of the file it is searching. Therefore, you can drop any file onto File Juicer for a search. The descriptions of each format are guidelines on what you can expect to find.
Closed File Formats
If the software that created the file deliberately prevents the extraction of images or other content, File Juicer may find nothing inside the file because the data is not stored in any of the formats listed in the preferences.
Adobe InDesign is an example. It cuts images into chunks and stores them internally in its own format. InDesign is not an open file format, so File Juicer cannot extract much from it. However, PDF files created with InDesign are in an open format that File Juicer can read.
Recovery From Damaged Files
File Juicer is not strict when retrieving files and will tolerate some errors to attempt recovery, even from damaged files. As a result, you may end up with files that cannot open properly in Preview or QuickTime Player. This can occur because File Juicer may find data that resembles a standard format while searching through millions of bytes of information. It can also happen when software developers save files in "almost" standard formats. Sometimes File Juicer will extract such variations, and sometimes it will not.
For images, it is easy to check which files are good by seeing if they generate icons in Finder.
Compression Versus Encryption
File Juicer recognizes zip, bz2, rar, and "deflate" compressed data and will extract it, allowing you to decompress it with Finder.
File Juicer does not decrypt encrypted data.
Text
File Juicer's text extraction is raw and unformatted—just the way text is stored inside other files. No style or formatting is retrieved. Most files contain some text, even if it's just a note on what type of file it is.
The Long List of File Formats
I have written a few more tips about other file formats on the alphabetical list.