The Nintendo DS doesn't have enough resources to read PDF files. It can however read CBR-like files using a homebrew program called Comic Book DS. Since Comic Book DS uses its unique file format—ComicBookDS, identified by the CBDS extension—it is necessary to pair it with a converter program. PictoDS is one such utility, a Java-based GUI tool capable of transforming CBR, CBZ, ZIP and RAR files into the CBDS format, it is the de facto tool for creating CBDS files.

Since I had some problems getting PictoDS to run on my GNU/Linux box I decided to write my own converter. The result is a console tool written in Python. I have tested it on GNU/Linux using Ubuntu Hardy, but it should be able to run on Windows with minor modifications. It almost has all of PictoDS's capabilities and it is capable of converting PDF, CBR, CBZ, RAR and ZIP files (or image directories).