Cloudconvert was recommended to me for bulk conversions of files. Has anyone used it? If so, do you consider it reliable and safe? Thanks in advance for any input.
Iāve never heard of Cloudconvert. Hopefully some other MPU with experience will respond.
But, FWIW, if you search google using:
review cloudconvert.com
It will result in a lot of info/comments such as:
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I have used it once to convert a (public) image, but I would not trust an online service to convert confidential data.
Also, after only one conversion it already requested me to buy credits, despite claiming to offer 10 free conversions per day.
Same; Iāve used it for non-sensitive files when in a hurry.
Permute (same developer as Downie) can do a lot of these conversions and is a one-time purchase. It looks nicer, too.
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Thanks to everyoneās input and my own research, Iāve decided to avoid cloud-based conversion services.
Thanks everyone again for your kind response. 
Bulk conversion of what? I tend to use command line tools for these conversions in bulk
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I occasionally need to bulk convert PDFs, plain text, markdown, Word, and RT files. I donāt use the command line, that is above my tech pay grade. 
I wonder if some old tech like Automator might be a solution? What kind of files are you wanting to convert to? And from?
And may I ask what an RT file is? Thatās a new one to me, or an old one that I have forgottenš
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Per the above, PDFs, plain text, markdown, Word, and RT files, depending on the need at the time. RT was for Rich Text files.
I may just continue using DT for the bulk conversations, I was just wondering if there was an alternative should I ever move away from DT for storing my research files.
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I sometimes use Calibre to convert one digital text format to another, e.g., a DOCX file to ePUB or MD to ePub. It works well enough with straightforward texts, but can stumble on preserving inline links to footnotes.
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One method Iāve used is to install pandoc and Typora ($11 three installs, cross-platform). There are supposed be pandoc GUIās, but pandoc recommends PanWriter, which is like Typora, but free.
Once I found the markdown preview macro for Nisus Writer Pro on Nisus Forums, thatās all Iām using for conversions. Nisus Writer Pro will do everything but PDF conversion.
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I think that is a big mistake. Since we āknowā you from your posts, you surely are capable of using these fine tools which are available to you now to facilitate exactly what you want to do.
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I could learn to use command line tools, but I have no coding experience. My worry is that a mistyped command might cause data loss or mess up my system in ways I wouldnāt know how to fix. I know the chances of doing serious damage are low, but I still hesitate to tinker under the hood of my Mac given my lack of technical knowledge. In this case, I suspect it is ābetter safe than sorry.ā 
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If you want to learn! https://missing.csail.mit.edu
(Itās actually pretty common to not be taught these skills in a formal education environment)
Is a great course with videos and text explanations and 100% free.
It wonāt expose you to the tools that would be helpful to your current use case (the above mentioned pandoc) but will explain whatās possible.
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Thanks, I will take a look. Much appreciated!
simple. Keep backups. work with small sets of test data. many command line tools have an option to ātestā the result before committing. These tools, already installed on your Macs depending on what you need to convert, have been around and used for decades. Iād trust them more than some random web site or app with a graphical user interface (which sometimes is just calling those tools under the covers).
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Thanks you; you are always genuinely helpful. Much appreciated!
You donāt need coding experience to use the command line! Those of us of a certain age who got up close and personal with the DOS prompt on a dual-floppy PC arenāt (or at least shouldnāt be) fazed by the command line, whether weāve learned to code or not.
You only need to learn a few ārecipesāāe.g., the command sequence you need to type to convert a document from one format to anotherāto use Pandoc for straightforward tasks. Thereās little risk that youāll reformat your hard drive using them. (Been there, done that on said dual-floppy in 1986 ā¦)
Iāve saved some āfill in the blankā Pandoc commands in a note that I pull up whenever I want to use it to convert a document. Iām not too proud to admit that if Iām feeling tired or distractible (or, ahem, o-l-d), Iāll type out the exact command I need someplace else first, make sure it looks OK, and then paste it into the command line.
Thereās a āgetting startedā tutorial on the Pandoc website that will guide you through the basics step-by-step. It will have you up and running in under an hour.
Or ā¦ ask an LLM to build you a tutorial and a reference guide to convert documents from one format to another with Pandoc. I asked Claude to help me put together the note I referenced above, including the commands Iād need to get to the correct directory, find the file(s) I wanted to convert, convert them, and run batch processes. Itās really straightforward.
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Another good tip when using the command line is to pause before you actually hit return to make sure the command is doing exactly what you want to do.
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Those of us of a certain age who got up close and personal with the DOS prompt on a dual-floppy PC
Now, now, youāre assuming a lot about my age. 
Thereās little risk that youāll reformat your hard drive using them. (Been there, done that on said dual-floppy in 1986 ā¦)
That is not exactly confidence building! 
Seriously, thanks for the encouragement and the tutorial. Iāll check it out!
Much appreciated.