Free version
Opening .gp5 files on a Mac
Tonograph opens .gp and .gpx — the formats Guitar Pro has written since version 6. A file from Guitar Pro 5 or earlier has to be saved again as .gp before it will open. Here is how to tell what you have, and what to do with it.
The short answer
Open the old file in Guitar Pro 8 and save it. Version 7 onwards writes .gp, and Tonograph reads that — including the bends, grace notes, harmonics and fingering. If Guitar Pro 6 is what you have, the .gpx it saves opens too. The free version then opens, plays and edits it; you only need the paid version to write files back out.
Which version wrote your file
The extension tells you. Guitar Pro has changed format more than once over the years, and only the most recent one is current.
| Extension | Written by | In Tonograph |
|---|---|---|
| .gp3 | Guitar Pro 3 | Convert first |
| .gp4 | Guitar Pro 4 | Convert first |
| .gp5 | Guitar Pro 5 | Convert first |
| .gpx | Guitar Pro 6 | Opens directly |
| .gp | Guitar Pro 7 / 8 | Opens directly |
| .tonograph | Tonograph | Opens directly |
If macOS is hiding the extension, select the file and press Command-I — the full name is at the top of the info window.
Converting to .gp
- Open the old file in Guitar Pro 8.
- Save it again, keeping the default .gp format.
- Open the new file in Tonograph.
The conversion is done by the program that defined those formats in the first place, which is why nothing is lost on the way. Tonograph is not involved until the last step.
If you do not have Guitar Pro
Something that reads the old format has to do the conversion, and Tonograph cannot. If the file came from someone else, the quickest route is to ask them to save it again as .gp — anyone on version 7 or later already has that option.
Why Tonograph stops at Guitar Pro 6
Tonograph reads and writes .gp with its own code rather than a third-party library, which is what lets a file come back out with its articulations intact. A .gpx from Guitar Pro 6 holds the same kind of score data in a different container, so the same reader handles it. The formats before version 6 are a different, binary encoding: supporting them would mean a second reader to keep correct for good. We would rather be exact about two formats than approximate about five.
Once it opens
Your score plays through a pedalboard you assemble yourself, the panel under the score follows the track you are on, and an AI client can read and edit alongside you. All of that is in the free version.
