diff --git a/apps/converter/__init__.py b/apps/converter/__init__.py
index 331738373a..6ab5029f01 100644
--- a/apps/converter/__init__.py
+++ b/apps/converter/__init__.py
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 from navigation.api import register_sidebar_template
 
-TRANFORMATION_CHOICES = {
-    u'rotate': u'-rotate %(degrees)d'
-}
-
 formats_list = {'text': _('file formats'), 'view': 'formats_list', 'famfam': 'pictures'}
 
 register_sidebar_template(['formats_list'], 'converter_file_formats_help.html')
diff --git a/apps/converter/api.py b/apps/converter/api.py
index d7595de8c3..9de0ed737e 100644
--- a/apps/converter/api.py
+++ b/apps/converter/api.py
@@ -3,62 +3,28 @@ import subprocess
 
 from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 from django.template.defaultfilters import slugify
-
-from converter.conf.settings import UNPAPER_PATH
-from converter.conf.settings import OCR_OPTIONS
-from converter.conf.settings import DEFAULT_OPTIONS
-from converter.conf.settings import LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS
-from converter.conf.settings import HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS
-from converter.conf.settings import PRINT_QUALITY_OPTIONS
-from converter.conf.settings import GRAPHICS_BACKEND
-from converter.conf.settings import UNOCONV_PATH
-
-from converter.exceptions import UnpaperError, OfficeConversionError
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 
 from common import TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY
 from documents.utils import document_save_to_temp_dir
 
-DEFAULT_ZOOM_LEVEL = 100
-DEFAULT_ROTATION = 0
-DEFAULT_PAGE_INDEX_NUMBER = 0
-DEFAULT_FILE_FORMAT = u'jpg'
-DEFAULT_OCR_FILE_FORMAT = u'tif'
-
-QUALITY_DEFAULT = u'quality_default'
-QUALITY_LOW = u'quality_low'
-QUALITY_HIGH = u'quality_high'
-QUALITY_PRINT = u'quality_print'
-
-QUALITY_SETTINGS = {
-    QUALITY_DEFAULT: DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
-    QUALITY_LOW: LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS,
-    QUALITY_HIGH: HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS,
-    QUALITY_PRINT: PRINT_QUALITY_OPTIONS
-}
+from converter.conf.settings import UNPAPER_PATH
+from converter.conf.settings import OCR_OPTIONS
+from converter.conf.settings import UNOCONV_PATH
+from converter.exceptions import UnpaperError, OfficeConversionError
+from converter.utils import load_backend
+from converter.literals import DEFAULT_PAGE_INDEX_NUMBER, \
+    DEFAULT_OCR_FILE_FORMAT, QUALITY_DEFAULT, DEFAULT_ZOOM_LEVEL, \
+    DEFAULT_ROTATION, DEFAULT_FILE_FORMAT, QUALITY_PRINT
 
 CONVERTER_OFFICE_FILE_EXTENSIONS = [
     u'ods', u'docx', u'doc'
 ]
 
-
-def _lazy_load(fn):
-    _cached = []
-
-    def _decorated():
-        if not _cached:
-            _cached.append(fn())
-        return _cached[0]
-    return _decorated
-
-
-@_lazy_load
-def _get_backend():
-    return import_module(GRAPHICS_BACKEND)
-
 try:
-    backend = _get_backend()
-except ImportError:
-    raise ImportError(u'Missing or incorrect converter backend: %s' % GRAPHICS_BACKEND)
+    backend = load_backend().ConverterClass()
+except ImproperlyConfigured:
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured(u'Missing or incorrect converter backend: %s' % GRAPHICS_BACKEND)
 
 
 def cleanup(filename):
@@ -173,7 +139,7 @@ def convert(input_filepath, *args, **kwargs):
     if format == u'jpg':
         extra_options += u' -quality 85'
     try:
-        backend.execute_convert(input_filepath=input_arg, arguments=extra_options, output_filepath=u'%s:%s' % (file_format, output_filepath), quality=quality)
+        backend.convert_file(input_filepath=input_arg, arguments=extra_options, output_filepath=u'%s:%s' % (file_format, output_filepath), quality=quality)
     finally:
         if cleanup_files:
             cleanup(input_filepath)
@@ -185,7 +151,7 @@ def convert(input_filepath, *args, **kwargs):
 
 def get_page_count(input_filepath):
     try:
-        return len(backend.execute_identify(unicode(input_filepath)).splitlines())
+        return len(backend.identify_file(unicode(input_filepath)).splitlines())
     except:
         #TODO: send to other page number identifying program
         return 1
@@ -195,7 +161,7 @@ def get_document_dimensions(document, *args, **kwargs):
     document_filepath = create_image_cache_filename(document.checksum, *args, **kwargs)
     if os.path.exists(document_filepath):
         options = [u'-format', u'%w %h']
-        return [int(dimension) for dimension in backend.execute_identify(unicode(document_filepath), options).split()]
+        return [int(dimension) for dimension in backend.identify_file(unicode(document_filepath), options).split()]
     else:
         return [0, 0]
 
@@ -219,13 +185,13 @@ def convert_document_for_ocr(document, page=DEFAULT_PAGE_INDEX_NUMBER, file_form
         transformation_string, warnings = document_page.get_transformation_string()
 
         #Apply default transformations
-        backend.execute_convert(input_filepath=input_arg, quality=QUALITY_HIGH, arguments=transformation_string, output_filepath=transformation_output_file)
+        backend.convert_file(input_filepath=input_arg, quality=QUALITY_HIGH, arguments=transformation_string, output_filepath=transformation_output_file)
         #Do OCR operations
-        backend.execute_convert(input_filepath=transformation_output_file, arguments=OCR_OPTIONS, output_filepath=unpaper_input_file)
+        backend.convert_file(input_filepath=transformation_output_file, arguments=OCR_OPTIONS, output_filepath=unpaper_input_file)
         # Process by unpaper
         execute_unpaper(input_filepath=unpaper_input_file, output_filepath=unpaper_output_file)
         # Convert to tif
-        backend.execute_convert(input_filepath=unpaper_output_file, output_filepath=convert_output_file)
+        backend.convert_file(input_filepath=unpaper_output_file, output_filepath=convert_output_file)
     finally:
         cleanup(transformation_output_file)
         cleanup(unpaper_input_file)
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/__init__.py b/apps/converter/backends/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2..1d81dd8149 100644
--- a/apps/converter/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/apps/converter/backends/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+class ConverterBase(object):
+    """
+    Base class that all backend classes must inherit
+    """
+
+    def identify_file(self, input_filepath, *args, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a identify_file() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+
+    def identify_document(self, document, *args, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a identify_document() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+    
+    def convert_file(self, input_filepath, *args, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a convert_file() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+
+    def convert_document(self, document, *args, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a convert_document() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+
+    def get_format_list(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a get_format_list() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+
+    def get_available_transformations(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a get_available_transformations() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)
+
+    def get_available_transformations_labels(self):
+        return ([(name, data['label']) for name, data in self.get_available_transformations().items()])
+
+    def get_transformation_string(self, transformation_list):
+        transformations = []
+        warnings = []
+        transformation_choices = self.get_available_transformations()
+        for transformation in transformation_list:
+            try:
+                if transformation['transformation'] in transformation_choices:
+                    transformations.append(
+                        transformation_choices[transformation['transformation']]['command_line'] % eval(
+                            transformation['arguments']
+                        )
+                    )
+            except Exception, e:
+                warnings.append(e)
+
+        return u' '.join(transformations), warnings        
+    
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick.py b/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 360a24a58b..0000000000
--- a/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-import subprocess
-import re
-
-from converter.conf.settings import GM_PATH
-from converter.conf.settings import GM_SETTINGS
-from converter.api import QUALITY_DEFAULT, QUALITY_SETTINGS
-from converter.exceptions import ConvertError, UnknownFormat, IdentifyError
-
-CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER = u'No decode delegate for this image format'
-CONVERTER_ERROR_STARTS_WITH = u'starts with'
-
-
-def execute_identify(input_filepath, arguments=None):
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
-    command.append(u'identify')
-    if arguments:
-        command.extend(arguments)
-    command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        raise IdentifyError(proc.stderr.readline())
-    return proc.stdout.read()
-
-
-def execute_convert(input_filepath, output_filepath, quality=QUALITY_DEFAULT, arguments=None):
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
-    command.append(u'convert')
-    command.extend(unicode(QUALITY_SETTINGS[quality]).split())
-    command.extend(unicode(GM_SETTINGS).split())
-    command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
-    if arguments:
-        command.extend(unicode(arguments).split())
-    command.append(unicode(output_filepath))
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        #Got an error from convert program
-        error_line = proc.stderr.readline()
-        if (CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER in error_line) or (CONVERTER_ERROR_STARTS_WITH in error_line):
-            #Try to determine from error message which class of error is it
-            raise UnknownFormat
-        else:
-            raise ConvertError(error_line)
-
-
-def get_format_list():
-    """
-    Call GraphicsMagick to parse all of it's supported file formats, and
-    return a list of the names and descriptions
-    """
-    format_regex = re.compile(' *([A-Z0-9]+)[*]? +([A-Z0-9]+) +([rw\-+]+) *(.*).*')    
-    formats = []
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
-    command.append(u'convert')
-    command.append(u'-list')
-    command.append(u'formats')
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        raise ConvertError(proc.stderr.readline())
-    
-    for line in proc.stdout.readlines():
-        fields = format_regex.findall(line)
-        if fields:
-            formats.append((fields[0][0], fields[0][3]))
-    
-    return formats
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick/__init__.py b/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick/base.py b/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5570650038
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/converter/backends/graphicsmagick/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import subprocess
+import re
+
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+
+from converter.conf.settings import GM_PATH
+from converter.conf.settings import GM_SETTINGS
+from converter.literals import QUALITY_DEFAULT, QUALITY_SETTINGS
+from converter.exceptions import ConvertError, UnknownFormat, IdentifyError
+from converter.backends import ConverterBase
+
+CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER = u'No decode delegate for this image format'
+CONVERTER_ERROR_STARTS_WITH = u'starts with'
+
+
+class ConverterClass(ConverterBase):
+    def identify_file(self, input_filepath, arguments=None):
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
+        command.append(u'identify')
+        if arguments:
+            command.extend(arguments)
+        command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            raise IdentifyError(proc.stderr.readline())
+        return proc.stdout.read()
+
+
+    def convert_file(self, input_filepath, output_filepath, quality=QUALITY_DEFAULT, arguments=None):
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
+        command.append(u'convert')
+        command.extend(unicode(QUALITY_SETTINGS[quality]).split())
+        command.extend(unicode(GM_SETTINGS).split())
+        command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
+        if arguments:
+            command.extend(unicode(arguments).split())
+        command.append(unicode(output_filepath))
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            #Got an error from convert program
+            error_line = proc.stderr.readline()
+            if (CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER in error_line) or (CONVERTER_ERROR_STARTS_WITH in error_line):
+                #Try to determine from error message which class of error is it
+                raise UnknownFormat
+            else:
+                raise ConvertError(error_line)
+
+
+    def get_format_list(self):
+        """
+        Call GraphicsMagick to parse all of it's supported file formats, and
+        return a list of the names and descriptions
+        """
+        format_regex = re.compile(' *([A-Z0-9]+)[*]? +([A-Z0-9]+) +([rw\-+]+) *(.*).*')    
+        formats = []
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(GM_PATH))
+        command.append(u'convert')
+        command.append(u'-list')
+        command.append(u'formats')
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            raise ConvertError(proc.stderr.readline())
+        
+        for line in proc.stdout.readlines():
+            fields = format_regex.findall(line)
+            if fields:
+                formats.append((fields[0][0], fields[0][3]))
+        
+        return formats
+
+
+    def get_available_transformations(self):
+        return {
+            'rotate': {
+                'label': _(u'Rotate [degrees]'),
+                'arguments': [{'name': 'degrees'}],
+                'command_line': u'-rotate %(degrees)d'
+            }
+        }
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick.py b/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 4542ebdeba..0000000000
--- a/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,68 +0,0 @@
-import subprocess
-import re
-
-from converter.conf.settings import IM_IDENTIFY_PATH
-from converter.conf.settings import IM_CONVERT_PATH
-from converter.api import QUALITY_DEFAULT, QUALITY_SETTINGS
-from converter.exceptions import ConvertError, UnknownFormat, \
-    IdentifyError
-
-CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER = u'no decode delegate for this image format'
-
-
-def execute_identify(input_filepath, arguments=None):
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(IM_IDENTIFY_PATH))
-    if arguments:
-        command.extend(arguments)
-    command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
-
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        raise IdentifyError(proc.stderr.readline())
-    return proc.stdout.read()
-
-
-def execute_convert(input_filepath, output_filepath, quality=QUALITY_DEFAULT, arguments=None):
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(IM_CONVERT_PATH))
-    command.extend(unicode(QUALITY_SETTINGS[quality]).split())
-    command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
-    if arguments:
-        command.extend(unicode(arguments).split())
-    command.append(unicode(output_filepath))
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        #Got an error from convert program
-        error_line = proc.stderr.readline()
-        if CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER in error_line:
-            #Try to determine from error message which class of error is it
-            raise UnknownFormat
-        else:
-            raise ConvertError(error_line)
-
-
-def get_format_list():
-    """
-    Call ImageMagick to parse all of it's supported file formats, and
-    return a list of the names and descriptions
-    """
-    format_regex = re.compile(' *([A-Z0-9]+)[*]? +([A-Z0-9]+) +([rw\-+]+) *(.*).*')
-    formats = []
-    command = []
-    command.append(unicode(IM_CONVERT_PATH))
-    command.append(u'-list')
-    command.append(u'format')
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    return_code = proc.wait()
-    if return_code != 0:
-        raise ConvertError(proc.stderr.readline())
-    
-    for line in proc.stdout.readlines():
-        fields = format_regex.findall(line)
-        if fields:
-            formats.append((fields[0][0], fields[0][3]))
-    
-    return formats
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick/__init__.py b/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick/base.py b/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2b8c40fdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/converter/backends/imagemagick/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+import subprocess
+import re
+
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+
+from converter.conf.settings import IM_IDENTIFY_PATH
+from converter.conf.settings import IM_CONVERT_PATH
+from converter.api import QUALITY_DEFAULT, QUALITY_SETTINGS
+from converter.exceptions import ConvertError, UnknownFormat, \
+    IdentifyError
+from converter.backends import ConverterBase
+
+CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER = u'no decode delegate for this image format'
+
+
+class ConverterClass(ConverterBase):
+    def identify_file(self, input_filepath, arguments=None):
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(IM_IDENTIFY_PATH))
+        if arguments:
+            command.extend(arguments)
+        command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
+
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            raise IdentifyError(proc.stderr.readline())
+        return proc.stdout.read()
+
+
+    def convert_file(self, input_filepath, output_filepath, quality=QUALITY_DEFAULT, arguments=None):
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(IM_CONVERT_PATH))
+        command.extend(unicode(QUALITY_SETTINGS[quality]).split())
+        command.append(unicode(input_filepath))
+        if arguments:
+            command.extend(unicode(arguments).split())
+        command.append(unicode(output_filepath))
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            #Got an error from convert program
+            error_line = proc.stderr.readline()
+            if CONVERTER_ERROR_STRING_NO_DECODER in error_line:
+                #Try to determine from error message which class of error is it
+                raise UnknownFormat
+            else:
+                raise ConvertError(error_line)
+
+
+    def get_format_list(self):
+        """
+        Call ImageMagick to parse all of it's supported file formats, and
+        return a list of the names and descriptions
+        """
+        format_regex = re.compile(' *([A-Z0-9]+)[*]? +([A-Z0-9]+) +([rw\-+]+) *(.*).*')
+        formats = []
+        command = []
+        command.append(unicode(IM_CONVERT_PATH))
+        command.append(u'-list')
+        command.append(u'format')
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(command, close_fds=True, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        return_code = proc.wait()
+        if return_code != 0:
+            raise ConvertError(proc.stderr.readline())
+        
+        for line in proc.stdout.readlines():
+            fields = format_regex.findall(line)
+            if fields:
+                formats.append((fields[0][0], fields[0][3]))
+        
+        return formats
+
+
+    def get_available_transformations(self):
+        return {
+            'rotate': {
+                'label': _(u'Rotate [degrees]'),
+                'arguments': [{'name': 'degrees'}],
+                'command_line': u'-rotate %(degrees)d'
+            }
+        }
diff --git a/apps/converter/literals.py b/apps/converter/literals.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..403400d229
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/converter/literals.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+from converter.conf.settings import DEFAULT_OPTIONS
+from converter.conf.settings import LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS
+from converter.conf.settings import HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS
+from converter.conf.settings import PRINT_QUALITY_OPTIONS
+
+DEFAULT_ZOOM_LEVEL = 100
+DEFAULT_ROTATION = 0
+DEFAULT_PAGE_INDEX_NUMBER = 0
+DEFAULT_FILE_FORMAT = u'jpg'
+DEFAULT_OCR_FILE_FORMAT = u'tif'
+
+QUALITY_DEFAULT = u'quality_default'
+QUALITY_LOW = u'quality_low'
+QUALITY_HIGH = u'quality_high'
+QUALITY_PRINT = u'quality_print'
+
+QUALITY_SETTINGS = {
+    QUALITY_DEFAULT: DEFAULT_OPTIONS,
+    QUALITY_LOW: LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS,
+    QUALITY_HIGH: HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS,
+    QUALITY_PRINT: PRINT_QUALITY_OPTIONS
+}
diff --git a/apps/converter/utils.py b/apps/converter/utils.py
index c5a4e7e55b..5fc106a940 100644
--- a/apps/converter/utils.py
+++ b/apps/converter/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
+import os
+
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+from django.utils.importlib import import_module
+
+
 #http://stackoverflow.com/questions/123198/how-do-i-copy-a-file-in-python
-
-
 def copyfile(source, dest, buffer_size=1024 * 1024):
     """
     Copy a file from source to dest. source and dest
@@ -21,3 +25,50 @@ def copyfile(source, dest, buffer_size=1024 * 1024):
 
     source.close()
     dest.close()
+
+
+def _lazy_load(fn):
+    _cached = []
+
+    def _decorated():
+        if not _cached:
+            _cached.append(fn())
+        return _cached[0]
+    return _decorated
+
+    
+@_lazy_load
+def load_backend():
+    from converter.conf.settings import GRAPHICS_BACKEND as backend_name
+
+    try:
+        module = import_module('.base', 'converter.backends.%s' % backend_name)
+        import warnings
+        warnings.warn(
+            "Short names for CONVERTER_BACKEND are deprecated; prepend with 'converter.backends.'",
+            PendingDeprecationWarning
+        )
+        return module
+    except ImportError, e:
+        # Look for a fully qualified converter backend name
+        try:
+            return import_module('.base', backend_name)
+        except ImportError, e_user:
+            # The converter backend wasn't found. Display a helpful error message
+            # listing all possible (built-in) converter backends.
+            backend_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'backends')
+            try:
+                available_backends = [f for f in os.listdir(backend_dir)
+                        if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(backend_dir, f))
+                        and not f.startswith('.')]
+            except EnvironmentError:
+                available_backends = []
+            available_backends.sort()
+            if backend_name not in available_backends:
+                error_msg = ("%r isn't an available converter backend. \n" +
+                    "Try using converter.backends.XXX, where XXX is one of:\n    %s\n" +
+                    "Error was: %s") % \
+                    (backend_name, ", ".join(map(repr, available_backends)), e_user)
+                raise ImproperlyConfigured(error_msg)
+            else:
+                raise # If there's some other error, this must be an error in Mayan itself.
diff --git a/apps/documents/conf/settings.py b/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
index 7a253f52de..4c7749624c 100644
--- a/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
+++ b/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ def default_uuid():
     """unicode(uuid.uuid4())"""
     return unicode(uuid.uuid4())
 
-available_transformations = {
-    'rotate': {'label': _(u'Rotate [degrees]'), 'arguments': [{'name': 'degrees'}]}
-}
-
 register_settings(
     namespace=u'documents',
     module=u'documents.conf.settings',
@@ -31,8 +27,6 @@ register_settings(
         {'name': u'UUID_FUNCTION', 'global_name': u'DOCUMENTS_UUID_FUNCTION', 'default': default_uuid},
         # Storage
         {'name': u'STORAGE_BACKEND', 'global_name': u'DOCUMENTS_STORAGE_BACKEND', 'default': FileBasedStorage},
-        # Transformations
-        {'name': u'AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS', 'global_name': u'DOCUMENTS_AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS', 'default': available_transformations},
         # Usage
         {'name': u'PREVIEW_SIZE', 'global_name': u'DOCUMENTS_PREVIEW_SIZE', 'default': u'640x480'},
         {'name': u'PRINT_SIZE', 'global_name': u'DOCUMENTS_PRINT_SIZE', 'default': u'1400'},
diff --git a/apps/documents/models.py b/apps/documents/models.py
index 96d988bfdb..e0df918fc1 100644
--- a/apps/documents/models.py
+++ b/apps/documents/models.py
@@ -12,16 +12,13 @@ from python_magic import magic
 from taggit.managers import TaggableManager
 from dynamic_search.api import register
 from converter.api import get_page_count
-from converter import TRANFORMATION_CHOICES
+from converter.api import backend
 
 from documents.conf.settings import CHECKSUM_FUNCTION
 from documents.conf.settings import UUID_FUNCTION
 from documents.conf.settings import STORAGE_BACKEND
-from documents.conf.settings import AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS
 from documents.managers import RecentDocumentManager
 
-available_transformations = ([(name, data['label']) for name, data in AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS.items()])
-
 
 def get_filename_from_uuid(instance, filename):
     """
@@ -263,20 +260,7 @@ class DocumentPage(models.Model):
         return ('document_page_view', [self.pk])
 
     def get_transformation_string(self):
-        transformation_list = []
-        warnings = []
-        for page_transformation in self.documentpagetransformation_set.all():
-            try:
-                if page_transformation.transformation in TRANFORMATION_CHOICES:
-                    transformation_list.append(
-                        TRANFORMATION_CHOICES[page_transformation.transformation] % eval(
-                            page_transformation.arguments
-                        )
-                    )
-            except Exception, e:
-                warnings.append(e)
-
-        return u' '.join(transformation_list), warnings
+        return backend.get_transformation_string(self.documentpagetransformation_set.values('transformation', 'arguments'))
 
 
 class DocumentPageTransformation(models.Model):
@@ -286,7 +270,7 @@ class DocumentPageTransformation(models.Model):
     """
     document_page = models.ForeignKey(DocumentPage, verbose_name=_(u'document page'))
     order = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=0, blank=True, null=True, verbose_name=_(u'order'), db_index=True)
-    transformation = models.CharField(choices=available_transformations, max_length=128, verbose_name=_(u'transformation'))
+    transformation = models.CharField(choices=backend.get_available_transformations_labels(), max_length=128, verbose_name=_(u'transformation'))
     arguments = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True, verbose_name=_(u'arguments'), help_text=_(u'Use dictionaries to indentify arguments, example: {\'degrees\':90}'))
 
     def __unicode__(self):
diff --git a/apps/documents/urls.py b/apps/documents/urls.py
index 4dc99f37de..4a8dcd2d46 100644
--- a/apps/documents/urls.py
+++ b/apps/documents/urls.py
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, url
 
-from converter.api import QUALITY_HIGH, QUALITY_PRINT
+from converter.literals import QUALITY_HIGH, QUALITY_PRINT
 
 from documents.conf.settings import PREVIEW_SIZE
 from documents.conf.settings import PRINT_SIZE
 from documents.conf.settings import THUMBNAIL_SIZE
 from documents.conf.settings import DISPLAY_SIZE
 from documents.conf.settings import MULTIPAGE_PREVIEW_SIZE
-#from documents.literals import UPLOAD_SOURCE_LOCAL, \
-#    UPLOAD_SOURCE_STAGING, UPLOAD_SOURCE_USER_STAGING
 
 urlpatterns = patterns('documents.views',
     url(r'^list/$', 'document_list', (), 'document_list'),
diff --git a/apps/sources/models.py b/apps/sources/models.py
index 70eaf2d4e4..ffd4211fe6 100644
--- a/apps/sources/models.py
+++ b/apps/sources/models.py
@@ -4,14 +4,12 @@ from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
 from django.contrib.contenttypes import generic
 
 from documents.models import DocumentType
-from documents.conf.settings import AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS
 from documents.managers import RecentDocumentManager
 from metadata.models import MetadataType
+from converter.api import backend
 
 from sources.managers import SourceTransformationManager
 
-available_transformations = ([(name, data['label']) for name, data in AVAILABLE_TRANSFORMATIONS.items()])
-
 SOURCE_UNCOMPRESS_CHOICE_Y = 'y'
 SOURCE_UNCOMPRESS_CHOICE_N = 'n'
 SOURCE_UNCOMPRESS_CHOICE_ASK = 'a'
@@ -164,7 +162,7 @@ class SourceTransformation(models.Model):
     object_id = models.PositiveIntegerField()
     content_object = generic.GenericForeignKey('content_type', 'object_id')
     order = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=0, blank=True, null=True, verbose_name=_(u'order'), db_index=True)
-    transformation = models.CharField(choices=available_transformations, max_length=128, verbose_name=_(u'transformation'))
+    transformation = models.CharField(choices=backend.get_available_transformations_labels(), max_length=128, verbose_name=_(u'transformation'))
     arguments = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True, verbose_name=_(u'arguments'), help_text=_(u'Use dictionaries to indentify arguments, example: {\'degrees\':90}'))
 
     objects = SourceTransformationManager()
diff --git a/apps/sources/staging.py b/apps/sources/staging.py
index c6668455c9..a608f1b30f 100644
--- a/apps/sources/staging.py
+++ b/apps/sources/staging.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ from django.utils.translation import ugettext
 from django.contrib import messages
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
-from converter import TRANFORMATION_CHOICES
 from converter.api import convert, cache_cleanup
 
 DEFAULT_STAGING_DIRECTORY = u'/tmp'
@@ -136,13 +135,13 @@ class StagingFile(object):
 def get_transformation_string(transformations):
     transformation_list = []
     errors = []
-    for transformation in transformations:
-        try:
-            if transformation['name'] in TRANFORMATION_CHOICES:
-                output = TRANFORMATION_CHOICES[transformation['name']] % eval(transformation['arguments'])
-                transformation_list.append(output)
-        except Exception, e:
-            errors.append(e)
+    #for transformation in transformations:
+    #    try:
+    #        if transformation['name'] in TRANFORMATION_CHOICES:
+    #            output = TRANFORMATION_CHOICES[transformation['name']] % eval(transformation['arguments'])
+    #            transformation_list.append(output)
+    #    except Exception, e:
+    #        errors.append(e)
 
-    tranformation_string = ' '.join(transformation_list)
+    #tranformation_string = ' '.join(transformation_list)
     return tranformation_string, errors