diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b87df82..6694516 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
     <lib.commons-cli.version>1.2</lib.commons-cli.version>
     <lib.commons-codec.version>1.9</lib.commons-codec.version>
     <lib.jtransforms.version>2.4.0</lib.jtransforms.version>
+    <lib.typesafe-config.version>1.2.0</lib.typesafe-config.version>
+    <lib.thumbnailator.version>[0.4, 0.5)</lib.thumbnailator.version>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencies>
@@ -92,7 +94,12 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>net.coobird</groupId>
       <artifactId>thumbnailator</artifactId>
-      <version>[0.4, 0.5)</version>
+      <version>${lib.thumbnailator.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.typesafe</groupId>
+      <artifactId>config</artifactId>
+      <version>${lib.typesafe-config.version}</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>net.sourceforge.jtransforms</groupId>
diff --git a/src/includes/logback.xml b/src/includes/logback.xml
index 4a298fd..713ce5d 100644
--- a/src/includes/logback.xml
+++ b/src/includes/logback.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <encoder>
 	  <!-- Sorry Windows Users -->
 	  <withJansi>false</withJansi>
-      <pattern>[%-5level [%c{16}] - %message%n</pattern>
+      <pattern>[%date{HH:mm:ss}] %-5level [%c{16}] - %message%n</pattern>
 	</encoder>
     <filter class="ch.qos.logback.classic.filter.ThresholdFilter">
       <level>INFO</level>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppCLI.java b/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppCLI.java
index 0a20ad9..6014b3e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppCLI.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppCLI.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class AppCLI {
       CommandLineParser parser = new BasicParser();
       CommandLine cmd = parser.parse(options, args);
       process(cmd);
+      AppConfig.saveProperties();
       System.exit(0);
     }  catch (Exception ex) {
       logger.error("Unhandled exception in AppCLI",ex);
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppConfig.java
index 366250d..fd5f6a7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/AppConfig.java
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ public class AppConfig {
   private static Boolean configuredLogging = false;
 
   //Properties defaults
-  private static final String DEFAULTPROPERTIESFILE = "default.properties";
-  private static final String USERPROPERTIESFILE = "./config.xml";
+  private static final String DEFAULTPROPERTIESFILE = "application.conf";
+  private static final String USERPROPERTIESFILE = "user.conf";
   private static Boolean loadedProperties = false;
 
   //Cache defaults
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ public class AppConfig {
   }
 
   public static void saveProperties() {
-    PropertiesService.saveXMLProperties(USERPROPERTIESFILE);
+    PropertiesService.saveConf(USERPROPERTIESFILE);
     logger.debug("Saved properties");
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.conf b/src/main/resources/application.conf
index d2fcb02..9ae72b5 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.conf
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.conf
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 //Default Properties File
 //Image Tools version: ${project.version}
-version = "${build-version}"
 
 akka {
   loggers = ["akka.event.slf4j.Slf4jLogger"]
@@ -9,12 +8,8 @@ akka {
 
 //Default App Settings
 app {
+    version.current = "${build-version}"
     timed = false
-    log {
-        debug = false
-        info = false
-        error = true
-    }
     engine {
         //Concurrency Settings
         concurrent {
@@ -22,41 +17,39 @@ app {
             processing.limit = 15
         }
     }
-}
-
-#Default Image Settings
-image {
-    //images must be 90% similar
-    differenceThreshold = 0.90
-    //control generation of hashes for new images.
-    hash {
-        precision=64
-    }
-    ahash {
-        use = true
-        weight = 0.70
-        precision = 8
-        tolerence = 8
-    }
-    dhash {
-        use = true
-        weight = 0.85
-        precision = 8
-        tolerence = 8
+    #Default Image Settings
+    image {
+        //images must be 90% similar
+        differenceThreshold = 0.90
+        //control generation of hashes for new images.
+        hash {
+            precision=64
+        }
+        ahash {
+            use = true
+            weight = 0.70
+            precision = 8
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
+        dhash {
+            use = true
+            weight = 0.85
+            precision = 8
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
+        phash {
+            //set to false if hashing images is taking too long
+            use = true
+            weight = 1.0
+            precision = 32
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
     }
-    phash {
-        //set to false if hashing images is taking too long
-        use = true
-        weight = 1.0
-        precision = 32
-        tolerence = 8
+    //Default Thumbnail Settings
+    thumbnail {
+        //Directory where to store thumbnails
+        directory = ".cache/thumbnails/"
+        //Size of the thumbnail to generate and store
+        size = 128
     }
-}
-
-//Default Thumbnail Settings
-thumbnail {
-    //Directory where to store thumbnails
-    directory = ".cache/thumbnails/"
-    //Size of the thumbnail to generate and store
-    size = 128
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesEnum.scala b/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesEnum.scala
index 0ccb433..b449ecf 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesEnum.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesEnum.scala
@@ -2,31 +2,29 @@ package com.sothr.imagetools.util
 
 object PropertiesEnum extends Enumeration {
   type PropertiesEnum = Value
-  val Version = Value("version")
+  val Version = Value("app.version.current")
+  val PreviousVersion = Value("app.version.previous")
   //default app settings
-  val LogDebug = Value("app.log.debug")
-  val LogInfo = Value("app.log.info")
-  val LogError = Value("app.log.error")
   val Timed = Value("app.timed")
   //default engine concurrency settings
   val ConcurrentSimiliartyLimit = Value("app.engine.concurrent.similarity.limit")
   val ConcurrentProcessingLimit = Value("app.engine.concurrent.processing.limit")
   //default image settings
-  val ImageDifferenceThreshold = Value("image.differenceThreshold")
-  val HashPrecision = Value("image.hash.precision")
-  val UseAhash = Value("image.ahash.use")
-  val AhashWeight = Value("image.ahash.weight")
-  val AhashPrecision = Value("image.ahash.precision")
-  val AhashTolerance = Value("image.ahash.tolerence")
-  val UseDhash = Value("image.dhash.use")
-  val DhashWeight = Value("image.dhash.weight")
-  val DhashPrecision = Value("image.dhash.precision")
-  val DhashTolerance = Value("image.dhash.tolerence")
-  val UsePhash = Value("image.phash.use")
-  val PhashWeight = Value("image.phash.weight")
-  val PhashPrecision = Value("image.phash.precision")
-  val PhashTolerance = Value("image.phash.tolerence")
+  val ImageDifferenceThreshold = Value("app.image.differenceThreshold")
+  val HashPrecision = Value("app.image.hash.precision")
+  val UseAhash = Value("app.image.ahash.use")
+  val AhashWeight = Value("app.image.ahash.weight")
+  val AhashPrecision = Value("app.image.ahash.precision")
+  val AhashTolerance = Value("app.image.ahash.tolerence")
+  val UseDhash = Value("app.image.dhash.use")
+  val DhashWeight = Value("app.image.dhash.weight")
+  val DhashPrecision = Value("app.image.dhash.precision")
+  val DhashTolerance = Value("app.image.dhash.tolerence")
+  val UsePhash = Value("app.image.phash.use")
+  val PhashWeight = Value("app.image.phash.weight")
+  val PhashPrecision = Value("app.image.phash.precision")
+  val PhashTolerance = Value("app.image.phash.tolerence")
   //Default Thumbnail Settings
-  val ThumbnailDirectory = Value("thumbnail.directory")
-  val ThumbnailSize = Value("thumbnail.size")
+  val ThumbnailDirectory = Value("app.thumbnail.directory")
+  val ThumbnailSize = Value("app.thumbnail.size")
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesService.scala b/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesService.scala
index 103f553..658724b 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesService.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/util/PropertiesService.scala
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 package com.sothr.imagetools.util
 
-import java.util.Properties
+import com.typesafe.config.{Config, ConfigFactory}
 import grizzled.slf4j.Logging
-import java.io.{FileInputStream, FileOutputStream, OutputStream}
+import java.io.{File, PrintStream, FileOutputStream}
+import java.util.Properties
 import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
 
 /*
@@ -10,107 +11,109 @@ import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
  */
 object PropertiesService extends Logging {
 
-  private val properties:Properties = new Properties()
+  private var defaultConf:Config = null
+  private var userConf:Config = null
+  private var newUserConf:Properties = new Properties()
   private var version:Version = null
   def getVersion:Version = this.version
-  private val propertiesToClean:Array[String] = Array("version")
+
+  //specific highly used properties
+  var TimingEnabled:Boolean = false
+  
+  //ahash
+  var aHashPrecision = 0
+  var aHashTolerance = 0
+  var aHashWeight = 0.0f
+  var useAhash = false
+  //dhash
+  var dHashPrecision = 0
+  var dHashTolerance = 0
+  var dHashWeight = 0.0f
+  var useDhash = false
+  //phash
+  var pHashPrecision = 0
+  var pHashTolerance = 0
+  var pHashWeight = 0.0f
+  var usePhash = false
 
   /*
    * Load the properties file from the specified location
    */
   def loadProperties(defaultLocation:String, userLocation:String = null) = {
     info(s"Attempting to load properties from: $defaultLocation")
-    val defaultInputStream = ResourceLoader.get.getResourceStream(defaultLocation)
-    properties.load(defaultInputStream)
+    defaultConf = ConfigFactory.load(defaultLocation);
     if (userLocation != null) {
-      val userInputStream = new FileInputStream(userLocation)
-      val userProperties = new Properties();
-      userProperties.loadFromXML(userInputStream)
-
-      for (propertyName:String <- userProperties.stringPropertyNames()) {
-        properties.setProperty(propertyName, userProperties.getProperty(propertyName));
-      }
+      userConf = ConfigFactory.parseFile(new File(userLocation));
     } else {
+      userConf = ConfigFactory.empty
       info("No user properties file exists to load from")
     }
-    version = new Version(properties.getProperty("version"));
+    version = new Version(get(PropertiesEnum.Version.toString));
     info(s"Detected Version: $version")
     
     //load special properties
-    DebugLogEnabled = get(PropertiesEnum.LogDebug.toString).toBoolean
-    InfoLogEnabled = get(PropertiesEnum.LogInfo.toString).toBoolean
-    ErrorLogEnabled = get(PropertiesEnum.LogError.toString).toBoolean
     TimingEnabled = get(PropertiesEnum.Timed.toString).toBoolean
     
     //ahash
-    aHashPrecision = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.AhashPrecision.toString).toInt
-    aHashTolerance = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.AhashTolerance.toString).toInt
-    aHashWeight = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.AhashWeight.toString).toFloat
-    useAhash = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.UseAhash.toString).toBoolean
+    aHashPrecision = get(PropertiesEnum.AhashPrecision.toString).toInt
+    aHashTolerance = get(PropertiesEnum.AhashTolerance.toString).toInt
+    aHashWeight = get(PropertiesEnum.AhashWeight.toString).toFloat
+    useAhash = get(PropertiesEnum.UseAhash.toString).toBoolean
     //dhash
-    dHashPrecision = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.DhashPrecision.toString).toInt
-    dHashTolerance = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.DhashTolerance.toString).toInt
-    dHashWeight = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.DhashWeight.toString).toFloat
-    useDhash = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.UseDhash.toString).toBoolean
+    dHashPrecision = get(PropertiesEnum.DhashPrecision.toString).toInt
+    dHashTolerance = get(PropertiesEnum.DhashTolerance.toString).toInt
+    dHashWeight = get(PropertiesEnum.DhashWeight.toString).toFloat
+    useDhash = get(PropertiesEnum.UseDhash.toString).toBoolean
     //phash
-    pHashPrecision = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.PhashPrecision.toString).toInt
-    pHashTolerance = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.PhashTolerance.toString).toInt
-    pHashWeight = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.PhashWeight.toString).toFloat
-    usePhash = PropertiesService.get(PropertiesEnum.UsePhash.toString).toBoolean
+    pHashPrecision = get(PropertiesEnum.PhashPrecision.toString).toInt
+    pHashTolerance = get(PropertiesEnum.PhashTolerance.toString).toInt
+    pHashWeight = get(PropertiesEnum.PhashWeight.toString).toFloat
+    usePhash = get(PropertiesEnum.UsePhash.toString).toBoolean
     info("Loaded Special Properties")
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Gets a properties object that is cleaned of things that are expected to change. i.e. version
-   */
-  private def getCleanProperties():Properties = {
-    val cleanProperties:Properties = properties.clone().asInstanceOf[Properties]
-    //Remove properties to be cleaned
-    for (key <- propertiesToClean) {
-      cleanProperties.remove(key)
-    }
-    return cleanProperties
+  private def cleanAndPrepareNewUserProperties():Properties = {
+    //insert special keys here
+    newUserConf.setProperty(PropertiesEnum.PreviousVersion.toString, version.parsableToString())
+    //remove special keys here
+    newUserConf.remove(PropertiesEnum.Version.toString)
+    newUserConf
   }
 
-  def saveXMLProperties(location:String) = {
+  private def getCleanedMergedUserConf():Config = {
+
+      ConfigFactory.parseProperties(cleanAndPrepareNewUserProperties()) withFallback(userConf)
+  }
+
+  def saveConf(location:String) = {
     info(s"Saving user properties to $location")
-    val out:OutputStream = new FileOutputStream(location, false)
-    val cleanProperties = getCleanProperties
-    //insert special keys here
-    cleanProperties.setProperty("version.previous", version.parsableToString())
-    cleanProperties.storeToXML(out, "User Properties")
+    val out:PrintStream = new PrintStream(new FileOutputStream(location, false))
+    val userConfToSave = getCleanedMergedUserConf
+    //print to the output stream
+    out.print(userConfToSave.root.render)
     out.flush()
     out.close()
   }
 
-  def get(key:String):String = {
-    return properties.getProperty(key)
+  def get(key:String, defaultValue:String=null):String = {
+    var result:String = defaultValue
+    //check the latest properties
+    if (newUserConf.containsKey(key)) {
+        result = newUserConf.getProperty(key)
+    }
+    //check the loaded user properties
+    else if (userConf.hasPath(key)) {
+        result = userConf.getString(key)
+    }
+    //check the default properties
+    else if (defaultConf.hasPath(key)) {
+        result = defaultConf.getString(key)
+    }
+    return result
   }
 
   def set(key:String, value:String) = {
-    properties.setProperty(key, value)
+    newUserConf.setProperty(key, value)
   }
-  
-  //specific highly used properties
-  var DebugLogEnabled:Boolean = false
-  var InfoLogEnabled:Boolean = false
-  var ErrorLogEnabled:Boolean = false
-  var TimingEnabled:Boolean = false
-  
-  //ahash
-  var aHashPrecision = 0
-  var aHashTolerance = 0
-  var aHashWeight = 0.0f
-  var useAhash = false
-  //dhash
-  var dHashPrecision = 0
-  var dHashTolerance = 0
-  var dHashWeight = 0.0f
-  var useDhash = false
-  //phash
-  var pHashPrecision = 0
-  var pHashTolerance = 0
-  var pHashWeight = 0.0f
-  var usePhash = false
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/resources/application.conf b/src/test/resources/application.conf
index 6fab465..5d0a916 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/application.conf
+++ b/src/test/resources/application.conf
@@ -1,63 +1,55 @@
-//Default Properties File
-//Image Tools version: ${project.version}
-version = "${build-version}"
-
-
-akka {
-  loggers = ["akka.event.slf4j.Slf4jLogger"]
-  loglevel = "DEBUG"
-}
-
-//Default App Settings
-app {
-    timed = false
-    log {
-        debug = true
-        info = true
-        error = true
-    }
-    engine {
-        //Concurrency Settings
-        concurrent {
-            similarity.limit = 15
-            processing.limit = 15
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-#Default Image Settings
-image {
-    //images must be 90% similar
-    differenceThreshold = 0.90
-    //control generation of hashes for new images.
-    hash {
-        precision=64
-    }
-    ahash {
-        use = true
-        weight = 0.70
-        precision = 8
-        tolerence = 8
-    }
-    dhash {
-        use = true
-        weight = 0.85
-        precision = 8
-        tolerence = 8
-    }
-    phash {
-        //set to false if hashing images is taking too long
-        use = true
-        weight = 1.0
-        precision = 32
-        tolerence = 8
-    }
-}
-
-//Default Thumbnail Settings
-thumbnail {
-    //Directory where to store thumbnails
-    directory = ".cache/thumbnails/"
-    //Size of the thumbnail to generate and store
-    size = 128
+//Default Properties File
+//Image Tools version: ${project.version}
+
+akka {
+  loggers = ["akka.event.slf4j.Slf4jLogger"]
+  loglevel = "INFO"
+}
+
+//Default App Settings
+app {
+    version.current = "${build-version}"
+    timed = false
+    engine {
+        //Concurrency Settings
+        concurrent {
+            similarity.limit = 2
+            processing.limit = 2
+        }
+    }
+    #Default Image Settings
+    image {
+        //images must be 90% similar
+        differenceThreshold = 0.90
+        //control generation of hashes for new images.
+        hash {
+            precision=64
+        }
+        ahash {
+            use = true
+            weight = 0.70
+            precision = 8
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
+        dhash {
+            use = true
+            weight = 0.85
+            precision = 8
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
+        phash {
+            //set to false if hashing images is taking too long
+            use = true
+            weight = 1.0
+            precision = 32
+            tolerence = 8
+        }
+    }
+    //Default Thumbnail Settings
+    thumbnail {
+        //Directory where to store thumbnails
+        directory = ".cache/thumbnails/"
+        //Size of the thumbnail to generate and store
+        size = 128
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/todo b/todo
index c5f252e..a160966 100644
--- a/todo
+++ b/todo
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-Move over to Logback for the backend
-    -Convert the configuration file
-    -Convert the AppConfig to configure basic logging
-Profile and improve performance for the ConcurrentEngine when looking for similarities.
-    -SynchronousEngine is about 2.5x faster currently for finding similarities
-    -ConcurrentEngine actors for finding similarities are not CPU constrained and need to be
-Convert app configuration format from a java properties to a typesafehub:config
-    -Rewrite properties in new format (JSON)
-    -Rewrite PropertiesLoader to use the new format
 Add functionality to both engines
-    -Recursive directory scanning
-        -Determine how to handle similarites there... All images or just per folder
     -Move files to new locations
         -Rename new files based on their MD5
 Add functionality to ImageService
     -Cache thumbnails
     -Generate thumbnails
-    -Move caching of images into the ImageService
\ No newline at end of file
+Improve functionality of the PropertiesService
+    -Getters and Setters for sepcific values with proper cascading and type awareness
+    -Nicer debugging?
\ No newline at end of file