I'm running arculator and have managed to get it working quite well. Anyone any idea how i can turn the original files i have (most are in folders called !nameofprogram) into adfs images that arculator will read?

Don't know if there is a chance to do this in Arculator. Maybe in a later version.
I would try it with Virtual Acorn or Red Squirrel. There you have the possibility to use a virtual harddisc. If you have created one, you can copy the files direct or compressed into the hd-folder, and then copy it inside the emulator to disc (which is the adfs image).
Hope that wasn't too confusing

Wocki