Merge Disk Image Shadow Files

I've fallen into the habit of mounting disk images with a shadow file to save disk space on my laptop. I'd like to merge the shadow file back into the disk image in order to better preserve the changes I've made. After reading the man page for hdiutil it appeared as if this task would be as simple as performing a "convert," specifying the image file and the "ov" flag in the options. However, I continue to receive "Resource Busy" errors despite the image being unmounted. Am I attempting the impossible, or have I simply missed the solution to my problem? Would anyone with any knowledge about hdiutil be able to share some insight?

I think you can not use the option '-ov' with the verb 'convert'; convert into a new disk image will work
hdiutil convert old.dmg -format xxx -o new.dmg -shadow shadowfile
After checking that new.dmg is OK, you may remove old.dmg. Or do you mean you don't have enough disk space to do this?

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