blob: ef8e6d096f0354ed43ced815019a3e984703eec9 [file] [log] [blame]
DRCa73e8702012-12-31 02:52:30 +00001NOTE: This file was modified by The libjpeg-turbo Project to include only
DRCcf763c02013-01-01 09:51:37 +00002information relevant to libjpeg-turbo and to wordsmith certain sections.
DRCa73e8702012-12-31 02:52:30 +00003
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +00004USAGE instructions for the Independent JPEG Group's JPEG software
5=================================================================
6
7This file describes usage of the JPEG conversion programs cjpeg and djpeg,
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +00008as well as the utility programs jpegtran, rdjpgcom and wrjpgcom. (See
9the other documentation files if you wish to use the JPEG library within
10your own programs.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000011
12If you are on a Unix machine you may prefer to read the Unix-style manual
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +000013pages in files cjpeg.1, djpeg.1, jpegtran.1, rdjpgcom.1, wrjpgcom.1.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000014
15
16INTRODUCTION
17
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +000018These programs implement JPEG image encoding, decoding, and transcoding.
19JPEG (pronounced "jay-peg") is a standardized compression method for
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +000020full-color and grayscale images.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000021
22
23GENERAL USAGE
24
25We provide two programs, cjpeg to compress an image file into JPEG format,
26and djpeg to decompress a JPEG file back into a conventional image format.
27
28On Unix-like systems, you say:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000029 cjpeg [switches] [imagefile] >jpegfile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000030or
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000031 djpeg [switches] [jpegfile] >imagefile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000032The programs read the specified input file, or standard input if none is
33named. They always write to standard output (with trace/error messages to
34standard error). These conventions are handy for piping images between
35programs.
36
37On most non-Unix systems, you say:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000038 cjpeg [switches] imagefile jpegfile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000039or
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000040 djpeg [switches] jpegfile imagefile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000041i.e., both the input and output files are named on the command line. This
42style is a little more foolproof, and it loses no functionality if you don't
43have pipes. (You can get this style on Unix too, if you prefer, by defining
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +000044TWO_FILE_COMMANDLINE when you compile the programs; see install.txt.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000045
46You can also say:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000047 cjpeg [switches] -outfile jpegfile imagefile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000048or
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000049 djpeg [switches] -outfile imagefile jpegfile
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000050This syntax works on all systems, so it is useful for scripts.
51
52The currently supported image file formats are: PPM (PBMPLUS color format),
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +000053PGM (PBMPLUS grayscale format), BMP, Targa, and RLE (Utah Raster Toolkit
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000054format). (RLE is supported only if the URT library is available.)
55cjpeg recognizes the input image format automatically, with the exception
56of some Targa-format files. You have to tell djpeg which format to generate.
57
58JPEG files are in the defacto standard JFIF file format. There are other,
59less widely used JPEG-based file formats, but we don't support them.
60
61All switch names may be abbreviated; for example, -grayscale may be written
62-gray or -gr. Most of the "basic" switches can be abbreviated to as little as
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +000063one letter. Upper and lower case are equivalent (-BMP is the same as -bmp).
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000064British spellings are also accepted (e.g., -greyscale), though for brevity
65these are not mentioned below.
66
67
68CJPEG DETAILS
69
70The basic command line switches for cjpeg are:
71
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000072 -quality N[,...] Scale quantization tables to adjust image quality.
73 Quality is 0 (worst) to 100 (best); default is 75.
74 (See below for more info.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000075
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000076 -grayscale Create monochrome JPEG file from color input.
77 Be sure to use this switch when compressing a grayscale
78 BMP file, because cjpeg isn't bright enough to notice
79 whether a BMP file uses only shades of gray. By
80 saying -grayscale, you'll get a smaller JPEG file that
81 takes less time to process.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000082
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000083 -rgb Create RGB JPEG file.
84 Using this switch suppresses the conversion from RGB
85 colorspace input to the default YCbCr JPEG colorspace.
Guido Vollbeding5829cb22012-01-15 00:00:00 +000086
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000087 -optimize Perform optimization of entropy encoding parameters.
88 Without this, default encoding parameters are used.
89 -optimize usually makes the JPEG file a little smaller,
90 but cjpeg runs somewhat slower and needs much more
91 memory. Image quality and speed of decompression are
92 unaffected by -optimize.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +000093
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000094 -progressive Create progressive JPEG file (see below).
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +000095
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +000096 -targa Input file is Targa format. Targa files that contain
97 an "identification" field will not be automatically
98 recognized by cjpeg; for such files you must specify
99 -targa to make cjpeg treat the input as Targa format.
100 For most Targa files, you won't need this switch.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000101
102The -quality switch lets you trade off compressed file size against quality of
103the reconstructed image: the higher the quality setting, the larger the JPEG
104file, and the closer the output image will be to the original input. Normally
105you want to use the lowest quality setting (smallest file) that decompresses
106into something visually indistinguishable from the original image. For this
107purpose the quality setting should be between 50 and 95; the default of 75 is
108often about right. If you see defects at -quality 75, then go up 5 or 10
109counts at a time until you are happy with the output image. (The optimal
110setting will vary from one image to another.)
111
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000112-quality 100 will generate a quantization table of all 1's, minimizing loss
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000113in the quantization step (but there is still information loss in subsampling,
114as well as roundoff error). This setting is mainly of interest for
115experimental purposes. Quality values above about 95 are NOT recommended for
116normal use; the compressed file size goes up dramatically for hardly any gain
117in output image quality.
118
119In the other direction, quality values below 50 will produce very small files
120of low image quality. Settings around 5 to 10 might be useful in preparing an
121index of a large image library, for example. Try -quality 2 (or so) for some
122amusing Cubist effects. (Note: quality values below about 25 generate 2-byte
123quantization tables, which are considered optional in the JPEG standard.
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000124cjpeg emits a warning message when you give such a quality value, because some
125other JPEG programs may be unable to decode the resulting file. Use -baseline
126if you need to ensure compatibility at low quality values.)
127
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000128The -quality option has been extended in this version of cjpeg to support
129separate quality settings for luminance and chrominance (or, in general,
130separate settings for every quantization table slot.) The principle is the
131same as chrominance subsampling: since the human eye is more sensitive to
132spatial changes in brightness than spatial changes in color, the chrominance
133components can be quantized more than the luminance components without
134incurring any visible image quality loss. However, unlike subsampling, this
135feature reduces data in the frequency domain instead of the spatial domain,
136which allows for more fine-grained control. This option is useful in
137quality-sensitive applications, for which the artifacts generated by
138subsampling may be unacceptable.
139
140The -quality option accepts a comma-separated list of parameters, which
DRC66a69f02012-01-31 10:19:29 +0000141respectively refer to the quality levels that should be assigned to the
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000142quantization table slots. If there are more q-table slots than parameters,
143then the last parameter is replicated. Thus, if only one quality parameter is
144given, this is used for both luminance and chrominance (slots 0 and 1,
145respectively), preserving the legacy behavior of cjpeg v6b and prior. More (or
146customized) quantization tables can be set with the -qtables option and
147assigned to components with the -qslots option (see the "wizard" switches
148below.)
149
150JPEG files generated with separate luminance and chrominance quality are
151fully compliant with standard JPEG decoders.
152
153CAUTION: For this setting to be useful, be sure to pass an argument of
154-sample 1x1 to cjpeg to disable chrominance subsampling. Otherwise, the
155default subsampling level (2x2, AKA "4:2:0") will be used.
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000156
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000157The -progressive switch creates a "progressive JPEG" file. In this type of
158JPEG file, the data is stored in multiple scans of increasing quality. If the
159file is being transmitted over a slow communications link, the decoder can use
160the first scan to display a low-quality image very quickly, and can then
161improve the display with each subsequent scan. The final image is exactly
162equivalent to a standard JPEG file of the same quality setting, and the total
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000163file size is about the same --- often a little smaller.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000164
165Switches for advanced users:
166
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000167 -arithmetic Use arithmetic coding. CAUTION: arithmetic coded JPEG
168 is not yet widely implemented, so many decoders will
169 be unable to view an arithmetic coded JPEG file at
170 all.
Guido Vollbeding5829cb22012-01-15 00:00:00 +0000171
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000172 -dct int Use integer DCT method (default).
173 -dct fast Use fast integer DCT (less accurate).
DRC8940e6c2014-05-11 09:46:28 +0000174 In libjpeg-turbo, the fast method is generally about
175 5-15% faster than the int method when using the
176 x86/x86-64 SIMD extensions (results may vary with other
177 SIMD implementations, or when using libjpeg-turbo
178 without SIMD extensions.) For quality levels of 90 and
179 below, there should be little or no perceptible
180 difference between the two algorithms. For quality
181 levels above 90, however, the difference between
182 the fast and the int methods becomes more pronounced.
183 With quality=97, for instance, the fast method incurs
184 generally about a 1-3 dB loss (in PSNR) relative to
185 the int method, but this can be larger for some images.
186 Do not use the fast method with quality levels above
187 97. The algorithm often degenerates at quality=98 and
188 above and can actually produce a more lossy image than
DRC05524e62014-05-11 23:14:43 +0000189 if lower quality levels had been used. Also, in
190 libjpeg-turbo, the fast method is not fully accerated
191 for quality levels above 97, so it will be slower than
192 the int method.
193 -dct float Use floating-point DCT method.
194 The float method is mainly a legacy feature. It does
195 not produce significantly more accurate results than
196 the int method, and it is much slower. The float
197 method may also give different results on different
198 machines due to varying roundoff behavior, whereas the
199 integer methods should give the same results on all
200 machines.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000201
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000202 -restart N Emit a JPEG restart marker every N MCU rows, or every
203 N MCU blocks if "B" is attached to the number.
204 -restart 0 (the default) means no restart markers.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000205
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000206 -smooth N Smooth the input image to eliminate dithering noise.
207 N, ranging from 1 to 100, indicates the strength of
208 smoothing. 0 (the default) means no smoothing.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000209
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000210 -maxmemory N Set limit for amount of memory to use in processing
211 large images. Value is in thousands of bytes, or
212 millions of bytes if "M" is attached to the number.
213 For example, -max 4m selects 4000000 bytes. If more
214 space is needed, temporary files will be used.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000215
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000216 -verbose Enable debug printout. More -v's give more printout.
217 or -debug Also, version information is printed at startup.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000218
219The -restart option inserts extra markers that allow a JPEG decoder to
220resynchronize after a transmission error. Without restart markers, any damage
221to a compressed file will usually ruin the image from the point of the error
222to the end of the image; with restart markers, the damage is usually confined
223to the portion of the image up to the next restart marker. Of course, the
224restart markers occupy extra space. We recommend -restart 1 for images that
225will be transmitted across unreliable networks such as Usenet.
226
227The -smooth option filters the input to eliminate fine-scale noise. This is
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000228often useful when converting dithered images to JPEG: a moderate smoothing
229factor of 10 to 50 gets rid of dithering patterns in the input file, resulting
230in a smaller JPEG file and a better-looking image. Too large a smoothing
231factor will visibly blur the image, however.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000232
233Switches for wizards:
234
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000235 -baseline Force baseline-compatible quantization tables to be
236 generated. This clamps quantization values to 8 bits
237 even at low quality settings. (This switch is poorly
238 named, since it does not ensure that the output is
239 actually baseline JPEG. For example, you can use
240 -baseline and -progressive together.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000241
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000242 -qtables file Use the quantization tables given in the specified
243 text file.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000244
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000245 -qslots N[,...] Select which quantization table to use for each color
246 component.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000247
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000248 -sample HxV[,...] Set JPEG sampling factors for each color component.
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000249
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000250 -scans file Use the scan script given in the specified text file.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000251
252The "wizard" switches are intended for experimentation with JPEG. If you
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000253don't know what you are doing, DON'T USE THEM. These switches are documented
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000254further in the file wizard.txt.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000255
256
257DJPEG DETAILS
258
259The basic command line switches for djpeg are:
260
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000261 -colors N Reduce image to at most N colors. This reduces the
262 or -quantize N number of colors used in the output image, so that it
263 can be displayed on a colormapped display or stored in
264 a colormapped file format. For example, if you have
265 an 8-bit display, you'd need to reduce to 256 or fewer
266 colors. (-colors is the recommended name, -quantize
267 is provided only for backwards compatibility.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000268
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000269 -fast Select recommended processing options for fast, low
270 quality output. (The default options are chosen for
271 highest quality output.) Currently, this is equivalent
272 to "-dct fast -nosmooth -onepass -dither ordered".
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000273
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000274 -grayscale Force grayscale output even if JPEG file is color.
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000275 Useful for viewing on monochrome displays; also,
276 djpeg runs noticeably faster in this mode.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000277
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000278 -scale M/N Scale the output image by a factor M/N. Currently
279 the scale factor must be M/8, where M is an integer
280 between 1 and 16 inclusive, or any reduced fraction
281 thereof (such as 1/2, 3/4, etc. Scaling is handy if
282 the image is larger than your screen; also, djpeg runs
283 much faster when scaling down the output.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000284
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000285 -bmp Select BMP output format (Windows flavor). 8-bit
286 colormapped format is emitted if -colors or -grayscale
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000287 is specified, or if the JPEG file is grayscale;
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000288 otherwise, 24-bit full-color format is emitted.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000289
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000290 -gif Select GIF output format. Since GIF does not support
291 more than 256 colors, -colors 256 is assumed (unless
292 you specify a smaller number of colors). If you
293 specify -fast, the default number of colors is 216.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000294
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000295 -os2 Select BMP output format (OS/2 1.x flavor). 8-bit
296 colormapped format is emitted if -colors or -grayscale
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000297 is specified, or if the JPEG file is grayscale;
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000298 otherwise, 24-bit full-color format is emitted.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000299
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000300 -pnm Select PBMPLUS (PPM/PGM) output format (this is the
301 default format). PGM is emitted if the JPEG file is
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000302 grayscale or if -grayscale is specified; otherwise
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000303 PPM is emitted.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000304
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000305 -rle Select RLE output format. (Requires URT library.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000306
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000307 -targa Select Targa output format. Grayscale format is
308 emitted if the JPEG file is grayscale or if
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000309 -grayscale is specified; otherwise, colormapped format
310 is emitted if -colors is specified; otherwise, 24-bit
311 full-color format is emitted.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000312
313Switches for advanced users:
314
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000315 -dct int Use integer DCT method (default).
316 -dct fast Use fast integer DCT (less accurate).
DRC8940e6c2014-05-11 09:46:28 +0000317 In libjpeg-turbo, the fast method is generally about
318 5-15% faster than the int method when using the
319 x86/x86-64 SIMD extensions (results may vary with other
320 SIMD implementations, or when using libjpeg-turbo
321 without SIMD extensions.) If the JPEG image was
322 compressed using a quality level of 85 or below, then
323 there should be little or no perceptible difference
324 between the two algorithms. When decompressing images
325 that were compressed using quality levels above 85,
326 however, the difference between the fast and int
327 methods becomes more pronounced. With images
328 compressed using quality=97, for instance, the fast
329 method incurs generally about a 4-6 dB loss (in PSNR)
330 relative to the int method, but this can be larger for
331 some images. If you can avoid it, do not use the fast
332 method when decompressing images that were compressed
333 using quality levels above 97. The algorithm often
334 degenerates for such images and can actually produce
335 a more lossy output image than if the JPEG image had
DRC05524e62014-05-11 23:14:43 +0000336 been compressed using lower quality levels.
337 -dct float Use floating-point DCT method.
338 The float method is mainly a legacy feature. It does
339  not produce significantly more accurate results than
340 the int method, and it is much slower. The float
341 method may also give different results on different
342 machines due to varying roundoff behavior, whereas the
343 integer methods should give the same results on all
344 machines.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000345
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000346 -dither fs Use Floyd-Steinberg dithering in color quantization.
347 -dither ordered Use ordered dithering in color quantization.
348 -dither none Do not use dithering in color quantization.
349 By default, Floyd-Steinberg dithering is applied when
350 quantizing colors; this is slow but usually produces
351 the best results. Ordered dither is a compromise
352 between speed and quality; no dithering is fast but
353 usually looks awful. Note that these switches have
354 no effect unless color quantization is being done.
355 Ordered dither is only available in -onepass mode.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000356
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000357 -map FILE Quantize to the colors used in the specified image
358 file. This is useful for producing multiple files
359 with identical color maps, or for forcing a predefined
360 set of colors to be used. The FILE must be a GIF
361 or PPM file. This option overrides -colors and
362 -onepass.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000363
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000364 -nosmooth Use a faster, lower-quality upsampling routine.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000365
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000366 -onepass Use one-pass instead of two-pass color quantization.
367 The one-pass method is faster and needs less memory,
368 but it produces a lower-quality image. -onepass is
369 ignored unless you also say -colors N. Also,
DRC90d6c382014-05-12 09:08:39 +0000370 the one-pass method is always used for grayscale
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000371 output (the two-pass method is no improvement then).
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000372
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000373 -maxmemory N Set limit for amount of memory to use in processing
374 large images. Value is in thousands of bytes, or
375 millions of bytes if "M" is attached to the number.
376 For example, -max 4m selects 4000000 bytes. If more
377 space is needed, temporary files will be used.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000378
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000379 -verbose Enable debug printout. More -v's give more printout.
380 or -debug Also, version information is printed at startup.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000381
382
383HINTS FOR CJPEG
384
385Color GIF files are not the ideal input for JPEG; JPEG is really intended for
386compressing full-color (24-bit) images. In particular, don't try to convert
387cartoons, line drawings, and other images that have only a few distinct
388colors. GIF works great on these, JPEG does not. If you want to convert a
389GIF to JPEG, you should experiment with cjpeg's -quality and -smooth options
390to get a satisfactory conversion. -smooth 10 or so is often helpful.
391
392Avoid running an image through a series of JPEG compression/decompression
393cycles. Image quality loss will accumulate; after ten or so cycles the image
394may be noticeably worse than it was after one cycle. It's best to use a
395lossless format while manipulating an image, then convert to JPEG format when
396you are ready to file the image away.
397
398The -optimize option to cjpeg is worth using when you are making a "final"
399version for posting or archiving. It's also a win when you are using low
400quality settings to make very small JPEG files; the percentage improvement
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000401is often a lot more than it is on larger files. (At present, -optimize
402mode is always selected when generating progressive JPEG files.)
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000403
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000404Support for GIF input files was removed in cjpeg v6b due to concerns over
405the Unisys LZW patent. Although this patent expired in 2006, cjpeg still
406lacks GIF support, for these historical reasons. (Conversion of GIF files to
407JPEG is usually a bad idea anyway.)
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000408
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000409
410HINTS FOR DJPEG
411
412To get a quick preview of an image, use the -grayscale and/or -scale switches.
413"-grayscale -scale 1/8" is the fastest case.
414
415Several options are available that trade off image quality to gain speed.
416"-fast" turns on the recommended settings.
417
418"-dct fast" and/or "-nosmooth" gain speed at a small sacrifice in quality.
419When producing a color-quantized image, "-onepass -dither ordered" is fast but
420much lower quality than the default behavior. "-dither none" may give
421acceptable results in two-pass mode, but is seldom tolerable in one-pass mode.
422
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000423Two-pass color quantization requires a good deal of memory; on MS-DOS machines
424it may run out of memory even with -maxmemory 0. In that case you can still
425decompress, with some loss of image quality, by specifying -onepass for
426one-pass quantization.
427
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000428To avoid the Unisys LZW patent, djpeg produces uncompressed GIF files. These
429are larger than they should be, but are readable by standard GIF decoders.
430
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000431
432HINTS FOR BOTH PROGRAMS
433
434If more space is needed than will fit in the available main memory (as
435determined by -maxmemory), temporary files will be used. (MS-DOS versions
436will try to get extended or expanded memory first.) The temporary files are
437often rather large: in typical cases they occupy three bytes per pixel, for
438example 3*800*600 = 1.44Mb for an 800x600 image. If you don't have enough
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000439free disk space, leave out -progressive and -optimize (for cjpeg) or specify
440-onepass (for djpeg).
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000441
442On MS-DOS, the temporary files are created in the directory named by the TMP
443or TEMP environment variable, or in the current directory if neither of those
444exist. Amiga implementations put the temp files in the directory named by
445JPEGTMP:, so be sure to assign JPEGTMP: to a disk partition with adequate free
446space.
447
448The default memory usage limit (-maxmemory) is set when the software is
449compiled. If you get an "insufficient memory" error, try specifying a smaller
450-maxmemory value, even -maxmemory 0 to use the absolute minimum space. You
451may want to recompile with a smaller default value if this happens often.
452
453On machines that have "environment" variables, you can define the environment
454variable JPEGMEM to set the default memory limit. The value is specified as
455described for the -maxmemory switch. JPEGMEM overrides the default value
456specified when the program was compiled, and itself is overridden by an
457explicit -maxmemory switch.
458
459On MS-DOS machines, -maxmemory is the amount of main (conventional) memory to
460use. (Extended or expanded memory is also used if available.) Most
461DOS-specific versions of this software do their own memory space estimation
462and do not need you to specify -maxmemory.
463
464
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000465JPEGTRAN
466
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000467jpegtran performs various useful transformations of JPEG files.
468It can translate the coded representation from one variant of JPEG to another,
469for example from baseline JPEG to progressive JPEG or vice versa. It can also
470perform some rearrangements of the image data, for example turning an image
471from landscape to portrait format by rotation.
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000472
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000473jpegtran works by rearranging the compressed data (DCT coefficients), without
474ever fully decoding the image. Therefore, its transformations are lossless:
475there is no image degradation at all, which would not be true if you used
476djpeg followed by cjpeg to accomplish the same conversion. But by the same
477token, jpegtran cannot perform lossy operations such as changing the image
478quality.
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000479
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000480jpegtran uses a command line syntax similar to cjpeg or djpeg.
481On Unix-like systems, you say:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000482 jpegtran [switches] [inputfile] >outputfile
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000483On most non-Unix systems, you say:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000484 jpegtran [switches] inputfile outputfile
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000485where both the input and output files are JPEG files.
486
487To specify the coded JPEG representation used in the output file,
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000488jpegtran accepts a subset of the switches recognized by cjpeg:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000489 -optimize Perform optimization of entropy encoding parameters.
490 -progressive Create progressive JPEG file.
491 -arithmetic Use arithmetic coding.
492 -restart N Emit a JPEG restart marker every N MCU rows, or every
493 N MCU blocks if "B" is attached to the number.
494 -scans file Use the scan script given in the specified text file.
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000495See the previous discussion of cjpeg for more details about these switches.
496If you specify none of these switches, you get a plain baseline-JPEG output
497file. The quality setting and so forth are determined by the input file.
498
499The image can be losslessly transformed by giving one of these switches:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000500 -flip horizontal Mirror image horizontally (left-right).
501 -flip vertical Mirror image vertically (top-bottom).
502 -rotate 90 Rotate image 90 degrees clockwise.
503 -rotate 180 Rotate image 180 degrees.
504 -rotate 270 Rotate image 270 degrees clockwise (or 90 ccw).
505 -transpose Transpose image (across UL-to-LR axis).
506 -transverse Transverse transpose (across UR-to-LL axis).
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000507
508The transpose transformation has no restrictions regarding image dimensions.
509The other transformations operate rather oddly if the image dimensions are not
510a multiple of the iMCU size (usually 8 or 16 pixels), because they can only
511transform complete blocks of DCT coefficient data in the desired way.
512
513jpegtran's default behavior when transforming an odd-size image is designed
514to preserve exact reversibility and mathematical consistency of the
515transformation set. As stated, transpose is able to flip the entire image
516area. Horizontal mirroring leaves any partial iMCU column at the right edge
517untouched, but is able to flip all rows of the image. Similarly, vertical
518mirroring leaves any partial iMCU row at the bottom edge untouched, but is
519able to flip all columns. The other transforms can be built up as sequences
520of transpose and flip operations; for consistency, their actions on edge
521pixels are defined to be the same as the end result of the corresponding
522transpose-and-flip sequence.
523
524For practical use, you may prefer to discard any untransformable edge pixels
525rather than having a strange-looking strip along the right and/or bottom edges
526of a transformed image. To do this, add the -trim switch:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000527 -trim Drop non-transformable edge blocks.
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000528Obviously, a transformation with -trim is not reversible, so strictly speaking
529jpegtran with this switch is not lossless. Also, the expected mathematical
530equivalences between the transformations no longer hold. For example,
531"-rot 270 -trim" trims only the bottom edge, but "-rot 90 -trim" followed by
532"-rot 180 -trim" trims both edges.
533
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000534If you are only interested in perfect transformations, add the -perfect switch:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000535 -perfect Fail with an error if the transformation is not
536 perfect.
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000537For example, you may want to do
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000538 jpegtran -rot 90 -perfect foo.jpg || djpeg foo.jpg | pnmflip -r90 | cjpeg
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000539to do a perfect rotation, if available, or an approximated one if not.
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000540
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000541This version of jpegtran also offers a lossless crop option, which discards
542data outside of a given image region but losslessly preserves what is inside.
543Like the rotate and flip transforms, lossless crop is restricted by the current
544JPEG format; the upper left corner of the selected region must fall on an iMCU
545boundary. If it doesn't, then it is silently moved up and/or left to the
546nearest iMCU boundary (the lower right corner is unchanged.)
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000547
548The image can be losslessly cropped by giving the switch:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000549 -crop WxH+X+Y Crop to a rectangular region of width W and height H,
550 starting at point X,Y.
Guido Vollbeding5996a252009-06-27 00:00:00 +0000551
Guido Vollbeding989630f2010-01-10 00:00:00 +0000552Other not-strictly-lossless transformation switches are:
553
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000554 -grayscale Force grayscale output.
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000555This option discards the chrominance channels if the input image is YCbCr
556(ie, a standard color JPEG), resulting in a grayscale JPEG file. The
557luminance channel is preserved exactly, so this is a better method of reducing
558to grayscale than decompression, conversion, and recompression. This switch
559is particularly handy for fixing a monochrome picture that was mistakenly
560encoded as a color JPEG. (In such a case, the space savings from getting rid
561of the near-empty chroma channels won't be large; but the decoding time for
562a grayscale JPEG is substantially less than that for a color JPEG.)
563
564jpegtran also recognizes these switches that control what to do with "extra"
565markers, such as comment blocks:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000566 -copy none Copy no extra markers from source file. This setting
567 suppresses all comments and other excess baggage
568 present in the source file.
569 -copy comments Copy only comment markers. This setting copies
570 comments from the source file but discards
571 any other data that is inessential for image display.
572 -copy all Copy all extra markers. This setting preserves
573 miscellaneous markers found in the source file, such
574 as JFIF thumbnails, Exif data, and Photoshop settings.
575 In some files, these extra markers can be sizable.
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000576The default behavior is -copy comments. (Note: in IJG releases v6 and v6a,
577jpegtran always did the equivalent of -copy none.)
578
579Additional switches recognized by jpegtran are:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000580 -outfile filename
581 -maxmemory N
582 -verbose
583 -debug
Thomas G. Lane5ead57a1998-03-27 00:00:00 +0000584These work the same as in cjpeg or djpeg.
Thomas G. Lanebc79e061995-08-02 00:00:00 +0000585
586
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000587THE COMMENT UTILITIES
588
589The JPEG standard allows "comment" (COM) blocks to occur within a JPEG file.
590Although the standard doesn't actually define what COM blocks are for, they
591are widely used to hold user-supplied text strings. This lets you add
592annotations, titles, index terms, etc to your JPEG files, and later retrieve
593them as text. COM blocks do not interfere with the image stored in the JPEG
594file. The maximum size of a COM block is 64K, but you can have as many of
595them as you like in one JPEG file.
596
597We provide two utility programs to display COM block contents and add COM
598blocks to a JPEG file.
599
600rdjpgcom searches a JPEG file and prints the contents of any COM blocks on
601standard output. The command line syntax is
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000602 rdjpgcom [-raw] [-verbose] [inputfilename]
DRC39ea5622010-10-12 01:55:31 +0000603The switch "-raw" (or just "-r") causes rdjpgcom to output non-printable
604characters in JPEG comments. These characters are normally escaped for
605security reasons.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000606The switch "-verbose" (or just "-v") causes rdjpgcom to also display the JPEG
607image dimensions. If you omit the input file name from the command line,
608the JPEG file is read from standard input. (This may not work on some
609operating systems, if binary data can't be read from stdin.)
610
611wrjpgcom adds a COM block, containing text you provide, to a JPEG file.
612Ordinarily, the COM block is added after any existing COM blocks, but you
613can delete the old COM blocks if you wish. wrjpgcom produces a new JPEG
614file; it does not modify the input file. DO NOT try to overwrite the input
615file by directing wrjpgcom's output back into it; on most systems this will
616just destroy your file.
617
618The command line syntax for wrjpgcom is similar to cjpeg's. On Unix-like
619systems, it is
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000620 wrjpgcom [switches] [inputfilename]
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000621The output file is written to standard output. The input file comes from
622the named file, or from standard input if no input file is named.
623
624On most non-Unix systems, the syntax is
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000625 wrjpgcom [switches] inputfilename outputfilename
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000626where both input and output file names must be given explicitly.
627
628wrjpgcom understands three switches:
DRCb7753512014-05-11 09:36:25 +0000629 -replace Delete any existing COM blocks from the file.
630 -comment "Comment text" Supply new COM text on command line.
631 -cfile name Read text for new COM block from named file.
Thomas G. Lane36a4ccc1994-09-24 00:00:00 +0000632(Switch names can be abbreviated.) If you have only one line of comment text
633to add, you can provide it on the command line with -comment. The comment
634text must be surrounded with quotes so that it is treated as a single
635argument. Longer comments can be read from a text file.
636
637If you give neither -comment nor -cfile, then wrjpgcom will read the comment
638text from standard input. (In this case an input image file name MUST be
639supplied, so that the source JPEG file comes from somewhere else.) You can
640enter multiple lines, up to 64KB worth. Type an end-of-file indicator
641(usually control-D or control-Z) to terminate the comment text entry.
642
643wrjpgcom will not add a COM block if the provided comment string is empty.
644Therefore -replace -comment "" can be used to delete all COM blocks from a
645file.
646
647These utility programs do not depend on the IJG JPEG library. In
648particular, the source code for rdjpgcom is intended as an illustration of
649the minimum amount of code required to parse a JPEG file header correctly.