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- From: tgl@netcom.com (Tom Lane)
- Subject: JPEG image compression FAQ, part 2/2
- Message-ID: <jpeg-faq-p2_922674260@netcom.com>
- Followup-To: comp.graphics.misc
- Summary: System-specific hints and program recommendations for JPEG images
- Keywords: JPEG, image compression, FAQ, JPG, JFIF
- Supersedes: <jpeg-faq-p2_921456839@netcom.com>
- Reply-To: jpeg-info@uunet.uu.net
- Organization: Independent JPEG Group
- References: <jpeg-faq-p1_922674260@netcom.com>
- Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 02:24:34 GMT
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 02:24:20 GMT
- Lines: 864
- Sender: tgl@netcom17.netcom.com
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.graphics.misc:39156 comp.infosystems.www.authoring.images:33420 comp.answers:35586 news.answers:154475
-
- Archive-name: jpeg-faq/part2
- Posting-Frequency: every 14 days
- Last-modified: 28 March 1999
-
- This article answers Frequently Asked Questions about JPEG image compression.
- This is part 2, covering system-specific hints and program recommendations
- for a variety of computer systems. Part 1 covers general questions and
- answers about JPEG. As always, suggestions for improvement of this FAQ are
- welcome.
-
- New since version of 14 March 1999:
- * Added entries for PIE (Windows digicam utility) and Cameraid (Macintosh
- digicam utility).
- * New version of VuePrint (7.3).
-
-
- This article includes the following sections:
-
- General info:
-
- [1] What is covered in this FAQ?
- [2] How do I retrieve these programs?
-
- Programs and hints for specific systems:
-
- [3] X Windows
- [4] Unix (without X)
- [5] MS-DOS
- [6] Microsoft Windows
- [7] OS/2
- [8] Macintosh
- [9] Amiga
- [10] Atari ST
- [11] Acorn Archimedes
- [12] NeXT
- [13] Tcl/Tk
- [14] Other systems
-
- Source code for JPEG:
-
- [15] Freely available source code for JPEG
-
- Miscellaneous:
-
- [16] Which programs support progressive JPEG?
- [17] Where are FAQ lists archived?
-
-
- This article and its companion are posted every 2 weeks. If you can't find
- part 1, you can get it from the news.answers archive at rtfm.mit.edu
- (see "[17] Where are FAQ lists archived?"). This article changes frequently;
- get a new copy if the one you are reading is more than a couple months old.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [1] What is covered in this FAQ?
-
- This list describes programs that are of particular interest to JPEG users.
- For the most part, I concentrate on viewers, since a viewer program is the
- first thing you'll need. Some general image-editing programs are listed
- too, especially if they are useful as plain viewers (meaning that they can
- load and display an image as quickly and easily as a dedicated viewer).
- Programs that convert JPEG to and from other image file formats are also
- covered.
-
- I list only freeware and shareware programs that are available on the
- Internet by FTP. Commercial products are intentionally excluded, to keep
- the list to a reasonable size and to avoid any appearance of advertising.
- Also, I try to list only programs that are popular among Usenet users, as
- indicated by comments and recommendations in news articles. I have no
- access to many of the types of systems covered here, so I have to rely on
- what other people say about a program to decide whether to list it. If you
- have an opinion pro or con on any program, I'd appreciate hearing it.
-
- This FAQ also includes a few hints that are specific to a machine or
- program, and thus don't belong in the general discussion of part 1.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [2] How do I retrieve these programs?
-
- Almost all the files mentioned in this FAQ are available by standard
- Internet FTP. If you don't know how to use FTP, please read the article
- "Anonymous FTP FAQ List", which you can get by sending e-mail to
- mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the single line "send faqs/ftp-list/faq"
- in the body. (See also "[17] Where are FAQ lists archived?") This section
- gives some quick reminders which are not meant as a substitute for reading
- the FTP FAQ.
-
- If you use a WWW browser such as Netscape or Lynx, it will do FTP for you.
- To retrieve a file described here as "site.name:/path/to/file", tell the
- browser to open the URL "ftp://site.name/path/to/file". (If you are reading
- this FAQ in the WWW FAQ archive, the file names should appear as links that
- you can just click on.) Depending on your browser, you may have to shift-
- click or take some other special action to instruct the browser to save the
- file to disk, rather than trying to display the file to you.
-
- If you do not have direct access to FTP, you can use an "ftpmail" server to
- obtain files by e-mail. See the FTP FAQ for details.
-
- Many of the pointers given here refer to popular central archive sites,
- such as ftp.simtel.net for DOS software or sumex-aim.stanford.edu for Mac.
- These sites are often overloaded, and are likely to refuse your connection
- request when they are busy. You can try again at a less popular time of
- day, or you can look for a "mirror site". Most central archive sites have
- groups of mirror sites that keep copies of their files. Find out the name
- of the mirror site closest to you, and visit that site instead; it's good
- net citizenship and you'll get faster response. Check the FAQs for the
- newsgroups specific to your system type to find lists of mirror sites.
- (The archive site may list some mirror sites in its connection-refused error
- message. Unfortunately, some FTP programs won't show you the whole message.
- WWW browsers are often bad about this.)
-
- If you are able to reach the archive site, but the file you want doesn't
- exist, most likely it's been replaced by a newer version. Get a directory
- listing of the directory that's supposed to contain the file, and look for
- a file with a similar name but a higher version number. In a WWW browser,
- you can get a directory listing by removing the file name, that is opening
- the URL consisting of everything up to and including the last slash. (If
- you find an out-of-date reference in a *current* version of the JPEG FAQ,
- I'd appreciate hearing about it by e-mail.)
-
- Practically all of the files listed here are compressed archive files.
- This means you need to retrieve them in binary mode. (WWW browsers do this
- automatically, but many older FTP programs must be told to use binary mode.)
- Once you've got the archive file, you'll need a decompressor/dearchiver
- to extract the program and documentation files inside it. Check the FAQs
- for your system type to find out where to get dearchiver programs.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [3] X Windows
-
- XV is an excellent viewer for JPEG, GIF, and many other image formats.
- It can also do format conversion and some simple image manipulations.
- Current release is 3.10a, available from http://www.trilon.com/xv/ or from
- ftp.cis.upenn.edu:/pub/xv/. Shareware, $25. HINT: if you have an 8-bit
- display then you need to "lock 8-bit mode" to get decent display of JPEG
- images. (But do NOT do this if you intend to resave the image, because
- it'll be written from the 8-bit version, thus costing you image quality.)
- You can set this mode to be default by adding "xv.force8: true" to your
- .Xdefaults file. To override that default for editing, say "xv -24".
-
- Another excellent choice is John Cristy's free ImageMagick package, currently
- at release 4.1; see http://www.wizards.dupont.com/cristy/ImageMagick.html.
- This software handles many image processing and conversion tasks. The
- ImageMagick package provides a C/C++-callable library and a set of command
- line processing/display programs. Perl and Python interfaces to the
- ImageMagick library are also available.
-
- Both of the above are large, complex packages. If you just want a simple
- image viewer, try xloadimage or xli. xloadimage views and converts many
- image file types including JPEG. Version 4.1 has better JPEG support than
- prior versions and is easier to install. xloadimage is free and available
- from ftp.x.org:/R5contrib/xloadimage.4.1.tar.gz. xli is a variant version
- of xloadimage; xli is slightly better as an interactive viewer, but it can't
- be used as a converter, and it supports fewer file formats. xli is also
- free and available from ftp.x.org:/contrib/applications/xli.1.16.tar.gz.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [4] Unix (without X)
-
- If you want a command-line JPEG conversion program, see the IJG source code
- described in section 15. (This code is included as a subdirectory in most
- of the X programs described above, although they may not have the latest
- version.)
-
- Non-X viewers are hard to come by, since they are very hardware dependent.
- Linux users with VGA/SVGA displays may like zgv. Version 3.1 is available
- from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/apps/graphics/viewers/svga/zgv-3.1-bin.tar.gz.
- (Several other alternatives are available in the same directory.)
- If you use a less popular platform, you're probably out of luck.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [5] MS-DOS
-
- This covers plain DOS; for Windows or OS/2 programs, see the next sections.
-
- NOTE ABOUT SIMTEL FILES: The best-known Internet collection of PC-related
- programs is the Simtel archives (named for the original archive site, now
- defunct). The principal archive site for these files is ftp.simtel.net,
- which is the site referenced by the FTP pointers given below. However,
- there are numerous mirror sites that keep copies of the Simtel files.
- For quickest response you should use the mirror site closest to you.
- Consult the periodic postings in comp.archives.msdos.announce to find your
- nearest mirror site. If you have no FTP capability, the same postings will
- tell you how to retrieve Simtel files by e-mail. You can also access the
- Simtel archives via WWW at www.simtel.net.
-
- QPV (formerly called QPEG) is an extremely fast JPEG viewer. In exchange for
- speed, QPV gives up some image quality, particularly on 256-or-less-color
- displays. Its best feature is a really-fast small preview window, which is
- great for searching through lots of image files. Also views GIF,TGA,BMP,PNG.
- Requires 386-or-better CPU and VGA-or-better display card. Current version
- is 1.7e, from ftp.tu-clausthal.de:/pub/msdos/graphics/view/qpv17e.zip.
- Shareware, $20.
-
- SEA is a new JPEG/PNG/GIF/etc viewer and file-format converter. It is
- very very fast --- faster than QPV in most cases, according to the authors.
- Also, it can read progressive JPEGs; QPV can't. Current version is 1.3,
- available from ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/sea3.zip.
- Shareware, $30. Requires 386-or-better CPU and VESA-compatible display.
-
- DVPEG is a free viewer for JPEG, GIF, Targa, and PPM files. Current version
- is 3.0l, available from sunee.uwaterloo.ca:/pub/jpeg/viewers/dvpeg30l.zip.
- (That's lower case l, not digit 1.) This is a good basic viewer that comes
- in both 286 and 386-and-up versions. The user interface is clunky but
- functional. DVPEG is substantially faster than it used to be; on hi-color
- displays it is nearly as fast as QPV. On 8-bit displays, its two-pass
- quantization mode is slow but gives much better image quality than QPV can
- provide.
-
- Lesser-used DOS viewers include:
- * DISPLAY, alias DISP. The Swiss army knife of DOS viewers. Does almost
- everything, but a bit intimidating for newcomers. User interface is much
- improved over early versions, but still awkward in places. Requires 386
- or better. Freeware. Current version is 1.89, available from
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/disp189a.zip and disp189b.zip.
- * GDS. A well-done viewer and image converter for many image formats.
- Installation is simple, and the on-line documentation is very good.
- JPEG loading is a bit slower than the above viewers, though. Shareware,
- $40. Current version is 3.1f. A slightly restricted demo version is
- available from ftp.photodex.com:/gds31f.exe.
- * NVIEW. Views JPEG and half a dozen other image formats. Easy to use,
- very easy to install. Only moderately fast, but it has lots of options.
- Supports hi-color and true-color modes on some cards, but not mine :-(.
- Requires 386 or better. Current version is 1.50, available from
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/nview150.zip. Shareware, $29.
- * CSHOW or CompuShow (recently renamed 2SHOW). This is a widely used viewer
- for GIF and other formats. Versions prior to CSHOW 9.00 or 2SHOW 2.00 had
- absolutely abysmal JPEG support; if you have one of those, toss it and get
- a newer version. The current release is still the slowest DOS JPEG viewer
- listed here, but it's faster than it used to be, and image quality and
- robustness have improved substantially. The main reason to use CSHOW
- as a JPEG viewer is that it supports a wide range of pre-VGA display
- hardware (most of the above viewers require VGA or better). Also, CSHOW
- doesn't require a 386. Current version is 2.04, available from
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/2show204.zip. Shareware, $39.
-
- Due to the remarkable variety of PC graphics hardware, any one of these
- viewers might not work on your particular machine. If you can't get *any*
- of them to work, you'll need to use one of the following conversion programs
- to convert JPEG to GIF, then view with your favorite GIF viewer. (If you
- have hi-color hardware, don't use GIF as the intermediate format; try to
- find a hi-color BMP- or TARGA-capable viewer instead.)
-
- The free IJG JPEG converters are available from
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/jpeg6b.zip (or jpeg6b32.zip
- if you have a 386-or-better CPU and extended memory). These programs will
- convert JPEG to and from BMP, Targa, and PPM formats; they are DOS
- compilations of the free source code described in section 15.
-
- Handmade Software offers free JPEG<=>GIF conversion tools, GIF2JPG/JPG2GIF.
- These are quite slow and are limited to conversion to and from GIF format;
- thus they can't produce 24-bit color output from a JPEG. The sole advantage
- of these tools is that they will read and write HSI's proprietary JPEG
- format as well as the Usenet-standard JFIF format. Since HSI-format files
- are rather widespread on BBSes, this is a useful capability. Version 2.0
- of these tools is free (prior versions were shareware), and is available
- from ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/gif2jpg2.zip.
- NOTE: do not use HSI format for files to be posted on Usenet, since it is
- not readable by any non-HSI software.
-
- Handmade Software also has a shareware image conversion and manipulation
- package, Image Alchemy. This will translate JPEG files (both JFIF and HSI
- formats) to and from many other image formats. It can also display images.
- A demo version of Image Alchemy version 1.10 is available from
- http://www.handmadesw.com/hsi/download.html.
-
- JPGINDEX is a useful tool for making indexes of JPEG image collections.
- Available from ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/jpgidx13.zip.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [6] Microsoft Windows
-
- ACDSee is a very fast, easy to use JPEG/GIF/PNG/etc viewer. Good viewing
- and browsing capabilities, including a fast preview display; but no image
- editing or conversion functions. Both Windows 95/NT and Windows 3.1
- versions are available from http://www.acdvictoria.com/acd/download.html or
- ftp.acdsystems.com:/pub/acdsee32/. Shareware, $30.
-
- IrfanView is a popular viewer/converter for many formats including JPEG,
- PNG, and GIF. Requires Windows 95/NT. Current version is 2.83, available
- from ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/win95/graphics/iview283.zip. Free.
-
- LView Pro is a viewer/editor/converter for JPEG, GIF, BMP, and other
- formats. It offers a wide array of image editing functions and can load
- JPEGs in either fast/low-quality or slow/high-quality modes. Requires 386
- or better CPU. The current version, 1.D, runs under Windows 95, Windows NT,
- or Windows 3.1 with Win32s 32-bit extension. It's available from
- ftp.std.com:/ftp/vendors/mmedia/lview/lviewpro.zip. Shareware, $30.
- An older version that can run under vanilla Windows 3.1 is
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/win3/graphics/lviewp1b.zip.
-
- ThumbsPlus is an image browser and cataloger that handles many file formats.
- It can also do some editing and format conversion, but indexing a large
- image collection is what it's really aimed at. Current version is 3.20, at
- ftp.cerious.com:/pub/cerious/thmpls32.exe. Shareware, $70. Requires
- Windows 95 or NT, or Windows 3.1 with Win32s.
-
- VuePrint is a widely used viewer and printer for JPEG, GIF, BMP, and
- other formats. Shareware, $40. Version 7.3 is available from
- http://www.hamrick.com/.
-
- Another good viewer/browser/indexer is CompuPic, available from
- ftp.photodex.com:/cpic32.exe (Windows 95, NT, or 3.1+Win32s) or
- ftp.photodex.com:/cpic.exe (Windows 3.1). Shareware, $40.
-
- Many people like Paint Shop Pro. It's overkill as just a JPEG viewer
- (especially since image quality is not very good on 8-bit displays), but
- as an image editor and manipulator it is very strong. Current version is
- 4.1 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0; an older version is still available
- for Windows 3.1. Available from http://www.jasc.com/. Shareware, $69.
-
- WinJPEG displays and converts JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and other file formats.
- It has some other nifty features including screen capture, color-balance
- adjustment, and slideshow. Shareware, $25. The current version is 2.84,
- available from http://www.pixvision.com/html/downloads.html.
-
- WinECJ is a fast, no-frills viewer with image quality noticeably worse than
- most other JPEG viewers. (You can purchase a version with better image
- quality for AUD$30.) Version 1.2 is free and available from
- ftp.coast.net:/coast/win3/graphics/winecj12.zip.
-
- QPV and DVPEG (see previous section) work under Windows, but only in
- full-screen mode, not in a window. Also note that you can run the DOS
- conversion programs described earlier inside a Windows DOS window.
-
- JPEG Optimizer is a standalone JPEG compression program that lets you
- interactively preview the results of different compression settings. It
- also has both automatic and manual selective-compression ability: parts of
- the image that have finer detail or are more important can be compressed
- less heavily than parts with less detail. Shareware, $29. Requires Windows
- 95 or NT 4.0 or later. Available from http://www.xat.com/.
-
- PIE is a utility program designed for digital camera users: it can extract
- auxiliary information (exposure data, etc) that most digicams include in
- their JPEG output files. PIE can also do lossless rotation of JPEGs,
- something that you cannot do with traditional image editors (because loading
- and resaving in an editor incurs at least roundoff error). Requires Win32.
- Version 2.8 is available from http://www.snafu.de/~hoju/. Shareware, $19.
-
- Photoshop 4.0 supports progressive JPEG. If you have an older version,
- you can get a plugin that enables progressive JPEG loading and saving from
- Pegasus, http://www.jpg.com/. The plugin is free for loading, shareware
- ($29) for saving.
-
- Other Windows 95 native releases include:
- * PolyView. Reads JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, Photo-CD. Current version is 3.03,
- available from ftp.winsite.com:/pub/pc/win95/desktop/polyv303.zip.
- Shareware, $20.
-
- Other popular Windows NT-only viewers include:
- * PolyView. Reads JPEG, GIF, BMP, Photo-CD. Current version is 1.70,
- available from ftp.winsite.com:/pub/pc/winnt/misc/polyv170.zip.
- Shareware, $20.
-
- If you're a programmer looking for JPEG support under Windows, consider the
- free JPEG source code in item 15, or these pre-canned alternatives:
-
- TwistedPixel, an OCX component that reads and writes JPEG and other formats
- (and also does many other kinds of image manipulations), is available at
- http://home.earthlink.net/~bananasoft/twisted.htm. OCXs are usable by
- Visual Basic, Delphi, and other non-C programs. Shareware, $69. Requires
- Windows 95 or NT.
-
- ImgDLL is a Win32 DLL that reads and writes JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and BMP files
- and provides various image processing functions. Shareware, $15. Available
- from ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/win95/dll/imgdll33.zip.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [7] OS/2
-
- The most widely used OS/2 JPEG viewers are:
-
- PMJPEG 1.83: OS/2 2.x port of WinJPEG, a popular viewer/converter for
- Windows (see description in previous section). Shareware, $20. Available
- from http://www.pixvision.com/html/downloads.html.
-
- PMView 1.00: JPEG/GIF/BMP/Targa/etc viewer. GIF viewing very fast, JPEG
- viewing roughly the same speed as the above two programs. Has image
- manipulation & slideshow functions. Shareware, $35. Available from
- hobbes.nmsu.edu:/pub/os2/apps/graphics/viewer/pmvw100.zip.
-
- Galleria 2.31: JPEG/BMP/PCX/Targa/TIFF viewer/editor/converter.
- Shareware, $65. Available from
- hobbes.nmsu.edu:/pub/os2/apps/graphics/viewer/galleria231.zip.
-
- All of these viewers require Palette Manager for best display quality.
- Opinion seems to be about equally split as to which is the best, so try
- them all to see which one you like.
-
- JPEGPROC enables all OS/2 multimedia applications to read and write JPEG
- files. Available as part of the "Practice Viewer Upgrade" which also
- includes a multimedia browser alleged to be better than IB.EXE.
- Shareware. Available from hobbes.nmsu.edu:/pub/os2/dev/mm/pvu110.zip.
-
- OS/2 executables of the free IJG conversion programs are available from
- hobbes.nmsu.edu:/pub/os2/apps/graphics/imagepro/jpeg6a_os2a.zip.
-
- Note: the hobbes OS/2 collection is mirrored at ftp-os2.cdrom.com.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [8] Macintosh
-
- Most Mac JPEG programs rely on Apple's JPEG implementation, which is part of
- the QuickTime system extension; so you need to have QuickTime installed.
- To use QuickTime, you need a 68020 or better CPU and you need to be running
- System 6.0.7 or later. (If you're running System 6, you must also install
- the 32-bit QuickDraw extension; in later Systems, that is built in.) The
- latest officially released version of QuickTime is 3.0, available from
- http://www.apple.com/quicktime/.
-
- QuickTime 3.0 can read progressive JPEGs (but not write them). Older
- versions of QuickTime can't handle them at all, and are also more likely to
- crash if fed a corrupted JPEG. If you're using QuickTime-dependent programs
- to handle JPEG then I recommend upgrading to 3.0 pronto. (Note that many of
- the programs recommended in this section contain their own JPEG codecs and
- don't depend on QuickTime.)
-
- Mac users should keep in mind that QuickTime's JPEG format, PICT/JPEG, is
- not the same as the Usenet-standard JFIF JPEG format. (See part 1 for
- details.) If you post images on Usenet, make sure they are in JFIF format.
- Most of the programs mentioned here can handle either format.
-
- The largest Internet collection of Mac software is the Info-Mac archive,
- which is mirrored in many places (the master site is only directly
- accessible by the archivists themselves). The pointers below cite Apple
- Computer's mirror site, but you may get better service from a mirror site
- closer to you. See "Introductory Macintosh Frequently Asked Questions" in
- the comp.sys.mac.* newsgroups for the current locations of mirrors.
-
- JPEGView is an excellent free program for viewing JFIF,PICT/JPEG,GIF,TIFF,
- and other image files. It can convert between JFIF and PICT/JPEG and can
- create preview images for files. The current version is 3.3.1, available from
- http://www.umich.edu/~archive/mac/graphics/graphicsutil/jpegview3.31.sit.hqx.
- Requires System 7; QuickTime is optional. JPEGView is a fine viewer with an
- unusual but well-thought-out design (no scroll bars, for example).
- Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated in a long time, and is starting to show
- its age. There are reports of bugs under System 7.5.3 and later. Also, its
- built-in JPEG decoder doesn't know about progressive JPEG. If you like
- JPEGView, I suggest installing QuickTime 3.0 and setting JPEGView to use
- QuickTime.
-
- Jade is a new, very promising freeware viewer for JPEG, GIF, PICT, and
- BMP images. It's fast, simple to use, and has preview and slideshow
- capabilities. And it supports progressive JPEGs. Since JPEGView is no
- longer being updated, Jade will probably supersede it as the most popular
- free Mac JPEG viewer before long. Current version is 1.2, available from
- ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/Info-Mac.Archive/gst/grf/jade-12.hqx.
- Requires 68020 (or higher) or PowerPC, as well as System 7.5 (or later) or
- Thread Manager.
-
- GIFConverter, a shareware ($30) image viewer/editor/converter, supports
- JFIF,PICT/JPEG,PNG, and many other image formats. Current release is 2.4.4,
- available from http://www.kamit.com/gifconverter/. Requires System 6.0.5 or
- later. GIFConverter is not better than JPEGView as a plain JPEG/GIF viewer,
- but it has much more extensive image manipulation and format conversion
- capabilities. Also, GIFConverter is your best bet if your machine is too
- old to run System 7 and/or QuickTime. Hint: if GIFConverter runs out of
- memory while loading a large JPEG, try converting the file to GIF with JPEG
- Convert, then viewing the GIF version.
-
- GraphicConverter is another popular viewer/editor/converter. It has even
- more functionality than GIFConverter, but is correspondingly larger. Great
- if you like lots of options. Shareware, $35. Current version is 3.6,
- available from the author's website http://www.lemkesoft.de/ or various
- mirrors.
-
- Sam Bushell has prepared a couple of simple but nicely done drag-and-drop
- converter applications, "To JPEG" and "Progressify". To JPEG converts any
- file format understood by QuickTime to regular or progressive JPEG;
- Progressify converts losslessly between regular and progressive JPEG
- formats. Both are free and require System 7.0 or later. Available from
- http://www.pobox.com/~jsam/to-jpeg and
- http://www.pobox.com/~jsam/progressify.
-
- Cameraid is a useful utility program designed for users of digital cameras,
- but having general interest as well. It does image downloading from many
- makes of digicam, lossless rotation and other transformations of JPEGs,
- and display of auxiliary information that many digicams include in their
- JPEG output files. It's also a nice viewer. Version 1.1.1 is available
- from http://www.clinet.fi/~jmunkki/cameraid/. Shareware, $15.
-
- Photoshop 4.0 supports progressive JPEG. If you have an older version,
- you can get two different plugins that enable progressive JPEG support
- (they also work in other applications that support Photoshop plugins).
- One is ProJPEG, available from ftp.boxtopsoft.com:/pub/ProJPEG2.1.2.sit.hqx
- (shareware, $25). The other is JPEG Transmogrifier's plugin version,
- available from http://www.in-touch.com/jpeg.html (shareware, $22).
- ProJPEG is worthwhile even with PS 4.0, because it has a nifty preview
- of the results of different compression settings.
-
- HINT: You must set the file type code of a downloaded JPEG file to 'JPEG'
- to allow Photoshop to recognize it. Most of the other programs suggested
- here are not so picky about file type codes.
-
- HINT: if you use Fetch to retrieve files by FTP, make sure ".jpg" is in its
- list of binary file types under Customize/Suffix Mapping. Otherwise Fetch's
- "automatic" retrieval mode will retrieve JPEGs in text mode, thus corrupting
- the data. Old versions of Fetch do not include ".jpg" in the default list.
- Also, Fetch 3.0 is buggy; get 3.0.1 or later for reliable uploads.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [9] Amiga
-
- Most programs listed in this section are available from "AmiNet" archive
- sites. The master AmiNet site is wuarchive.wustl.edu, but there are many
- mirror sites and you should try to use the closest one.
-
- Osma Ahvenlampi posted a good review of Amiga picture viewers in
- comp.sys.amiga.reviews in March 1994. You can retrieve it from
- math.uh.edu:/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/software/graphics/PictureViewerSurvey_2.
- Opinions here are mostly stolen from his article.
-
- CyberShow is a well-regarded viewer and converter for many image
- formats including JPEG. It can do truecolor/highcolor display with
- CyberGraphics software and a suitable graphics board. Shareware, $25.
- Version 7.5 is available as a demo (displays grayscale only) from AmiNet
- sites, /pub/aminet/gfx/board/cybershow75.lha. Requires OS3.0 or better.
-
- FastView is a fast, high-quality JPEG/GIF/ILBM viewer. Works well on both
- ECS and AGA displays. Shareware, $15; requires OS 2.0. Version 2.0 is
- available from Aminet sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/show/FView20.lha.
-
- FastJPEG is a free JPEG viewer; it's fast and has good image quality, but it
- doesn't view any formats except JPEG. Somewhat faster than FastView on ECS
- machines, slower on AGA. Version 1.10 is available from Aminet sites, file
- /pub/aminet/gfx/show/FastJPEG_1.10.lha.
-
- HamLab Plus is an excellent JPEG viewer/converter, as well as being a
- general image manipulation tool. It's cheap (shareware, $20) and can read
- several formats besides JPEG. The current version is 2.0.8. A demo version
- is available from AmiNet sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/edit/hamlab208d.lha.
- The demo version will crop images larger than 512x512, but it is otherwise
- fully functional.
-
- PPShow is a good free JPEG/GIF/ILBM/ANIM/Datatype viewer. Version 4.0 is
- available from Aminet sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/show/PPShow40.lha. For
- viewing JPEGs it is a little slower than FastJPEG, and image quality is not
- as good (particularly on ECS machines).
-
- Rend24 (shareware, $30) is an image renderer that can display JPEG, ILBM,
- and GIF images. The program can be used to create animations, even
- capturing frames on-the-fly from rendering packages like Lightwave.
- The current version is 1.05, available from AmiNet sites, file
- /pub/aminet/gfx/aga/rend105.lha.
-
- Viewtek is a free JPEG/ILBM/GIF/ANIM viewer. The current version is 2.1,
- available from AmiNet sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/show/ViewTEK21.lha.
- Viewtek used to be the best free JPEG viewer for Amiga, but it now faces
- stiff competition. The choice depends on your display hardware and personal
- preferences. Viewtek has poor display quality on OCS/ECS (HAM6) screens;
- but it looks very good on AGA (HAM8).
-
- Visage is a free JPEG/ILBM/PNG/Datatypes viewer with lots of features,
- including progressive JPEG support (it even does progressive rendering).
- Requires OS3.0 or better. Version 39.14 is available from Aminet sites,
- file /pub/aminet/gfx/show/Visage.lha.
-
- There is finally a good JPEG datatype for use with datatype-based viewers
- (such as Multiview or ShowDT). Available from AmiNet sites, file
- /pub/aminet/util/dtype/jfif_dtc.lha. (The version dated 12/12/94
- has a bug; you should also get /pub/aminet/util/dtype/jfif_FIX.lha.)
-
- A newer JPEG datatype is now available that supports progressive JPEG.
- See AmiNet sites, file /pub/aminet/util/dtype/JFIFdt44.lha. Shareware.
-
- The free IJG JPEG software is available compiled for Amigas from AmiNet
- sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/conv/jpegV6bin.lha. (Despite the name, this
- is now version 6a.) These programs convert JPEG to/from PPM, GIF, BMP,
- Targa formats.
-
- If you have a DCTV box or a compatible display, try JPEGonDCTV. Available
- from AmiNet sites, file /pub/aminet/gfx/show/JPEGonDCTV100.lha. Viewtek is
- also reported to work well with DCTV.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [10] Atari ST
-
- GEM-View (shareware, $26) displays JPEG, GIF, and other image formats.
- FTP from atari.archive.umich.edu:/atari/Graphics/Gemview/gview248.lzh.
- This is a well regarded viewer. The English documentation tends to be a
- few versions behind, though.
-
- MGIF is a good free viewer/editor for JPEG and many other image formats.
- It's particularly good on monochrome monitors, where it manages to achieve
- four-level gray-scale effect by flickering; but it works on all Ataris.
- Version 5.00 is at atari.archive.umich.edu:/atari/Graphics/mgif500.lzh.
-
- 1stGuide is a small, fast viewer for all ST/TT/Falcon systems; it supports
- JPEG, PNG, and other file formats. Shareware, $35. Available from
- ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de:/pub/atari/View/1st-guide/1stguide.zip.
-
- The free IJG JPEG software is available compiled for Atari ST/TT/etc
- from ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de:/pub/atari/Graphic/jpg6btos.zip.
- These programs convert JPEG to/from PPM, BMP, Targa formats.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [11] Acorn Archimedes
-
- The Acorn archive at micros.hensa.ac.uk contains several JPEG-capable
- programs. Read the file micros.hensa.ac.uk:/micros/arch/riscos/index
- for retrieval instructions. Recommended archive entries include:
-
- b008 FYEO 2.02: For Your Eyes Only, fast JPEG/GIF image viewer (shareware)
- a110 JPEG 6.a: IJG v6a software (JPEG<=>PPM,GIF,Targa) w/ desktop front end
- a121 ChangeFSI 1.15: image format conversion and viewing
- e018 SwiftJPEG 0.09: fast JPEG viewer, requires SpriteExtend 0.99
-
- Another widely used image viewer/converter is Translator. Current release
- is 8.02, from http://www.inter.nl.net/users/J.Kortink. Shareware.
-
- SpriteExtend 0.99 comes with ROS 3.6, and is available for ROS 3.5 from
- ftp.acorn.co.uk:/pub/riscos/releases/spriteextend.arc. It provides very
- fast JPEG decoding, but sacrifices image quality on 256-color displays.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [12] NeXT
-
- OmniImageFilter is a filter package that converts NeXTStep TIFF to and from
- about 30 image formats. It reads JPEG but does not write it. It works with
- most NeXTStep programs that handle drag-and-drop. OmniImage is a simple
- image viewer that uses the filter package. Both are free. Available from
- ftp.omnigroup.com:/pub/software/OmniImageFilter-3.0.pkg.tar and
- ftp.omnigroup.com:/pub/software/OmniImage-3.0.1.pkg.tar.
-
- ImageViewer is a PD utility that displays images and can do some format
- conversions. The current version reads JPEG but does not write it.
- ImageViewer is available from the NeXT archives at sonata.cc.purdue.edu and
- cs.orst.edu:/pub/next/3.0/bin/ImageViewer0.9i.tar.Z. Note that there
- is an older version floating around that does not support JPEG.
-
- The "imagetools" archive at ftp.thoughtport.com:/pub/next/graphics/ includes
- NeXTStep compiled binaries for a wide array of free image manipulation tools
- including the IJG JPEG tools.
-
- NeXTStep includes built-in support for TIFF/JPEG, but not for the
- Usenet-standard JFIF format. Be warned that the TIFF/JPEG standard is
- about to change away from the flavor currently produced by NeXTStep,
- so compatibility with other platforms is doubtful.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [13] Tcl/Tk
-
- Jan Nijtmans' "Img" package is a dynamically loadable Tcl/Tk extension that
- adds full support for JPEG, PNG, and TIFF images to the Tk photo widget.
- There are a number of incomplete JPEG Tk extensions floating around the net,
- but this is the only one I'd recommend. Version 1.1.4 is free and available
- from http://home.wxs.nl/~nijtmans/img.html (source code and some binary
- distributions). Works on Unix and Windows; no Mac port yet.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [14] Other systems
-
- If you don't see what you want for your machine, check out the free IJG
- source code described in the next section. Assuming you have a C compiler
- and at least a little knowledge of compiling C programs, you should be able
- to prepare JPEG conversion programs from the source code. You'll also need
- a viewer program. If your display is 8 bits or less, any GIF viewer will do
- fine; if you have a display with more color capability, try to find a viewer
- that can read Targa, BMP, or PPM 24-bit image files.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [15] Freely available source code for JPEG
-
- Free, portable C code for JPEG compression is available from the Independent
- JPEG Group. Source code, documentation, and test files are included.
- Version 6b is available from ftp.uu.net:/graphics/jpeg/jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz.
- If you are on a PC you may prefer ZIP archive format, which you can find at
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/jpegsr6b.zip (or at any
- Simtel mirror site). On CompuServe, see the Graphics Learning forum
- (GO CIS:LEARN), library 12 "JPEG Tools", file jpegsr6b.zip.
-
- The IJG code includes a reusable JPEG compression/decompression library,
- plus sample applications "cjpeg" and "djpeg", which perform conversion
- between JPEG JFIF format and image files in PPM/PGM (PBMPLUS), BMP,
- Utah RLE, and Targa formats. A third application "jpegtran" provides
- lossless transcoding between different JPEG formats --- for example, it can
- convert a baseline JPEG file to an equivalent progressive JPEG file.
- jpegtran can also do lossless rotation and flipping of JPEG files. Two
- small applications "wrjpgcom" and "rdjpgcom" insert and extract textual
- comments in JFIF files. The package is highly portable; it has been used
- successfully on many machines ranging from Apple IIs to Crays.
-
- The IJG code is free for both noncommercial and commercial use; only an
- acknowledgement in your documentation is required to use it in a product.
- (See the README file in the distribution for details.)
-
- The IJG code has recently been translated into Pascal --- see
- ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/msdos/turbopas/pasjpg10.zip. This version
- has been tested under Turbo Pascal and Delphi, and it should be portable
- to compatible Pascal compilers.
-
-
- A different free JPEG implementation, written by the PVRG group at Stanford,
- is available from havefun.stanford.edu:/pub/jpeg/JPEGv1.2.1.tar.Z. The PVRG
- code is designed for research and experimentation rather than production
- use; it is slower, harder to use, and less portable than the IJG code, but
- the PVRG code is easier to understand. Also, the PVRG code supports (the
- original form of) lossless JPEG, while the IJG code does not. But PVRG does
- not support progressive JPEG.
-
- There's also a lossless-JPEG-only implementation available from Cornell,
- ftp.cs.cornell.edu:/pub/multimed/ljpg.tar.Z. Caution: the Cornell coder
- is known to have bugs for 16-bit data.
-
- Neither the PVRG nor Cornell codecs are being actively maintained, but the
- IJG code is.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [16] Which programs support progressive JPEG?
-
- With luck, this will only be a Frequently Asked Question for a short time,
- after which most JPEG-supporting programs will have been upgraded to include
- p-JPEG capability. But right now it's a hot topic. Here's the latest
- I've heard (if you have newer info, please send mail):
-
- WWW Browsers:
-
- Netscape 2.0b1 (Unix/X, Windows, Mac, OS/2): full implementation
-
- Spyglass Enhanced Mosaic 2.1 (Unix/X, Windows, Mac): full implementation
- (Note: lots of other people license Spyglass' code, but I don't know
- which licensees are shipping the latest version.)
-
- Netshark 1.1 (Windows, Mac): full implementation
-
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 (Windows): no incremental display
- (there are rumors that MSIE 5 will finally do progressive display properly)
-
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 (Mac): full implementation
-
- AOL 3.0 (Windows, Mac): full implementation
-
- Java 1.0 (Windows 95/NT, Solaris, more coming): full implementation
-
- OmniWeb 2.0 (NeXTStep): full implementation
-
- Wollongong's Emissary 1.1 (Windows): full implementation (? not sure)
-
- I-Comm 1.09beta (Windows): full implementation (?)
-
- UdiWWW 1.0.010 (Windows): full implementation
-
- NCSA Mac Mosaic 3.0a2 (Mac): full implementation
-
- NCSA Windows Mosaic 2.1.1 (Windows): reads p-JPEG, no incremental display
-
- NCSA X Mosaic 2.7b2 (Unix/X): reads p-JPEG, no incremental display
-
- Arena beta-1e (Unix/X): reads p-JPEG, no incremental display
-
- Fresco 0.72 (Acorn): reads p-JPEG; full incremental display in Release II
-
- (A browser that doesn't do incremental display of images won't be able to
- give you the progressive effect, but it's still useful to have p-JPEG
- compatibility so that you can at least see the image.)
-
- See "BrowserWatch" at http://www.browserwatch.com/ for contact information
- for these browsers. Versions mentioned are the first to support p-JPEG,
- not necessarily the current release.
-
-
- Image Viewers & Converters:
-
- See the appropriate prior sections for exact pointers to these programs.
- Note that image viewers generally won't bother with doing incremental
- display of p-JPEG files; they'll just read them in one pass for speed.
-
- IJG command-line programs (almost any platform): see section 15 for source
- code. Precompiled executables are also available for some platforms;
- see subject heading for your system. You need v6 or later.
-
- XV (Unix/X): recompile v3.10 with IJG v6 to read p-JPEG
-
- ImageMagick (Unix/X): 3.6.6 or later
-
- ACDSee16 (Windows 3.1): 2.0 or later
-
- ACDSee32 (Windows 95/NT): 1.0 or later
-
- LView Pro (Windows 95/NT, or Win 3.1 + Win32s): 1.C or later
-
- Paint Shop Pro (Windows 95/NT): 4.0 or later
-
- PolyView (Windows 95): 2.18 or later
-
- ThumbsPlus (Windows 95/NT, or Win 3.1 + Win32s): 3.0c or later
-
- VuePrint (Windows): 5.0 or later
-
- DISPLAY (DOS): 1.89 or later
-
- SEA (DOS): 1.2b or later
-
- JPEGPROC (OS/2): 1.1.0 or later
-
- PMView (OS/2): 0.92 or later
-
- Adobe Photoshop (Mac, Windows): 4.0 or later
-
- Jade (Mac): all versions
-
- GIFConverter (Mac): 2.4 or later
-
- GraphicConverter (Mac): 2.3.1 or later
-
- ProJPEG (Mac Photoshop plugin): all versions
-
- JPEG Transmogrifier (Mac Photoshop plugin): all versions
-
- DeBabelizer (Mac): 1.6.5 or later
-
- akJFIF datatype (Amiga): 40.1 or later
-
- CyberShow (Amiga): 7.1 or later
-
- Visage (Amiga): 39.12 or later
-
- 1stGuide (Atari): 10.Jan.96 or later
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: [17] Where are FAQ lists archived?
-
- Many FAQs are crossposted to news.answers. Well-run netnews sites will have
- the latest versions available in that newsgroup. However, there are a *lot*
- of postings in news.answers, and they can be hard to sort through.
-
- The latest versions of news.answers postings are archived at rtfm.mit.edu.
- You can retrieve this FAQ by FTP as rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/faqs/jpeg-faq/part1
- and rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/faqs/jpeg-faq/part2. If you have no FTP access,
- send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu containing the lines
- send faqs/jpeg-faq/part1
- send faqs/jpeg-faq/part2
- (If you don't get a reply, the server may be misreading your return address;
- add a line such as "path myname@mysite" to specify your correct e-mail
- address to reply to.) For more info about the FAQ archive, retrieve the
- file rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/faqs/news-answers/introduction.
-
- The same FAQs are also available from several places on the World Wide Web,
- of which my favorite is http://www.faqs.org/faqs/.
- This FAQ is http://www.faqs.org/faqs/jpeg-faq/.
- Other popular WWW FAQ archives include http://www.cs.ruu.nl/cgi-bin/faqwais
- and http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/.
-
- --
- tom lane
- organizer, Independent JPEG Group
- tgl@netcom.com or tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us
-