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1 USAGE instructions for the Independent JPEG Group's JPEG software |
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2 ================================================================= |
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3 |
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4 This file describes usage of the JPEG conversion programs cjpeg and djpeg, |
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5 as well as the utility programs jpegtran, rdjpgcom and wrjpgcom. (See |
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6 the other documentation files if you wish to use the JPEG library within |
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7 your own programs.) |
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8 |
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9 If you are on a Unix machine you may prefer to read the Unix-style manual |
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10 pages in files cjpeg.1, djpeg.1, jpegtran.1, rdjpgcom.1, wrjpgcom.1. |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 INTRODUCTION |
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14 |
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15 These programs implement JPEG image compression and decompression. JPEG |
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16 (pronounced "jay-peg") is a standardized compression method for full-color |
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17 and gray-scale images. JPEG is designed to handle "real-world" scenes, |
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18 for example scanned photographs. Cartoons, line drawings, and other |
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19 non-realistic images are not JPEG's strong suit; on that sort of material |
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20 you may get poor image quality and/or little compression. |
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21 |
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22 JPEG is lossy, meaning that the output image is not necessarily identical to |
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23 the input image. Hence you should not use JPEG if you have to have identical |
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24 output bits. However, on typical real-world images, very good compression |
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25 levels can be obtained with no visible change, and amazingly high compression |
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26 is possible if you can tolerate a low-quality image. You can trade off image |
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27 quality against file size by adjusting the compressor's "quality" setting. |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 GENERAL USAGE |
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31 |
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32 We provide two programs, cjpeg to compress an image file into JPEG format, |
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33 and djpeg to decompress a JPEG file back into a conventional image format. |
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34 |
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35 On Unix-like systems, you say: |
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36 cjpeg [switches] [imagefile] >jpegfile |
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37 or |
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38 djpeg [switches] [jpegfile] >imagefile |
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39 The programs read the specified input file, or standard input if none is |
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40 named. They always write to standard output (with trace/error messages to |
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41 standard error). These conventions are handy for piping images between |
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42 programs. |
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43 |
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44 On most non-Unix systems, you say: |
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45 cjpeg [switches] imagefile jpegfile |
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46 or |
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47 djpeg [switches] jpegfile imagefile |
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48 i.e., both the input and output files are named on the command line. This |
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49 style is a little more foolproof, and it loses no functionality if you don't |
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50 have pipes. (You can get this style on Unix too, if you prefer, by defining |
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51 TWO_FILE_COMMANDLINE when you compile the programs; see install.doc.) |
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52 |
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53 You can also say: |
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54 cjpeg [switches] -outfile jpegfile imagefile |
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55 or |
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56 djpeg [switches] -outfile imagefile jpegfile |
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57 This syntax works on all systems, so it is useful for scripts. |
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58 |
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59 The currently supported image file formats are: PPM (PBMPLUS color format), |
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60 PGM (PBMPLUS gray-scale format), BMP, Targa, and RLE (Utah Raster Toolkit |
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61 format). (RLE is supported only if the URT library is available.) |
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62 cjpeg recognizes the input image format automatically, with the exception |
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63 of some Targa-format files. You have to tell djpeg which format to generate. |
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64 |
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65 JPEG files are in the defacto standard JFIF file format. There are other, |
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66 less widely used JPEG-based file formats, but we don't support them. |
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67 |
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68 All switch names may be abbreviated; for example, -grayscale may be written |
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69 -gray or -gr. Most of the "basic" switches can be abbreviated to as little as |
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70 one letter. Upper and lower case are equivalent (-BMP is the same as -bmp). |
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71 British spellings are also accepted (e.g., -greyscale), though for brevity |
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72 these are not mentioned below. |
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73 |
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74 |
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75 CJPEG DETAILS |
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76 |
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77 The basic command line switches for cjpeg are: |
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78 |
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79 -quality N Scale quantization tables to adjust image quality. |
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80 Quality is 0 (worst) to 100 (best); default is 75. |
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81 (See below for more info.) |
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82 |
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83 -grayscale Create monochrome JPEG file from color input. |
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84 Be sure to use this switch when compressing a grayscale |
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85 BMP file, because cjpeg isn't bright enough to notice |
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86 whether a BMP file uses only shades of gray. By |
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87 saying -grayscale, you'll get a smaller JPEG file that |
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88 takes less time to process. |
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89 |
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90 -optimize Perform optimization of entropy encoding parameters. |
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91 Without this, default encoding parameters are used. |
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92 -optimize usually makes the JPEG file a little smaller, |
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93 but cjpeg runs somewhat slower and needs much more |
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94 memory. Image quality and speed of decompression are |
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95 unaffected by -optimize. |
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96 |
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97 -progressive Create progressive JPEG file (see below). |
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98 |
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99 -targa Input file is Targa format. Targa files that contain |
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100 an "identification" field will not be automatically |
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101 recognized by cjpeg; for such files you must specify |
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102 -targa to make cjpeg treat the input as Targa format. |
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103 For most Targa files, you won't need this switch. |
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104 |
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105 The -quality switch lets you trade off compressed file size against quality of |
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106 the reconstructed image: the higher the quality setting, the larger the JPEG |
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107 file, and the closer the output image will be to the original input. Normally |
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108 you want to use the lowest quality setting (smallest file) that decompresses |
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109 into something visually indistinguishable from the original image. For this |
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110 purpose the quality setting should be between 50 and 95; the default of 75 is |
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111 often about right. If you see defects at -quality 75, then go up 5 or 10 |
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112 counts at a time until you are happy with the output image. (The optimal |
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113 setting will vary from one image to another.) |
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114 |
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115 -quality 100 will generate a quantization table of all 1's, minimizing loss |
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116 in the quantization step (but there is still information loss in subsampling, |
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117 as well as roundoff error). This setting is mainly of interest for |
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118 experimental purposes. Quality values above about 95 are NOT recommended for |
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119 normal use; the compressed file size goes up dramatically for hardly any gain |
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120 in output image quality. |
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121 |
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122 In the other direction, quality values below 50 will produce very small files |
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123 of low image quality. Settings around 5 to 10 might be useful in preparing an |
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124 index of a large image library, for example. Try -quality 2 (or so) for some |
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125 amusing Cubist effects. (Note: quality values below about 25 generate 2-byte |
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126 quantization tables, which are considered optional in the JPEG standard. |
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127 cjpeg emits a warning message when you give such a quality value, because some |
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128 other JPEG programs may be unable to decode the resulting file. Use -baseline |
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129 if you need to ensure compatibility at low quality values.) |
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130 |
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131 The -progressive switch creates a "progressive JPEG" file. In this type of |
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132 JPEG file, the data is stored in multiple scans of increasing quality. If the |
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133 file is being transmitted over a slow communications link, the decoder can use |
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134 the first scan to display a low-quality image very quickly, and can then |
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135 improve the display with each subsequent scan. The final image is exactly |
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136 equivalent to a standard JPEG file of the same quality setting, and the total |
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137 file size is about the same --- often a little smaller. CAUTION: progressive |
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138 JPEG is not yet widely implemented, so many decoders will be unable to view a |
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139 progressive JPEG file at all. |
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140 |
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141 Switches for advanced users: |
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142 |
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143 -dct int Use integer DCT method (default). |
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144 -dct fast Use fast integer DCT (less accurate). |
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145 -dct float Use floating-point DCT method. |
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146 The float method is very slightly more accurate than |
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147 the int method, but is much slower unless your machine |
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148 has very fast floating-point hardware. Also note that |
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149 results of the floating-point method may vary slightly |
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150 across machines, while the integer methods should give |
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151 the same results everywhere. The fast integer method |
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152 is much less accurate than the other two. |
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153 |
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154 -restart N Emit a JPEG restart marker every N MCU rows, or every |
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155 N MCU blocks if "B" is attached to the number. |
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156 -restart 0 (the default) means no restart markers. |
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157 |
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158 -smooth N Smooth the input image to eliminate dithering noise. |
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159 N, ranging from 1 to 100, indicates the strength of |
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160 smoothing. 0 (the default) means no smoothing. |
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161 |
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162 -maxmemory N Set limit for amount of memory to use in processing |
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163 large images. Value is in thousands of bytes, or |
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164 millions of bytes if "M" is attached to the number. |
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165 For example, -max 4m selects 4000000 bytes. If more |
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166 space is needed, temporary files will be used. |
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167 |
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168 -verbose Enable debug printout. More -v's give more printout. |
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169 or -debug Also, version information is printed at startup. |
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170 |
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171 The -restart option inserts extra markers that allow a JPEG decoder to |
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172 resynchronize after a transmission error. Without restart markers, any damage |
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173 to a compressed file will usually ruin the image from the point of the error |
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174 to the end of the image; with restart markers, the damage is usually confined |
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175 to the portion of the image up to the next restart marker. Of course, the |
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176 restart markers occupy extra space. We recommend -restart 1 for images that |
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177 will be transmitted across unreliable networks such as Usenet. |
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178 |
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179 The -smooth option filters the input to eliminate fine-scale noise. This is |
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180 often useful when converting dithered images to JPEG: a moderate smoothing |
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181 factor of 10 to 50 gets rid of dithering patterns in the input file, resulting |
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182 in a smaller JPEG file and a better-looking image. Too large a smoothing |
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183 factor will visibly blur the image, however. |
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184 |
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185 Switches for wizards: |
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186 |
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187 -baseline Force baseline-compatible quantization tables to be |
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188 generated. This clamps quantization values to 8 bits |
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189 even at low quality settings. (This switch is poorly |
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190 named, since it does not ensure that the output is |
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191 actually baseline JPEG. For example, you can use |
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192 -baseline and -progressive together.) |
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193 |
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194 -qtables file Use the quantization tables given in the specified |
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195 text file. |
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196 |
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197 -qslots N[,...] Select which quantization table to use for each color |
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198 component. |
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199 |
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200 -sample HxV[,...] Set JPEG sampling factors for each color component. |
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201 |
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202 -scans file Use the scan script given in the specified text file. |
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203 |
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204 The "wizard" switches are intended for experimentation with JPEG. If you |
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205 don't know what you are doing, DON'T USE THEM. These switches are documented |
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206 further in the file wizard.doc. |
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207 |
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208 |
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209 DJPEG DETAILS |
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210 |
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211 The basic command line switches for djpeg are: |
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212 |
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213 -colors N Reduce image to at most N colors. This reduces the |
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214 or -quantize N number of colors used in the output image, so that it |
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215 can be displayed on a colormapped display or stored in |
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216 a colormapped file format. For example, if you have |
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217 an 8-bit display, you'd need to reduce to 256 or fewer |
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218 colors. (-colors is the recommended name, -quantize |
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219 is provided only for backwards compatibility.) |
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220 |
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221 -fast Select recommended processing options for fast, low |
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222 quality output. (The default options are chosen for |
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223 highest quality output.) Currently, this is equivalent |
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224 to "-dct fast -nosmooth -onepass -dither ordered". |
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225 |
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226 -grayscale Force gray-scale output even if JPEG file is color. |
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227 Useful for viewing on monochrome displays; also, |
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228 djpeg runs noticeably faster in this mode. |
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229 |
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230 -scale M/N Scale the output image by a factor M/N. Currently |
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231 the scale factor must be 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8. |
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232 Scaling is handy if the image is larger than your |
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233 screen; also, djpeg runs much faster when scaling |
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234 down the output. |
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235 |
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236 -bmp Select BMP output format (Windows flavor). 8-bit |
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237 colormapped format is emitted if -colors or -grayscale |
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238 is specified, or if the JPEG file is gray-scale; |
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239 otherwise, 24-bit full-color format is emitted. |
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240 |
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241 -gif Select GIF output format. Since GIF does not support |
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242 more than 256 colors, -colors 256 is assumed (unless |
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243 you specify a smaller number of colors). If you |
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244 specify -fast, the default number of colors is 216. |
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245 |
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246 -os2 Select BMP output format (OS/2 1.x flavor). 8-bit |
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247 colormapped format is emitted if -colors or -grayscale |
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248 is specified, or if the JPEG file is gray-scale; |
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249 otherwise, 24-bit full-color format is emitted. |
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250 |
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251 -pnm Select PBMPLUS (PPM/PGM) output format (this is the |
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252 default format). PGM is emitted if the JPEG file is |
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253 gray-scale or if -grayscale is specified; otherwise |
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254 PPM is emitted. |
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255 |
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256 -rle Select RLE output format. (Requires URT library.) |
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257 |
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258 -targa Select Targa output format. Gray-scale format is |
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259 emitted if the JPEG file is gray-scale or if |
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260 -grayscale is specified; otherwise, colormapped format |
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261 is emitted if -colors is specified; otherwise, 24-bit |
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262 full-color format is emitted. |
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263 |
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264 Switches for advanced users: |
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265 |
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266 -dct int Use integer DCT method (default). |
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267 -dct fast Use fast integer DCT (less accurate). |
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268 -dct float Use floating-point DCT method. |
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269 The float method is very slightly more accurate than |
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270 the int method, but is much slower unless your machine |
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271 has very fast floating-point hardware. Also note that |
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272 results of the floating-point method may vary slightly |
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273 across machines, while the integer methods should give |
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274 the same results everywhere. The fast integer method |
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275 is much less accurate than the other two. |
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276 |
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277 -dither fs Use Floyd-Steinberg dithering in color quantization. |
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278 -dither ordered Use ordered dithering in color quantization. |
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279 -dither none Do not use dithering in color quantization. |
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280 By default, Floyd-Steinberg dithering is applied when |
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281 quantizing colors; this is slow but usually produces |
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282 the best results. Ordered dither is a compromise |
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283 between speed and quality; no dithering is fast but |
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284 usually looks awful. Note that these switches have |
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285 no effect unless color quantization is being done. |
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286 Ordered dither is only available in -onepass mode. |
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287 |
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288 -map FILE Quantize to the colors used in the specified image |
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289 file. This is useful for producing multiple files |
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290 with identical color maps, or for forcing a predefined |
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291 set of colors to be used. The FILE must be a GIF |
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292 or PPM file. This option overrides -colors and |
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293 -onepass. |
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294 |
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295 -nosmooth Use a faster, lower-quality upsampling routine. |
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296 |
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297 -onepass Use one-pass instead of two-pass color quantization. |
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298 The one-pass method is faster and needs less memory, |
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299 but it produces a lower-quality image. -onepass is |
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300 ignored unless you also say -colors N. Also, |
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301 the one-pass method is always used for gray-scale |
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302 output (the two-pass method is no improvement then). |
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303 |
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304 -maxmemory N Set limit for amount of memory to use in processing |
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305 large images. Value is in thousands of bytes, or |
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306 millions of bytes if "M" is attached to the number. |
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307 For example, -max 4m selects 4000000 bytes. If more |
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308 space is needed, temporary files will be used. |
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309 |
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310 -verbose Enable debug printout. More -v's give more printout. |
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311 or -debug Also, version information is printed at startup. |
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312 |
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313 |
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314 HINTS FOR CJPEG |
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315 |
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316 Color GIF files are not the ideal input for JPEG; JPEG is really intended for |
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317 compressing full-color (24-bit) images. In particular, don't try to convert |
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318 cartoons, line drawings, and other images that have only a few distinct |
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319 colors. GIF works great on these, JPEG does not. If you want to convert a |
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320 GIF to JPEG, you should experiment with cjpeg's -quality and -smooth options |
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321 to get a satisfactory conversion. -smooth 10 or so is often helpful. |
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322 |
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323 Avoid running an image through a series of JPEG compression/decompression |
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324 cycles. Image quality loss will accumulate; after ten or so cycles the image |
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325 may be noticeably worse than it was after one cycle. It's best to use a |
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326 lossless format while manipulating an image, then convert to JPEG format when |
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327 you are ready to file the image away. |
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328 |
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329 The -optimize option to cjpeg is worth using when you are making a "final" |
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330 version for posting or archiving. It's also a win when you are using low |
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331 quality settings to make very small JPEG files; the percentage improvement |
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332 is often a lot more than it is on larger files. (At present, -optimize |
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333 mode is always selected when generating progressive JPEG files.) |
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334 |
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335 GIF input files are no longer supported, to avoid the Unisys LZW patent. |
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336 Use a Unisys-licensed program if you need to read a GIF file. (Conversion |
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337 of GIF files to JPEG is usually a bad idea anyway.) |
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338 |
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339 |
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340 HINTS FOR DJPEG |
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341 |
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342 To get a quick preview of an image, use the -grayscale and/or -scale switches. |
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343 "-grayscale -scale 1/8" is the fastest case. |
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344 |
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345 Several options are available that trade off image quality to gain speed. |
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346 "-fast" turns on the recommended settings. |
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347 |
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348 "-dct fast" and/or "-nosmooth" gain speed at a small sacrifice in quality. |
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349 When producing a color-quantized image, "-onepass -dither ordered" is fast but |
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350 much lower quality than the default behavior. "-dither none" may give |
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351 acceptable results in two-pass mode, but is seldom tolerable in one-pass mode. |
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352 |
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353 If you are fortunate enough to have very fast floating point hardware, |
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354 "-dct float" may be even faster than "-dct fast". But on most machines |
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355 "-dct float" is slower than "-dct int"; in this case it is not worth using, |
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356 because its theoretical accuracy advantage is too small to be significant |
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357 in practice. |
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358 |
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359 Two-pass color quantization requires a good deal of memory; on MS-DOS machines |
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360 it may run out of memory even with -maxmemory 0. In that case you can still |
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361 decompress, with some loss of image quality, by specifying -onepass for |
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362 one-pass quantization. |
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363 |
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364 To avoid the Unisys LZW patent, djpeg produces uncompressed GIF files. These |
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365 are larger than they should be, but are readable by standard GIF decoders. |
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366 |
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367 |
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368 HINTS FOR BOTH PROGRAMS |
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369 |
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370 If more space is needed than will fit in the available main memory (as |
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371 determined by -maxmemory), temporary files will be used. (MS-DOS versions |
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372 will try to get extended or expanded memory first.) The temporary files are |
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373 often rather large: in typical cases they occupy three bytes per pixel, for |
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374 example 3*800*600 = 1.44Mb for an 800x600 image. If you don't have enough |
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375 free disk space, leave out -progressive and -optimize (for cjpeg) or specify |
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376 -onepass (for djpeg). |
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377 |
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378 On MS-DOS, the temporary files are created in the directory named by the TMP |
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379 or TEMP environment variable, or in the current directory if neither of those |
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380 exist. Amiga implementations put the temp files in the directory named by |
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381 JPEGTMP:, so be sure to assign JPEGTMP: to a disk partition with adequate free |
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382 space. |
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383 |
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384 The default memory usage limit (-maxmemory) is set when the software is |
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385 compiled. If you get an "insufficient memory" error, try specifying a smaller |
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386 -maxmemory value, even -maxmemory 0 to use the absolute minimum space. You |
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387 may want to recompile with a smaller default value if this happens often. |
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388 |
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389 On machines that have "environment" variables, you can define the environment |
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390 variable JPEGMEM to set the default memory limit. The value is specified as |
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391 described for the -maxmemory switch. JPEGMEM overrides the default value |
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392 specified when the program was compiled, and itself is overridden by an |
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393 explicit -maxmemory switch. |
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394 |
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395 On MS-DOS machines, -maxmemory is the amount of main (conventional) memory to |
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396 use. (Extended or expanded memory is also used if available.) Most |
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397 DOS-specific versions of this software do their own memory space estimation |
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398 and do not need you to specify -maxmemory. |
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399 |
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400 |
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401 JPEGTRAN |
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402 |
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403 jpegtran performs various useful transformations of JPEG files. |
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404 It can translate the coded representation from one variant of JPEG to another, |
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405 for example from baseline JPEG to progressive JPEG or vice versa. It can also |
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406 perform some rearrangements of the image data, for example turning an image |
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407 from landscape to portrait format by rotation. |
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408 |
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409 jpegtran works by rearranging the compressed data (DCT coefficients), without |
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410 ever fully decoding the image. Therefore, its transformations are lossless: |
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411 there is no image degradation at all, which would not be true if you used |
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412 djpeg followed by cjpeg to accomplish the same conversion. But by the same |
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413 token, jpegtran cannot perform lossy operations such as changing the image |
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414 quality. |
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415 |
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416 jpegtran uses a command line syntax similar to cjpeg or djpeg. |
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417 On Unix-like systems, you say: |
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418 jpegtran [switches] [inputfile] >outputfile |
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419 On most non-Unix systems, you say: |
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420 jpegtran [switches] inputfile outputfile |
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421 where both the input and output files are JPEG files. |
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422 |
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423 To specify the coded JPEG representation used in the output file, |
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424 jpegtran accepts a subset of the switches recognized by cjpeg: |
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425 -optimize Perform optimization of entropy encoding parameters. |
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426 -progressive Create progressive JPEG file. |
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427 -restart N Emit a JPEG restart marker every N MCU rows, or every |
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428 N MCU blocks if "B" is attached to the number. |
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429 -scans file Use the scan script given in the specified text file. |
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430 See the previous discussion of cjpeg for more details about these switches. |
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431 If you specify none of these switches, you get a plain baseline-JPEG output |
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432 file. The quality setting and so forth are determined by the input file. |
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433 |
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434 The image can be losslessly transformed by giving one of these switches: |
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435 -flip horizontal Mirror image horizontally (left-right). |
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436 -flip vertical Mirror image vertically (top-bottom). |
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437 -rotate 90 Rotate image 90 degrees clockwise. |
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438 -rotate 180 Rotate image 180 degrees. |
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439 -rotate 270 Rotate image 270 degrees clockwise (or 90 ccw). |
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440 -transpose Transpose image (across UL-to-LR axis). |
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441 -transverse Transverse transpose (across UR-to-LL axis). |
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442 |
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443 The transpose transformation has no restrictions regarding image dimensions. |
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444 The other transformations operate rather oddly if the image dimensions are not |
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445 a multiple of the iMCU size (usually 8 or 16 pixels), because they can only |
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446 transform complete blocks of DCT coefficient data in the desired way. |
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447 |
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448 jpegtran's default behavior when transforming an odd-size image is designed |
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449 to preserve exact reversibility and mathematical consistency of the |
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450 transformation set. As stated, transpose is able to flip the entire image |
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451 area. Horizontal mirroring leaves any partial iMCU column at the right edge |
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452 untouched, but is able to flip all rows of the image. Similarly, vertical |
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453 mirroring leaves any partial iMCU row at the bottom edge untouched, but is |
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454 able to flip all columns. The other transforms can be built up as sequences |
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455 of transpose and flip operations; for consistency, their actions on edge |
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456 pixels are defined to be the same as the end result of the corresponding |
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457 transpose-and-flip sequence. |
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458 |
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459 For practical use, you may prefer to discard any untransformable edge pixels |
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460 rather than having a strange-looking strip along the right and/or bottom edges |
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461 of a transformed image. To do this, add the -trim switch: |
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462 -trim Drop non-transformable edge blocks. |
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463 Obviously, a transformation with -trim is not reversible, so strictly speaking |
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464 jpegtran with this switch is not lossless. Also, the expected mathematical |
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465 equivalences between the transformations no longer hold. For example, |
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466 "-rot 270 -trim" trims only the bottom edge, but "-rot 90 -trim" followed by |
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467 "-rot 180 -trim" trims both edges. |
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468 |
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469 Another not-strictly-lossless transformation switch is: |
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470 -grayscale Force grayscale output. |
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471 This option discards the chrominance channels if the input image is YCbCr |
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472 (ie, a standard color JPEG), resulting in a grayscale JPEG file. The |
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473 luminance channel is preserved exactly, so this is a better method of reducing |
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474 to grayscale than decompression, conversion, and recompression. This switch |
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475 is particularly handy for fixing a monochrome picture that was mistakenly |
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476 encoded as a color JPEG. (In such a case, the space savings from getting rid |
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477 of the near-empty chroma channels won't be large; but the decoding time for |
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478 a grayscale JPEG is substantially less than that for a color JPEG.) |
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479 |
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480 jpegtran also recognizes these switches that control what to do with "extra" |
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481 markers, such as comment blocks: |
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482 -copy none Copy no extra markers from source file. This setting |
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483 suppresses all comments and other excess baggage |
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484 present in the source file. |
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485 -copy comments Copy only comment markers. This setting copies |
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486 comments from the source file, but discards |
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487 any other inessential data. |
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488 -copy all Copy all extra markers. This setting preserves |
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489 miscellaneous markers found in the source file, such |
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490 as JFIF thumbnails and Photoshop settings. In some |
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491 files these extra markers can be sizable. |
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492 The default behavior is -copy comments. (Note: in IJG releases v6 and v6a, |
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493 jpegtran always did the equivalent of -copy none.) |
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494 |
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495 Additional switches recognized by jpegtran are: |
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496 -outfile filename |
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497 -maxmemory N |
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498 -verbose |
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499 -debug |
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500 These work the same as in cjpeg or djpeg. |
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501 |
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502 |
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503 THE COMMENT UTILITIES |
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504 |
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505 The JPEG standard allows "comment" (COM) blocks to occur within a JPEG file. |
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506 Although the standard doesn't actually define what COM blocks are for, they |
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507 are widely used to hold user-supplied text strings. This lets you add |
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508 annotations, titles, index terms, etc to your JPEG files, and later retrieve |
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509 them as text. COM blocks do not interfere with the image stored in the JPEG |
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510 file. The maximum size of a COM block is 64K, but you can have as many of |
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511 them as you like in one JPEG file. |
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512 |
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513 We provide two utility programs to display COM block contents and add COM |
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514 blocks to a JPEG file. |
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515 |
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516 rdjpgcom searches a JPEG file and prints the contents of any COM blocks on |
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517 standard output. The command line syntax is |
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518 rdjpgcom [-verbose] [inputfilename] |
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519 The switch "-verbose" (or just "-v") causes rdjpgcom to also display the JPEG |
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520 image dimensions. If you omit the input file name from the command line, |
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521 the JPEG file is read from standard input. (This may not work on some |
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522 operating systems, if binary data can't be read from stdin.) |
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523 |
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524 wrjpgcom adds a COM block, containing text you provide, to a JPEG file. |
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525 Ordinarily, the COM block is added after any existing COM blocks, but you |
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526 can delete the old COM blocks if you wish. wrjpgcom produces a new JPEG |
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527 file; it does not modify the input file. DO NOT try to overwrite the input |
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528 file by directing wrjpgcom's output back into it; on most systems this will |
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529 just destroy your file. |
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530 |
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531 The command line syntax for wrjpgcom is similar to cjpeg's. On Unix-like |
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532 systems, it is |
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533 wrjpgcom [switches] [inputfilename] |
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534 The output file is written to standard output. The input file comes from |
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535 the named file, or from standard input if no input file is named. |
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536 |
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537 On most non-Unix systems, the syntax is |
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538 wrjpgcom [switches] inputfilename outputfilename |
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539 where both input and output file names must be given explicitly. |
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540 |
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541 wrjpgcom understands three switches: |
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542 -replace Delete any existing COM blocks from the file. |
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543 -comment "Comment text" Supply new COM text on command line. |
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544 -cfile name Read text for new COM block from named file. |
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545 (Switch names can be abbreviated.) If you have only one line of comment text |
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546 to add, you can provide it on the command line with -comment. The comment |
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547 text must be surrounded with quotes so that it is treated as a single |
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548 argument. Longer comments can be read from a text file. |
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549 |
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550 If you give neither -comment nor -cfile, then wrjpgcom will read the comment |
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551 text from standard input. (In this case an input image file name MUST be |
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552 supplied, so that the source JPEG file comes from somewhere else.) You can |
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553 enter multiple lines, up to 64KB worth. Type an end-of-file indicator |
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554 (usually control-D or control-Z) to terminate the comment text entry. |
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555 |
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556 wrjpgcom will not add a COM block if the provided comment string is empty. |
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557 Therefore -replace -comment "" can be used to delete all COM blocks from a |
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558 file. |
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559 |
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560 These utility programs do not depend on the IJG JPEG library. In |
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561 particular, the source code for rdjpgcom is intended as an illustration of |
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562 the minimum amount of code required to parse a JPEG file header correctly. |