ppmtojpeg

PNMTOJPEG(1)                General Commands Manual               PNMTOJPEG(1)

NAME
       pnmtojpeg - convert PNM image to a JFIF ("JPEG") image

SYNOPSIS
       pnmtojpeg [ options ] [ filename ]

DESCRIPTION
       pnmtojpeg  converts the named PBM, PGM, or PPM image file, or the stan-
       dard input if no file is named, to a JFIF file on the standard output.

       pnmtojpeg uses the Independent JPEG Group's JPEG library to create  the
       output file.  See http://www.ijg.org for information on the library.

       "JFIF"  is  the  correct  name  for  the image format commonly known as
       "JPEG."  Strictly speaking, JPEG is a method of compression.  The image
       format  using  JPEG compression that is by far the most common is JFIF.
       There is also a subformat of TIFF that uses JPEG compression.

       EXIF is an image format that is a subformat of JFIF  (to  wit,  a  JFIF
       file  that  contains an EXIF header as an APP1 marker).  pnmtojpeg cre-
       ates an EXIF image when you specify the -exif option.

OPTIONS
       The basic options are:

       --exif=filespec
              This option specifies that the output image is  to  be  EXIF  (a
              subformat  of  JFIF), i.e. it will have an EXIF header as a JFIF
              APP1 marker.  The contents of that marker are  the  contents  of
              the  specified file.  The special value - means to read the EXIF
              header contents from standard input.  It is invalid  to  specify
              standard input for both the EXIF header and the input image.

              The  EXIF  file starts with a two byte field which is the length
              of the file, including the length field, in  pure  binary,  most
              significant  byte  first.   The  special  value  of zero for the
              length field means there is to be no EXIF header, i.e. the  same
              as  no -exif option.  This is useful for when you convert a file
              from JFIF to PNM using jpegtopnm, then transform it,  then  con-
              vert  it back to JFIF with pnmtojpeg, and you don't know whether
              or not it includes an EXIF header.  jpegtopnm  creates  an  EXIF
              file  containing  nothing  but  two bytes of zero when the input
              JFIF file has no EXIF header.  Thus, you can transfer  any  EXIF
              header  from  the input JFIF to the output JFIF without worrying
              about whether an EXIF header actually exists.

              The contents of the EXIF file after the length field are the ex-
              act  byte for byte contents of the APP1 marker, not counting the
              length field, that constitutes the EXIF header.

       --quality=n
              Scale quantization tables to  adjust  image  quality.   n  is  0
              (worst)  to  100  (best);  default  is  75.  (See below for more
              info.)

       --grayscale

       --greyscale
              Create gray scale JFIF file.  With this option,  pnmtojpeg  con-
              verts  color input to gray scale.  If you don't specify this op-
              tion, The output file is in color format if the  input  is  PPM,
              and grayscale format if the input is PBM or PGM.

              In  the  PPM input case, even if all the colors in the image are
              gray, the output is in color format.  Of course, the  colors  in
              it are still gray.  The difference is that color format takes up
              a lot more space and takes longer to create and process.

       --optimize
              Perform optimization of entropy  encoding  parameters.   Without
              this,  pnmtojpeg  uses  default encoding parameters.  --optimize
              usually makes the JFIF file a little smaller, but pnmtojpeg runs
              somewhat  slower  and needs much more memory.  Image quality and
              speed of decompression are unaffected by --optimize.

       --progressive
              Create a progressive JPEG file (see below).

       --comment=text
              Include a comment marker in the JFIF output, with  comment  text
              text.   Without this option, there are no comment markers in the
              output.

       The --quality option lets you trade off compressed  file  size  against
       quality of the reconstructed image: the higher the quality setting, the
       larger the JFIF file, and the closer the output image will  be  to  the
       original  input.   Normally  you want to use the lowest quality setting
       (smallest file) that decompresses  into  something  visually  indistin-
       guishable  from  the original image.  For this purpose the quality set-
       ting should be between 50 and 95; the default  of  75  is  often  about
       right.   If  you see defects at --quality=75, then go up 5 or 10 counts
       at a time until you are happy with the output image.  (The optimal set-
       ting will vary from one image to another.)

       --quality=100  generates  a  quantization  table of all 1's, minimizing
       loss in the quantization step (but there is still information  loss  in
       subsampling, as well as roundoff error).  This setting is mainly of in-
       terest for experimental purposes.  Quality values above  about  95  are
       not  recommended  for normal use; the compressed file size goes up dra-
       matically for hardly any gain in output image quality.

       In the other direction, quality values below 50 will produce very small
       files of low image quality.  Settings around 5 to 10 might be useful in
       preparing an index of a large image library, for example.  Try  --qual-
       ity=2  (or  so) for some amusing Cubist effects.  (Note: quality values
       below about 25 generate 2-byte quantization tables, which  are  consid-
       ered  optional in the JFIF standard.  pnmtojpeg emits a warning message
       when you give such a quality value, because some  other  JFIF  programs
       may be unable to decode the resulting file.  Use --baseline if you need
       to ensure compatibility at low quality values.)

       The --progressive option creates a "progressive JPEG"  file.   In  this
       type  of  JFIF file, the data is stored in multiple scans of increasing
       quality.  If the file is being transmitted over a  slow  communications
       link, the decoder can use the first scan to display a low-quality image
       very quickly, and can then improve the  display  with  each  subsequent
       scan.  The final image is exactly equivalent to a standard JFIF file of
       the same quality setting, and the total file size is about the same  --
       often  a  little  smaller.  Caution: progressive JPEG is not yet widely
       implemented, so many decoders will be unable to view a progressive JPEG
       file at all.

       Options for advanced users:

       --dct=int
              Use integer DCT method (default).

       --dct=fast
              Use fast integer DCT (less accurate).

       --dct=float
              Use  floating-point  DCT  method.   The  float  method  is  very
              slightly more accurate than the int method, but is  much  slower
              unless your machine has very fast floating-point hardware.  Also
              note that results of the floating-point method may vary slightly
              across  machines, while the integer methods should give the same
              results everywhere.  The fast integer method is much less  accu-
              rate than the other two.

       --restart=n
              Emit  a  JPEG  restart  marker  every n MCU rows, or every n MCU
              blocks if you append B to the number.  --restart 0 (the default)
              means no restart markers.

       --smooth=n
              Smooth the input image to eliminate dithering noise.  n, ranging
              from 1 to 100, indicates the strength of smoothing.  0 (the  de-
              fault) means no smoothing.

       --maxmemory=n
              Set  a limit for amount of memory to use in processing large im-
              ages.  Value is in thousands of bytes, or millions of  bytes  if
              you  append  M  to  the  number.   For example, --max=4m selects
              4,000,000 bytes.  If pnmtojpeg needs more  space,  it  will  use
              temporary files.

       --verbose
              Print  to  the Standard Error file messages about the conversion
              process.  This can be helpful in debugging problems.

       The --restart option tells pnmtojpeg to insert extra markers that allow
       a  JPEG  decoder  to resynchronize after a transmission error.  Without
       restart markers, any damage to a compressed file will usually ruin  the
       image from the point of the error to the end of the image; with restart
       markers, the damage is usually confined to the portion of the image  up
       to  the next restart marker.  Of course, the restart markers occupy ex-
       tra space.  We recommend --restart=1 for images that will be  transmit-
       ted across unreliable networks such as Usenet.

       The  --smooth  option  filters the input to eliminate fine-scale noise.
       This is often useful when converting dithered images to JFIF:  a moder-
       ate  smoothing factor of 10 to 50 gets rid of dithering patterns in the
       input file, resulting in a smaller JFIF file and a  better-looking  im-
       age.   Too  large  a smoothing factor will visibly blur the image, how-
       ever.

       Options for wizards:

       --baseline
              Force baseline-compatible quantization tables to  be  generated.
              This  clamps  quantization  values to 8 bits even at low quality
              settings.  (This switch is poorly named, since it does  not  en-
              sure  that  the  output is actually baseline JPEG.  For example,
              you can use --baseline and --progressive together.)

       --qtables=filespec
              Use the quantization tables given in the specified text file.

       --qslots=n[,...]
              Select which quantization table to use for each color component.

       --sample=HxV[,...]
              Set JPEG sampling factors for each color component.

       --scans=filespec
              Use the scan script given in the specified text file.  See below
              for information on scan scripts.

       The  "wizard"  options  are intended for experimentation with JPEG.  If
       you don't know what you are doing, don't use them.  These switches  are
       documented  further in the file wizard.doc that comes with the Indepen-
       dent JPEG Group's JPEG library.

EXAMPLES
       This example compresses the PPM file foo.ppm with a quality  factor  of
       60 and saves the output as foo.jpg:

              pnmtojpeg --quality=60 foo.ppm > foo.jpg

              cat foo.bmp | bmptoppm | pnmtojpeg > foo.jpg

HINTS
       JFIF  is  not  ideal for cartoons, line drawings, and other images that
       have only a few distinct colors.  For those, try  instead  pnmtopng  or
       ppmtobmp.   If  you  need to convert such an image to JFIF, though, you
       should experiment with pnmtojpeg's --quality and  --smooth  options  to
       get a satisfactory conversion.  --smooth 10 or so is often helpful.

       JPEG  compression is notable for being a "lossy."  This means that, un-
       like with most graphics conversions, you lose information, which  means
       image  quality,  when  you convert to JFIF.  If you convert from PPM to
       JFIF and back repeatedly, image quality loss  will  accumulate.   After
       ten  or  so  cycles the image may be noticeably worse than it was after
       one cycle.

       Because of this, you should do all the manipulation you have to  do  on
       the  image  in  some other format and convert to JFIF as the last step.
       And if you can keep a copy in the original format, so much the  better.
       PNG is a good choice for a format that is lossless, yet fairly compact.
       GIF is another way to go, but chances are you can't create a GIF  image
       without  owing  a lot of money to Unisys and IBM, holders of patents on
       the LZW compression used in the GIF format.

       The --optimize option to pnmtojpeg is worth using when you are making a
       "final" version for posting or archiving.  It's also a win when you are
       using low quality settings to make very small JFIF files; the  percent-
       age  improvement  is  often a lot more than it is on larger files.  (At
       present, --optimize mode is automatically in effect when you generate a
       progressive JPEG file).

       Another  program,  cjpeg, is similar.  cjpeg is maintained by the Inde-
       pendent JPEG Group and packaged with the JPEG library  which  pnmtojpeg
       uses  for all its JPEG work.  Because of that, you may expect it to ex-
       ploit more current JPEG features.  Also, since you have to have the li-
       brary  to run pnmtojpeg, but not vice versa, cjpeg may be more commonly
       available.

       On the other hand, cjpeg does not use the NetPBM libraries  to  process
       its input, as all the NetPBM tools such as pnmtojpeg do.  This means it
       is less likely to be consistent with all the other programs  that  deal
       with the NetPBM formats.  Also, the command syntax of pnmtojpeg is con-
       sistent with that of the other Netpbm tools, unlike cjpeg.

SCAN SCRIPTS
       Use the -scan option to specify a scan script.  Or use the -progressive
       option to specify a particular built-in scan script.

       Just  what  a  scan  script is, and the basic format of the scan script
       file, is covered in the wizard.doc file that comes with the Independent
       JPEG  Group's JPEG library.  Scan scripts are same for pnmtojpeg as the
       are for cjpeg.

       This section contains additional information that isn't,  but  probably
       should be, in that document.

       First, there are many restrictions on what is a valid scan script.  The
       JPEG library, and thus pnmtojpeg, checks thoroughly  for  any  lack  of
       compliance with these restrictions, but does little to tell you how the
       script fails to comply.  The messages are very  general  and  sometimes
       untrue.

       To  start with, the entries for the DC coefficient must come before any
       entries for the AC coefficients.  The DC coefficient is Coefficient  0;
       all the other coefficients are AC coefficients.  So in an entry for the
       DC coefficient, the two numbers after the colon must be 0 and 0.  In an
       entry for AC coefficients, the first number after the colon must not be
       0.

       In a DC entry, the color components must be in increasing order.   E.g.
       "0,2,1" before the colon is wrong.  So is "0,0,0".

       In an entry for an AC coeffient, you must specify only one color compo-
       nent.  I.e. there can be only one number before the colon.

       In the first entry for a particular coefficient for a particular  color
       component,  the  "Ah"  value  must be zero, but the Al value can be any
       valid bit number.  In subsequent entries, Ah must be the Al value  from
       the previous entry (for that coefficient for that color component), and
       the Al value must be one less than the Ah value.

       The script must ultimately specify at least some of the  DC  coefficent
       for  every  color  component.   Otherwise,  you  get  the error message
       "Script does not transmit all the data."  You need not specify  all  of
       the bits of the DC coefficient, or any of the AC coefficients.

       There  is  a  standard option in building the JPEG library to omit scan
       script capability.  If for some reason your library was built with this
       option,  you  get the message "Requested feature was omitted at compile
       time."

ENVIRONMENT
       JPEGMEM
              If this environment variable is set, its value  is  the  default
              memory  limit.   The  value  is  specified  as described for the
              --maxmemory option.  An explicit  --maxmemory  option  overrides
              any JPEGMEM.

SEE ALSO
       cjpeg(1), djpeg(1), jpegtran(1), rdjpgcom(1), wrjpgcom(1)
       ppm(5), pgm(5), jpegtopnm(1)
       Wallace,  Gregory  K.   "The  JPEG Still Picture Compression Standard",
       Communications of the ACM, April 1991 (vol. 34, no. 4), pp. 30-44.

LIMITATIONS
       Arithmetic coding is not supported for legal reasons.

       The program could be much faster.

AUTHOR
       pnmtojpeg and this man page were derived in large part from  cjpeg,  by
       the  Independent JPEG Group.  The program is otherwise by Bryan Hender-
       son on March 07, 2000.

                                 07 March 2000                    PNMTOJPEG(1)
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