Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with jpeg

How to remove image artifacts from a foggy background?

topynate — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:43:06 -0800

I use this image (source image here) as my desktop background - it's one of Ubuntu's default wallpapers. Can I do something about the artifacts? The artifacts in question are only visible when I view the image from an angle on my LCD, and appear in the brightest part of the background. The effect looks like a noisy posterization. I opened the image up in GIMP and looked at the histogram, and I think that this part of the background has been overexposed, but I don't understand why this would make it look like it does. So, why is this, and can I fix the image in GIMP so that it doesn't show these artifacts?

APS --> jpeg

plexi — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:34:04 -0800

Is there an online or mail service that will convert/process Advantix or APS film rolls to digital media?

How to convert a pdf to a wallpaper?

sk381 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:58:32 -0800

Creating a high resolution jpg/bmp image from a pdf file. Basically I'd to convert a pdf file that I have to a 1680X1050 pxl sized image to use as a wallpaper. Can I do this using only Inkscape and GIMP or would I need some additional software as well. If it can be done, how much of a learning curve should I expect? And if someone could also point out the basic flow of steps involved towards implementing this or recommend a good introductory book on graphic design, I'd be very appreciative.

Thanks!

Ho to make photoshop save photos?

-harlequin- — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:02:23 -0800

How can I save JPG images in Photoshop CS so that a digital camera can read them? Cheap crappy software can do this easily, but no matter what file settings I use in Photoshop, I've never been able to get any of my digital cameras to be able to read any JPG that was written by Photoshop - I have to load and re-save them with other piece of software to get them to work. Surely there is a way to make Photoshop save JPG files that cameras can read? My impression is that (naming conventions and so forth aside) there is a JPEG standard that most or nearly all cameras read, rather than every camera having it's own random special requirements.

I want a way to start saving files in that standard, because I'll be using a camera as an image storage/display device, and want to load the memory card with images and graphics in addition to photos it has taken, but right now, I have to individually process each file to do this, or the camera won't read it, and it's driving me nuts.
(I also don't want to save as RAW or TIFF)

Thanks!

20 In 1 - How Do I Send JPEG's In One Folder

goalyeehah — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:00:08 -0800

I have 30 jpeg photos that I would like to send as one file. I have Mac. How would I go about doing that? I have 30-35 jpegs in one folder that I would like to send person building my website. I thought I could send the folder but it looks as if I have to send each jpeg individually. Is there an easier way to do this?

Vista can't rotate some JPEGs

dunkadunc — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:55:24 -0800

I have a bunch of photos I've taken over the years on my laptop running Vista Home Premium. I recently found out I can't rotate them. -In thumbnails and Windows Photo Gallery, the pictures show up sideways, as I originally took them. When I try to use Photo Gallery to rotate them, it says that "An error is preventing Photo Gallery from saving this picture".
-The files are not read-only, but there's a good chance I rotated them right-way-up when they were on my old Mac last year, so that may have done something to the files.
-In MS Paint, they aren't even recognized as JPEGs, even though Paint loads other JPEGs just fine.
-In Irfanview, however, they're shown right-side up.

I know I could use Irfanview to load, rotate, and save each photo individually, but that sounds like a real pain given the number of photos involved. What I'd really like to do is find out why Irfanview sees them right-side-up as opposed to all other programs, and what I can do fix my JPEGs so they can be rotated/edited/saved by Photo Gallery and other programs.

Batch Adding Text (File Name) to JPEG Images

ZenMasterThis — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:33:06 -0800

I have a bunch (thousands) of JPEG pictures of my company's parts. The JPEG file names are the part numbers of the parts (eg. 1234.jpg is a picture of part number 1234. Here's the tricky part... ...none of the JPEG files show the part number in the actual image itself. Is there a batch application out there that will take these JPEG files and add a visible file name to one corner of the image?

insert page break into screen capture?

bbranden1 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:57:03 -0800

Printer filter: a Snagit screen capture of a web page yields an 8.5 x 22" (96dpi) document in Photoshop 7. What can I easily do (short of using Photoshop to break the one document into two 8.5 x 11" documents) in order to print it out as a two page document, thus keeping the same width? Photoshop, Snagit, and Windows Picture Viewer all want to print it all out on a single 8.5 x 11" page by shrinking the width and length, which makes the content nearly unreadable. Converting it to a PDF document yields the same result. So, what's a quick and easy way of inserting a page break where I want it into a screen capture (JPG or PNG format)? OS: Windows XP

Automating multiple .jpg file saves in Photoshop?

Yiggs — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:54:05 -0800

How do I automate the saving of multiple .jpg files in Photoshop? I've got a series of photos I'm using for a website, and there needs to be three image sizes for each photo - a "full" size, a smaller "thumb" size, and the smallest "table" size (for a table of contents-type thumbnail view.) All the files need to be in jpg format.

I tried recording an action to save each file as these three file types, but I could't get it to work very well. For starters, it prompts me to type the file name each time. Also, every time I save it as a jpg the "jpeg quality" dialog comes up, and I have to click through. This makes the automated action not very automated.

Is there a way I can A) stop the "jpeg quality" dialog from coming up and just save each image under the same quality? Like set a "quality default" or something? And B) not have to type in the filenames? If my original file is photo1.psd, could I automate it to save the full image as "photo1.jpg", the thumb size as "photo1_thumb.jpg", and the table size as "photo1_table.jpg" without typing it in each time?

Help me reduce the size of this ImageReady CS animated gif file for an email banner.

UnclePlayground — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:14:43 -0800

Help me reduce the file size for Adobe ImageReady CS animated gif. I was asked to create an animated email banner in either gif or jpeg, at 468x60 pixels and only 15 kB, looping three times only. I created a layered Photoshop file with one image and some text layers (all 72 dpi). As this is my first time using ImageReady, I am getting a file that is ten times larger than needed (156 kB). My attempts at "optimization" and whatnot have proven fruitless. Anyone care to assist me and get this thing wrangled down to 15 k?

How do I get an automatically generated line graph from a text file with a list of numbers?

kaozity — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:44:44 -0800

Is there a program that can automatically create line graphs from a text file with a list of numbers? Is there a program that I can have running in the background of my windows machine that will take a text file with a list of numbers, formatted as follows...

121
324
53546
4343
2342
etc...

and produce a line graph in jpeg, jpg, bmp, or any other common picture format?

Looking for Slideshow Inspirations

Rolandkorn — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:40:32 -0800

I recently bought a zune and i am looking for pictures that are semi information or thoughtful. i recently quite a few photo selection on it and play music with it. Some of the stuff i like is Dali Art, Betty Page pinup, Optical Illusians and Post secrets. i am trying to find some more photos that are either information like pictures of shots that have to the side how to make them or pictures that are thought provoking maybe some religous art. I was hoping the Hive mind could steer me into jpeg slideshow that would be interesting to put on my zune and where to find them either eduction or inspirationial not really into people falling off ladders and stuff.

Spring clean needed

mjlondon — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:14:07 -0800

Is there a program out there that will help me organise my hard drives? My primary hard drive is pretty much full and I am keen to move some content over to another drive. I know though that I can save alot more space by deleting duplicated and unused files. I've used CCleaner but that's pretty focused on deleting programs and temporary files. Is there anything that might identify mp3/jpeg/wmv etc I haven't accessed for some time or are duplicated elsewhere on the hard drive? Or would help streamline my folders? This particularly isn't helped by the fact that iTunes seems to keep reverting it's saved music folder so I have a few locations being accessed from there. I really dislike it being so untidy so any help would be great.

G--D--- GD and PHP!

Robert Angelo — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 07:15:17 -0800

Help me with PHP configuration for GD and JPEG. I can't determine why JPEG functions aren't working. I've installed PHP 5.2.0 on a FreeBSD server with the following:



'./configure' '--with-mysql' '--with-apxs=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs' '--with-gd' '--with-gettext=/usr/local/lib' '--with-png-dir=/usr/local/lib' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr/local/lib' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr/local/lib' '--with-zlib-dir=/usr/local/zlib-1.2.3'

When I check the GD section on phpinfo(), here is what I see:



GD Support 	enabled

GD Version 	bundled (2.0.28 compatible)

GIF Read Support 	enabled

GIF Create Support 	enabled

PNG Support 	enabled

WBMP Support 	enabled

XBM Support 	enabled

And of course, a script that I'm using with the ImageCreateFromJPEG function fails. What I am missing? Before you ask, libjpeg.so exists in /usr/local/lib

Where can I have a large jpeg printed cheaply in Chicaog?

wfrgms — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 20:37:43 -0800

Where in Chicago can I have a largish three color jpg printed, with good results, cheaply? The jpeg is 1729 x 1401 pixels at 72 dpi. It is relatively simple screen print style graphic and only composed of three colors (black, red, and green) on a white background. Ideally I'd like it printed on heavy acid-free card stock for framing. I'm giving this as a gift, so I only want to do this if the results will be good.

What I'm unsure of are the dimensions at which I could have this jpeg printed (enlarged) without showing pixelation.

[If it helps the image is a reproduction of this poster.]

Thanks in advance for all suggestions and help!

How do I transfer jpeg photo files to a CD?

zembla3 — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 07:05:59 -0800

I can't believe I don't know this, but how do I transfer jpeg photos from my computer to a writeable CD? I tried to write the files to a CD-RW, but Windows XP keeps telling me the disk is not compatible. It's just a standard CD-RW I bought at Staples. Do I need some sort of special Picture CD or something?

How do I get a Background image (watermark) in MS Word 2003 to actually print as B&W (not GREEN)?

criticman — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:48:28 -0800

How do I get a Background image (watermark) in MS Word 2003 to actually print as B&W (not GREEN)? I have been going crazy trying to get grayscale image to actually print out as such when set as a Background image in MS Word 2003.

I am trying to produce a template for the employees here to use for when they print to PDF and email a document instead of printing it out directly to letterhead. They want it to look identical to the printed letterhead.

I replicated the dimensions and content of the header and footer without any issues. I even took our logo to the proper dimensions for use as a background.

I did a lot of testing and through adjusting the brightness levels in Photoshop, I got the logo to print (from Photoshop) to match that of the printed letterhead.

I then go into MS Word 2003, select Format -> Background -> Printed Watermark. I click Select Picture, select the image, hit OK, leave the scale at 100% and leave Washout unchecked (I tried with it checked and it does not fix the color issue nor does it take a non-faded logo to a soft enough fade.

When I print it to a color laser printer (the same one I printed to from Photoshop), the background image is a light green, not a faded B&W.

I then realized that even though I took it down to grayscale in Photoshop, when I reopened the .BMP bitmap file, it reverted to Indexed instead of grayscale. I then saved to TIF and JPG. The JPEG holds the grayscale when I reopen it in any other program, including Photoshop, so I selected it in Word as the background. Not surprisingly, when I printed it again from Word, it was green.

So, how can I force Word to maintain the colors of the background image (watermark) instead of taking it to an indexed or RGB color format that results in the green printing?

Converting CMYK JPEGs to RGB

drill_here_fore_seismics — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 06:01:04 -0800

Recommended methods for converting CMYK JPEGs to RGB JPEGs, ideally batch conversion? I have about a hundred JPEGs in CMYK, and I'm looking for a straightforward way to quickly convert them to RGB. I'm using Windows XP and don't have Photoshop. Is there a method or a tool (preferably Freeware) that can do this?

Failing that any advice on simple ways to convert CMYK to RGB, even one image at a time, would be much appreciated.

Squeezing Mac JPEGs

Very Witty, Wilde! — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 18:45:29 -0800

How can my brother reduce JPG file size on his Mac, using only the provided software? Long story medium: I have a family member with a Mac. He is emailing his digital photos, and it appears he is just using the default JPEG photo the camera is giving him. These are much larger than they need to be, and he's on a dialup connection in the boonies.

I'd like to give him instructions on an easy way to reduce the file size of his JPEGs without changing the physical photo size (ie, up his compression).

I need to do this using only the default apps that come with a Mac. I have no idea what comes with a Mac. For Windows, I would tell him to simply open the photo in Paint, and then re-save it as JPEG. Paint's default compression settings are pretty good, so this reduces his 2 meg files to 500K.

What do I need to tell him to do on his Mac? Remember: default software only, simple instructions. Thanks!

The Mystery of the 4 Color JPEG

lodurr — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:26:24 -0800

Is there actually such a thing as a "4 color JPEG"? And if so, why? Apparently a lot of design firms supply "four color JPEGs" as part of their standard logo sets. These are produced out of Illustrator by saving with a CMYK profile. (AFAICS, only Adobe and Apple products can read the resulting files with proper color profile information. Most browsers simply treat them as broken files.)

So, my question is this: Is there actually a good reason to do this? Is there any software that's used for things like signage or layout that works better with JPG than with PNG or TIFF? (Or, better yet, EPS?)

Help me archive my image files!

brianvan — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:59:31 -0800

PC-based digital photographer here... Does anyone supplement camera RAW file archives with JPEGs, and/or use any specific browsing/cataloging apps to speed up library searches? I recently transitioned to using RAW capture on my digital SLR, as opposed to writing JPEG format. I've noticed that 6mp source JPEGs are not the fastest-loading file format out there, but the RAW files are egregiously slow to load in all applications on my PC (Photoshop, Picasa, IrfanView, MS Picture Viewer shell extension, etc). Sure, they load fine, but they take so damn long! I can't just flip-through pictures; I have to wait for them to load and sharpen in nearly all my applications. I feel the need to correct this somehow.

I have disk space (much) + plenty of RAM (1GB), and my processor should be plenty fast (1.8ghz P4) to handle the sort of images we're talking about here. So the performance bottleneck, sans upgrades, is the size/complexity of the RAW files. And I do NOT plan to buy more equiment to fix this.

Anyway, the bigger problem is that I'm at the point where I'd like to take about 70 GB of source images offline, but I'm undecided about the storage media (do I really buy an offline hard disk for this? DVD-RAM is too small and perishable) and the cataloging (if I don't make small local copies of the image files, how will I know what is what exactly?). I'd enjoy best a solution that provides automated offline backups, but that also keeps sufficient local copies so that I can browse through and pull larger files from archives. I'm not sure if Picasa or Adobe Bridge fit these needs on my platform. (FYI, Bridge is dog-slow on my computer)

A potential solution: go through a tedious process of generating 600x400 samples of each RAW image in a replica directory tree. These I can browse through efficiently and store locally. It doesn't link to originals through any one-click solution, but with my existing storage tree, I'm sure I can match the preview/small images to their offline parents pretty easily (as long as I have online access to them... in which case I have an external-chassis 300GB hard drive to store copy #1). And while I have local archive access figured out (USB2.0 300GB HD), having an extra offline HD copy of the originals would be my catastropic recovery solution.

Thoughts?

Print to JPEG?

Mitheral — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 07:39:30 -0800

Recommendation for free windows virtual printer driver that outputs JPEGs? Like PDF Creator but creates jpegs instead. Yahoo photos hides the original image but provides a way to print the image directly to a printer. Right now I'm pointing the print utility to PDF Creator, opening the PDF, extracting each bitmap from the PDF, then batch converting the .BMPs to JPEGS. I'd rather just Print -> Save .jpg

Help me save five months of memories?

skryche — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:38:42 -0800

How can I fix the corrupted jpegs on my Win XP computer? This tragedy begins, as so many do, with a disk repartitioning. Not only was the repartitioning aborted by the program, it rendered my NTFS partition unrecognizable. Via many different tools, I finally gained access -- but all my files were squished to 8.3 format (e.g., "DOCUME~1.TXT"). I backed 'em up to a FAT32 partition, reformatted and installed windows on the graveyard partition, and moved them back.

All of my restored files seem to be okay (excepting their names, of course) except for the JPGs, which cannot be opened in:

Windows Preview ("Drawing failed")

IrfanView, Firefox (opens partially, but bottom half is grey)

Photoshop

Here's one of them.

The really weird thing is that I have a restored MS Word .doc that has embedded pictures... the document is fine, but the pictures are screwy!

I tried PixRecovery. No dice.

The EXIF data's all there, as is the thumbnail. The files seem to be about the correct size. How can I fix them? And if you can't tell me that, do you have any idea what happened?

How can I convert a jpeg to plain text?

zembla3 — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 06:16:20 -0800

I am a journalist who sometimes needs to send article clips to prospective employers. I have scanned the newspaper articles and saved them as jpeg files. Is there a program that will allow me to convert the jpeg files to plain text? The jpeg files are too large to e-mail, and I really just need to send the text of the articles.

How can I organise my mass of digital photos?

dance — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:34:11 -0800

I've got a directory filled with the digital photos I and friends have taken over some eight years. It's a disorganised mess with no coherent, standardised naming format. I'd like to: -remove duplicates -sort, rename or place in folders images based on EXIF data or content I'm on Mac OS X but could possibly gain access to a Windows box if necessary. Any ideas?