Ian's Software Site - JPGExtra Program

NEW RELEASE! Version 2 has just been publicly released, with several additional features. See the Using JPGExtra page for more details, download a free trial version, or if you have purchased a previous version, Contact Ian for a free update!

JPGExtra Program History:
I originally wrote JPGExtra as a way of optimizing JPG files purely for my own benefit, but soon realised that others would find it equally valuable. Could I justify spending hundreds of hours to make it a viable program that people would actually buy? After all, a lot of software is free nowadays, as is the rest of my web site, including my extensive Ian's Shoelace Site. The only way to find out was to try.

I therefore performed extensive JPG research and re-wrote JPGExtra from the ground up to be able to handle anything I threw at it. I tested it on over 50,000 files, including a large number of deliberately corrupt files. This ensured that JPGExtra ran 100% reliably, that it handled corrupt files as well as some "weird" formats, and that the resultant optimized JPG files were all written correctly and viewed identically to the originals.

First Impressions of JPGExtra:
Compared to other pretty programs with nice colourful icons and cute animations, JPGExtra is like watching an old black and white movie!

Don't let the outside appearance fool you. Like all my Assembly Language programs, JPGExtra packs incredible power and performance into a tiny package.

JPGExtra Contains No "Extras":
I programmed JPGExtra with a "minimalist" philosophy: It's the absolute minimum program that will do the job. It doesn't include an image viewer. It doesn't perform any image editing. It doesn't catalogue images. It doesn't upload to web-sites. In short, it doesn't contain anything that you probably already have in other image or web-site software. It doesn't even contain full-colour icons, as these would have almost doubled the size of this tiny program!

JPGExtra does only ONE thing: It removes "extras" from JPG files, very quickly and very reliably. You can fire up JPGExtra in a split second, process any number of files with one or two mouse clicks, and your job is done. I wrote it that way for my own use, and I'm sure you'll agree with my "minimalist" philosophy once you've used it yourself.

JPGExtra Contains No Hidden Surprises:
A lot of today's software contains "hidden surprises". Some programs cause problems, either because of modifying your system or performing tasks in a non-standard manner. Other programs do questionable things, such as "phoning home" with your details. Rest assured that JPGExtra contains no such hidden surprises!

NO Spyware | NO Adware | NO Trojans | NO Phoning Home | NO Worries

The End Result:
Besides creating the smallest, fastest, most efficient JPG files, the JPGExtra program is itself an example of optimization. I believe it's the smallest, fastest, most efficient JPG file optimization program available. I hope that you will consider purchasing!

Is JPGExtra Right For You?
There are various factors that could determine whether you should or shouldn't be using JPGExtra to remove "extras" from your JPG files:
JPGExtra is WRONG for you if... You have only a few JPG files; Most of those JPGs are larger "full-sized" images; Those JPGs are only viewed locally or are intended for publishing; The JPGs are on a less popular web site, or are rarely accessed; A small percentage of those JPGs contain "extras", or those JPGs only contain a small percentage of "extras" between them; You do need those "extras", or you're unsure and would prefer to keep them just in case; You use a Macinctosh computer or a non-Windows PC.	JPGExtra is RIGHT for you if... You have many JPG files; Many of those JPGs are smaller "preview" images; Those JPGs are for viewing on web sites or sending via e-mails; The web site is popular, frequently accessed and heavy on bandwidth; A high percentage of those JPGs contain "extras", or some of those JPGs contain a high percentage of "extras"; You have no need for those "extras" and want them permanently removed from your JPGs; You use a PC with Windows 95 or higher operating system.

JPGExtra Program Compared
JPGExtra versus Other JPG Optimization Programs: There are a number of other highly sophisticated JPG optimization programs on the market. So why get JPGExtra when others offer more advanced features? Isn't this "settling for less"? Here's a few of the obvious differences:
Other Programs... Multi function, many options; Hard to install, learn and use; Large - several megabytes; Downloads in a minute or two; Generally expensive; Lots of marketing hype; Full-colour icons; Programmed in slow, high-level languages; Re-compresses image data, which further sacrifices quality; Can sacrifice quality if re-run over the same JPG files; Some leave behind "signatures", which waste space; Keeps or adds to signatures left by other programs.	JPGExtra Program... Single function, few options; Simple to install, learn and use; Ultra-tiny - 1/50th of a megabyte; Downloads in less than 1 second; Cheap to purchase; No hype - just the facts; Black & white icons; Programmed in ultra-fast Assembly language; Doesn't re-compress image data, thus retaining full quality; Can be run any number of times over the same JPG files; Doesn't leave any "signature", which would waste space; Removes signatures left by other JPG optimization programs.
JPGExtra & Other Programs Have Similar Overall Savings: What struck me with many other JPG optimization programs was that their results were often deliberately loaded by using JPG files that started out with heaps of "extras". This made their "before" and "after" comparisons look pretty impressive. For example, suppose a particular JPG file had been reduced by 50% with only a "slight" drop in image quality. That same file processed with JPGExtra may have been reduced by 45% with absolutely no drop in image quality. In other words, their actual savings were only 5% better than those gained by removing "extras" (as per JPGExtra), and were gained at the expense of image quality. Some other examples used "before" JPG files that had been saved with a particularly high "quality" setting, which anyone could more easily have reduced by simply lowering the quality setting when saving the file.
Some Other Programs Offer "Regional Compression": Certain JPG optimization programs offer the ability to apply a higher compression to selected "regions" of an image. For example, on a photo of a person's face with sky in the background, the facial region could be stored with [low compression]=[high quality], whilst the remaining (less important) sky could be stored with [high compression]=[low quality]. Performing regional compression on an image is rather labour intensive, requiring the user to manually select those regions. Besides which, the standard JPG compression algorithm already takes this difference in detail into account, such that areas with low detail (eg. sky) are compressed the most. "Regional Compression" merely exaggerates this disparity between high and low detail regions, and to achieve any real additional savings on those compressed areas will introduce a noticeable loss of image quality.
Most Other Programs Have Addtional Features: Admittedly, this is one area where other programs may excel. If you want to be able to do all sorts of things with a JPG optimization program - view and catalogue images, adjust compression settings, preview savings, customise jobs, convert between multiple file formats, synchronise libraries, upload directly, produce detailed reports, etc. - then another more comprehensive program may be the answer. If instead you are already familiar with producing and handling images with your current suite of graphics programs and merely want a simple tool with which to do the final JPG optimization, then JPGExtra is the answer.
Find Out For Sure: To find out whether JPGExtra is right for you, I've produced a free trial version, which you can download and test drive on your JPG files. Some people may be pleased to discover that there will be little benefit from using JPGExtra because their files are already quite lean. However, most people will soon see how much waste they will save, as well as discover how quick and easy JPGExtra is to run.

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