Author Topic: Why does PhotoMechanic + not show image of JXL files generated by Aff Photo V2  (Read 1922 times)

Offline Bones

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Hi Photo Mechanic,  I have just upgraded to Affinity Photo V2, which now handles the newish version of JXL files (which can handle Transparent Backgrounds) But  they won't open in Photo Mechanic................  Any reason for this please.

For technical explanation perhaps you should go direct to Affinity Photo, based in Nottingham England.  See this link >>>>>   Address

Serif (Europe) Ltd.
The Software Centre
Wilford Industrial Estate
Nottingham
NG11 7EP
+44 (0)115 9142000

I would like to add that >>>>  https://www.irfanview.com/  Which is a very useful image viewer has sorted this issue and I applied their PLUG IN UPDATE from the web site and '' BINGO '' the JXL files display properly !!!!!  Hope this info is useful as an update  (Edwin John in exile in the Slovak Republic)

Await your specialists comments to my e-mail john@inslovakia.sk    Thanks in advance.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2022, 12:16:50 AM by Bones »

Offline Kirk Baker

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Edwin,

JPEG-XL (JXL) files are not supported by Photo Mechanic mostly because it is relatively new and not yet a popular file format.  I think you may be one of the first to ask about it.  No cameras (to my knowledge) produce images in that format.

If the format becomes more popular we may support it in the future.  Feel free to make a feature request on the Feature Requests board and if a good number of people express interest in Photo Mechanic supporting that format, we'll consider it.

http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?board=3.0

-Kirk

Offline Bones

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Hi Kirk,  This format will step by step be taken up by not just 75 year old bumbling computer amateurs like me...............   Affinity Photo with their release of their major update to V2 will have already been taken up by many many thousands even though it was only released in November this year.  Cameras are not so important.  It is in Photo processing that this format will gain traction.  Your title (with all due respect) is Photo Mechanic Plus.  A mechanic from a UK perspective is someone that fixes a problem when they find it during a service of a car etc.   Check out IRFANVIEW has already fixed support and got a working PlugIn, (which is a simple download to instal the fix),  out for their clients. 

When I process my images and use this new format, seriously, I need Photo Mechanic to display the image correctly !!!!!

Below is a section from an article I found quite quickly on the internet.  https://chromeunboxed.com/jxl-jpeg-xl-new-image-file-type-chrome/

What is JPEGXL (or .jxl)?

Not simply a modern replacement for the aging JPEG, JPEG XL is a far more compact image file with far more capabilities than the standard JPEG. The full breadth of things that JPEG XL files are capable of is very long and frankly over my head, but I’ll drop a few of the things below that you can expect from JPEG XL as it becomes more and more of a standard file type.

    High fidelity to the source image (matches human perception)
    Supports alpha transparency
    High-speed encoding and decoding
    High compression ratio (20:1 to 50:1)
    Improved functionality and efficiency over traditional formats
    Progressive decoding (by resolution and precision)
    Lossless JPEG transcoding
    Support for both photographic and synthetic imagery
    Graceful quality degradation across an extensive range of bitrates
    Perceptually optimized reference encoder
    Support for wide gamut and HDR
    Support for animated content
    Efficient encoding and decoding without requiring specialized hardware

Not only will JPEG XL be faster with better image quality, the files will be smaller and simpler to work with, too. While I don’t understand some of the more-complex decoding/encoding stuff that goes on with images, I can fully appreciate a file format that maintains a better image quality than the standard JPEG while also keeping the file size smaller with a faster encode/decode to go with it.   !!!!

Best regards John Edwin in exile in Slovakia.

Offline Kirk Baker

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Please make a feature request and if it gets enough traction with like-minded users we'll consider implementing it.

-Kirk