Settings

General

Disable Downscaling on Startup

Disables downscaling when you launch the application.

Disable Delete Original on Startup

Unchecks delete original when you launch the application.

Quality Slider - Snap to Individual Values

Makes quality slider snap to individual values instead of every 5 points.

Input - Disable Sorting

Disables sorting in the Input Tab, has no impact on performance.

Play Sound When Conversion Finishes

Plays a sound when conversion finishes. You can swap it in xl-converter/_internal/assets/sounds/finished.wav.

Conversion

JPEG XL - Allow Lossy Modular

Shows or hides the JPEG XL Lossy Modular option in the Output tab. This mode is experimental.

Offers lower file size and better eligibility for non-photographic images.

Causes discoloration and additional artifacts around the edges.

Use it sparingly.

JPEG XL - Automatic Lossless JPEG Transcoding
  • Enabled - “Lossless JPEG Transcoding” will be used instead of regular lossless compression when transcoding JPEG to JPEG XL. This saves plenty of space but prevents metadata from being wiped. It works with the following “Format / Mode” entries:

    • JPEG XL (with “Lossless” enabled).

    • Smallest Lossless (JPEG XL).

  • Disabled - JPEG will be transcoded the same as any other file. This will result in a huge file size, but metadata can be stripped.

JPEG Encoder

  • JPEGLI - The new state-of-the-art in JPEG encoding. Fast and high quality. Read more.

  • libjpeg - the original JPEG encoder. Well-tested, stable, and great at preserving noise. Use it when JPEGLI cannot transcode a particular image.

JPEGLI - Disable Progressive Scan

  • Enabled - generated JPEG images will be compatible with very old devices, but their file size will increase.

  • Disabled - generated JPEG images will be smaller and load faster.

AVIF - Bit Depth

Controls bit depth used for encoding AVIF.

  • Auto - uses source image bit depth.

  • 12 - the highest color fidelity. Can be smaller than 10-bit in certain cases.

  • 10 - reduces color banding, and improves fidelity at a cost of increased file size.

  • 8 - lowest file size, but does not handle color transitions smoothly.

Note

12-bit depth is only available in the AOM AV1 encoder.

AVIF Encoder

Encoder used for encoding AVIF images.

  • AOM AV1 - Stable and feature rich. Best for preserving high-quality.

  • SVT-AV1-PSY: a fork of SVT-AV1 with perceptual enhancements.

Note: Each encoder interprets quality values differently.

Announcement

The SVT-AV1-PSY encoder maintainers are stepping back. Official announcement

Do Not Delete Original When Result is Larger

Prevents “Delete Original” and “Replace” options (output tab) from deleting the original image if the result is larger.

Copy Original When Result is Larger

If the processed image is larger than the original, the result is discarded, and the original is copied instead.

Excluded: Lossless JPEG Transcoding, JPEG Reconstruction, PNG

ExifTool

ExifTool Arguments

Arguments used for handling metadata; correspond to the options is the modify tab. Supported variables:

  • $src - source image path.

  • $dst - destination image path.

Remember to add -overwrite_original to avoid leftover files.

Advanced

Make sure you know what you’re doing before changing anything here.

RAM Optimizer

Allows for processing high-resolution images without excessive RAM usage.

Only applicable to:

  • JPEG XL (with certain settings)

  • AVIF (SVT-AV1-PSY)

Modes:

  • Static (reliable) - smallest RAM usage, but slowest.

  • Dynamic (new & experimental) - medium RAM usage; only slower for big images.

  • Disabled (not recommended) - unpredictable RAM usage, but quickest.

Important

The Dynamic optimizer is experimental and subject to change.

How it works?

Modes:

  • Static - uses one encoder to process all images sequentially.

  • Dynamic - adjusts the number of concurrent encoders based on image resolution. Scales down the number of encoders according to optimization rules. It automatically redistributes used threads amongst encoders.

  • Disabled - uses one encoder per used thread.

Optimization Rules

The optimization rules are used by the Dynamic mode to scale down the number of concurrent encoders.

A rule consists of 3 fields wrapped in parenthesis. Namely:

  • scope (str) - Available values: all, SVT-AV1-PSY, JPEG XL. Note: all means “all applicable”, not every format.

  • threshold (int | float) - the activation threshold for the rule. The priority is given to rules with the highest threshold.

  • target (str) - either “1” or a fraction. Defines the desired amount of concurrent encoders. For example: if you use 8 threads, and the activate rule has 1/2 as its target, the amount of concurrent encoders will be 4 (each with 2 threads available to it). “1” means only one encoder will active at a time.

Example:

("all", 6.5, "1/2"), ("all", 10, "1/4")

Interpretation:

  1. Activate when applicable and image resolution is 6.5 megapixels. Reduce encoder count to (1/3 * used threads).

  2. Activate when applicable and image resolution is 10 megapixels. Reduce encoder count to (1/4 * used threads).

You can have as many rules as you like.

Tip

Press “Start Logging” in the Settings (Advanced) to gain more insight on how the dynamic RAM optimizer operates.

JPEG XL - Enable Effort 10

Raises Effort limit from 9 to 10. Effort 10 is experimental and very slow.

  • Lossy: provides a very small visual improvement.

  • Lossless: lowers file size.

  • Lossless JPEG Transcoding: has a tendency to increase file size. Not recommended.

JPEG XL - Allow Intelligent Effort (Deprecated)

Shows or hides the JPEG XL Intelligent Effort option in the Output tab. This functionality picks Effort based on context. It aimed at providing lower file size but made only a marginal difference. This feature will be removed in the future.

Downscaling - Custom Resampling

Enables resampling mode selection in the modify Tab.

Additional Encoder Arguments

Additional arguments for the encoders.

All arguments must be valid and can not conflict with already used ones. Inspect logs for more details.

Logging

It is useful for troubleshooting issues.

  • Start Logging - starts logging to a file.

  • Open Logs Folder - opens the folder containing logs.

  • Wipe Logs Folder - wipes the logs folder and its content.

Logging is automatically disabled at program startup.