JPE Issues

[rsrock]

I find the JPE file extension on the DiMAGE 7Hi (other 7x or other Minolta DiMAGE too?) images to be a nusance. File extensions get changed from JPG to JPE when the embed color profile option is turned on.

If you are on your own computer then the JPE extension can be dealt with. However, if you pull out your flash card and try to use it directly in a printer then you'll have problems. As far as I can tell most devices are setup to recognize JPG files. The one printer I tried did not see any images on the flash card. When I turned off the embed color profile option, took a shot, inserted the card in the printer, it then saw the file. The resultant image and print did not look good, the colors were off. Images on screen and in print look way better when an embedded color profile is used.

Does any other camera do this (use JPE extension)? JPE does not appear to be a common standard or a standard at all. I wish Minolta would provide a firmware upgrade to change this. It could either do away with JPE (use JPG) or make it a user selectable option.

Has anyone dealt with Minolta regarding a requested change to a product? Any recommendations on how to influence this kind of change?

[NHL]

How do you tell if a picture has an embedded profile or not if they both have the same extension? You already have the option now to turn the JPE off by not embedding the color profile (and the printer would ignore it anyway even if you have turn it on). This feature is actually useful for someone who selectively set the embedded color profile on/off per picture that they will use later for editing on their PC (by tagging them with jpe)... Making it all jpeg will make it very difficult to tell the pictures apart when you have several hundred pictures on a 1G device.

This is not the same as the PIM/exif2 info which is actually embedded in the jpeg header itself and is used by some printers.

[rsrock]

How do you tell if a picture has an embedded profile or not if they both have the same extension?

Systems with color management automatically detect whether or not a color profile is embedded within an image file, at least on a Mac they do.

My Nikon 775 embeds a color profile with every image--there is no option to turn it off (all files are saved with a JPG extension). Applications either take advantage or not. At least the ones I work with. Adobe Photoshop is the only program that I have where the profile can be changed. I don't use the Minolta supplied software, I don't know if it can do it.

You already have the option now to turn the JPE off by not embedding the color profile (and the printer would ignore it anyway even if you have turn it on). This feature is actually useful for someone who selectively set the embedded color profile on/off per picture that they will use later for editing on their PC (by tagging them with jpe)... Making it all jpeg will make it very difficult to tell the pictures apart when you have several hundred pictures on a 1G device.

I want a color profile embedded in all of my images when I take them. Then they are there and ready for use when needed.

On the Mac, Apple has a color management system called ColorSync. This system works with all programs when displaying and printing image files. Other then setting some options, it's transparent to the user. So, for me it's used all the time for displaying and printing. I have turned it off and prints do not look nearly as good from a color point of view.

This is not the same as the PIM/exif2 info which is actually embedded in the jpeg header itself and is used by some printers.

I understand, this data is just information about how an image was captured. It does state the color profile embedded with an image. Therefore, if you really must know if and what color profile is with an image you can find out. Most programs [image databases/editors] allow viewing of this data.

So, I still hold the same position about eliminating or making it user selectable when a color profile is embedded. With it user selectable then you could manage files by the extension as you suggested.

Thanks,

Rob