JPEG-JFIF Repair

December 9, 2002: Recent changes to either iView Media Pro or Apple’s ColorSync software now make
software more EXIF/DCF aware. You don’t need JPEG-JFIF Repair anymore if you were having problems using iView
Media Pro to embed color profiles in your digital camera files. iView now embeds color profiles whether the
files are EXIF/DCF or JFIF JPEG’s.

JPEG-JFIF Repair adds header information to certain JPEG files so that they conform to the JPEG File Interchange Format
(JFIF) format. This allows these files to be used with applications that require JPEG files to conform to the JPEG-JFIF
specification, such as iView Media Pro.

The application does not fix corrupted JPEG files. You may want to look at applications such as
Image Rescue,
Data Rescue, or
Salvage for help.
Rob
Galbraith’s web site also looks into various image recovery applications that might be of some assistance.

1. Introduction
2. Legal and Disclaimer
3. System Requirements
4. Using JPEG-JFIF Repair
5. Troubleshooting
6. Download
7. Pricing and Availability
8. Contacting Foundation Systems
9. Version History

Introduction

Most digital camera JPEG files are formatted according to the
Design rule for Camera File system
(DCF) emerging standard. Make no mistake, JPEG-DCF files are valid JPEG files. Certain applications, such as
iView Media Pro for the Macintosh, however, do not work properly unless the
file conforms to the JPEG-JFIF specification.

Note the DCF specification consists of much more than the simple format of the JPEG file headers.
It provides media, writer, and reader specifications for digital camera makers. JPEG-JFIF Repair is an
application that allows JPEG files to work with certain applications. Ideally, these application should
be updated to support DCF-files, but in the absence of such updates, a place exists for JPEG-JFIF Repair.

Here’s a look at the beginning data format of a JPEG-DCF file in hexadecimal format:

	FF D8 FF E1 ...

Here’s a look at the beginning data format for a JPEG-JFIF file in hex:

The JFIF specification
states that the APP0 marker should follow immediately after the SOI marker in
a JPEG file. Here is an example of the beginning of a valid JPEG FIF file:

	FF D8 FF E0 ...

In this example, immediately following the SOI marker is the APP1 (FF E1) marker that describes
Exif information (i.e. shutter speed, aperture, and camera model).
The APP0 marker is nowhere to be found! Applications and services such as Apple’s
ColorSync and
iView MultiMedia Pro depend on JPEG files conforming
to the JFIF specification for certain functions, such as embedding ICC Color Profiles.

FF D8

FF E1

FF D8

FF E0

Legal and Disclaimer

JPEG-JFIF REPAIR MAKES EVERY ATTEMPT TO SAFELY MODIFY THOSE JPEGS FILES WITH MALFORMED
JFIF HEADER INFORMATION. BY USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU AGREE TO NOT HOLD RESPONSIBLE FOUNDATION
SYSTEMS NOR ITS AGENTS FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA OR DATA CORRUPTION THAT MAY OCCUR.
IN NO EVENT SHALL FOUNDATION SYSTEMS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE,
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE, THE MATERIALS AND
THE PRODUCTS.

System Requirements

JPEG-JFIF Repair has the following requirements:

• Mac OS X
• AppleScript 1.8 or higher

JPEG-JFIF Repair has been tested extensively on a PowerBook G3 (Lombard) and
a PowerMac G4 867MHz (Quicksilver).

Using JPEG-JFIF Repair

JPEG-JFIF Repair can be used as an application or a droplet. You can drag files
and folders onto the application icon’s in the Finder, shown to the right.

If you double-click on the application’s icon
in the Finder, the dialog shown below will appear. Here you can choose to
verify and repair a single file or the entire contents of a folder. JPEG-JFIF Repair
will iterate recursively through the contents of the folder, including sub-folders.
It will not follow document or folder aliases.

Clicking “Choose File…” or “Choose Folder…” will bring up the standard
MacOS X Open Dialog box. Navigate to the file or folder you wish to verify
and click “Choose”.

JPEG-JFIF Repair will now calculate the number of JPEG files to verify.
When complete, it will display the following dialog box:

When you click “Verify and Repair”, JPEG-JFIF Repair to search for and modify
only those JPEG files which do not have the JFIF APP0 marker at the beginning of the file.
This process may take some time the application has to search through a large
number of files.

When complete, the JPEG-JFIF Repair will display the following dialog box:

JPEG-JFIF Repair cannot modify locked files and will alert you if it found
any during its search. If no files needed repairing, the following alert will appear:

Files that have been repaired by JPEG-JFIF Repair will now work properly with applications
and services such as ColorSync or iView MultiMedia Pro for features such as embedding ICC Color
Profiles.

Troubleshooting

This section details issues that might come up when using JPEG-JFIF Repair.

JPEG-JFIF Repair says it can only run on Mac OS X and AppleScript 1.8.

You are likely running on a Macintosh with Mac OS 9 or earlier. Please upgrade
to the latest version of Mac OS X. If you are running OS X, please run Software Update
(in the System Preferences application) to install to the latest version of AppleScript.

What do I do if JPEG-JFIF Repair says there were locked files that were skipped?

In the Finder, select the files that JPEG-JFIF Repair tried to verify. Select
“Show Info” from the File menu and ensure that the “Locked” checkbox is unchecked.

Why does JPEG-JFIF Repair take so long to search through my files?

For each JPEG file, JPEG-JFIF Repair has to open the file, look at the first few bytes, and
modify the file if it detects a malformed header. This process takes a few seconds
for each JPEG and is greatly dependent on the performance of your computer.
A fast computer with a speedy hard drive will improve the performance of JPEG-JFIF Repair.

Download

• JPEG-JFIF 1.1 Disk Image in Stuffit format
• JPEG-JFIF 1.1 Disk Image in Binhex format

Pricing and Availability

Contacting Foundation Systems

If you have any questions and comments regarding JPEG-JFIF Repair or any
other product by Foundation Systems, please contact us at:

Email: support@tow.com
Web: http://www.tow.com/software/

Version History

Version 1.1. Released September 26, 2002

• Updated documentation to clarify differences between JPEF-JFIF files and JPEG-DCF files.

Version 1.0. Released April 5, 2000

• Initial Release.