P: JPEG XL support

[Foxtrot314]

Hello, I would like if JPEG XL support was added into Photoshop. It would allow me to use single format for lossy and lossless photos.

Thanks. 

[daring_think7531]

Some of the features that caught my attention when reading about JPEG-XL were:

• Royalty-free
• Lossless transcode from "legacy" JPEG files
• Wide Gamut and HDR
• Multiple frames (Animation, pages, layers [don't have to match canvas dimensions])
• support for color spaces, transfer curves
• support for arbitrary channels/components (up to 4099)
  • CMYK, grayscale, RGB, alpha, thermal, depth, etc.
• parallelizable compression (so I would expect processors with more cores can handle the format for efficiently)

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG_XL#Features

I have to wonder what they envisioned when they decided to allow up to 4099 channels...

[Toastman3000]

I don't understand why it's taken 3 years to implement JXL support. macOS, Affinity Suite, even open source apps all now support JXL. But I guess we're too much into AI and Neural filters to worry about such trivial things as a superior image format as JXL

[Firewave]

We're going to go another year as paying Photoshop customers and not get JPEG XL support, aren't we?  Ridiculous.

[Stephen Nielson]

JPEG XL support is now available in Photoshop Beta. Make sure you have updated to the latest version of Beta, and then you can find it in File > Save a Copy under the Formats menu.

This feature is still in Beta because we want to hear more feedback from you on what you like and don't like. Please respond here with any feedback!

[felipe_5541]

Employers of the year! lol, 2 years to add to BETA haha

[ThioJoe]

@Stephen Nielson Very excited about the Jpeg XL support so far.

I downloaded a bunch of test jxl files such as from here: https://github.com/libjxl/conformance/tree/master/testcases

There seem to be a few that do not open such as "spot", "cmyk_layers", and "alpha_premultiplied". I am not familiar enough with Jpeg-XL to know how common the problematic features are in the non-working ones to warrant fixing, but figured you might want to look into them. 

But besides those it seems that it has wide support for the cool advanced features of Jpeg XL like the procedural generation, which is great.

--------------------

Edit 2: I deleted a bunch of stuff where I was talking about how the "_5" / "Level 5" test images weren't loading but turns out it was because they were symbolic links and were downloaded as text files, oops.

[Toastman3000]

Legend, thank you Stephen. This support really matters. Now only if we can also do Lightroom next for workflow 😄

TIFF is showing it's age bigtime. The quicker we can elimiate the better with jpegxl's superior compresssion 

One problem I see straight off the bat with Photoshop Beta, it opens 16bit jpegxl as 32bit and washes out the entire image. TIFF doesnt with this. 

[Toastman3000]

And when converting to 16bit from 32bit, the image goes 100% black

[Stephen Nielson]

JPEG XL export is now available in Photoshop v26.8. Update your version of Photoshop, and you should find it under File > Save a Copy.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/whats-new/2025-6.html#file-format-support

[Stephen Nielson]

JPEG XL export is now available in Photoshop v26.8. Update your version of Photoshop, and you should find it under File > Save a Copy.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/whats-new/2025-6.html#file-format-support

[elegant_impression7400]

Probably 3 years to late, but better late then never 🥲

[flugzeug65]

Photoshop doesnt seem to be able to save CMYK files as jpeg XL and there is no support for jpeg XL in indesign (RGB or CMYK)

[drewdawg]

It was added but still pretty buggy...

o Lossless JXL files come out 2,3x LARGER than the source .NEF files used as input;

o Often a 0 byte output without explanation;

o Previous beta version had patchy and intermittent color shifts so inspect your output carefully.

When it works, it is glorious. Better compression than Apple's HEIC and theoretically huge image support. For whatever reason, Adobe has struggled to release a solid version of it however. 

[drewdawg]

There is a substantial red shift on Adobe's implementation of Lossless JXL.

Consider:

In the center is the original PNG file (15 MB RGB 16 bit coverted from a .dng file).

To the left is output from one of the reference JXL implementations is C. Bit by bit and color wise indestiguishable -- even at the pixel level.

To the right is Adobe's Lossless JXL. The overall tone has shift red with an appearnt sharpening step that I did not apply.

[drewdawg]

Notice the substantial increase in pixelization from the original .DNG file to .JXL with the Adobe encoder. This is Lossy setting but max quality. Note the pearl and eyes. Note the slight color banding in skin of the forehead. 

[reproo2773183]

Hi Drewdawg,

your second post compares png to jxl, your third post compares dng (16bit) -Photoshp Beta to jxl (Apple Preview?)

Not saying you are wrong to be concerned, just wanting to check that you have eliminated Color shift due to something else, eg ICC profile behaviour with the different Apps, Adobe Photoshop (Beta particularly) has a nasty habit of resetting Colour Settings and CM Policies when it upgrades, and often Photoshop and Preview will display differently. I wasn't even aware you could open a .dng directly in Photoshop (maybe its only on Save that the filename changes) but the interim Camera Raw opening step sets the ICC based on the ACR Workflow Settings.

Also the jxl Export from Lightroom (last time I checked) is still producing artifacts with some ICCs.

[drewdawg]

Thank you so much for taking the time for your constructive comments.

I just used Mac Preview for covenience to show the two images in a reasoble size. Laziness.. But the artifacts are still there in the images no matter how you look at them.

I used Photoshop for the conversion. The CJXL command line program does not produce the same artifacts. I think you are right -- it is the color profile which is set to Adobe instead of sRGB. But what a pain to convert them all prior.

[D Fosse]

@drewdawg 

Two things:

First, you're not comparing at 100% view. The screenshots are not the same scale, so screen resampling enters the equation. 100% means that one image pixel is represented by exactly one physical screen pixel. You have to view at 100% for any reliable assessment of pixel structure (sharpness/grain/artifacts).

Second, there is never a color shift by saving a file. The RGB numbers are saved as they are and are not changed. What changes color is profile/color management inconsistencies - specifically, a missing profile, or an application that doesn't support color management. Without an embedded profile, the numbers are randomly interpreted according to each application's default policies. Always make sure the file has an embedded profile, and that the application honors that embedded profile. Photoshop will do that by default as long as there is an embedded profile.  

[Toastman3000]

The latest August update is working well. Next on the list is adding layers support...

I still note some gamma issues, LR will display a 16 bit image ok but the gamma is different in PS, but I can live with that

going from 32 bit down to 16bit no longer makes a black image

[Stephen Marsh]

@jimmy_4380 

I have a WebP batch converter script here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/export-many-files-at-once-in-webp-for...