Damaged JPG Photos

[Guest]

The quality of a lot of the photos taken from my Digital Camera are deteriorating in Windows XP. Even if I reload them from a Back-Up CD, alot of them will lose their quality when I go back in to view them (the originals are ofpefect quality.
My drivers and Windows Updates are all the current editions and I can't think of what is causing it. Occasionally, the damaged ones are all right and some others then deteriorate. It's very worrying as there are some new ones I've not backed up yet and there's never a time when 100% area correct for me to back them up. It makes no difference whether I use Windows XP Viewer or ACD See 5 to view/manage them, what can I do? Can someone give me advice please, it's strange that it's only my photo files it's affecting.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Have you tried using another format? .jpg is a lossy format and will deteriorate.
http://www.scantips.com/basics9j.html
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/jpg_vs_gif/JpgCompTest/
--
Mary Sauer MS MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/
http://www.mvps.org/msauer/getting_started.htm
news://msnews.microsoft.com

The quality of a lot of the photos taken from my Digital Camera are deteriorating

in Windows XP. Even if I reload them from a Back-Up CD, alot of them will lose their
quality when I go back in to view them (the originals are ofpefect quality.)

My drivers and Windows Updates are all the current editions and I can't think of

what is causing it. Occasionally, the damaged ones are all right and some others then
deteriorate. It's very worrying as there are some new ones I've not backed up yet and
there's never a time when 100% area correct for me to back them up. It makes no
difference whether I use Windows XP Viewer or ACD See 5 to view/manage them, what can
I do? Can someone give me advice please, it's strange that it's only my photo files
it's affecting.

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
Have you tried using another format? .jpg is a lossy format and will deteriorate.
http://www.scantips.com/basics9j.html
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/jpg_vs_gif/JpgCompTest/
--
Mary Sauer MS MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/
http://www.mvps.org/msauer/getting_started.htm
news://msnews.microsoft.com

The OP hasn't adequately described the phenomenon he's
experiencing, and your answer makes no sense. Jpegs do
not just "deteriorate" on their own.

 

[Guest]

Sorry folks, allow me to elaborate. The loss of quality takes the form of a slight distortion followed by a type of changed pallette. It's as if the brightness levels change part way through. There are lots being corrupted rather than deteriorating. I don't know what else I can add. Dis this help identify the cause? Many thanks for your ideas.

John

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
Sorry folks, allow me to elaborate. The loss of quality

takes the form of a slight distortion followed by a type
of changed pallette. It's as if the brightness levels
change part way through. There are lots being corrupted
rather than deteriorating. I don't know what else I can
add. Dis this help identify the cause? Many thanks for
your ideas.

John
.

It does not help to identify the cause, because you still
haven't adequately defined a problem. What kind of camera?
What is the resolution and format of the files as
produced by the camera? What method are you using to
transfer them from the camera to your computer? In your
original post, you said, "Even if I reload them from a
Back-Up CD, alot of them will lose their quality when I go
back in to view them the originals are ofpefect quality."
Then in your subesquent post, you say that some of them
are being "corrupted rather than deteriorating." What's
the difference between corruption and deterioration?
None of this makes any sense, although it sounds like
there might be a display driver problem. No way to know
until you succinctly describe the process you're using
that is having undesireable results, though.

 

[Robert Tuck]

The only thing I can tell you is that JPG files will deteriorate IF they are
opened and re-saved. Each time a JPG is saved, it recompresses and loses
more of the data.

The quality of a lot of the photos taken from my Digital Camera are

deteriorating in Windows XP. Even if I reload them from a Back-Up CD, alot
of them will lose their quality when I go back in to view them (the
originals are ofpefect quality.)

My drivers and Windows Updates are all the current editions and I can't

think of what is causing it. Occasionally, the damaged ones are all right
and some others then deteriorate. It's very worrying as there are some new
ones I've not backed up yet and there's never a time when 100% area correct
for me to back them up. It makes no difference whether I use Windows XP
Viewer or ACD See 5 to view/manage them, what can I do? Can someone give me
advice please, it's strange that it's only my photo files it's affecting.

 

[Lab]

Only if they are resaved!

The only thing I can tell you is that JPG files will deteriorate IF they are
opened and re-saved. Each time a JPG is saved, it recompresses and loses
more of the data.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your assistance so far. My camera is a Kodak DC280 and I connect through a USB for downloading. I create a folder on my hard drive (inside the "My Pictures" folder)and enter the Digital Camera's Card through the "My Computer" Icon. I then drag and drop the photos into their new folder. The resolution is 1760 x 1168 high quality. Once in their new folder I would normally double click on the earliest photo and view them all in a slide show (previously with Windows XP's viewer and now with ACDSee(fully registered)). At this stage, 100% of the photos are perfect and their thumbnails look so too, even through explorer. Next time I log on, some of the thunbnails appear imperfect and as I view the photos, some are now damaged in the manner previously described. Not always the ones with the imperfect thumbnails but other photos. On the rare occasion, when I go back into the folder, some of the danaged ones are okay (rarely!!) and more often other files are imperfect. I use the phrase imperfect this time as the files themselves are okay, merely the contents have changed. I don't edit original photos and so I never resave them, I always use the "save as" option to create a new version rather than touch the original. I'm still baffled, does this add any useful information? I'm totally perplexed

p.s. I've tried it on both the Fat32 and NTFS drives and the same thing happens, it also affects photos taken from my friends camera that are unnaffected on his system, help !!! Please. I don't want to lose my photos of my children. Thanks

 

[Guest]

I know this might sound unrelated at first glance, but have you done a virus scan. I spend my spare time playing around with images alot and havn't experienced the problem you are having. Like you I am also running winXP home edition. Check to see if you are having the same problem when you view them in what ever editing program you are using (ie: paint shop pro, Photo deluxe, Photoshop etc). Try printing one of the "affected" images. If it prints ok the problem might lie with either acdsee's screen rendering (check for patches) or your display drivers - (check for updated ones) If It doesn't print properly check the drivers for your camera.

----- John Dalziel wrote: -----

Thanks for your assistance so far. My camera is a Kodak DC280 and I connect through a USB for downloading. I create a folder on my hard drive (inside the "My Pictures" folder)and enter the Digital Camera's Card through the "My Computer" Icon. I then drag and drop the photos into their new folder. The resolution is 1760 x 1168 high quality. Once in their new folder I would normally double click on the earliest photo and view them all in a slide show (previously with Windows XP's viewer and now with ACDSee(fully registered)). At this stage, 100% of the photos are perfect and their thumbnails look so too, even through explorer. Next time I log on, some of the thunbnails appear imperfect and as I view the photos, some are now damaged in the manner previously described. Not always the ones with the imperfect thumbnails but other photos. On the rare occasion, when I go back into the folder, some of the danaged ones are okay (rarely!!) and more often other files are imperfect. I use the phrase imperfect this time as the files themselves are okay, merely the contents have changed. I don't edit original photos and so I never resave them, I always use the "save as" option to create a new version rather than touch the original. I'm still baffled, does this add any useful information? I'm totally perplexed.

p.s. I've tried it on both the Fat32 and NTFS drives and the same thing happens, it also affects photos taken from my friends camera that are unnaffected on his system, help !!! Please. I don't want to lose my photos of my children. Thanks

 

[Guest]

I have run Virus Tests using various programs but nothing's showed up. It worries me as the damage feels like it's virus related the way it randomly damages the contents of files. Once a file is damaged, the imperfect image is exactly the same in whatever program I use to edit or view it. I don't think it's ACDSee as I recently fdisked and formatted my C Drive to start from scratch and purposely left ACDSee off incase it was causing the damage but the damage was happening anyway, so then reloaded ACDSee to see if it improved. Going round in circles or what ?? All my drivers and updates are current and I don't know what else I can do. This phenom affects various photos in my computer and not just the ones taken myself. Thanks for everybodys help so far, hope someone can find anything else. Take care, John

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
Thanks for your assistance so far. My camera is a Kodak

DC280 and I connect through a USB for downloading. I
create a folder on my hard drive (inside the "My Pictures"
folder)and enter the Digital Camera's Card through the "My
Computer" Icon. I then drag and drop the photos into their
new folder. The resolution is 1760 x 1168 high quality.
Once in their new folder I would normally double click on
the earliest photo and view them all in a slide show
(previously with Windows XP's viewer and now with ACDSee
(fully registered)). At this stage, 100% of the photos are
perfect and their thumbnails look so too, even through
explorer. Next time I log on, some of the thunbnails
appear imperfect and as I view the photos, some are now
damaged in the manner previously described. Not always the
ones with the imperfect thumbnails but other photos. On
the rare occasion, when I go back into the folder, some of
the danaged ones are okay (rarely!!) and more often other
files are imperfect. I use the phrase imperfect this time
as the files themselves are okay, merely the contents have
changed. I don't edit original photos and so I never
resave them, I always use the "save as" option to create a
new version rather than touch the original. I'm still
baffled, does this add any useful information? I'm totally
perplexed.

p.s. I've tried it on both the Fat32 and NTFS drives and

the same thing happens, it also affects photos taken from
my friends camera that are unnaffected on his system,
help !!! Please. I don't want to lose my photos of my
children. Thanks

.

I'm also baffled, but only at your failure to fully
describe what's going on. There's a very obvious (to
me, at least) question that hasn't been answered: Have
you tried to print any of the "damaged" images? If what
appears to be a damaged file prints OK, then what you have
is a display problem. There's nothing in your description
of the process that would cause problems with file
integrity, assuming there is no virus involvement, a
possibility you say has been eliminated.

 

[Lab]

You said that you use the save as option. What about the originals. Do
they deteriorate too?

 

[Guest]

All files seem to have this random deterioration (including files/desktops downloaded from the web etc), I was merely illustration that I only ever save the originals once in answer to a point raised by another helper who suggested constant saving causes a detioration. In answer to Wisla's point, I don't have a printer so I can't print them off to try. I could try and access my web space and upload a before and after couple which might help but it'll take a few days. Thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions. If any more come to mind please feel free to try me. Take care

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
All files seem to have this random deterioration

(including files/desktops downloaded from the web etc), I
was merely illustration that I only ever save the
originals once in answer to a point raised by another
helper who suggested constant saving causes a detioration.
In answer to Wisla's point, I don't have a printer so I
can't print them off to try. I could try and access my web
space and upload a before and after couple which might
help but it'll take a few days. Thanks to everyone for
your helpful suggestions. If any more come to mind please
feel free to try me. Take care

.

This has become too stupid for words, but listen--the
*only* way to tell at this point where the problem lies
is to see the images in a medium different from the
suspect medium. Uploading pictures to a web site will
accomplish nothing, unless you intend to have someone
else print them from there. I'm convinced at this point
that your files are OK and your display driver is the
culprit, but you won't know to your own satisfaction until
you do some printing.

 

[John Inzer]

I'm convinced at this point that your files are OK and
your display driver is the culprit, but you won't know
to your own satisfaction until you do some printing.

========================================
Hi Wislu,

Here's what I told him on Jan. 15th... and he will not listen.

===

Well...it's my thinking that there is nothing wrong with
your images...the problem is in the way your computer
is drawing them. As I previously stated, your video driver
or possibly your video card is at the heart of the matter.

Have you actually been to the website of your Video
Card's manufacturer and searched for current Windows
XP video drivers?

Why not copy the images to a CD and open them on
a different computer...see how they look.

--

John Inzer
Picture It! MVP
return e-mail disabled

Picture It! Support Center
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=pic

 

[Guest]

I have copied the images onto CD and viewed them at my work place on a Windows NT based system and the damaged files are still damaged in the same manner as my computer. My suggestion to upload them was so yourselves could see the damage yourselves to see if the pattern was a recognised flaw in any program or known virus. I seem to be annoying people now so I'll stop posting and seek advice else where. Sorry to anyone who feels I've wasted their time and many thanks to everyone who offered advice. Take care. John

 

[John Inzer]

If I'm wrong...I stand corrected.

If you post the images on a website
I will be happy to take a look at them.

Or, if you prefer...you may e-mail one
directly to me at the following address.

pictureit_mvpAThotmailDOTcom

--

John Inzer
Picture It! MVP
return e-mail disabled

Picture It! Support Center
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=pic

I have copied the images onto CD and viewed them at my work place on a

Windows NT based system and the damaged files are still damaged in the same
manner as my computer. My suggestion to upload them was so yourselves could
see the damage yourselves to see if the pattern was a recognised flaw in any
program or known virus. I seem to be annoying people now so I'll stop
posting and seek advice else where. Sorry to anyone who feels I've wasted
their time and many thanks to everyone who offered advice. Take care. John

 

[Guest]

Thanks for taking the time again. I've loaded two originals and damaged photos to a temp web page a
www.johndl.btinternet.co.u

Many thank
John

 

[David Candy]

When you right click a file what are the dates for the file.

Do the process that damages the photo, examining the dates before and after each step.