The JPGExtra program consists of only one executable file called JPGExtra2.exe. There are no system files, no configuration files, no help files, no changes needed to the registry or other Windows components. As a result, JPGExtra doesn't even need an installation program!

Installation involves simply saving that one executable file directly onto your computer and it's ready to run. The easiest location is onto your "Desktop" or to somewhere appropriate within your "Start Menu".

Un-installation is equally simply - just delete that one file.

The idea is to more or less work from left to right. Choose the drive you want to process, choose the folder, choose the file types (eg. *.jpg, meaning all files that end in .jpg), then set any options and either click on the "Start Processing" button (to process all files) or double-click on any individual filename (to process just that one file).

• Analyse Only / Don't Modify: Allows a "test run", which will show what savings can be expected without actually modifying the files. As mentioned above, the Log File is useful for analysing the results.

• Process Sub-Folders Also: JPGExtra will also process any lower-level folders that it finds below the chosen folder. For example, processing the "C:\My Documents" folder will also process the lower level "C:\My Documents\My Images" sub-folder, plus anything else further below. A whole drive can be processed in one pass using this option.

• Pause on Errors: When JPGExtra encounters any errors, it will pop up a dialog box showing the error, allowing you to continue or to cancel further processing.

• Backup Original Files: When JPGExtra does modify a file, it will create a backup of the original file. This will have the same filename, with a different file extension. The default is .jpe, which allows the backup file to still be viewed because .jpe files are recognized by most image viewing programs.

Backups are valuable for several reasons. Firstly, to compare the optimized file with the original file to verify that the image is unchanged. Secondly, in the unlikely event that there is an error with the optimized file, the original file is still available. Thirdly, to keep the original, unaltered file for archival purposes, as it may contain data (such as a meaningful comment, Exif digital camera info, etc.) that could prove useful in future for historical or legal reasons.

• Log All Files Processed: Create a log entry for each file processed, even if the file was not modified or if there were any errors processing. If there was already an existing log file, add the entries to it, otherwise start a new log file.

• Log Files With Extras Only: Only create a log entry for those files that were found to contain extras and that were successfully optimized without errors.

• Don't Write to Log File: Don't create a log file (although if one already exists, don't delete it).

• Remember All Options: Remembers all of the above options for the next time JPGExtra is run. This creates a TINY setting in the Windows registry (ie. there is no major change to the registry, so don't panic!). For those interested, the setting is saved in the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Ian Fieggen/JPGExtra2

This registry key can be safely deleted, which is the same as un-ticking "Remember all options". Next time JPGExtra is run, it will have reverted to the default settings.

The "Help" menu also contains a shortcut to go to the JPGExtra web site. Note that this does NOT communicate anything, private or otherwise; it simply points your browser to the site's address.

Typically, users have a "library" of all of the JPG files for their web site sitting somewhere on a production computer. It's a simple matter to navigate to that folder using JPGExtra and process all of the JPG files therein. The optimized JPG files can then be re-uploaded to the web site.

When working on additions to a web site, it's often a good idea to temporarily place any newly created JPG files into a separate folder (eg. "C:\NewPics\"). This simplifies the task of optimization because JPGExtra can very quickly process that one folder, after which the optimized JPG files can be uploaded to the web site as well as copied back to the image library.

Unlike most other JPG optimization programs, JPGExtra can be run over the same JPG files any number of times. This is because JPGExtra does not modify the image data in any way and thus will never reduce their quality. If JPGExtra finds no "extras", those files will not be changed.

It's a good exercise to occasionally run JPGExtra over the whole of an image library to double-check that no files containing "extras" have made their way into the library (eg. through simply forgetting to optimize, or restoring an old version of a file). After re-processing the library, a quick check of the totals will show if any files were optimized. The log file will then be invaluable for determining those files that need to be re-uploaded.