#1146733 jpegtran should report command-line errors more precisely

Package:
libjpeg-turbo-progs
Source:
libjpeg-turbo-progs
Description:
Programs for manipulating JPEG files
Submitter:
Karolin Feuerstern
Date:
2026-09-04 22:31:01 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1146733#5
Date:
2026-09-04 22:20:56 UTC
From:
To:
Get a JPEG file, say, in.jpg, and run

jpegtran -copy all -optimize -crop 3106x990 -perfect -strict -output out.jpg in.jpg

You get the help printed:

usage: jpegtran [switches] [inputfile]
Switches (names may be abbreviated):
   -copy none     Copy no extra markers from source file
   -copy comments Copy only comment markers (default)
   -copy icc      Copy only ICC profile markers
   -copy all      Copy all extra markers
   -optimize      Optimize Huffman table (smaller file, but slow compression)
   -progressive   Create progressive JPEG file
Switches for modifying the image:
   -crop WxH+X+Y  Crop to a rectangular region
   -drop +X+Y filename          Drop (insert) another image
   -flip [horizontal|vertical]  Mirror image (left-right or top-bottom)
   -grayscale     Reduce to grayscale (omit color data)
   -perfect       Fail if there is non-transformable edge blocks
   -rotate [90|180|270]         Rotate image (degrees clockwise)
   -transpose     Transpose image
   -transverse    Transverse transpose image
   -trim          Drop non-transformable edge blocks
                  with -drop: Requantize drop file to match source file
   -wipe WxH+X+Y  Wipe (gray out) a rectangular region
Switches for advanced users:
   -arithmetic    Use arithmetic coding
   -icc FILE      Embed ICC profile contained in FILE
   -restart N     Set restart interval in rows, or in blocks with B
   -maxmemory N   Maximum memory to use (in kbytes)
   -maxscans N    Maximum number of scans to allow in input file
   -outfile name  Specify name for output file
   -report        Report transformation progress
   -strict        Treat all warnings as fatal
   -verbose  or  -debug   Emit debug output
   -version       Print version information and exit
Switches for wizards:
   -scans FILE    Create multi-scan JPEG per script FILE

It took me quite a while to see that the right switch is not `-output` but `-outfile`. If jpegtran can't parse the command line, could jpegtran be a bit more precise and tell the poor user which switch is failing?

Gratefully,
Karolin