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Java PNG Writer

Java’s built-in ImageIO has limited support for writing PNG files and provides little control over encoding quality and format-specific options. JDeli is a 100% Java PNG writer that gives you full encoding control with no dependencies.

Getting started

Add JDeli to your project via Maven or Gradle, or see using JDeli with Java modules.

Key features:

  • 100% Java solution. No dlls or dependencies on native code
  • Relatively faster compression
  • PngQuantization: Supports 8-bit Compression which reduces the size of any PNG file by indexing colours

Quick start or to replace in existing code using ImageIO:

JDeli.write(myBufferedImage, "png", outputStreamOrFile);

or

byte[] outputData = JDeli.write(myBufferedImage, "png");

Simple usage

JDeli.write(myBufferedImage, OutputFormat.PNG, outputStreamOrFile);

OutputFormat allows setting of any supported Image Format

For complete control of output:

final PngEncoderOptions options = new PngEncoderOptions();

//set any options in options instance - examples below
options.setCompressionFormat(PngCompressionFormat.QUANTISED8BIT);
options.setCompressionFormat(PngCompressionFormat.NONE);

//write out
JDeli.write(myBufferedImage, options, outputStreamOrFile);

PngEncoderOptions allows setting of specific options.

Various image processing operations can be conducted on the image, detailed documentation can be found here.

Performance comparisons:

These figures were generated using jmh (as documented on our blog) with a standard set of images (also documented). They should be easy to replicate if you wish to validate, the code is on GitHub.

The higher the number, the better.

Mode: Throughput Count: 25 Units: ops/s

Benchmark Score Error
Apache 5.100 ± 0.018
ImageIO 4.819 ± 0.010
ImageIO_fast 5.597 ± 0.014
ImageIO_max_comp 3.512 ± 0.008
JDeli 5.383 ± 0.033
JDeli_quantised 1.192 ± 0.001
JDeli_fast 13.061 ± 0.026
JDeli_compressed 5.402 ± 0.027
JDeli_uncompressed 12.985 ± 0.088

Number of files: 166

Benchmark Size unreadable output AVG SSIM score AVG Similarity
Apache 2.61MB 0 0.967281580718986 Very similar (high quality)
ImageIO 2.64MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
ImageIO_fast 2.74MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
ImageIO_max_comp 2.62MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
JDeli 2.62MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
JDeli_compressed 2.62MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
JDeli_fast 2.74MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical
JDeli_quantised 0.514MB 0 0.9926136438484626 Identical or virtually identical
JDeli_uncompressed 2.74MB 0 1.0 Identical or virtually identical

Tested on 2020 13inch M1 MacBook Pro using JDK 18.0.1.1

Frequently asked questions

Does JDeli produce better PNG output than Java ImageIO?

Yes. While ImageIO can write PNG, JDeli gives you full control over encoding options such as compression and quality, and produces more consistent output across platforms.

Does writing PNG in Java require native libraries?

No. JDeli is a 100% Java library with no dependencies. It runs on any platform where the JVM runs with no additional installation.

What output types does JDeli support for writing PNG?

JDeli can write PNG to a File, OutputStream, or return the encoded data as a byte array.


Why JDeli?

  • Support image formats such as AVIF, HEIC and JPEG XL that are not supported in Java.
  • Process images up to 3x faster than ImageIO and alternative Java image libraries.
  • Prevent JVM crashes caused by native code in other image libraries such as ImageIO.
  • Handle JPEG, PNG, TIFF image file formats fully in Java.
  • Keep your Image files secure as JDeli makes no calls to any external system or third party library.

Learn more about JDeli

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