JPG or JPEG is probably the most used file format for images. From the internet to the most common mobile phone camera, we are all surrounded by them. We use them very often because they are small and easy to transfer. However, small size means also lower quality. Depending on how you create or modify a JPEG file, you might end-up having a low-quality image. Unless you use the right tools, quality remains lost forever. The good news is that there is a tool that can fix such problems.

Jpeg Enhancer is an application produced by a company called VicMan Software. This free tool fixes JPEG/JPG images that suffer from low-quality compression or are prone to have a "blotchy look". It doesn’t use any blur effects to hide noise in the image, but instead it uses a series of smart techniques to restore images back to their true form.

Jpeg Enhancer has a simple tool called Filter that allows you to quickly modify your images without getting into too much detail. However, you can still go in-depth with more advanced options. If these options can't help your damaged image, you can use the median noise reduction tool. Any modification done using this tool can easily be undone by pressing the Undo button. The last tool that might be handy is Resize. It is very useful for post-processing and it resizes the modified images to your desired size. After doing all the edits you wish, you can save your work in any of these three formats: JPEG, PNG or BMP.

Good things

After using this program for a while, I can truly say that there are quite a lot of nice things about it:

• Intuitive and easy to use - This tool is very simple to learn and use. All you have to do is open the image that you want to repair and after less than a minute you can have your image fixed. All the buttons and functions are well placed and you don’t feel like you are lost or that it is way too complex to work with.



• A really well made Help tool - Jpeg Enhancer provides a small video and also a great text Help system to get you more acquainted with the program. There are also quick-start helpers - very short and easy to follow. These explain all the basics required for you to successfully use this tool.
• Quick recovery process -You can see your results immediately after you opened an image. If you don’t like the outcome, all you have to do is move the filter strength bar and you are ready to save your image. You also get a quick preview when moving the filter strength bar or when working with one of the advanced options.
• Customization options - This tool includes some additional themes which you can use to change the program's look-and-feel. You may choose from 8 available themes. Even though it is not a fundamental feature, it is surely a nice one for those of you who get bored quickly or just don't like the default look.

Things that could be improved

Fortunately there are not too many improvements areas for this tool. We noticed a small update issue in the Text Help Manual and also in the animated tutorial. It is mentioned there that the program can be purchased even though Jpeg Enhancer is free of charge. Also, you should know that there are some websites which offer for download an older version, which is shareware. That's why I recommend you to download it from the producer's site.

In the version that I have tested (v1.8), you can repair only one image at a time. It would be great if future versions will allow you to repair more images at the same time. For example, I had some scanned images (very low quality) and it took a lot of time to repair each one separately. It would have been nice to be able to repair all of them using the same settings in only one session.

Some other nice to have features would be: more post-processing tools (e.g. crop, blur, image optimizers, etc) and the ability to edit pieces of an image and not just the entire image.

Conclusion

This program is very good for both professionals and amateurs. It does a great job at enhancing your JPEG images and it is also very easy to learn and use. I'm sure you will find it to be an excellent addition to your software collection. If you need to optimize your JPEG images, don't hesitate to give it a try.