Ability to send images Uncompressed (some images get badly pixeled)

[Xashyar]

• I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

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Bug description

here I've sent a .png file (with relatively small size ~850 KB),

Actual result:

image becomes unintelligible.

Expected result:

option to send uncompressed upon image drag & drop, browse etc.

Screenshots

the Signal Compressed on the left , and the Uncompressed on the right.

Platform info

Signal version: 1.3.0 Beta 1

Operating System: Windows 10

Linked device version: 2.19.5

[Dyras]

If you send the same image from your phone, does that also compress it this badly?

[Xashyar]

@Dyras I tested on iOS with the same PNG file, and there was No compression. I successfully sent the file intact.

[qubecub]

In relation to the issue I raised recently:
#3756 (comment)

Having photographs pixeled/ impage quality damaged as the of compression is one of the points I raised in my initial post.

Most importantly though, being able to send completely unaltered images, with all original metadata, resolution, quality and also potentially embedded stenography encryption - if desired by users.

Signal app setting to 'don't modify / don't compress image files' would simply do the job.

I would like to request that as a new feature.

[supaeasy]

So - is there a reason why this has not been implemented yet?

[nkr0]

On whatsapp, when you add an image, it is compressed. But, when you attach the same image as a Document, it is sent without any changes. On signal we could do the same where the unmodified image is sent when attached as a File.

[heatl0rd]

I've tried just sending a 2.75mb picture and it gets completely distorted to the point where it can no longer be legible.

I tried sending as a file but it still gets mangled.

[EvanHahn-Signal]

We're aware of this issue. Thanks for reporting!

[XLRT]

This has been open since 2018? Please make destroying images optional.

[Xashyar]

Hello @XLRT, since the 5.8.0 release, there is an option to send pictures with High quality, which sends images virtually uncompressed:

That still doesn't address your problem?

[Exploder98]

@Xashyar I'm not XLRT, but wanted to comment.

Especially small images (e.g. small screenshots) still get butchered by the JPEG compression with "High" quality media.

I looked through the code and it seems that the compression quality parameter is not different depending on the "Media Quality" setting. I think this means that "High quality" are NOT virtually uncompressed, the upper limits for allowed file dimensions and size are just bigger but the compression is applied at the same strength.

If having an option to send images actually uncompressed is not possible, could there at least be some size threshold so that images under that threshold are not touched? (For example: with "Standard" quality, the upper limit for file size seems to be 1.5 MiB [or 1 MiB? not sure]. Maybe the compression could be skipped if the file size is already below this threshold?) I don't think savings of a few KB are not worth it for small images, especially if the JPEG compression makes image quality much worse.

[karnetmp]

Having to zip and unzip a photo everytime is really annoying (especially when you're sending photos between phone and PC). I understand that Signal is trying to keep it's settings simple, but please, either add a setting to send uncompressed images or turn the compression off completely.

[zilexa]

@Xashyar could you please give feedback on @Exploder98 findings?

Also, this issue still exists on every platform, not just the Desktop app.

For example I can't use Signal at all to sent screenshots since the text is too fuzzy for the receiver.

Could you please inform us on the priority that has been assigned to this issue? Just to give an idea if it will be worked upon for the coming Android and iOS updates.

[neocogent]

Compression make the app useless for people involved in graphic arts/design/photography and who want to send photos where the original quality is critical for the receiver. Sure, it's good to save space on everyday snapshots and such but there are uses where it's unacceptable to lose image data and where signal is very useful otherwise as a communication app - which is what it's for anyway.

[darshandzend]

A (rather clunky) workaround is to create a zip with only the image present and send it as a file.

The issue is most acutely visible for small image sizes. If the goal of compressing sent images is to save space, small images don't pose much problem, IMO. The lossy compression should kick in if the image size is over a certain limit, otherwise you are just adding noise to an already tiny bit of information.