JPEG XL — Next-Generation Image Codec
Open BetaJPEG XL (.jxl) is a raster successor to classic JPEG, standardised as ISO/IEC 18181 in 2022. On osm2cdr.ru the map is rendered to PNG and then encoded to JPEG XL by whichever encoder is available — a Pillow plugin, the jxlpy library, or the cjxl CLI tool. The format is royalty-free and supports lossless mode, HDR and high bit depth. It is a finished map image, not editable layers. The main caveat is browser fragmentation: Safari supports it natively while Chrome removed support in 2023, so today JPEG XL fits archival and offline use better than web embedding.
Key Features
About JPEG XL Format
JPEG XL is a raster format standardized as ISO/IEC 18181 and conceived as the successor to ordinary JPEG. It compresses harder at the same quality, supports a lossless mode, wide color depth and HDR, and is free of licensing royalties.
A map is taken as .jxl for the sake of weight: a high-resolution poster is stored more compactly than PNG, and the quality stays. A separate scenario is repacking JPEGs you already have: the format can squeeze them without recompressing the image anew.
With us the map is first rendered to PNG and then encoded to JPEG XL by whichever encoder is present in the system: the Pillow plugin, the jxlpy library or the cjxl command-line tool. The default quality is 90 — lossy compression that is visually indistinguishable from the original; a lossless mode is available too. The file holds a finished image of the map, not editable layers.
The main caveat is browser support. Safari opens .jxl natively, Firefox only behind a flag, and Chrome removed support in 2023. So for a website WebP, AVIF or plain PNG is the safer bet, while JPEG XL fits archiving, offline viewing and storage.
What Program Opens JPEG XL Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with JPEG XL — Next-Generation Image Codec (.jxl) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossy compression
- No attributes
- Output: 1 file
- A single .jxl encoded from PNG by whichever encoder is present (pillow-jxl -> jxlpy -> cjxl CLI); ISO/IEC 18181, royalty-free, default quality 90 (lossy by default).
Who Uses JPEG XL Maps
How to Export JPEG XL
How to Open After Export
- Viewing — GIMP, XnView MP or Safari open .jxl with no extra setup.
- libjxl — the djxl command-line tool turns the file back into PNG with djxl map.jxl map.png, if the receiving program does not know the format.
- ImageMagick — the command magick map.jxl map.png for batch conversion; support depends on whether your ImageMagick was built with the JPEG XL delegate.
- For a website — serve the picture as WebP or AVIF and keep the .jxl as an archive copy: not every browser opens it today.
Popular maps in JPEG XL
Get JPEG XL — Next-Generation Image Codec map exports
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