Install jpeg-xl with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• benchmark_xl
• butteraugli_main
• cjxl
• decode_and_encode
• display_to_hlg
• djxl
• djxl_fuzzer_corpus
• exr_to_pq
• generate_lut_template
• icc_simplify
• jxl_from_tree
• jxlinfo
• local_tone_map
• pq_to_hlg
• render_hlg
• ssimulacra2
• ssimulacra_main
• texture_to_cube
• tone_map
• xyb_range

Project history

JPEG XL grew through the JPEG committee standardization process. The official documentation lists an April 2018 final call for proposals and March 2019 use-cases and requirements work. The official workplan lists the file format edition from 2021, core coding and conformance editions from 2022, and reference software as ISO/IEC 18181-4:2022.

The libjxl repository is the reference implementation for JPEG XL, including encoder and decoder libraries plus command-line tools. Its README states that files encoded with cjxl conform to the JPEG XL specification and can be decoded by future djxl decoders or the libjxl decoding library.

Adoption history

JPEG XL adoption has been both standards-driven and package-driven. The official JPEG site positions it for responsive web delivery, professional photography, wide color gamut, high dynamic range, alpha, animation, lossless coding, progressive coding, and lossless recompression of existing JPEG files.

The libjxl README documents availability through Linux distributions and Homebrew, with Debian-style packages installing tools such as cjxl and djxl. The repository also points to application integrations, plugins, examples, a community site, and discussion channels, reflecting a codec ecosystem rather than a single binary.

How it is used

Users encode with commands such as cjxl input.png output.jxl and decode with djxl input.jxl output.png. For JPEG input, libjxl can losslessly recompress an existing JPEG into JPEG XL and later reconstruct the original JPEG bitstream.

Why package nerds care

jpeg-xl is important because it packages an active image standard, not merely an implementation. Installing it gives users the reference codec, benchmark and quality tools, and the command-line handles needed to test JPEG XL workflows before or alongside application-level support.

It is also a case study in codec packaging tension: standards work, browser/application adoption, conformance testing, patents/licensing, and distro integration all matter before a new image format feels real to users.

Timeline

• 2018: JPEG issued the final call for proposals for a next-generation image coding standard.
• 2019: JPEG XL use cases and requirements were documented at the March 2019 Geneva meeting.
• 2021: ISO/IEC 18181-2:2021 file format edition was published.
• 2022: JPEG XL was standardized as ISO/IEC 18181, with core coding, conformance, and reference software parts in the 2022 generation.
• 2024: ISO/IEC 18181-1:2024 published a second edition of the core coding system.
• 2025: ISO/IEC 18181-3:2025 published a second edition of conformance testing.
• 2026: ISO/IEC 18181-2:2026 appeared as a third edition file-format publication.

Related projects

• libjxl is the reference software implementation for JPEG XL.
• The official JPEG software page also lists jxl-rs, jxl-oxide, and libjxl/conformance.
• jpegli is identified by the libjxl README as continuing in google/jpegli.
• JPEG XL is related to legacy JPEG through its lossless JPEG transcoding and reconstruction feature.

Sources

• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/jpeg-xl
• https://github.com/libjxl/libjxl
• https://github.com/libjxl/libjxl#readme
• https://github.com/libjxl/libjxl/releases
• https://jpeg.org/jpegxl/documentation.html
• https://jpeg.org/jpegxl/index.html
• https://jpeg.org/jpegxl/software.html
• https://jpeg.org/jpegxl/workplan.html