JPEGREPAIR.NINJA’s JPEG Repair Service

jpegrepair.ninja jpeg repair service

JPEG Repair Service starts at $5.95, pricing info can be found here.

Prices ere ex. taxes/VAT, if applicable – depending on your location

You will always first receive a price quote from me after I have examined your corrupted photos! Note that these quotes do NOT include taxes (if applicable). To determine if taxes apply in your country simply check enter my quoted number of repair units here.

Process for photo repair service:

  1. Deliver some of the corrupt photos to me, so I can examine them.
  2. Wait for my quote. If I can repair I will notify you, send me all files you want repaired.
  3. Wait for me to repair. Depending on backlog, state and number of photos this may take from a few days to over a week. (1)
  4. Make payment. I will deliver repaired files.

(1) – In some situations I may require a 50% in advance down payment.

Uploading Files:

Failure to comply with the following mandatory ‘requests’ means I will simply delete the file(s) from my server.

  1. Please include a sample file, shot with the same camera using the same settings (resolution, quality, white balance, etc.). Usually the pictures taken right before or after the corrupt photo are shot with the same settings.
  2. Provide an explanation of the problem. Provide context. So for example explain if the files became corrupt after recovery, or after copying, or if they became corrupt without apparent reason. ‘Can not open’ or ‘photo is corrupt or half grey’ is NOT an explanation of a problem, it is stating the obvious.
  3. Upload a few photos only initially! I will diagnose those and we’ll take it from there. There is little use in uploading 100’s of photos that are beyond repair.
  4. If you share a download with me (Google Drive etc.) you do not need to register at all, simply email me (joep@disktuna.com)  the non password protected URL to the shared FOLDER. So in other words, I want to be able to access the folder containing all the files.

And with all that out of the way, I’d love to give it a try!

 JPEG Repair Service File Upload
Note: Upload supports drag and drop. You need to login or register for free (to avoid ‘drive-by-uploads’)

JUST DROP FILES HERE

Following restrictions apply: Max file size 128 MB. Accepted file extensions: ZIP (preferred), JPG and JPEG. For added privacy and security you may want to use password protected ZIP files. To submit RAW photos (NEF, CR2 etc.), please ZIP them first as they tend to be quite large.

Include a sample/reference file, shot with same camera and settings (resolution, quality, white balance, etc.) please!

* – if blank or nonsense: no answer.

With regards to the sample / reference file:

  • The image file must be undamaged.
  • The image file must be created by the same device (camera or mobile phone).
  • The picture must have the same resolution and should have been taken with the same settings.
  • The picture should NOT be edited using a photo editing software as it will re-encode the photo and make corruption permanent.

Data Recovery from memory cards:

Although it is not a service I primarily offer, I occasionally agree to performing the actual photo or video recovery myself. In this case I need access to the disk image of the memory card via a file sharing service. In case of higher capacity cards this often impractical though. You can then opt to send me the actual memory card but note that I will not return the card. I will quote a price per card, not per photo. Card needs to properly ID itself, I do not offer physical repairs or chip-off or off chip recovery.

Types of JPEG file corruption

JPEG is a standard, a specification. A standard that describes how data inside JPEGs is stored. A JPEG is typically a chain of ‘markers’. One marker points to the next, then the next, etc.. Each marker serves a different purpose. For example, a marker can contain a comment. Another contains EXIF data which can contain all kinds of information on the image file: data taken, geo info, camera model etc.

The most important marker I guess, contains the actual image data. Roughly 5% of a JPEG file is meta data, the rest, 95% is the actual image. The 5% meta data is found at the start of the file and is also called the header.

Corrupt header

A typical symptom of a damaged header is that the file is not recognized as a JPEG file and that it can’t be opened at all. To fix this kind of damage I also need an intact JPEG file, shot with the same camera using the same settings. If only some data inside the header is corrupt, depending on the image viewer you may get a more relevant error message, like “invalid Huffman table” (which is required to decompress image data).

corrupt jpeg header

JPEG corruption – Corrupt Header

Corrupt image data

When the image data itself is corrupt, the JPG will probably load, however the image will be distorted. If a portion of the image data is missing (truncated file), part of the image will show. The latter is quite common after using photo recovery or file recovery software.

Another type of damage is bit corruption: Data inside the image ‘stream’ is corrupt. This can result in the image shifting and color errors.

This video gives some idea of the work that goes into repairing photos with corruption in image bitstream, in this case using an older version of JPEG-Repair:

How do I do it?

I am using a number of tools that are constantly under development. I call my tools the JPEG Repair Toolkit. Apart from that I use a 3rd party hex editor (HxD) and several photo editors for post processing (Paint.net, PhotoDemon, Photoshop).

 

63 thoughts on “JPEGREPAIR.NINJA’s JPEG Repair Service”

  1. Alex

    Amazing job! I had one corrupt file from a JPEG photo that was half grey. It was fixed in honestly under 10 minutes and it looks perfect! Thanks so much for saving my picture!

    Reply ↓
  2. Christopher Henney

    I can see image normally in camera on playback but when transferring to Photo on Mac some images can` t be transferred . I have approx 12 images in a set of 2000 all of them together and at the end of photos taken . Can they be recovered ?

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      @Christopher Henney: I can only tell for sure if I see the photos. What do they look like if you transfer and open them then? If you can sent me one or two I can have a look.

      Reply ↓
  3. Juan

    Hi!!
    I already send you an email requesting information about a jpg repair files.
    I hope you can answer me soon. Thank you in advance

    Reply ↓
  4. Joe

    Hi,
    If I send you 100 file , you could fix 90 , and I only need 20 of them , how is the pricing?

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      So basically you want me to spend time on 100 images and only pay for 20? No deal as far as I am concerned. It’s not like me waving a magic wand and poof, all is fixed. If you sent me 100 then I expect you’re interested in all 100 and pay me for each image I repair. As stated on this page, with > 10 images we can negotiate a price but that’s not something I do in the comment section.

      Also, some times I can extract previews rather easily, in which case I could send you those and then you specifically tell me which images you’re interested in.

      Reply ↓
  5. Chandra

    Hi,

    This is Chandra. I am not able to open around 150 JPEG files and I get the message sayin gf “the file is corrupted”. How much do you charge to repair 150 JPEG images?

    Thanks,
    Chandra

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Sent me a few for examination and then we can discuss the price per email.

      Reply ↓
  7. RV

    Joep did a phenomenal job and successfully fixed my JPEGs pics within 24 hours. I tried other downloads w no success. Should have found him sooner.

    Reply ↓
  8. Luan poshka

    Hey Joep, sent acouple of files over for ya this is my first time trying to recover some of these ans just wanted to make sure the came thru on your end thanks man!

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,

      The files only contain zeros and I suspect you have a fake memory card there.

      A fake memory card only contains a fraction of advertised memory. So for example an 8 GB card is advertised as 64 GB. While writing files to the first 8 GB all is well. As soon as files are written beyond that, the hacked card firmware reports to the camera files were successfully written while in reality there is no memory cells to write them to. So the fact that it is a fake card is only discovered when actually trying to access the files.

      Since file system structures are typically towards the start of the drive, it even looks normal when viewing the card in Windows explorer. Again when trying to access the files, due to the hacked firmware no errors are reported when accessing the files or copying them: card firmware reports read success to windows. However since the actual data isn’t there, the file is typically filled with zeros.

      Reply ↓
  9. Varun Jain

    Hi, I have around 10k files which are corrupted. I can send you some sample. if you can recover we can deal something

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hi,
      Yes send me some so I can have a look. I’ll first need to look at them before I can tell you anything, price wise also. If it is something I can automate then we may be able to work something out. Just upload them on this page or email a few. Don’t forget to include intact reference files if your image don’t open at all.

      Reply ↓
  10. Ernest Kangkonfield

    hey. I just send you my corrupted jpeg that is filled with gray marker. Please help me. It is the only pic i have with my landlady and my parents 🙁 Please help me 🙁

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello Ernest,

      I checked the file and I am afraid it can not be repaired. Half (or so) of the data is really missing, so it is not like an error in the data is hiding part of the picture. It simply isn’t there, sorry.

      Joep

      Reply ↓
  11. Chris Distin

    Hi,
    I’ve just sent you a Jpg file… I hope you can save it as I have many more that need saving! If you are sucsessful then I would be interested in your services
    Many Thnks

    Reply ↓
  12. Adrián Bailey

    Hi, Joep, congrats on your work.

    I’m a wedding photographer. I have this CF card that have been formated at least 3 times since the time I took the pictures I need to recover. I mean, after the wedding I need to recover, I had 2 other weddings. I tried a lot of recovery programs already, but none of them were capable of finding more than the last wedding before the last card format, and that is sacaring me.

    Do you think is it possible to give a chance with your program? I also work with Mac, but I can see there’s only Windows compatibility. What do you think are the options?

    Thank you very much for your time

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,
      Formatting is not the issue, whether done once or three times, that should not make that big of a difference in *most* camera models: Some (Sony I think) actually wipe the card when doing a format. The issue is the fact that new files were written to the card.
      Assume for example the photos you need back were the result of a session where you filled card to half capacity. Then next sessions card was filled again to half capacity or more. Then you can assume the original files were over written and are no longer recoverable.
      However: If the photos from the session you need back filled up card to capacity and after that the card was only filled half, half the photos of original session are possibly recoverable.

      Reply ↓
      1. Adrián Bailey

        Hi, thank you for your quick answer.

        Actually, yes, the card was filled up all the times. The thing is all the recovery programs I tried show me almost 10k of CR2 files, but most of them are corrupted, with no option to opening, or even a preview icon. That’s why I ended up searching “recover corrupted cr2 files”. Another problem is that all those images have changed their names, so I would need to recover everything to see if some of those files are what I need.

        I would love to send you a file from that wedding, because I have the next picture I took before the file I lost, so the camera settings are exactly the same, but how can I send you the corrupted file if I don’t know which one is that file?

        Reply ↓
        1. Adrián Bailey

          I can add to my last comment, that I took 1500 photos per wedding, more or less, that’s why I have a little faith that in those 10k might be the pictures I need!

          Reply ↓
          1. Joep Post author

            If the card was re-used several times to full or close to full capacity then IMO there’s little value in pursuing this any further. If no other copies of the lost files exist in the cloud or on a hard drive then they’re lost.

            The already recovered files probably contain nothing of value but feel free to upload a few for me to check out.

          2. Adrián Bailey

            Hi Joep,

            One more question, do you have software that can recover specifically CR2 files? I mean, JPGRepair works only on corrupted existing files, right? But what if my files are hidden still? Or what software do you recommend for recovering specifically CR2 files, being those files so strange to most recovery software out there.

            Thank you so much for your time

  13. adonisdimple

    hello joep can you repair my damage photos i cant open it in photoshop it say invalid marker

    Reply ↓
    2. Joep Post author

      You have some sample/reference files to go with that? I need a healthy JPEG shot with the same camera + settings.

      Reply ↓
  14. Alibek

    I have about 4-10 damaged images. They have been deleted from my PC and then restored. And now they can’t be opened. I’m not sure about that but I think that there is a picture among them which has a phone number on it. It is a screenshot. Should I pay for 10 of them if you repair them and I need only the one with the phone number?

    Reply ↓
  15. Marguerite

    Hi!
    Just to say, I just sent you an email requesting a quote about a 3 jpg pictures to repair.
    Thank you very much in advance,
    François

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,

      Yes, I am looking at them right now. So, did you cut & paste then, causing the originals to disappear?

      Reply ↓
      1. Marguerite

        I red the SD card of the camera on a computer (chromebook), then copy paste the original file into another folder of the SD card. It worked with the reference files and a few dozen others but not the 3 ones I uploaded.
        KR,
        François

        Reply ↓
          1. Joep Post author

            Hello,

            Yes, that’s what I figured. But so my next thought would be then, did you run an undelete tool to see if they were detected.

          2. Joep Post author

            Yeah I think I can fix them but not all data is in there ..

          3. Marguerite

            No, as some photos were taken afterwards. Do you recommend trying this operation ? which tool would you suggest?
            Thank you very much,
            François

          4. Joep Post author

            Yes, you can always try. A freebie like Recuva should do it if they’re still there.

          5. Marguerite

            Is it worth trying repairing one of them ? At what cost?
            Kr,
            François

          7. Marguerite

            You can use them for a tutorial!
            Thank you very much,
            All the best,
            François

          8. Marguerite

            Do you think you can recover the whole pictures despite the missing data you mentioned ?
            KR,
            François

  16. Marguerite

    No, as some photos were taken afterwards. Do you recommend trying this operation ? which tool would you suggest?
    Thank you very much,
    François

    Reply ↓
  17. Marguerite

    Well done for the job Joep, the result is perfect and it was done really quickly!
    Kind regards,
    François

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Thank you, and thank you for allowing me to use the photos for a repair guide. I hope others will benefit and I will probably use them for a video. I will let you know when it is up. Again, thank you.

      Reply ↓
  18. Laura

    Thanks, Joep!

    For anyone considering using this service, my experience might help you make an informed decision:

    I sent Joep some family photos that I had tried, unsuccessfully, to improve with his JPG repair software. Initially, the photos themselves resisted any attempts at recovery. At this point, I believe that many technicians would have written them off as a lost cause, and I was prepared to do the same, but Joep asked me to send him an image of the flash drive … and he was able to reconstruct the fragmented file system enough to restore not only the 89 photos we had been able to see, but also 100 additional photos and a handful of video clips!

    In short, we were thrilled with the outstanding results, the unexpected bonus files, Joep’s persistence in trying to solve the problem, and the very reasonable price.

    Reply ↓
  19. wolf1995

    hey i purchased a jpeg repair unit 1 for 22$ today only and simply I got 1 email that’s it can you explain me for what I have paid to u??

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,

      Better to ask this type of questions per email and include order ID so I can look it up.
      Anyway: A JPEG Repair UNIT is not $22, it’s $5.95 and it typically purchased after I repaired a photo manually. $22.95 is for the software JPEG-Repair Toolkit.

      Reply ↓
      1. Joep Post author

        I see already. Yes you purchased a JPEG Repair UNIT. Not the software. Want me to refund that?

        Reply ↓
    2. Joep Post author

      Yes, so you purchased JPEG Repair UNIT which is for my JPEG repair service. I refunded that. I See there’s an error on my homepage which links to wrong product. Sorry about that, it is now fixed.

      Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      I have already submitted that and I expect them (Shareit) to process that today. Officially they do it within 24 hours.

      Reply ↓
  21. martez

    I have like 60 photos that I need recovered. I tried with no luck how much do you charge to repair

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,
      I can’t tell without looking at them. Submit 2 or 3 and I’ll have a look.

      Reply ↓
  22. xie

    hello, i purchased the toolkit then find most of the pics are “entropy> 7.98” , so my question is how could i decrept them? i have no idea

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      Hello,

      I have no idea either because I haven’t seen any of the files, haven’t heard what’s wrong with them, how it happened and so forth.

      Reply ↓
  23. PaulG

    Looking forward to being able to recover 800+ corrupted JPG files for a friend!

    Reply ↓
  24. goshenj

    Joep, I have a l large number of these. They were transferred to a thumb drive and when I transferred to another computer, I got the error message. I believe there was probably a problem with the thumb drive. Not all the files on the thumb drive were corrupted – only about half. Thanks,

    Reply ↓
    1. Joep Post author

      I will have a look. I assume the files are no longer available from the original source?

      Reply ↓

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