Opening iPhone "optimized" PNGs, either directly or with a plugin

[georgec0]

The CgBI file format, thus named for its extra header, is Apple's extension to the PNG image format. More details about the format can be found here:

• http://iphonedevwiki.net/index.php/CgBI_file_format
• http://iphonedevelopment.blogspot.com/2008/10/iphone-optimized-pngs.html

I would really appreciate it if Paint.NET can open such "optimized" PNGs, either by itself or with the help of a plugin, so that I can save them as standard PNGs instead. If it helps, here's some C code I found for a utility called pngdefry that does the job, but having the ability to open such images in Paint.NET directly would be simply great. (Technically speaking the images do open, but the colors are all messed up.)
 
Thanks!

Edited May 7, 2016 by georgec0

[Zagna]

Bit of googling found PNGDecrush, a C# library for exactly that.

 

Maybe one of the more experienced plugin makers can use that?

 

Or you could use Color Matrix and in it there's "RGB to BGR (or back)" setting.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Zagna

[dipstick]

I'm getting a security warning on the site you linked to. Post the zip file here directly.

[georgec0]

I'm getting a security warning on the site you linked to. Post the zip file here directly.

 

On ge.tt? Strange, been using that file host for ages with no security warnings. Anyway, I'd love to share the file here directly except for the small matter (pun intended) of the 256KB attachment limit.

 

 

Bit of googling found PNGDecrush, a C# library for exactly that.

 

Maybe one of the more experienced plugin makers can use that?

 

Thanks, that looks very promising too although I haven't tested it personally. If it does what it promises though then it should be much better than a simple BGR to RGB operation that will leave other things like the precomputed alpha values etc. untouched. Better to have a custom plugin that does the job properly as the PNGDecrush page describes.

Edited May 7, 2016 by georgec0

[dipstick]

I can open that iphone png image in PDN v4.0.9, but I don't know which file type plugin is used to open it. The colors are wrong on import. PDN assumes it is RGBA instead of BGRA. Using the Color Matrix plugin does work...

 

[georgec0]

Using the Color Matrix plugin does work...

Yes, in this case reversing just the colors from BGR to RGB does seem to work, but as I mentioned above it would be better to have a more thorough implementation like PNGDecrush's which can handle all cases by doing the following:

• The CgBI chunk is removed
• Chunk data is inflated and deflated again with zlib headers intact
• The resulting PNG is read into .NET's standard image manipulation classes where:
  • The byte swap is reversed
  • The premultiplied alpha is reversed