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Stop saving all image files as WebP?

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I understand the newest version of Firefox offers support for WebP images, which is cool and great... but not when I need to download those images for use on my computer. As an artist I need to be able to save things as .jpg or .png for my art programs (or even preview) to be able to open them. Is there any way to make this an option, or to not default to webp when saving images?

I've also tried changing the extension on the file using the "all files" option but it just corrupts the file and won't open them.

I understand the newest version of Firefox offers support for WebP images, which is cool and great... but not when I need to download those images for use on my computer. As an artist I need to be able to save things as .jpg or .png for my art programs (or even preview) to be able to open them. Is there any way to make this an option, or to not default to webp when saving images? I've also tried changing the extension on the file using the "all files" option but it just corrupts the file and won't open them.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (20)

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Sorry, Firefox doesn't convert image formats, so most image editors will need you to assign the "proper" extension for .webp files instead of .png or .jpg.

On Windows 10, .webp is detected as HEIC, which is a recent Apple format, so I wonder whether using a .heic extension would work on your Mac?

Alternately, there may be a way to have Firefox inform web servers that it can't handle webp images so the servers (hopefully) send a different format. I'm not sure what methods work for that currently.

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Are you saving images from websites you found through a Google search? If so, you might actually be viewing the Google AMP cache version of the website. According to this Google Developers page, AMP cache converts all the standard image formats (.jpg, .gif, .png) to WebP images.

You need to go to the actual website, and not the AMP version. Unfortunately, the only way I know to reliably do that is to use a different search engine. If you are doing your searching on a mobile device, you could try changing the User Agent setting to a desktop version.

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Seçilmiş Həll

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Because of financial problems I'm still using Windows 7 on a PC thats almost 10 years old. The WebP image converter does not work on it. (btw I'm saving up to buy a new PC soon) I've found a website that can convert WebP to Jpg, but its a hassle to use it.

I think there are now websites like Photobucket that are preventing anyone from downloading images using right click and save by fooling firefox that they are in a different format.

Modified by WildBill TX

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WildBill TX said

... I'm still using Windows 7 ... The WebP image converter does not work on it.

I don't know why the extension would be sensitive to the version of Windows you have. Perhaps there is a conflict with another feature or setting?

If you want to try a different extension, I submitted a new one to the Add-ons site for review. It's not approved yet (there are 20 in line ahead of me), but you can read about it here to see whether it looks interesting to you: https://github.com/jscher2000/Save-webP-as-extension#readme

If mine doesn't work on Windows 7, that would be very interesting to know.

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I'm not comfortable at this time installing the webp converter add-on to my Firefox browser and would like to know alternative methods such as software that will convert a webp file once I've downloaded it. This includes files that are jpeg or gif format. Currently, when I download such files I can't open them on my Mac; they are not readable by the Mac's standard software programs and not recognized by my older video converter software. If I try to delete the webp from the file extension, that doesn't resolve the issue at all. Can someone recommend good software programs for conversion of webp files to standard jpeg, gif or other formats while retaining the file name if possible?

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Hi tjphoto, I don't have a Mac, but some Mac App Store apps shows up in a Google search. You could take a look at these and search further in the App Store app.

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jscher2000 said

Hi tjphoto, I don't have a Mac, but some Mac App Store apps shows up in a Google search. You could take a look at these and search further in the App Store app.

Thanks for the advice. One big problem for me is that I have an older OS, so many of the latest apps don't work with my OS. I understand that there are software programs that can convert a webp file to more typical gif or jpeg, so I should research those options. I was hoping someone would be able to recommend the best of such programs. When I read the Mozilla notes on the Firefox add-on, I didn't like the sound of some functions in it that struck me as invasive, imposing upon my normal browser activity, etc.

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I understand your concern. You don't know these developers.

My own webP converter also requires "all sites" permission. The reason is that a lot of images are embedded from different servers, so you need cross-site permissions to manipulate them, and the only practical way is to get permission in advance. However, if I think of a way to not require that, I'll update the extension with that approach.

If you want to take a look at how it works now:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/save-webp-as-png-or-jpeg/

I didn't include GIF format because it is limited to 256 colors, which tends to be kind of ugly.

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Hi tjphoto, if I could mention one other option: browsers can display webP image files, and also capture screenshots. So you can convert a saved webP file in Firefox as follows:

(A) Display the webP file in a tab using either menu button > Open file, or File > Open file, or drag and drop the image file into a tab

(B) Use the "Take a Screenshot" feature on the Page Actions (•••) menu in the address bar

(C) Click "Save Full Page" and after a moment Firefox should display an overlay with its converted image

(D) Either "Download" the image as a PNG file, or Copy it to the clipboard and then paste it into your image editor

No other software needed.

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It sounds like you all are not understanding the issue correctly. Firefox is not converting the image files but appending webp to the end of the file name. If I download the exact same image file from Chrorne or IE than the webp extension is not appended and shows up as the correct file type. Example: Firefox sees image.jpep as image. jpeg. webp. It is this action we want to end as no one should have to deleted the webp extension as it should recognize, and save the file properly. So no renaming, no converting no nothing except for Firefox to save with the correct extension instead of changing it, as most websites do not support webp if you were to try to upload one. Get it now? I would attach an example but guess what? Mozilla does not support the webp file type either!!!!!

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Hi Gelio, welcome to this thread. I'm not sure the earlier posters would agree that they don't understand their own situations when trying to save images. But we can discuss the problems you are encountering.

Firefox wouldn't normally add a .webp extension unless the image actually is in a WebP container, whether it was originally a PNG or a JPEG before the site put it in the container. Where are you trying to save a JPEG that Firefox is mistakenly renaming with a .webp extension? Can you share a link?

Here's an example yesterday where someone opened an image that has .jpg in the URL but the site actually serves the JPEG inside a WebP container. This creates a problem in Firefox because you can't extract and save the JPEG from the container; Chrome has that ability. See: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1291194

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jscher2000 said

Hi tjphoto, if I could mention one other option: browsers can display webP image files, and also capture screenshots. So you can convert a saved webP file in Firefox as follows: (A) Display the webP file in a tab using either menu button > Open file, or File > Open file, or drag and drop the image file into a tab (B) Use the "Take a Screenshot" feature on the Page Actions (•••) menu in the address bar (C) Click "Save Full Page" and after a moment Firefox should display an overlay with its converted image (D) Either "Download" the image as a PNG file, or Copy it to the clipboard and then paste it into your image editor No other software needed.

Thanks again for advice. I was trying to come up with a solution that preferably didn't involve too many steps. I discovered that there are sites that will process and convert files with the webp appended to the file name, converting it to a desired format such as gif to mpeg4 or webp to jpeg. I found a couple of these converter sites so far, though I noticed one of them has a limit on the number of conversions you can do for free within a day before you have to sign up for a paid membership with a monthly or annual fee. Anyway, these seem to be pretty easy processes to use, based on my experience so far. I also have the option of using the Grab software that came with my Mac to do a kind of screensave that I can control the cropping on. This saves as a tiff, then I use Photoshop to convert the tiff to a jpeg or whatever format I choose. At the moment, I think there's only one website I frequent that has been displaying files with a webp format in the name and only started this recently. So it's not a common problem with all sites I visit that have images or video clips. However, I've noticed there are sites like twitter and instagram, I think, that control images to prevent visitors from dragging the images to your desktop or doing a right click to save, etc. I understand the importance of protecting people's images. But of course software like Grab can still save these images and convert them easily enough.

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Gelio said

It sounds like you all are not understanding the issue correctly. Firefox is not converting the image files but appending webp to the end of the file name. If I download the exact same image file from Chrorne or IE than the webp extension is not appended and shows up as the correct file type. Example: Firefox sees image.jpep as image. jpeg. webp. It is this action we want to end as no one should have to deleted the webp extension as it should recognize, and save the file properly. So no renaming, no converting no nothing except for Firefox to save with the correct extension instead of changing it, as most websites do not support webp if you were to try to upload one. Get it now? I would attach an example but guess what? Mozilla does not support the webp file type either!!!!!

I don't think you're understanding the issue. The only site I've been on that displays images that download with a webp file name is programmed to add that appended webp. It's not Firefox that's to blame. I have not experienced Firebox's browser adding a webp to a file name on any other sites, so it seems to be something unique to a single site I was referring to. I just wondered originally if Firefox had an easy add-on that would automatically convert the webp files to jpeg, gif or mpeg, for example, so my computer would read them normally. My computer and software programs I use don't recognize a webp file name.

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tjphoto said

I discovered that there are sites that will process and convert files with the webp appended to the file name, converting it to a desired format such as gif to mpeg4 or webp to jpeg. I found a couple of these converter sites so far, though I noticed one of them has a limit on the number of conversions you can do for free within a day before you have to sign up for a paid membership with a monthly or annual fee. Anyway, these seem to be pretty easy processes to use, based on my experience so far.

If there are any you feel confident enough to recommend by name, that probably would be helpful to other users who find this thread.

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jscher2000 said

tjphoto said

I discovered that there are sites that will process and convert files with the webp appended to the file name, converting it to a desired format such as gif to mpeg4 or webp to jpeg. I found a couple of these converter sites so far, though I noticed one of them has a limit on the number of conversions you can do for free within a day before you have to sign up for a paid membership with a monthly or annual fee. Anyway, these seem to be pretty easy processes to use, based on my experience so far.

If there are any you feel confident enough to recommend by name, that probably would be helpful to other users who find this thread.

I found many conversion sites, but the ones I've used successfully so far include convertio.co, ezgif.com, and cloudconvert.com Some of the sites seem to be free, some have more limited free conversions, and some that try to lure you into a membership fee. It seems to vary, also, in how many formats they do conversions between. I'd welcome feedback from others who try out the conversion sites or software programs, especially software that is Mac compatible or can be used in connection with Firefox for Mac versions.

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I have to concur with Gelio on this one. I encounter this problem all the time, and its driving me to another browser. Here's a practical example of the problem (at least as far as he and I see it).

If i go to this site: hamilton

And i right click and save the main image using firefox, i end up with a webp image not recognised by windows photo viewer, photoshop etc. Infuriating. I have tried changing config settings per other articles, but it hasnt made a difference.

If I save it using IE, the image opens fine.

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Hi MB, Internet Explorer 11 doesn't display webP images (according to https://caniuse.com/#feat=webp ) so that would explain why you don't need any workaround for IE.

More recently, I created a new extension that removes webP from the list of formats Firefox tells sites that it wants. This may reduce the problem enough for you to stick with Firefox, if you want to give it a try:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/dont-accept-webp/

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Thanks jscher, your extension is simple but excellent. Its my preferred solution for sure, although it doesn't work on all sites.

Modified by MB

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So I need to install an extension in order to convert a image that was originally a jpg (for example https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/TMDInaw3XIAEs0Q20Gp0NGV-0KE=/0x0:2048x1066/960x500/media/img/mt/2018/12/Black_Panther_waterfall_Marvel_Studios/original.jpg) that is forced to save and download as a webp file so I can convert it back to a jpg?

That is pretty lame and a waste of time. Why should I not just start using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox? Even Chrome allows me to save a jpg as a jpg...

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