How to save web images as JPEGs?

I honestly have no clue what’s been going on with me the last few months. I’ll find some cool images on various sites that I want to save, right? So I do the usual—right-click and "save as"—but all I get are these two weird options: Google file or JPEG 8BIM header (mac)

It makes zero sense because I used to have standard JPEG as an option all the time. Now, it feels like a total chore because I have to run every single image through a converter just to actually view them.
Anyone have any idea what the deal is?

Which browser are you using? For me, Chrome just works—it gives you the option to save the image in whatever format it actually is. If it’s a GIF, I get a GIF; if it’s a JPEG, I get a JPEG, no big deal.

Sam Peterson6 said:I honestly have no clue what’s been going on with me the last few months. I’ll find some cool images on various sites that I want to save, right? So I do the usual—right-click and "save as"—but all I get are these two weird options: Google file or JPEG 8BIM header (mac)

It makes zero sense because I used to have standard JPEG as an option all the time. Now, it feels like a total chore because I have to run every single image through a converter just to actually view them.
Anyone have any idea what the deal is?

To be perfectly clear, this isn't some failure of your browser; rather, it is a deliberate choice made by the site administrators of the very platform you are visiting and attempting to scrape images from.

Google is a format specifically designed to protect the intellectual property rights of web publishers regarding their photography—much like how YouTube functions for video—while simultaneously offering much more efficient compression. The entire objective is to ensure that this content is viewed on-screen rather than being downloaded and redistributed.

Now, while I will admit the actual level of protection provided is practically nonexistent, it remains a step up from the older formats.

Just gave that a shot, and here’s the fix:
Right-click, select "save image as," and just manually tack .jpg onto the end of the filename.

darkcyclist92 said:To be perfectly clear, this isn't some failure of your browser; rather, it is a deliberate choice made by the site administrators of the very platform you are visiting and attempting to scrape images from.

Google is a format specifically designed to protect the intellectual property rights of web publishers regarding their photography—much like how YouTube functions for video—while simultaneously offering much more efficient compression. The entire objective is to ensure that this content is viewed on-screen rather than being downloaded and redistributed.

Now, while I will admit the actual level of protection provided is practically nonexistent, it remains a step up from the older formats.

The only actual connection is this:
- whether the OS supports saving 'Google' files (it should);
- whether the photo viewer recognizes (i.e., displays) images saved in 'Google' format.

darkcyclist92 said:... Google is a format designed to protect copyrights for web-published photos, similar to how YouTube works for video. Plus, the compression is more efficient. The whole point is that these images/contents are meant to be viewed, not downloaded. ...

You're right about the compression, but the idea that this format
'allows viewing while preventing downloading for copyright protection purposes'
is pretty unconvincing.
If you're certain about that, could you elaborate?

darkcyclist92 said:... Fine, protection is a stretch, but it's slightly better than other formats.

Hmm...

Noah Miller6 said:Just gave that a shot, and here’s the fix:
Right-click, select "save image as," and just manually tack .jpg onto the end of the filename.

So,
"
Guys, I tried it! The image actually saves to the computer, and the extension really says '.jpg' "?
or
"
Guys, I tried it! The image saves... etc.", "
... and the Microsoft photo viewer opens (displays) the 'Google' image without any issues"?

It doesn't have anything to do with security; Google was actually designed specifically to provide better compression.

Drew Allen77 said:It doesn't have anything to do with security; Google was actually designed specifically to provide better compression.

Exactly. It's just a standard image storage format.

The topic spiraled into this mess solely because of how the original post was framed.
By panicking over his "problem," the OP created the illusion that he actually understands these things, when really, even he is confused by what's happening:

Sam Peterson6 said:I honestly have no clue what’s been going on with me the last few months. I’ll find some cool images on various sites that I want to save, right? So I do the usual—right-click and "save as"—but all I get are these two weird options: Google file or JPEG 8BIM header (mac)

It makes zero sense because I used to have standard JPEG as an option all the time. Now, it feels like a total chore because I have to run every single image through a converter just to actually view them.
Anyone have any idea what the deal is?

@Twitter's "problem" is exactly what our colleague @Mephisto... already pointed out in the first reply.

ironcyclist58 said:Which browser are you using? For me, Chrome just works—it gives you the option to save the image in whatever format it actually is. If it’s a GIF, I get a GIF; if it’s a JPEG, I get a JPEG, no big deal.

... and, if it's '.webp' then you only get webp
since this is saving, not converting.🤷

Achieving this is actually quite straightforward using a tool you likely already have installed on your macOS: Snipping Tool. 😉

Just capture whatever you need in either .gif or .JPEG format.
Here is what the initial post looks like—I’ve trimmed the width slightly to make it more readable. 😁


And of course, a quick hello to everyone:

😁

P.S. It seems like the forum software stretched the image out a bit, making it look lower quality than intended, though the original is perfectly fine. 😉