Preconditions for lossless rotating

See also: How does rotating photos work?

To be able to perform perfect rotation, your photo width and height in pixels need to be of a standard size. Usually this is not a problem:

[…] most digital cameras produce images with dimensions that are exact multiples of the MCU size.

Ammara

When using the free version of JPEG Autorotate, your photos will not be rotated unless a perfect result is guaranteed.

With the Boosted and Pro licenses, you have two options:

  • “Require perfect metadata and dimensions for rotation”
    • When you uncheck this option, also photos with non-standard sizes are rotated.
  • “When images are non-standard dimensions, trim borders”
    • When you check this option, strips of the photo that cannot be losslessly rotated, will be removed from the borders of the photo.
    • Strictly speaking the rotation is no longer lossless if you check this. Often this is still what you want to do though, as the ugly strip of unrotated pixels is removed and the rest of the image still gets rotated without quality loss.

Photo sizes that can be rotated losslessly

Credit: Ammara / web archive link

Aspect Ratio 3:2Aspect Ratio 4:3
MCU 8 x 8MCU 16 x 16MCU 8 x 8MCU 16 x 16
24 x 16
48 x 32
72 x 48
96 x 64
120 x 80
144 x 96
168 x 112
192 x 128
216 x 144
240 x 160
264 x 176
288 x 192
312 x 208
336 x 224
360 x 240
384 x 256
408 x 272
432 x 288
456 x 304
480 x 320
504 x 336
528 x 352
552 x 368
576 x 384
600 x 400
624 x 416
648 x 432
672 x 448
696 x 464
720 x 480
744 x 496
768 x 512
792 x 528
816 x 544
840 x 560
864 x 576
888 x 592
912 x 608
936 x 624
960 x 640
984 x 656
1008 x 672
1032 x 688
1056 x 704
1080 x 720
1104 x 736
1128 x 752
1152 x 768
1176 x 784
1200 x 800
1224 x 816
1248 x 832
1272 x 848
1296 x 864
1320 x 880
1344 x 896
1368 x 912
1392 x 928
1416 x 944
1440 x 960
1464 x 976
1488 x 992
1512 x 1008
1536 x 1024
1560 x 1040
1584 x 1056
1608 x 1072
1632 x 1088
1656 x 1104
1680 x 1120
1704 x 1136
1728 x 1152
1752 x 1168
1776 x 1184
1800 x 1200
1824 x 1216
1848 x 1232
1872 x 1248
1896 x 1264
1920 x 1280
1944 x 1296
1968 x 1312
1992 x 1328
2016 x 1344
2040 x 1360
2064 x 1376
2088 x 1392
2112 x 1408
2136 x 1424
2160 x 1440
2184 x 1456
2208 x 1472
2232 x 1488
2256 x 1504
2280 x 1520
2304 x 1536
2328 x 1552
2352 x 1568
2376 x 1584
2400 x 1600
48 x 32
96 x 64
144 x 96
192 x 128
240 x 160
288 x 192
336 x 224
384 x 256
432 x 288
480 x 320
528 x 352
576 x 384
624 x 416
672 x 448
720 x 480
768 x 512
816 x 544
864 x 576
912 x 608
960 x 640
1008 x 672
1056 x 704
1104 x 736
1152 x 768
1200 x 800
1248 x 832
1296 x 864
1344 x 896
1392 x 928
1440 x 960
1488 x 992
1536 x 1024
1584 x 1056
1632 x 1088
1680 x 1120
1728 x 1152
1776 x 1184
1824 x 1216
1872 x 1248
1920 x 1280
1968 x 1312
2016 x 1344
2064 x 1376
2112 x 1408
2160 x 1440
2208 x 1472
2256 x 1504
2304 x 1536
2352 x 1568
2400 x 1600
2448 x 1632
2496 x 1664
2544 x 1696
2592 x 1728
2640 x 1760
2688 x 1792
2736 x 1824
2784 x 1856
2832 x 1888
2880 x 1920
2928 x 1952
2976 x 1984
3024 x 2016
3072 x 2048
3120 x 2080
3168 x 2112
3216 x 2144
3264 x 2176
3312 x 2208
3360 x 2240
3408 x 2272
3456 x 2304
3504 x 2336
3552 x 2368
3600 x 2400
3648 x 2432
3696 x 2464
3744 x 2496
3792 x 2528
3840 x 2560
3888 x 2592
3936 x 2624
3984 x 2656
4032 x 2688
4080 x 2720
4128 x 2752
4176 x 2784
4224 x 2816
4272 x 2848
4320 x 2880
4368 x 2912
4416 x 2944
4464 x 2976
4512 x 3008
4560 x 3040
4608 x 3072
4656 x 3104
4704 x 3136
4752 x 3168
4800 x 3200
32 x 24
64 x 48
96 x 72
128 x 96
160 x 120
192 x 144
224 x 168
256 x 192
288 x 216
320 x 240
352 x 264
384 x 288
416 x 312
448 x 336
480 x 360
512 x 384
544 x 408
576 x 432
608 x 456
640 x 480
672 x 504
704 x 528
736 x 552
768 x 576
800 x 600
832 x 624
864 x 648
896 x 672
928 x 696
960 x 720
992 x 744
1024 x 768
1056 x 792
1088 x 816
1120 x 840
1152 x 864
1184 x 888
1216 x 912
1248 x 936
1280 x 960
1312 x 984
1344 x 1008
1376 x 1032
1408 x 1056
1440 x 1080
1472 x 1104
1504 x 1128
1536 x 1152
1568 x 1176
1600 x 1200
1632 x 1224
1664 x 1248
1696 x 1272
1728 x 1296
1760 x 1320
1792 x 1344
1824 x 1368
1856 x 1392
1888 x 1416
1920 x 1440
1952 x 1464
1984 x 1488
2016 x 1512
2048 x 1536
2080 x 1560
2112 x 1584
2144 x 1608
2176 x 1632
2208 x 1656
2240 x 1680
2272 x 1704
2304 x 1728
2336 x 1752
2368 x 1776
2400 x 1800
2432 x 1824
2464 x 1848
2496 x 1872
2528 x 1896
2560 x 1920
2592 x 1944
2624 x 1968
2656 x 1992
2688 x 2016
2720 x 2040
2752 x 2064
2784 x 2088
2816 x 2112
2848 x 2136
2880 x 2160
2912 x 2184
2944 x 2208
2976 x 2232
3008 x 2256
3040 x 2280
3072 x 2304
3104 x 2328
3136 x 2352
3168 x 2376
3200 x 2400
64 x 48
128 x 96
192 x 144
256 x 192
320 x 240
384 x 288
448 x 336
512 x 384
576 x 432
640 x 480
704 x 528
768 x 576
832 x 624
896 x 672
960 x 720
1024 x 768
1088 x 816
1152 x 864
1216 x 912
1280 x 960
1344 x 1008
1408 x 1056
1472 x 1104
1536 x 1152
1600 x 1200
1664 x 1248
1728 x 1296
1792 x 1344
1856 x 1392
1920 x 1440
1984 x 1488
2048 x 1536
2112 x 1584
2176 x 1632
2240 x 1680
2304 x 1728
2368 x 1776
2432 x 1824
2496 x 1872
2560 x 1920
2624 x 1968
2688 x 2016
2752 x 2064
2816 x 2112
2880 x 2160
2944 x 2208
3008 x 2256
3072 x 2304
3136 x 2352
3200 x 2400
3264 x 2448
3328 x 2496
3392 x 2544
3456 x 2592
3520 x 2640
3584 x 2688
3648 x 2736
3712 x 2784
3776 x 2832
3840 x 2880
3904 x 2928
3968 x 2976
4032 x 3024
4096 x 3072
4160 x 3120
4224 x 3168
4288 x 3216
4352 x 3264
4416 x 3312
4480 x 3360
4544 x 3408
4608 x 3456
4672 x 3504
4736 x 3552
4800 x 3600
4864 x 3648
4928 x 3696
4992 x 3744
5056 x 3792
5120 x 3840
5184 x 3888
5248 x 3936
5312 x 3984
5376 x 4032
5440 x 4080
5504 x 4128
5568 x 4176
5632 x 4224
5696 x 4272
5760 x 4320
5824 x 4368
5888 x 4416
5952 x 4464
6016 x 4512
6080 x 4560
6144 x 4608
6208 x 4656
6272 x 4704
6336 x 4752
6400 x 4800

Technical explanation

Ammara explains:

JPEG compresses images in blocks (tiles) that are usually 8 x 8 or 16 x 16 pixels, known technically as the “MCU” size (Minimum Coded Unit). If the image width or height are not exact multiples of the MCU size then “Partial MCUs” are added.


Consequently, when [editing] images it is a good idea to choose image sizes that result in whole MCU multiples (the table below can help to choose suitable sizes for various aspect-ratios and MCU’s). 

If either of the dimensions are not exact MCU multiples then special handling is required, and there are various choices:.

1) Trim the Image to the Nearest MCU Boundary.

Only complete MCU’s are rotated, and partial MCU’s are discarded (i.e. trimmed/cropped). This is technically not lossless, since a few pixels are discarded and hence the operation is not fully reversible, but it is often visually preferable to option 2, and it does retain the original quality in the remaining part of the image.

2) Don’t Trim – Leave Partial MCU’s “Unrotated”.

This results in an odd-looking strip of pixels on one or two sides of the image, however it is reversible (and therefore technically lossless) and retains the overall dimensions of the original image.

3) Fall-Back to “Lossy” Rotation.

If the width and height need to be retained, and the odd-looking “strip” produced by option 2 is not visually acceptible, then the only option is to rotate the uncompressed image, then re-compress to JPEG format, causing a (usually slight) loss of quality due to generational loss.

For further defails, see: Ammara / web archive link