avifenc

Encode images into AVIF format

TLDR

Convert a PNG image to AVIF

$ avifenc [path/to/input.png] [path/to/output.avif]

Encode with a specific speed (0=slowest, 10=fastest)

$ avifenc --speed [2] [path/to/input.png] [path/to/output.avif]

Set quality level (0-63, lower is better)

$ avifenc --min [20] --max [30] [path/to/input.png] [path/to/output.avif]

SYNOPSIS

avifenc [options] input output.avif

avifenc encodes images into the AV1 Image File Format (AVIF), a modern image format based on the AV1 video codec. AVIF provides excellent compression efficiency, often achieving smaller file sizes than JPEG and WebP at equivalent quality.
The encoder supports input from PNG, JPEG, and Y4M formats and can produce both lossy and lossless AVIF images.

PARAMETERS

--speed n

Encoding speed (0-10, default 6). Lower values produce better quality but take longer

--min n

Minimum quality (0-63)

--max n

Maximum quality (0-63)

--lossless

Encode losslessly

-d, --depth bits

Output bit depth (8, 10, or 12)

-j, --jobs n

Number of parallel encoding jobs

CAVEATS

Encoding at low speed values can be extremely slow. AVIF support in browsers and image viewers is still growing but not universal. Very high quality settings may produce larger files than the original.

HISTORY

AVIF was developed by the Alliance for Open Media and finalized in 2019. It is based on the AV1 video codec, which itself was designed to be a royalty-free alternative to HEVC/H.265.