diff --git a/Android.mk b/Android.mk
index e02caef2..6d45a49f 100644
--- a/Android.mk
+++ b/Android.mk
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ LOCAL_SRC_FILES := \
     src/enc/frame.c \
     src/enc/histogram.c \
     src/enc/iterator.c \
+    src/enc/near_lossless.c \
     src/enc/picture.c \
     src/enc/picture_csp.c \
     src/enc/picture_psnr.c \
diff --git a/Makefile.vc b/Makefile.vc
index 5a387846..4d2956af 100644
--- a/Makefile.vc
+++ b/Makefile.vc
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ ENC_OBJS = \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\frame.obj \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\histogram.obj \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\iterator.obj \
+    $(DIROBJ)\enc\near_lossless.obj \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\picture.obj \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\picture_csp.obj \
     $(DIROBJ)\enc\picture_psnr.obj \
diff --git a/examples/cwebp.c b/examples/cwebp.c
index 8e91c735..757c94fe 100644
--- a/examples/cwebp.c
+++ b/examples/cwebp.c
@@ -612,6 +612,10 @@ static void HelpLong(void) {
          "                           green=0xe0 and blue=0xd0\n");
   printf("  -noalpha ............... discard any transparency information\n");
   printf("  -lossless .............. encode image losslessly\n");
+#ifdef WEBP_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES
+  printf("  -near_lossless ......... use near-lossless image\n"
+         "                           preprocessing (0=off..100)\n");
+#endif
   printf("  -hint <string> ......... specify image characteristics hint,\n");
   printf("                           one of: photo, picture or graph\n");
 
@@ -765,6 +769,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) {
       keep_alpha = 0;
     } else if (!strcmp(argv[c], "-lossless")) {
       config.lossless = 1;
+    } else if (!strcmp(argv[c], "-near_lossless") && c < argc - 1) {
+      config.near_lossless = strtol(argv[++c], NULL, 0);
+      config.lossless = 1;  // use near-lossless only with lossless
     } else if (!strcmp(argv[c], "-hint") && c < argc - 1) {
       ++c;
       if (!strcmp(argv[c], "photo")) {
diff --git a/makefile.unix b/makefile.unix
index 023b5217..6a84fa43 100644
--- a/makefile.unix
+++ b/makefile.unix
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ ENC_OBJS = \
     src/enc/frame.o \
     src/enc/histogram.o \
     src/enc/iterator.o \
+    src/enc/near_lossless.o \
     src/enc/picture.o \
     src/enc/picture_csp.o \
     src/enc/picture_psnr.o \
diff --git a/man/cwebp.1 b/man/cwebp.1
index 75b667cd..d5a3beb2 100644
--- a/man/cwebp.1
+++ b/man/cwebp.1
@@ -218,6 +218,12 @@ Using this option will discard the alpha channel.
 .B \-lossless
 Encode the image without any loss.
 .TP
+.\" .B \-near_lossless " int
+.\" Use near-lossless image preprocessing. This option adjusts pixel values
+.\" to help compressibility, but has minimal impact on the visual quality.
+.\" It triggers lossless compression mode automatically.
+.\" Range is 0 (no preprocessing, the default) to 100.
+.\" .TP
 .BI \-hint " string
 Specify the hint about input image type. Possible values are:
 \fBphoto\fP, \fBpicture\fP or \fBgraph\fP.
diff --git a/src/enc/Makefile.am b/src/enc/Makefile.am
index 0dc375b8..91714fc4 100644
--- a/src/enc/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/enc/Makefile.am
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += filter.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += frame.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += histogram.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += iterator.c
+libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += near_lossless.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += picture.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += picture_csp.c
 libwebpencode_la_SOURCES += picture_psnr.c
diff --git a/src/enc/config.c b/src/enc/config.c
index 6531438f..34dcbfe4 100644
--- a/src/enc/config.c
+++ b/src/enc/config.c
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ int WebPConfigInitInternal(WebPConfig* config,
   config->emulate_jpeg_size = 0;
   config->thread_level = 0;
   config->low_memory = 0;
+  config->near_lossless = 0;
 
   // TODO(skal): tune.
   switch (preset) {
@@ -125,6 +126,8 @@ int WebPValidateConfig(const WebPConfig* config) {
     return 0;
   if (config->lossless < 0 || config->lossless > 1)
     return 0;
+  if (config->near_lossless < 0 || config->near_lossless > 100)
+    return 0;
   if (config->image_hint >= WEBP_HINT_LAST)
     return 0;
   if (config->emulate_jpeg_size < 0 || config->emulate_jpeg_size > 1)
diff --git a/src/enc/near_lossless.c b/src/enc/near_lossless.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..93aeaa0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/enc/near_lossless.c
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+// Copyright 2014 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+//
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license
+// that can be found in the COPYING file in the root of the source
+// tree. An additional intellectual property rights grant can be found
+// in the file PATENTS. All contributing project authors may
+// be found in the AUTHORS file in the root of the source tree.
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// Near-lossless image preprocessing adjusts pixel values to help
+// compressibility with a guarantee of maximum deviation between original and
+// resulting pixel values.
+//
+// Author: Jyrki Alakuijala (jyrki@google.com)
+// Converted to C by Aleksander Kramarz (akramarz@google.com)
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include "./vp8enci.h"
+#include "../utils/utils.h"
+
+#ifdef WEBP_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES
+// Computes quantized pixel value and distance from original value.
+static void GetValAndDistance(int a, int initial, int bits,
+                              int* const val, int* const distance) {
+  const int mask = ~((1 << bits) - 1);
+  *val = (initial & mask) | (initial >> (8 - bits));
+  *distance = 2 * abs(a - *val);
+}
+
+// Quantizes values {a, a+(1<<bits), a-(1<<bits)} and returns the nearest one.
+static int FindClosestDiscretized(int a, int bits) {
+  int best_val, min_distance, i;
+  GetValAndDistance(a, a, bits, &best_val, &min_distance);
+
+  for (i = -1; i <= 1; i += 2) {
+    int val = a + i * (1 << bits);
+    int candidate, distance;
+    if (val < 0) {
+      val = 0;
+    } else if (val > 255) {
+      val = 255;
+    }
+    GetValAndDistance(a, val, bits, &candidate, &distance);
+    ++distance;
+    // Smallest distance but favor i == 0 over i == -1 and i == 1
+    // since that keeps the overall intensity more constant in the
+    // images.
+    if (distance < min_distance) {
+      min_distance = distance;
+      best_val = candidate;
+    }
+  }
+  return best_val;
+}
+
+// Applies FindClosestDiscretized to all channels of pixel.
+static uint32_t ClosestDiscretizedArgb(uint32_t a, int bits) {
+  return (FindClosestDiscretized(a >> 24, bits) << 24) |
+         (FindClosestDiscretized((a >> 16) & 0xff, bits) << 16) |
+         (FindClosestDiscretized((a >> 8) & 0xff, bits) << 8) |
+         (FindClosestDiscretized(a & 0xff, bits));
+}
+
+// Checks if distance between corresponding channel values of pixels a and b
+// exceeds given limit.
+static int IsFar(uint32_t a, uint32_t b, int limit) {
+  int k;
+  for (k = 0; k < 4; ++k) {
+    const int delta = (int)((a >> (k * 8)) & 0xff) -
+                      (int)((b >> (k * 8)) & 0xff);
+    if (delta >= limit || delta <= -limit) {
+      return 1;
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+// Adjusts pixel values of image with given maximum error.
+static void NearLossless(int xsize, int ysize, uint32_t* argb,
+                        int limit_bits, uint32_t* copy_buffer) {
+  int x, y;
+  const int limit = 1 << limit_bits;
+  memcpy(copy_buffer, argb, xsize * ysize * sizeof(argb[0]));
+
+  for (y = 0; y < ysize; ++y) {
+    const int offset = y * xsize;
+    for (x = 0; x < xsize; ++x) {
+      const int ix = offset + x;
+      // Check that all pixels in 4-connected neighborhood are smooth.
+      int smooth_area = 1;
+      if (x != 0 && IsFar(copy_buffer[ix], copy_buffer[ix - 1], limit)) {
+        smooth_area = 0;
+      } else if (y != 0 &&
+                 IsFar(copy_buffer[ix], copy_buffer[ix - xsize], limit)) {
+        smooth_area = 0;
+      } else if (x != xsize - 1 &&
+                 IsFar(copy_buffer[ix], copy_buffer[ix + 1], limit)) {
+        smooth_area = 0;
+      } else if (y != ysize - 1 &&
+                 IsFar(copy_buffer[ix], copy_buffer[ix + xsize], limit)) {
+        smooth_area = 0;
+      }
+      if (!smooth_area) {
+        argb[ix] = ClosestDiscretizedArgb(argb[ix], limit_bits);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+#endif
+
+// TODO(akramarz): optimize memory to O(xsize)
+int VP8ApplyNearLossless(int xsize, int ysize, uint32_t* argb, int quality) {
+#ifndef WEBP_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES
+  (void)xsize;
+  (void)ysize;
+  (void)argb;
+  (void)quality;
+#else
+  int i;
+  uint32_t* const copy_buffer =
+      (uint32_t *)WebPSafeMalloc(xsize * ysize, sizeof(*copy_buffer));
+  // quality mapping 0..12 -> 5
+  //                 13..100 -> 4..1
+  const int limit_bits = 5 - (quality + 12) / 25;
+  assert(argb != NULL);
+  assert(limit_bits >= 0);
+  assert(limit_bits < 31);
+  if (copy_buffer == NULL) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  for (i = limit_bits; i != 0; --i) {
+    NearLossless(xsize, ysize, argb, i, copy_buffer);
+  }
+  WebPSafeFree(copy_buffer);
+#endif
+  return 1;
+}
diff --git a/src/enc/vp8enci.h b/src/enc/vp8enci.h
index 4f06ab8e..54b7953d 100644
--- a/src/enc/vp8enci.h
+++ b/src/enc/vp8enci.h
@@ -569,6 +569,10 @@ int WebPPictureAllocARGB(WebPPicture* const picture, int width, int height);
 // Returns false in case of error (invalid param, out-of-memory).
 int WebPPictureAllocYUVA(WebPPicture* const picture, int width, int height);
 
+  // in near_lossless.c
+// Near lossless preprocessing in RGB color-space.
+int VP8ApplyNearLossless(int xsize, int ysize, uint32_t* argb, int quality);
+
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
diff --git a/src/enc/webpenc.c b/src/enc/webpenc.c
index fe8a358f..20a11d7c 100644
--- a/src/enc/webpenc.c
+++ b/src/enc/webpenc.c
@@ -362,6 +362,11 @@ int WebPEncode(const WebPConfig* config, WebPPicture* pic) {
     }
     ok &= DeleteVP8Encoder(enc);  // must always be called, even if !ok
   } else {
+    if (config->near_lossless > 0 &&
+        !VP8ApplyNearLossless(pic->width, pic->height,
+                              pic->argb, config->near_lossless)) {
+      return 0;
+    }
     // Make sure we have ARGB samples.
     if (pic->argb == NULL && !WebPPictureYUVAToARGB(pic)) {
       return 0;
diff --git a/src/webp/encode.h b/src/webp/encode.h
index ccd2bd66..c23db206 100644
--- a/src/webp/encode.h
+++ b/src/webp/encode.h
@@ -131,7 +131,10 @@ struct WebPConfig {
   int thread_level;       // If non-zero, try and use multi-threaded encoding.
   int low_memory;         // If set, reduce memory usage (but increase CPU use).
 
-  uint32_t pad[5];        // padding for later use
+  int near_lossless;      // Near lossless encoding [0 = off(default) .. 100].
+                          // This feature is experimental.
+
+  uint32_t pad[4];        // padding for later use
 };
 
 // Enumerate some predefined settings for WebPConfig, depending on the type