This invention proposes to transcode the compressed image, that may be in the JPEG format for example, to an intermediate format that allows pseudo-random access. Such a pseudo-random access would that allow efficient image transformation. By using this format, in most cases a pixel is decoded only once in the entire image transformation process. This is certainly true for the most common transformation operations such as rotation by 90, 180 and 270 degrees. This transcoding would enable image transformations in printers whose memory is insufficient to store the entire decompressed image.