[ph0ust]

hi all. this weekend i noticed that some of the editing features in iphoto 6 are similar to aperture (mostly the adjustments and whatnot). i have iphoto 5 on my pb, but am getting a couple of new macs shortly.

anyway, is there any shared code between these two products or does iphoto use lesser code for the adjustments. also, are adjustments stored in sidecar files or something similar so that changes to an original don't affect the original?

ultimately, i am wondering if iphoto is worthy of menial tasks with a point and shoot, while aperture is used for all heavy lifting with my digital slr. thanks for any/all information gathered from your experiences with the two.

[CatOne]

Well, they both use Core Image for some of the image processing. Core Image is functionality in Mac OS X itself (it's what does RAW and JPEG decoding).

If you have the developer tools installed, go find an app called "Core Image Fun House" in /Developer/Applications. It lets you do all manner of cool effects with JPEG and RAW files.

As far as editing goes, the first thing iPhoto does is generate a JPEG file based on the RAW file. All work from that point forward is done with the JPEG. Aperture does not do this -- it affects the display of the RAW file with realtime filters, and stores these as adjustment data in its internal database. The original RAW file is never touched; it generates files for output based on your criteria (e.g. output as JPEG, 8 or 16 bit TIFF, etc.). This is very processor (CPU and GPU) intensive. Very. Which is why Aperture requires a significantly more powerful machine than does iPhoto.

[ph0ust]

gotcha, aperture is storing edits in the sidecar files, while iphoto is applying edits to an auto-generated jpeg. however, i don't want to use iphoto for raw files... only jpegs from a point and shoot. i am wondering if the adjustment tools are using the same code/algorithms as aperture. things like temperature/white balance, sharpening, exposure settings, etc. is iphoto using the same code or a lesser version of it?

for example, photoshop and photoshop elements do not use the same code for things like sharpening... elements has its own different version of this feature implemented, which i personally think is lame.

in the end, i want the same high quality features to be shared in both product and use the one that is more appropriate for my goals. make sense?

thanks!

[peeb]

I have no idea about the codebase, but you should be able to look at the output from iPhoto and pretty much tell whether it is appropriate for your goals - maybe do a side-by-side comparison with a couple of photos in each?