HEIF Export and color correction - questions before purchase

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2020-01-23 17:25:44

Hi All,

Pixelmator newby here...with 2 questions before potentially buying the Pro app.

How can I quickly copy the white balance correction settings from a picture, which was taken with a grey card, to multiple other photos, which were taken under the same lightning conditions. In Photolab, I have all my photos in the bottom of the UI, and, once corrected the WB of the grey card photo, can quicky copy the settings to all other photos. Surely, this is possible in Pixelmator, but I can´t seem to find out how.

Apart from that, I was wondering if Pixelmator Pro is exporting HEIF as 16bit? If not, what color depth is used?
When I opened a HEIC image, which I exported from a 16bit TIFF using you software, it said 8bit. I may sincerely hope that you didn´t limit this wonderful standard to just 8bit, while it does support up to 16... :-(

Thanks!
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2020-01-23 17:53:36

Hey there, there are a couple of different ways you could do this.

Copy adjustments:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Layers sidebar (View > Show Layers), Control-click the layer you're editing and choose Color Adjustments > Copy Adjustments.
3. Open your other images, Control-click the layer in the Layers sidebar again and choose Color Adjustments > Paste Adjustments.

You could also create your own keyboard shortcuts for both these actions.

Use presets:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Presets bar (View > Show Presets), scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the Add button
3. Open your other images, choose the Color Adjustments tool and click the preset you previously created

Batch apply the edits:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Presets bar (View > Show Presets), scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the Add button
3. Open the Automator app and create a workflow, app, or action to automatically apply the adjustment preset to many images at once

The option you choose probably depends on how many photos you have — creating an Automator action will take the longest but it will process a ton of photos at once, so if you've got more than 10 or 20 to edit, it might make sense. I personally like the copy and paste adjustments option with custom keyboard shortcuts (if there aren't too many photos to open and edit).

As for 16-bit color depth when exporting to HEIF, that's not supported by the current native frameworks and they're what we use to include support in Pixelmator Pro, so anything you export to HEIF will be an 8-bit image. If/when Apple adds support, we'll obviously take advantage of it.
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2020-01-23 18:09:32

by Andrius 2020-01-23 17:55:01 Hey there, there are a couple of different ways you could do this.

Copy adjustments:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Layers sidebar (View > Show Layers), Control-click the layer you're editing and choose Color Adjustments > Copy Adjustments.
3. Open your other images, Control-click the layer in the Layers sidebar again and choose Color Adjustments > Paste Adjustments.

You could also create your own keyboard shortcuts for both these actions.

Use presets:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Presets bar (View > Show Presets), scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the Add button
3. Open your other images, choose the Color Adjustments tool and click the preset you previously created

Batch apply the edits:
1. Apply your color adjustments in one image
2. In the Presets bar (View > Show Presets), scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the Add button
3. Open the Automator app and create a workflow, app, or action to automatically apply the adjustment preset to many images at once

The option you choose probably depends on how many photos you have — creating an Automator action will take the longest but it will process a ton of photos at once, so if you've got more than 10 or 20 to edit, it might make sense. I personally like the copy and paste adjustments option with custom keyboard shortcuts (if there aren't too many photos to open and edit).

As for 16-bit color depth when exporting to HEIF, that's not supported by the current native frameworks and they're what we use to include support in Pixelmator Pro, so anything you export to HEIF will be an 8-bit image. If/when Apple adds support, we'll obviously take advantage of it.
Many thanks! Let´s hope they will support 16bit HEIF soon. I don´t understand why Apple would cripple this wonderful format. The main advantage is the much better quality and color depth over JPEG, while maintaining a normal size.
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2020-01-24 08:38:06

by Rve88 Many thanks! Let´s hope they will support 16bit HEIF soon.
Agreed! Honestly, I would think 16-bit support is coming eventually — the format itself supports it, so it's probably just a matter of time.
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2021-10-27 11:21:54

Hi, I believe 10 bit Heif is supported by Apple? At least there are apps in iOS which can do the heif 10 bit export natively. Is this something easy to implement?
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2021-10-28 10:05:44

by Krisztian Bito Hi, I believe 10 bit Heif is supported by Apple? At least there are apps in iOS which can do the heif 10 bit export natively. Is this something easy to implement?
Since we're using Apple frameworks for file support, implementing changes once they become available for developers should be pretty easy. We'll just have to wait until that happens.
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2021-10-29 08:23:43

by Aurelija
Since we're using Apple frameworks for file support, implementing changes once they become available for developers should be pretty easy. We'll just have to wait until that happens.
Hi Aurelija, Thanks and I understand however I believe with MacOS Monterey it is an option. Do you think in the next version you can implement this? Thanks
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2021-10-29 15:07:41

by Krisztian Bito 2021-10-29 05:23:43
Hi Aurelija, Thanks and I understand however I believe with MacOS Monterey it is an option. Do you think in the next version you can implement this? Thanks
Oh, I must have missed it then. :grimacing: I know 10-bit video playback has been added but I'm not sure about the image formats. I can see it's not on our to-do list just yet, not for the next Pixelmator Pro update at least.
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2022-06-07 22:44:33

Does macOS 13 support 16 bit finally?