Pixelmator Photo iOS photo album

Discuss Photomator and photo editing.
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2022-07-13 08:22:52

What exactly is saved to iCloud photos after nondestructively editing?

In iOS photos, after nondestructively editing a photo, the edited photo appears and has the linked badge. This I assume indicates that it’s linked to the .photo-edit file in my iCloud files directory.

I’d understand the mechanics better if the photos app still showed the unedited photo, and it required opening pixelmator photo to blend the original with the .photo-edit file. But it doesn’t, it shows the edited photo.

I guess what I’d like to know is if my original file is preserved in iCloud photos or if it’s deleted and replaced with a reduced quality export…with the original then being saved in the iCloud files.

So yea I’m confused. If anyone knows the mechanics of how it works please help me understand if you don’t mind.
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2022-09-09 13:07:46

Hi there, sorry for the late response. When you save your edits to Photos, Pixelmator Photo generates a flattened version of the edited photo and sends it to your Photos library to be used as a preview. However, you can always use the Revert to Original action in Photos or the Pixelmator Photo Photos browser to discard your edits and get back the original photo. Also, whenever you open an edited photo a subsequent time in Pixelmator Photo, it will open the original photo and then apply the edits save in the relevant linked .photo-edit file, so you're always nondestructively editing the original photo. Hope that makes sense!