Integrating with the
Photography Ecosystem
on Mac OS X

The Ecosystem

The Ecosystem
Image Capture

The Ecosystem
Image IO
Image Capture

The Ecosystem
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

The Ecosystem
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Today
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

No Private APIs
Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Flickr

RAW

Photo: Flickr user Svet

• Sensor data + decision data
Photo: Flickr user Svet

• Sensor data + decision data
• No processing in-camera
Photo: Flickr user Svet

• Sensor data + decision data
• No processing in-camera
• No compression
Photo: Flickr user Svet

• Sensor data + decision data
• No processing in-camera
• No compression
• Big Files
Photo: Flickr user Svet

• Sensor data + decision data
• No processing in-camera
• No compression
• Big Files
• Every camera needs specific
support
Photo: Flickr user Svet

Photographers who
spend money on their
craft shoot RAW.

Photographers who will
buy your application
shoot RAW.

Do not assume you can
pretend that RAW
doesn’t exist.

That said, you do not
want to be on the
treadmill of directly
supporting RAW
formats.

Even Apple struggles
with that.

Let Lightroom,
Aperture or iPhoto
handle it

Photography Workflow
Ingest Metadata Edit Output

Workflow
• Image Capture
•
Ingest Aperture
• Lightroom
• iPhoto

Workflow
Ingest Metadata Edit Output

Workflow
• Title
•
Metadata Captions
• Copyright
• Keywords

Metadata is a lot of
effort: respect that
Metadata
effort.

GPS Metadata
workflow still
Metadata
sucks.

Temporary
Metadata
problem.

One day, all cameras
will write geodata
Metadata
to EXIF.

Workflow
Ingest Metadata Edit Output

Workflow
• Photoshop: pixel editing
•
Edit iPhoto: Master + single Version
• Aperture: Master + Versions model

Master File
(usually RAW)

Default
Core
Image
Recipe
Master File
(usually RAW)

Default Exposure
Core Core
Image Image
Recipe Recipe
Master File
(usually RAW)

Default Exposure B &W
Core Core Core
Image Image Image
Recipe Recipe Recipe
Master File
(usually RAW)

Default Exposure B &W Crop
Core Core Core Core
Image Image Image Image
Recipe Recipe Recipe Recipe
Master File
(usually RAW)

{CI Recipe}
{CI Recipe}

{Image Record}
{CI Recipe}
{CI Recipe}

{Image Record}
{CI Recipe}
{CI Recipe}

What exists and when?
• Master file exists, but may be offline.
• A JPEG preview may exist.
• CI recipes exist in Aperture DB.

Preview generation is a
preference

Workflow
Ingest Metadata Edit Output

Workflow
Output

Workflow
• Version Export to disk
Output

Workflow
• Version Export to disk
• Media Browser
Output

Workflow
• Version Export to disk
• Media Browser
Output
• Drag & Drop previews out of Aperture

Workflow
• Version Export to disk
• Media Browser
Output
• Drag & Drop previews out of Aperture
• Export plugins

Media Browser

Media Browser
• No API for Apple’s Media
Browser

Media Browser
• No API for Apple’s Media
Browser
• Check out Karelia’s iMedia
Browser
• karelia.com/imedia

Preview Fingerprint

Preview Fingerprint
Aperture writes its internal ID to the IPTC
Special Instructions in previews.

Preview Fingerprint
Aperture writes its internal ID to the IPTC
Special Instructions in previews.
mRG3bpEnT0GOSJ9qNuxk+g

Preview Fingerprint
Aperture writes its internal ID to the IPTC
Special Instructions in previews.
mRG3bpEnT0GOSJ9qNuxk+g
You can access versions by ID through
AppleScript

The Ecosystem
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Image IO
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Your interface to RAW

Your interface to EXIF
and IPTC

Your interface to
thumbnail generation

Part of
ApplicationServices
framework

CGImageSource

CGImageSource
• CGImageSourceCreateWithURL()

CGImageSource
• CGImageSourceCreateWithURL()
• CGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndex()

CGImageSource
• CGImageSourceCreateWithURL()
• CGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndex()
• CGImageSourceCreateImageAtIndex()

CGImageSource
• CGImageSourceCreateWithURL()
• CGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndex()
• CGImageSourceCreateImageAtIndex()
• CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex()

CGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndex()
• Returns a dictionary of key/value pairs
representing image metadata.
• EXIF, IPTC, Manufacturer-specific fields
• Keys are defined in CGImageProperties.h

High-level dictionaries
kCGImageProperty{*}Dictionary
• •
TIFF MakerCanon
• •
GIF MakerNikon
• •
JFIF MakerMinolta
• •
Exif MakerFuji
• •
PNG MakerOlympus
• •
IPTC MakerPentax
• •
GPS 8BIM
• •
Raw DNG
• •
CIFF ExifAux

EXIF Keys
• kCGImagePropertyExifExposureTime
• kCGImagePropertyExifFNumber
• kCGImagePropertyExifExposureProgram
• kCGImagePropertyExifFocalLength
• kCGImagePropertyExifISOSpeedRatings
• ...etc...

GPS Keys
• kCGImagePropertyGPSLatitude
• kCGImagePropertyGPSLongitude
• kCGImagePropertyGPSAltitude
• kCGImagePropertyGPSTimeStamp
• kCGImagePropertyGPSDOP
• ...etc...

#1 ImageIO Gotcha:
nothing is guaranteed.

Do not assume the
existence of any key in
this dictionary.

After all, cameras come
from hardware
manufacturers and they
never support anything
entirely correctly.

CGImageSourceCreateImageAtIndex()
• Creates a CGImageRef from an image in
the file.
• Most image files have one image, but there
is support for multiple representations.
• CGImageSourceGetCount() tells you how
many there are.

CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex()
• Creates a thumbnail from an index
• Control thumbnail size with the options
dictionary:
• kCGImageSourceThumbnailMaxPixelSize

#2 ImageIO Gotcha:
can’t write RAW files.

This is not your
nibware geotagging API.

The Ecosystem
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Image Kit
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Image Kit: iPhoto in a box

Image Kit: iPhoto in a box
IKImageBrowserView
IKImageView
IKSlideshow
IKImageEditPanel

IKImageBrowserView

IKImageBrowserView

IKImageBrowserView
provides:

IKImageBrowserView
provides:
• Fast, scalable, memory-efficient thumbnail
view.

IKImageBrowserView
provides:
• Fast, scalable, memory-efficient thumbnail
view.
• Zooming

IKImageBrowserView
provides:
• Fast, scalable, memory-efficient thumbnail
view.
• Zooming
• Selection

IKImageBrowserView
provides:
• Fast, scalable, memory-efficient thumbnail
view.
• Zooming
• Selection
• Grouping (iPhoto-style and Aperture-style)

IKGroupDisclosureStyle
iPhoto: Thumbnails

IKGroupDisclosureStyle
iPhoto: Thumbnails

IKGroupDisclosureStyle
iPhoto: Thumbnails

IKGroupBezelStyle
Aperture: Stacks

IKGroupBezelStyle
Aperture: Stacks

IKGroupBezelStyle
Aperture: Stacks

IKImageBrowserDataSource

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Required:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Required:
• -numberOfItemsInImageBrowser:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Required:
• -numberOfItemsInImageBrowser:
• -imageBrowser:itemAtIndex:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Required:
• -numberOfItemsInImageBrowser:
• -imageBrowser:itemAtIndex:
• Returned item must implement
IKImageBrowserItem protocol

IKImageBrowserItem
• Required:
• - (NSString *) imageUID
• - (NSString *) imageRepresentationType
• Constants for supported types
• - (id) imageRepresentation

IKImageBrowser{*}RepresentationType
• •
Path QTMovie
• •
NSURL QTMoviePath
• •
NSImage QCComposition
• •
CGImage QCCompositionPath
• •
CGImageSource QuickLookPath
• •
NSData IconRefPath
• •
NSBitmapImage IconRef

IKImageBrowserDataSource

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:
• -(NSDictionary *)imageBrowser:groupAtIndex:

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:
• -(NSDictionary *)imageBrowser:groupAtIndex:
• IKImageBrowserGroupStyle

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:
• -(NSDictionary *)imageBrowser:groupAtIndex:
• IKImageBrowserGroupStyle
• IKImageBrowserGroupBackgroundColorKey

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:
• -(NSDictionary *)imageBrowser:groupAtIndex:
• IKImageBrowserGroupStyle
• IKImageBrowserGroupBackgroundColorKey
• IKImageBrowserGroupTitleKey

IKImageBrowserDataSource
• Optional:
• -numberOfGroupsInImageBrowser:
• -(NSDictionary *)imageBrowser:groupAtIndex:
• IKImageBrowserGroupStyle
• IKImageBrowserGroupBackgroundColorKey
• IKImageBrowserGroupTitleKey
• IKImageBrowserGroupRangeKey

NSMakeRange(0,4)

NSMakeRange(0,4)
NSMakeRange(4,2)

NSMakeRange(0,4)
NSMakeRange(4,2) NSMakeRange(6,2)

NSMakeRange(0,4)
NSMakeRange(4,2) NSMakeRange(6,2)
NSMakeRange(8,3)

Two Gotchas

Two Gotchas
• Constants for
IKImageBrowserGroupStyleKey are defined
in an enum, so pack them in NSNumber.

Two Gotchas
• Constants for
IKImageBrowserGroupStyleKey are defined
in an enum, so pack them in NSNumber.
• IKImageBrowserGroupRangeKey’s value
should be an NSRange packed into an
NSValue.

IKImageView
• Rotate
• Zoom
• Crop
• Drag & Drop
• Quite hard to customise for additional
functionality

IKImageEditPanel

IKImageEditPanel

IKImageEditPanel

IKImageEditPanel

IKSlideshow

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.
• IKSlideshowDataSource:

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.
• IKSlideshowDataSource:
• -numberOfSlideshowItems

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.
• IKSlideshowDataSource:
• -numberOfSlideshowItems
• -slideshowItemAtIndex:

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.
• IKSlideshowDataSource:
• -numberOfSlideshowItems
• -slideshowItemAtIndex:
• -nameOfSlideshowItemAtIndex:

IKSlideshow
• Think: Quick Look slideshow in Finder.
• IKSlideshowDataSource:
• -numberOfSlideshowItems
• -slideshowItemAtIndex:
• -nameOfSlideshowItemAtIndex:
• -canExportSlideshowItemAtIndex:
toApplication:

IKSlideshow items

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage
• NSString (a path)

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage
• NSString (a path)
• NSURL

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage
• NSString (a path)
• NSURL
• NSFileWrapper

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage
• NSString (a path)
• NSURL
• NSFileWrapper
• CGImageRef

IKSlideshow items
• No interface to implement, just return:
• NSImage
• NSString (a path)
• NSURL
• NSFileWrapper
• CGImageRef
• PDFPage

The Ecosystem
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Aperture
iPhoto Aperture Your App!
Image Kit Quicktime Core Image
Image IO
Image Capture

Export Plugins

Export Plugins
• Primary method of getting data from
Aperture and iPhoto.

Export Plugins
• Primary method of getting data from
Aperture and iPhoto.
• ObjC API-level access to Aperture

Export Plugins
• Primary method of getting data from
Aperture and iPhoto.
• ObjC API-level access to Aperture
• Focus on Aperture, mostly also valid for
iPhoto

Export Plugins
• Primary method of getting data from
Aperture and iPhoto.
• ObjC API-level access to Aperture
• Focus on Aperture, mostly also valid for
iPhoto
• SDKs for both apps from
connect.apple.com

Process
Select Export Plugin UI Rendering Post-Export

Rendering
MyPlugin ApertureExportManager
-exportManagerShouldBeginExport
-shouldBeginExport
-exportManagerWillBeginExportToPath:
-exportManagerShouldExportImageAtIndex:

Rendering
MyPlugin ApertureExportManager
exportManagerShouldWriteImageData:
toRelativePath:forImageAtIndex:
exportManagerDidWriteImageDataToRelativePath:
forImageAtIndex:
-exportManagerDidFinishExport

Process: Post-Export
Post-Export

Process: Post-Export
• Upload the images to the web
• FlickrExport does all its upload
work in
exportManagerDidFinishExport
Post-Export

Process: Post-Export
• Upload the images to the web
• FlickrExport does all its upload
work in
exportManagerDidFinishExport
Post-Export
• AppleScript another application to
ingest them

Process: Post-Export
• Upload the images to the web
• FlickrExport does all its upload
work in
exportManagerDidFinishExport
Post-Export
• AppleScript another application to
ingest them
• Burn a disc

Process: Post-Export
• Upload the images to the web
• FlickrExport does all its upload
work in
exportManagerDidFinishExport
Post-Export
• AppleScript another application to
ingest them
• Burn a disc
• Add metadata back to Aperture

Aperture Metadata
• - addKeywords:toImageAtIndex:
• - addHierarchicalKeywords:toImageAtIndex:
• - addCustomMetadataKeyValues:
toImageAtIndex:

Hierarchical Keywords
Events > Conferences > C4[2] > Craig Hockenberry

addKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:

addKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
• Be careful: all keywords become top-level
keywords in Aperture’s hierarchy,

addKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
• Be careful: all keywords become top-level
keywords in Aperture’s hierarchy,
• Mess

addKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
• Be careful: all keywords become top-level
keywords in Aperture’s hierarchy,
• Mess
• Remember: photographers == picky
curmudgeons obsessed with organisation

-addHierarchicalKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
NSArray *kwdOne = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
@”Foo”,
@”Bar”,
@”Baz”,
nil];
NSArray *allKeywds = [NSArray arrayWithObject:
kwdOne];

-addHierarchicalKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
NSArray *kwdOne = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
@”Foo”, Leaf Keyword
@”Bar”,
@”Baz”,
nil];
NSArray *allKeywds = [NSArray arrayWithObject:
kwdOne];

-addHierarchicalKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
NSArray *kwdOne = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
@”Foo”, Leaf Keyword
@”Bar”, Parent
@”Baz”,
nil];
NSArray *allKeywds = [NSArray arrayWithObject:
kwdOne];

-addHierarchicalKeywords:
toImageAtIndex:
NSArray *kwdOne = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
@”Foo”, Leaf Keyword
@”Bar”, Parent
@”Baz”, Parent
nil];
NSArray *allKeywds = [NSArray arrayWithObject:
kwdOne];

addCustomMetadataKeyValues:
toImageAtIndex:
• Arbitrary dictionary of key/value pairs
• Must be NSStrings
• Appear in Aperture’s metadata inspector
• Can be used in Smart Album criteria

FlickrExport Example
• FlickrExport writes back:
• Flickr ID
• Flickr URL
• Knowing the Flickr ID of a version in
Aperture lets FlickrExport do replacement
on a re-export

Custom metadata
Custom
Value
Key

[“Flickr ID” length] != 0

rating >= 3 &&
[“Flickr ID” length] == 0

iPhoto Limitations
• Can’t add metadata back to iPhoto
• Can’t create new keywords
• API has different method names, but
conceptually almost identical

Thank You
• fraser@speirs.org
• @fraserspeirs
• http://speirs.org
• http://connectedflow.com