P: Introducing the Project Indigo camera app

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

This post applies to the Project Indigo iOS camera app. 

Adobe Labs is excited to share an early look at Project Indigo, an iPhone camera app we've started to develop, to get feedback from the photography community. The app offers full manual controls, a more natural ("SLR-like") look, and high image quality in both JPEG and raw formats. It also introduces some new photographic experiences not available in other camera apps. For more information on the underlying technology, please refer to this Project Indigo blog post.

Before you start with Project Indigo 

• We recommend using Project Indigo on iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max or newer devices.
  (Also supported are 12 Pro/Pro Max, 13 Pro/Pro Max, and all 14-series devices.)

• You should have at least 1GB of storage space left for the app, the downloadable AI Models inside the app, and for captured photos. 

• Download the app from the App Store. 
• Check out the Project Indigo FAQ, which is updated regularly with new explanations. 

Recipes for success when using Project Indigo 

To get the maximum out of your images captured with the app, follow these guidelines: 

• When reviewing the results, focus on Project Indigo's more natural look (in both SDR and HDR). If you haven’t done this before, try viewing the images on your laptop or desktop device, preferably on an HDR screen. 

• Capture with both JPEG and raw DNGs with file saving enabled. Project Indigo produces computational photography DNG files, which have the same natural look as JPEG images, but much more latitude for editing after capture. 

• Take control of the camera with the built-in Pro Controls, including controls that are exclusive to a computational camera: Frames to Merge and Merge Method. These may be intimidating for beginners, but with Project Indigo, you can try them for free, and nothing will break—you can always reset the settings to ‘Auto’ and let the camera take back control. 

• Go to the Indigo Labs page and play with the latest innovations our team can offer. These are only available on mobile via Indigo! 

• Be patient! Project Indigo is doing a lot of heavy lifting under the hood, and it will reward you with great photos. In return, it may ask you for a bit of time to set up captures when needed, and to wait a few seconds for the image processing to finish. 

Sending feedback 

Please try the app and share feedback in this community forum thread. If you report a problem you encountered, it would help to include details like which device you are running Project Indigo on, what kind of scene you were trying to capture, what you were trying to achieve with the camera, and as much information as possible about what you like or do not like about the resulting photo quality. Our team will continually monitor this thread to track issues and improve future experiences.  

To improve the performance and results of Project Indigo, it is important that examples of images that do not meet your expectations are forwarded to the team via your report.  A large variety of file formats are allowed as attachments in these forum posts. The best option is to attach your image's raw file directly to your feedback post. Note that there is a 50 MB limit on an attachment's file size. If your raw file is too large to attach, the best option is to share the file via a file-sharing service (Dropbox or similar) and then share the link in your feedback post. Thank you for continuing to provide feedback on the Project Indigo camera! 

Boris Ajdin: Product Manager, NextCam 
 
Posted by: 

[BorisTheBlade]

When editing Indigo JPEG files with the iOS Photos app, the color balance often changes wildly after tapping the save button. This suggests some incompatibility of the JPEG files with the iOS Photos app. I'm not sure if this is due to the embedded HDR profile or something else. To reproduce: apply automatic changes to some Indigo photos in the Photos app. Note that the colors look good before saving. After saving, the colors will sometimes shift so extremely that the photo becomes unusable. This is usually a shift towards purple or blue. iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18.5, Indigo 1.0.2. 

By @martijk

Hello - thank you for trying Indigo and for reporting your findings. I am sorry you ran into this issue. We are following up with Apple regarding this problem and will report back as soon sa we have a resolution.

[BorisTheBlade]

When editing Indigo JPEG files with the iOS Photos app, the color balance often changes wildly after tapping the save button. This suggests some incompatibility of the JPEG files with the iOS Photos app. I'm not sure if this is due to the embedded HDR profile or something else. To reproduce: apply automatic changes to some Indigo photos in the Photos app. Note that the colors look good before saving. After saving, the colors will sometimes shift so extremely that the photo becomes unusable. This is usually a shift towards purple or blue. iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18.5, Indigo 1.0.2. 

By @martijk

Just following up on the issue of editing Indigo photos in Apple Photos. We've heard from Apple and this problem seems to have been resolved in iOS 26 Beta 4. Normally we wouldn't recommend using Beta software, but this version seems to be working fine, at least with Indigo. If you give it a try, please let us know your findings. Thank you for helping triage Indigo issues and making the app better!

[martijk]

I've tried it out on one of my devices, and the issue has indeed been resolved. Thank you for following up on this!

[Roadrunna99]

I'm getting the continuous shutter click sound bug so have uninstalled for now as it's going straight to my bluetooth hearing aids at a loud volume!  I'm using a iPhone 14 Pro.  Apart from that it looks pretty good.  Just don't want a pair of woodpeckers hammering both ears at once.

[powerful_Elixir5E29]

@BorisTheBlade Hello! I love the app but would like to know if there will be optimizations to the app performance soon like the capture time signifiantly shortened and the power consumption needs to be significantly reduced to match that of the native ios camera app? Also will there be new looks like maybe if i want to set my own preset to every photo i take and it would apply it like an HDR tonemap because i think that the default indigo look sometimes blows out the highlights? Thanks!

[BorisTheBlade]

@BorisTheBlade Hello! I love the app but would like to know if there will be optimizations to the app performance

By @powerful_Elixir5E29

Indigo will be continuously optimized. I cannot speak to the exact timing when any particular performance optimization will make it into a public build, as these things take time.

[Ducamantova65]

Hi - I am a long time LR Classic user, now on my MacBook Pro. How can I import the DNG files into LRC ? I tried to copy images from the Apple Photos library on my desktop, but only small JPEGs were imported. 

[chrisd40442477]

Hello:

I felt your pain for weeks, but do have the step-by-step solution after much trial, error, and frustration. My issue is, I don’t use LR.  I’ve been standardized on Capture One for more than 10 years.

I bit the bullet and installed Lightroom mobile on my iPhone.  Don’t know of ANY other way to accomplish the solution.

-Shoot an image in Indigo

-Open the image in Indigo camera roll (NOT Apple PHOTOS).

-At the bottom right, to the left of the trash can, you’ll see a “LR” icon.  Click it and LR mobile will open on the iPhone. You need to have LR Mobile installed on the iPhone first.

-At the top in LR mobile, there’s a row of icons.  Third from the right is kind of a square with an up-arrow. That brings up the “Share Photo” screen

-Near the bottom, you’ll see an “Export As” button.  CLICK IT

-Next window will show file type DNG

-Hit the check box at the top-right of the “Export as window”

The next step is up to you.  I have an INDIGO folder setup in iCloud Drive.

-I click Save to Files, find the Indigo folder and hit save.

After that step, I go to my Mac and import the RAW image file into Capture One on my Mac.  I’m guessing you could send the image to LR Classic?  But am not sure.

Very clunky but for me, it works.  Eventually I’m hoping an app update will avoid all of these steps.

[Russ Wright]

In Photos on the Mac, select File->Export Unmodified Original. That exports jpeg and raw (DNG) and .AA (apple metadata) files along with metadata like keywords you might have added but none of the edits. Then just import that folder into LRC. I know that works in MacOS 26 beta 2,3 and 4. I assume it also works in MacOS 18 but haven't tried it. Note you'll have to deal with LRC and how it edits/presents HDR images and the fact that most monitors don't support HDR (just more current MacBook Pro displays).

[Tom_Buckley7182]

Thanks for the info. I'm using Lightroom Mobile on my iPad. Is there a work
around for that?

[judy958]

I love this app but I have trouble editing my photos in the photos app. Even a slight crop will change the color cast on my photos it will go back to normal if I reset it but is there any way to avoid this?

[BorisTheBlade]

Hi Judy - thank you for trying Indigo and for reaching out to the team. I am sorry you are facing issues in editing HDR JPEGs captured by Indigo. We are working with Apple on resolving this issue and will report back as soon as we have any updates. For the time being, if you capture JPG+DNG you can open the DNG in Lightroom mobile app and edit without such side effects.

[BorisTheBlade]

I love this app but I have trouble editing my photos in the photos app. Even a slight crop will change the color cast on my photos it will go back to normal if I reset it but is there any way to avoid this?

By @judy958

Just following up on the issue of editing Indigo photos in Apple Photos. We've heard from Apple and this problem seems to have been resolved in iOS 26 Beta 4. Normally we wouldn't recommend using Beta software, but this version seems to be working fine, at least with Indigo. If you give it a try, please let us know your findings. Thank you for helping triage Indigo issues and making the app better!

[stan_1138]

Impressive HDR results! Wondering if the team are considering adding film sims ala Fuji. Be nice to 'shoot' Monochrome.

[BorisTheBlade]

Hi Stan - thank you for your feedback. We will explore an option to add more looks in upcoming releases.

[docdross]

Is there a way to use the apple watch as a shutter release?

[BorisTheBlade]

Not yet. We have this on our backlog and will schedule it for one of the upcoming releases.

[Tung5CAB]

Is focus stacking on your roadmap for project indigo ? I want to do focus stacking right on my phone but there isn't an app that works...

[BorisTheBlade]

Hello - focus stacking is something we will work on, definitely. Please stay tuned for more news in the coming months.

[Norman359727959y38]

Hi

Can I check this request: will you be researching the option for Focus STACKING, or will Pi seek to enable FOCUS BRACKETING?

I have a goto app for FOCUS Bracketing (CameraPixels), but I don't believe there is an app in the store that enables Focus Stacking, apart from the specialist app Star Stacker. Stacking currently has to be done on the desktop with Adobe tools or a TP app like Helicon Focus.

[BorisTheBlade]

Hi Normal - we will need to start with focus bracketing, because that is a prerequisite for focus stacking. But our ultimate goal is to enable stacking. Stay tuned! 🙂 

Hi

Can I check this request: will you be researching the option for Focus STACKING, or will Pi seek to enable FOCUS BRACKETING?

I have a goto app for FOCUS Bracketing (CameraPixels), but I don't believe there is an app in the store that enables Focus Stacking, apart from the specialist app Star Stacker. Stacking currently has to be done on the desktop with Adobe tools or a TP app like Helicon Focus.

By @Norman359727959y38

[igor_7828]

Hello,

I took a photo of the moon using the PI app, and it had incredible detail and lighting. But after saving it to my photo album, the image just looks blurry and low quality. I even tried airdropping it directly from the PI app to my laptop, but the result was the same.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

[BorisTheBlade]

Hello Igor - thank you for reaching out with your question. Can you elaborate more on what the exact use case was and what you are experiencing:

• Presumably you captured the moon in Night mode, correct?
• Did you use a tripod or have the device securely placed on something like a rock?
• Did you use any Pro Controls to set manual settings (e.g., focus), or was the capture fully automatic?
• Did you tap to focus on the screen?
• Which zoom level did you use?
• Did you tap on the shutter button to capture the image or did you set up a 3s timer to ensure the device is steady?
• Can you share the image with us for review? Ideally a DNG (which needs to be hosted on a fileshare platform such as DropBox or Google Drive)?

Thank you for helping triage this issue with us!

[igor_7828]

Thank you for your prompt response, Boris. Regarding your question, yes to all of the above. I took the photo in night mode, both with and without zoom, and the phone was stable. All the images look great within the app, but appear noticeably blurrier when viewed in the iPhone photo album. Since I can't show you how the same image looks different in the app versus in the iPhone’s photo album, I’d suggest trying it yourself - please. Take a similar photo using the app, then save it to your phone. You’ll notice that once saved, the image loses quality.

[BorisTheBlade]

Thank you for your prompt response, Boris. Regarding your question, yes to all of the above. I took the photo in night mode, both with and without zoom, and the phone was stable. All the images look great within the app, but appear noticeably blurrier when viewed in the iPhone photo album. Since I can't show you how the same image looks different in the app versus in the iPhone’s photo album, I’d suggest trying it yourself - please. Take a similar photo using the app, then save it to your phone. You’ll notice that once saved, the image loses quality.

By @igor_7828

Thanks for the update. I haven't heard of such behavior before, but I'll check with the team on that. Just to make sure I understand you correctly: the image looks good when you view it in Indigo's filmstrip, but looks poor (blurry) when you view it in Apple Photos on device?

To show how something looks on the screen to you, one way is to capture screenshots and share those as .PNG files. Perhaps you can do that with one example image, zoomed in enough to show the problem?