[SNEAK PEEK IMatch 2025] Showing image differences in the Viewer

[Mario]

For users who want to see differences between original and edited images, or for users using burst mode when shooting, this new effect in the IMatch 2025 Viewer is very interesting.

When enabled, it compares the pixels of the first visible image with the pixels in all other visible images and visualizes the differences.

This image below shows two screen shots of the Viewer in 2 image side-by-side mode.
The first row shows the original and the edited version.
The second screen shot shows how the new Differences effect highlights the editing I did in Photoshop.

This also works when you show 3, 6 or more files. Which is a great way to see the differences between files taken during a burst mode shot.

(Size of this image was reduced, use "Open in new Window/Tab" from the right click menu to see it larger):



Here is a zoom (also displayed smaller, use right-click menu to see full size):




Let me know what you think about this. I've now used it for a while, and I already find it indispensable...

[Jingo]

Hmmm.. this sound interesting. So, is the "difference" highlighting all pixels that have "changed position" between the photos? 

If I have 30 photos of a bird on a branch from a burst shot, I'm really comparing a few things:

• Sharpness between images to find the sharpest of the bunch
• Focus between images to find the one that has the bird the most in focus and perhaps the background the most out of focus.
• Composition of the bird to choose the photo that shows off the bird the best.  

I'll choose the images that best meet all 3 of these categories.. often, 15-20 of the burst might be nearly identical (not much movement of change between 1 second even for a bird!), deleting the majority of photos.

I suppose the difference will help show if the photos are nearly identical and not worth reviewing or, if there are differences between them, where those difference are so you can review those locations specifically?

Thx for the info.. sound interesting!

[Mario]

If you want, you can send me a set of photo to support email address and I add them to a database and show you what comes out in the Viewer. You can downsize them e.g. in Photoshop and send them in lossless format (PSD, TIF) to avoid involuntary "changes" introduced by JPG compression. I've also used it to visualize changes caused by different JPG compression levels ;-)

It will show the slight differences between extracted video frames or shots during a burst. How "visible" the results are depends of course on the actual motive.

Here is a screen shot of a contrived example: The blue box has moved a few pixels from the left to the right in the image on the right. The Difference effect visualizes that (right-click for full size):



The effect will also emphasize "noise" produced in cache images in JPG format produced from RAW files. But that's suually negligible.

[RobiWan]

I'm really comparing a few things:

And you are making this comparison in IMatch? Maybe I didn't find the right settings, it wouldn't occur to me to do something like this in a DAM software.

[Jingo]

I'm really comparing a few things:

And you are making this comparison in IMatch? Maybe I didn't find the right settings, it wouldn't occur to me to do something like this in a DAM software.

Oh yes... it has become my new go to workflow and works quite well but is a mainly manual process (tools like this can make a big difference in speeding things up):

a) Import images using Photo Mechanic (RAW images are imported from SD card, renamed from metadata, auto added to Negatives Drive and Folder by Year/Year-Month)

b) Develop images using DxO (Edit RAW images, export to JPG using same name and folder structure but to Developed Drive)

c) Import JPG files into IMatch

d) Do normal Imatch workflow (Compare similar/burst images in Viewer, reject non-keepers (filter to hide rejected files removes them from file window) - rinse / repeat.  Reverse filter to see all rejected files, select all and delete.  Keyword images, add location/reverse geo, rate and then write back metadata to files.

[loweskid]

I assume RobiWan is asking about the new feature, as described by Mario, which displays the pixel differences between two or more almost identical images.

This is a new feature in the forthcoming IMatch 2025 and is not available in the current version.