1.4 Understanding Instants
Many non-destructive photo editing apps2 can manage multiple versions of an original shot. The idea is to let the user explore many types of adjustments on the same image and create as many variations that are needed. These variations are called virtual copies in Lightroom or DXO PhotoLabs, variants in Capture One Pro, etc..
Peakto pushes that concept a bit further: indeed, because Peakto can handle multiple underlying sources, it can happen that the same original image (master) has been edited in various apps, causing multiple versions to exist in different catalogs. In order to bring all these versions together under one roof, Peakto uses the concept of Instant. The Instant will group all versions across app boundaries. This grouping is based on image similarity as well as some metadata considerations.
The control over the building of instants is accessible in the preferences.
1.4.1 Identifying images with multiple versions
Every thumbnail in the grid view can display the number of versions in the underlying instant (see Anatomy of a grid cell). When a number is displayed it means that there is more than one version and you can go to the detail view to view the Instant.
1.4.2 Viewing instants
When opening the detail view for a version that belongs to an Instant, Peakto will display all the versions present in that Instant on a left and right of a separator. Each thumbnail is tagged with the source catalog. Several situations can occur.
If versions are in the current selection, they are displayed to the left of the separator, like in the example below where all versions are virtual copies in the same Lightroom catalog.
If versions are in sources distinct from the current one, they are displayed on each side of the separator, like in the example below where the versions are either in Lightroom or in Apple Photos.
If no versions are available outside from the currently displayed version, the following is displayed.