The Image Pipeline is the order in which Aphera processes a photo, shown in Develop mode as a list of layers in the edit panel on the right side of the window. It sits under the Image Pipeline header, with Scopes pinned above. Input and Balance come first; the effect layers follow under the Effects Layers header.

Layers

Input Layer

The first layer in the stack. Its title shows the decode engine in use:

  • RAW: Apple — RAW decoded by Apple’s engine.
  • RAW: Aphera — RAW decoded by Aphera’s engine.
  • JPG Image — display-domain images (JPEG and similar).

The Input menu on the row switches the engine for RAW files. Input settings may include lens corrections, denoise, highlight recovery, and color matrix options.

Balance Layer

The seven tonal controls: Exposure, Temperature, Tint, Contrast, Shadows, Highlights, and Saturation. See Balance.

On RAW photos the row has a Balance Presets menu with the white balance presets. See Balance Presets.

Formation Layer

A color transformation layer, labeled Formation with its type:

  • Formation: Aphera 2499 — Aphera’s image formation.
  • Formation: Custom LUT — a user-supplied LUT.

Formations apply on RAW images only. When a look with a formation is applied to a JPG, the row shows a warning and the formation is inert; the rest of the look’s layers still render. Modifying a look on a JPG drops the formation. See Formation.

Effect Layers

Stackable image effects added to the pipeline from the Add Layer menu at the bottom of the stack. The menu groups effects under Color and Texture:

Color

  • Grading
  • Color Controls
  • Film Response
  • White Balance

See Color Effects for each layer’s controls.

Texture

  • Diffusion
  • Grain
  • Halation
  • Sharpen
  • Vignette

See Texture Effects for each layer’s controls.

Each effect layer can be individually enabled or disabled.

Applied Look Layer

When a look is applied, its layers appear under a Look: name row. Hover or expand the row to reveal a Modify button, which unpacks the look’s layers into the stack for editing.

Save Look

The Effects Layers header has a Save Look menu:

  • New Look… — saves the current stack as a new look in the project. A Create New Look dialog asks for the name, and the look goes into the current project.
  • Update “name” — overwrites the look the photo currently references. Shown only when a look is applied. Because photos reference looks, the change applies to every photo using the look; Aphera warns before updating when other photos are affected.

Both actions are unavailable when there is nothing to save: a photo on the default look with no effect layers added, or an applied look with no modifications. A look consisting only of a formation can be saved.

Saving captures the formation and the effect layers. Balance, Crop, and Input settings are not part of a look; see Looks.

Expanding and Collapsing

Expand a layer to reveal its controls, or collapse it to save space. The Image Pipeline header provides expand-all and collapse-all buttons.

Resetting

Right-click either header for a Reset item:

  • Image Pipeline — resets Balance, Input, Crop, Lens Corrections, and the stack. The decode engine keeps its setting; change it from the Input menu.
  • Effects Layers — resets the stack only: the applied look, the formation, and the effect layers.