Product Introduction

1. Project Indigo is a free computational photography camera app developed by Adobe for iPhone devices, offering professional-quality photo capture with SLR-like image processing and advanced manual controls.
2. The core value of Project Indigo lies in bridging the gap between mobile photography and professional imaging by combining multi-frame computational techniques, raw/DNG output, and seamless Lightroom integration while prioritizing natural tonal rendering.

Main Features

1. Project Indigo uses multi-frame computational photography to merge up to 32 aligned raw frames per shot, reducing noise by a factor equal to the square root of the frame count (e.g., 3x noise reduction with 9 frames) while preserving highlight details through aggressive underexposure strategies.
2. The app provides full manual controls over shutter speed (1/24000s to 1s), ISO (20-3200), focus distance, and white balance (with separate temperature/tint adjustments), along with a unique frame-count selector for balancing capture time versus noise reduction.
3. Multi-frame super-resolution enables lossless digital zoom up to 10x on iPhone 16 Pro Max by combining natural handshake variations across frames, delivering 2x more detail than standard smartphone scaling without AI hallucination.
4. Hybrid SDR/HDR output uses JPEG gain maps compatible with Apple, Google, and Meta platforms, storing both standard dynamic range and high dynamic range versions in one file while preserving 16-bit linear raw data in compact DNG files (30% smaller than Apple ProRAW).

Problems Solved

1. Project Indigo addresses the "smartphone look" characterized by oversharpening, excessive tone mapping, and artificial saturation by implementing Adobe's Adaptive Color Profile AI for SLR-like tonal curves and minimal semantic adjustments.
2. The app targets photography enthusiasts and professionals who require raw workflow compatibility, manual exposure controls, and natural image rendering suitable for large-screen viewing rather than smartphone-optimized processing.
3. Typical use cases include handheld night photography (1/10 lux scenes), architectural detail capture using super-resolution zoom, and studio-style long exposures (up to 32s via tripod detection) without requiring external ND filters.

Unique Advantages

1. Unlike competitors, Indigo applies computational photography before raw/DNG export, enabling merged multi-frame benefits in editable raw files while maintaining 1-channel mosaiced data for smaller file sizes compared to processed raw formats.
2. The app introduces WYSIWYG manual controls that preview final tone mapping in real-time viewfinder displays, allowing exposure adjustments through software brightness rather than hardware settings to avoid highlight clipping.
3. Competitive advantages include zero shutter lag for both JPEG and DNG outputs through continuous raw frame buffering, tripod-aware exposure logic (1s×32 frames in Night mode), and reflection removal powered by Adobe Camera Raw technology directly in post-capture workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How does Indigo's HDR output work on non-HDR displays?
   The app uses hybrid JPEG files containing both SDR base images and HDR gain maps, automatically displaying the appropriate version based on the viewer's device capabilities while preserving highlight details through adaptive screen brightness detection.

2. What makes Indigo's DNG files different from other raw formats?
   Indigo DNGs contain computationally merged multi-frame data with 16-bit linear values per channel, pre-demosaiced alignment corrections, and embedded Adaptive Color Profile metadata while maintaining 30% smaller file sizes than Apple ProRAW through 1-channel storage.

3. Can Night mode be used handheld?
   Yes, Indigo's Night mode employs motion-stabilized capture logic that analyzes gyroscope data to dynamically adjust exposure times (up to 1s per frame) and frame counts (up to 32 frames), with AI-based handshake prediction enabling sharp results without tripods when bracing properly.

4. When will Android support be available?
   Adobe confirms active development of an Android version leveraging Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3+ platforms, prioritizing computational photography parity with iOS features including multi-frame super-resolution and hybrid HDR output, scheduled for late 2025 release.

5. How does super-resolution zoom avoid AI artifacts?
   The technique uses optical flow alignment of 20-40 naturally varied handheld frames (no synthetic data) combined through Fourier-domain merging, achieving resolution gains equivalent to 2x optical zoom extensions while maintaining photometric accuracy validated against DSLR references.