Gsoc 2011: PSD File import/export Support for Krita

[Cyrille Berger Skott]

Hi,

Well I know of OpenImageIO. I have been considering it for Krita for support 
of file formats with little use, and with little complexity (ie hdr, Targa, 
DPX, Cineon, FITS, BMP, ICO, RMan Zfile, Softimage PIC, DDS, SGI).

But for more complex file formats, ie PNG, JPEG, TIFF, EXR, PSD, XCF, I think 
Krita should interface itself at the lowest level as possible, as I don't 
believe a common API can fit the compexity of all those file formats, it also 
gives us full control on the quality of those filter, especially considering 
that OpenImageIO lacks crucial feature, such as ICC profile, or png's metadata. 
Not counting that replacing our existing proven filters with a new filter based 
on OpenImageIO would require conscequent effort, for a very limited benefit.

As for PSD support, what would have been great is to create a low level 
library, it is more or less planned in Siddharth's project. However, GSoC 
rules would not allow two students to work on this common library, so I am not 
sure what solution we have to collaborate on this.

On a special note, regarding API stability:
18:14 < LetterRip_> regarding API and color spaces - API is pretty stable

Look closely at ImageSpec between 0.9 and 0.8, you will notice API difference, 
and without even a change in the SO version, which is a big no-no, for 
production code. I would suggest to pass the following link to OpenImageIO 
developers:
http://techbase.kde.org/Policies/Binary_Compatibility_Issues_With_C++

Following those basic rules allow to create API that are easilly very stable.

-- 
Cyrille Berger Skott