PixelFlux

Welcome to PixelFlux

PixelFlux is a modern Swift framework for GPU-accelerated image processing on iOS. Leveraging Apple's Metal framework, PixelFlux provides blazing-fast image filtering and effects with minimal CPU overhead.

What is PixelFlux?

PixelFlux is a lightweight image processing framework that harnesses the power of GPU compute shaders to perform image transformations efficiently. Instead of processing pixels on the CPU, PixelFlux offloads the heavy lifting to the GPU, resulting in:

• Exceptional Performance: GPU compute shaders process thousands of pixels in parallel
• Low Power Consumption: Specialized GPU hardware is more efficient than CPU for image operations
• Beautiful API: Simple, Swift-native interface for applying filters
• Extensible Architecture: Build custom filters by implementing the Filter protocol

Key Features

Quick Start

Get up and running with PixelFlux in just a few lines of code:

import PixelFlux
import UIKit

// Create an image
let image = UIImage(named: "example")!

// Apply a brightness filter
let filter = try BrightnessFilter(brightness: 0.3)
let result = try filter.apply(to: image)

// Use the result
imageView.image = result

Available Filters

PixelFlux comes with built-in filters for common image processing tasks:

• BrightnessFilter: Adjust image brightness with smooth, real-time control
• PassthroughFilter: Verify GPU pipeline functionality with identity transformation

Build Custom Filters

The framework is designed to be extensible. Implement the Filter protocol to create your own GPU-accelerated filters:

public protocol Filter {
  func process(_ input: MTLTexture) throws -> MTLTexture
}

// Implement your custom filter
public class CustomFilter: Filter {
  func process(_ input: MTLTexture) throws -> MTLTexture {
    // Your Metal compute implementation here
    let output = makeEmptyTexture(matching: input)
    // Encode GPU commands...
    return output
  }
}

Requirements

• iOS 16.0 or later
• Swift 5.9 or later
• Xcode 14.0 or later
• A device or simulator with Metal support

Next Steps

Ready to get started? Check out the Getting Started guide for installation instructions and detailed examples. For API details, see the API Reference. To understand how PixelFlux works internally, read the Architecture documentation.