# Lensmith

> Lensmith is a photo manager and non-destructive RAW editor for macOS, a private alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Every AI tool — denoise, focus recovery, 2x super resolution, depth bokeh, content-aware remove, colorize, subject/sky/skin masks — runs on the user's own Mac; nothing imported, edited or exported is uploaded.

Key facts:
- Platform: macOS 14.6 or later, universal (Apple Silicon and Intel).
- Status: free private beta; installing needs an invite code (request one at https://lensmith.app/beta.html).
- Download: https://github.com/fabds/lensmith-releases/releases/download/updates/Lensmith-latest.dmg — distributed outside the Mac App Store, updates via Sparkle.
- No account, no subscription, no cloud processing. Optional library sync uses the user's own iCloud.
- Edits are non-destructive: originals are never rewritten; folders are catalogued in place.
- Imports Lightroom presets (.xmp) and XMP sidecars.
- Also makes photo books, calendars, postcards and posters as print-ready PDFs.
- Developer: Fabio Della Selva, Italy (https://fabiodellaselva.com).

## Documentation
- [Installing Lensmith](https://lensmith.app/docs/install.html): Installing Lensmith on macOS: the disk image, the security gate for apps distributed outside the App Store, the private-beta invite code, and how updates arrive.
- [The window](https://lensmith.app/docs/window.html): How the Lensmith window is arranged: the module rail, the catalog and tool columns, the filmstrip, the command palette and the three Edit layouts.
- [Browsing & rating](https://lensmith.app/docs/library.html): The Lensmith Library: your folders catalogued in place, the grid and the loupe, stars, flags, colour labels, stacks and virtual copies.
- [Importing](https://lensmith.app/docs/importing.html): How photographs get into a Lensmith catalog: folders catalogued in place, the Photos picker, duplicates, failures and the background passes that follow.
- [Search & filters](https://lensmith.app/docs/search.html): Finding photographs in Lensmith: full-text search, search by what is in the picture, the filter bar, the measurable properties of a shot, and smart collections.
- [Culling & comparing](https://lensmith.app/docs/culling.html): Cutting three hundred frames down to the keepers: the quality analysis, what the score means, stacks of similar shots, auto-pick and the compare view.
- [Map & places](https://lensmith.app/docs/map.html): The Lensmith map: clusters of geotagged photographs, selecting by area, filtering the grid to a window, and geotagging by hand.
- [Panorama, HDR, focus stack](https://lensmith.app/docs/merge.html): Making one photograph out of several in Lensmith: panorama stitching, HDR exposure fusion, focus stacking, and the 2x AI upscale.
- [The editor](https://lensmith.app/docs/editor.html): The Lensmith editor: non-destructive edits, copying settings between photographs, before and after, the scopes and the pixel readout, history and snapshots.
- [The tools](https://lensmith.app/docs/tools.html): The twenty-six develop panels of Lensmith, family by family: light, colour, local corrections, the creative finish and geometry.
- [Masking](https://lensmith.app/docs/masking.html): Masking in Lensmith: regions built from components, the AI selections, the refinement controls, and which tools can read a mask.
- [Montage & Filter Bench](https://lensmith.app/docs/montage.html): The Montage in Lensmith: overlay layers, the Filter Bench, blend modes, and why some effects are layers rather than tools.
- [Presets & profiles](https://lensmith.app/docs/presets.html): Presets and profiles in Lensmith: the browser drawn on your own photograph, the strength slider, importing Lightroom presets, profiles and LUT export.
- [The AI models](https://lensmith.app/docs/ai.html): The on-device AI in Lensmith: six downloadable models, what each does, how big it is, and the capabilities that need no download.
- [Books, calendars & posters](https://lensmith.app/docs/print.html): The Print module in Lensmith: photo books, calendars, postcards and posters — themes, automatic layout, pages, elements, widgets and the print-ready PDF.
- [Export](https://lensmith.app/docs/export.html): Exporting from Lensmith: formats, sizing, super resolution, output sharpening, file naming, metadata, destinations and export presets.
- [Catalogs & files](https://lensmith.app/docs/files.html): Where Lensmith keeps things: the catalog package, your originals, backups, caches, sidecars and the sandbox permissions.
- [Settings](https://lensmith.app/docs/settings.html): Every Lensmith preference, tab by tab: general, interface, editing, AI models, sync, notifications, privacy and support.
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://lensmith.app/docs/shortcuts.html): Every keyboard shortcut in Lensmith, grouped the way the menus group them.
- [What leaves your Mac](https://lensmith.app/docs/privacy.html): What Lensmith sends over the network, in full: the update check, model downloads, the beta heartbeat, usage statistics, reports and sync.

## Optional
- [Request an invite](https://lensmith.app/beta.html): Ask for a code to the Lensmith private beta. A few lines about you and your Mac; no account, no newsletter, no tracking.
- [Privacy & cookies](https://lensmith.app/privacy.html): What lensmith.app stores and what it sends elsewhere. Short version: no cookies, no analytics, one third-party request you can refuse — and one form, which only asks what it needs.
- [Beta terms](https://lensmith.app/terms.html): The terms for taking part in the Lensmith private beta: licence, confidentiality, software provided as is, revocation of access.
- [Contact](https://lensmith.app/contact.html): Write to the developer of Lensmith: a question, a problem, the private beta or your data. A person reads it and answers by email.