Frames · Features

What you can do with Frames

108 features across 7 areas. Start with a task, then follow a link for instructions in the manual.

Import and sources4 features

  • Card import

    Import card photographs grouped by session, with duplicate checks and RAW+JPEG pairing.

  • Folder destinations

    Import to a folder using date and sequence patterns, with existing-file protection and source-coverage information.

  • Source setup

    Add Apple Photos or a folder from the source picker, with guidance through the first scan.

  • Original downloads

    Fetch iCloud originals as needed, share matching requests and cache completed downloads locally.

Library and organisation20 features

  • Batch edit

    Paste a treatment onto a selection after reviewing affected treatments and downloads.

  • Photos in place

    Catalogue your Apple Photos library without copying or relocating originals.

  • Folder sources

    Browse folder and drive sources alongside Apple Photos in one catalogue.

  • Library sync

    Sync source changes while preserving ratings and verdicts for missing photographs that may return.

  • Own catalogue

    Frames stores its data locally and backs up the catalogue before schema migrations.

  • Browse

    Find collections and photographs with search, filters and a configurable sidebar.

  • Library organising

    Create and organise Photos albums and folders from Browse, with changes synced through Photos.

  • Undo

    Undo up to 100 catalogue actions, including supported batches in one step.

  • Storage panel

    Inspect and clear six rebuildable caches while keeping the catalogue intact.

  • Metadata backfill

    Read missing camera, lens and exposure data from originals through the Photos source panel.

  • Search

    Find photographs by detected content, visible text or keywords you add.

  • Explore drawer

    Choose detected words, cameras and lenses from the search drawer, with matching counts.

  • Folder sync

    Folder sources refresh on launch, mount and manual scan, with automatic change detection on local drives.

  • Scene tags

    Detected words describe photographs and can be clicked to filter the library.

  • Photographs like this one

    Press S to find up to 100 visually similar photographs, subject to active filters.

  • Keywords you type

    Add keywords to a photograph and search them alongside detected words.

  • Captions and credit

    Add photograph captions and shared creator and copyright details for export.

  • Saved searches

    Save queries and filters under a name in the sidebar, with counts that update as the catalogue changes.

  • Monochrome filter

    Filter Browse to photographs whose selected treatment uses Monochrome.

  • Browse filters

    Narrow photographs by rating, RAW files, edited treatments and Monochrome, alongside search.

Choosing photographs12 features

  • Four-phase culling

    Review a shoot in four phases: Sweep, Rate, Inspect and Cleanup.

  • Verdicts and ratings

    Keep or reject photographs and rate them from one to five stars using separate controls.

  • Grid

    Browse adjustable thumbnails with range selection, four sort orders and rating and verdict marks.

  • Sets

    Group related photographs into sets and fold them to a cover photograph when needed.

  • Loupe

    View one photograph from fit to 400%, with a filmstrip and info panel.

  • Navigator and glass

    Use the navigator above fit or press G at fit to inspect a detail at 100%, 200% or 400%.

  • Compare

    Compare up to six photographs with linked panning and individual alignment offsets.

  • Originals on demand

    Browse local previews and load originals when you pause in Loupe, zoom, edit or request them.

  • Develop prewarm

    Frames prepares the editing render while you pause on a photograph in Loupe, with progress in the control band.

  • Safe delete

    Delete photographs only from Cleanup, with confirmation before files are removed.

  • Review controls

    Use the control band to change phase, rate photographs and track review progress.

  • Review rail

    Use phase-specific controls for keeping, rating and rescuing photographs, with position and verdict in the status bar.

Editing and colour38 features

  • Non-destructive editing

    Edits are stored in Frames’ catalogue and leave original files unchanged.

  • Recipes

    Frames saves adjustments automatically as recipes, including when you leave a photograph or quit during a drag.

  • Copy and paste edits

    Use ⇧⌘C and ⇧⌘V to transfer a treatment, with a report of settings omitted for the destination photograph.

  • RAW 9 decoding

    Frames uses Apple’s on-device RAW 9 decoder for files that support it.

  • Per-camera controls

    Develop shows the RAW controls supported by each photograph and its decoder.

  • White balance

    Adjust temperature and tint, or sample a neutral area with the RAW white-balance picker.

  • Tone sliders

    Adjust exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and blacks.

  • Tone curve

    Edit composite and RGB point curves directly, or drag on the photograph to adjust a sampled tone.

  • Focus peaking

    Press K to highlight sharp edges measured from original pixels in green.

  • Colour mixer

    Adjust hue, saturation and luminance across eight colour bands, selected directly or from the photograph.

  • Looks

    Apply one of 23 included looks at adjustable strength, save your own or import Lightroom presets.

  • Monochrome process

    Switch to Monochrome for black-and-white conversion controls and toning.

  • Lens filters and bands

    Choose a monochrome filter and adjust eight bands to control how original colours become grey.

  • Toning

    Tint monochrome shadows and highlights with presets or hue, strength and balance controls.

  • Vibrance and saturation

    Adjust overall colour intensity with two controls in the Colour group.

  • Presence

    Adjust clarity, texture and dehaze across the photograph or within a mask.

  • Vignette and grain

    Add a crop-relative vignette and film grain. Choose a stock and format in the grain popover, with a preview strip below.

  • Halation

    Add a warm highlight glow in Colour or a neutral glow in Monochrome.

  • Grain of its own

    New grain edits use a photograph-specific pattern that remains stable between renders.

  • Lens corrections

    Apply a saved lensfun profile or manual distortion adjustment before other edits.

  • RAW detail controls

    Use the sharpness, noise, moiré and other Detail controls supported by the current RAW file.

  • HDR gain map

    Adjust HDR strength on supported RAW files with a gain map, starting from zero.

  • Crop and straighten

    Crop with eight aspect choices including Free, five composition guides and four ways to set the angle.

  • Auto-level

    Detect and level a horizon automatically, with a message when no horizon is found.

  • Spot and stroke repairs

    Press Q, then click to heal or clone a spot. Option-drag paints a longer repair; drag an empty area to pan.

  • Found repair source

    Frames finds nearby source material for each repair. Drag the source grip to choose a different area.

  • Dust maps

    Save sensor spots and apply them to a selection or camera date range, with a summary and one-step undo.

  • Find dust

    Press ⇧K in Develop to highlight possible sensor dust and adjust the detection threshold.

  • Snapped repair stroke

    Enable Snap to extend a repair stroke over detected objects it crosses.

  • Interactive rendering

    Most adjustments use a cached RAW decode, while RAW white balance and Detail trigger a new decode.

  • Honest histogram

    Measure the histogram from original decodes and click clipping indicators to highlight affected pixels.

  • Before and after

    Hold / in Develop to view the unedited photograph through the current crop.

  • Edited previews

    Saved edited previews let Grid display the selected treatment and its edited mark.

  • Version picker

    Switch between up to five saved treatments and ORIGINAL for viewing and export.

  • Moving a treatment

    Copy and paste between treatment segments, with confirmation before replacing edits and undo when full restoration is available.

  • Auto tone

    Set a starting point for the six Tone sliders with one click and undo it in one step.

  • Soft proofing

    Preview sRGB, Display P3, Adobe RGB or ProPhoto and highlight out-of-gamut colours.

  • Undo and reset

    Undo edits to the current photograph, reset an adjustment group or bypass it temporarily.

Masks and local adjustments14 features

  • Mask layers

    Apply adjustments through named layers with colour, visibility and opacity controls.

  • Drawn masks

    Draw Radial, Linear and Brush masks that remain aligned through crop and straighten.

  • AI subject masks

    Create layers from subjects, background, sky, people and objects detected on your Mac.

  • People by part

    Create separate or combined masks for available face parts, hair and clothes.

  • Hover to mask

    Press M, hover over a detected object and click its highlight to create a mask layer.

  • Select tool

    Click or draw a box to select an object, then click to include areas or ⌥-click to exclude them.

  • Snapping brush

    Enable Snap to include detected objects crossed by a brush stroke while retaining the painted line.

  • Mask components

    Add, subtract, reorder or disable individual shapes within a mask layer.

  • Mask overlays

    Press V to cycle hidden, tint, zebra and matte views of the selected mask.

  • Portable masks

    Copied detected masks are recalculated for the destination photograph.

  • Range masks

    Select a brightness band with Low, High and Falloff, or sample a colour and set its tolerance.

  • Layer invert

    Choose Invert to apply a layer outside its combined mask.

  • Mask selectivity

    Limit individual mask shapes to matching colour and brightness, including subtracting shapes.

  • Mask diffusion

    Soften the combined layer mask with Diffusion, alongside individual shape feather controls.

Export and sharing10 features

  • Export

    Press E in Browse to export to a folder or the macOS share sheet. Choose format, size, metadata and naming, with download and space estimates.

  • Publish to Photos

    Allow publishing to send edited renderings to Photos, with Revert available and iCloud Photos sync supported.

  • Export formats

    Save JPEG, HEIF, 16-bit TIFF, or PNG at 8 or 16 bits.

  • Export colour spaces

    Choose sRGB, Display P3 or Adobe RGB, with ProPhoto available for 16-bit output.

  • Resize and sharpen

    Resize by long edge or percentage and apply output sharpening after resampling.

  • Watermarks

    Add text or image watermarks with nine positions, size, inset and opacity controls.

  • Export presets

    Save, rename and reuse export settings, including the destination.

  • Metadata controls

    Choose whether exports include camera information, capture date, location and copyright.

  • File naming

    Build folder and filename patterns from dates, sequence numbers and photograph metadata.

  • Existing-file handling

    Choose Replace, Skip or Keep both for files already at the export destination.

macOS and workflow10 features

  • On-device AI

    RAW processing, mask detection and horizon detection run on your Mac.

  • Keyboard-first

    Use shortcuts for reviewing and editing photographs, and press ? for contextual help.

  • Activity queue

    Track library, photograph and output work in one panel, with progress, errors and recent history.

  • Progressive loading

    Photographs appear from available previews and improve as better renditions become ready.

  • Committed dark

    The interface stays dark in every system appearance to keep viewing conditions consistent.

  • Native macOS

    Frames uses native macOS controls and Metal-backed photograph views.

  • Manual in the app

    Press ⌘? or choose Frames Manual from Help to open the bundled documentation.

  • Accessible controls

    Controls have accessibility labels, grouped star rows and phase announcements for VoiceOver.

  • rawctl

    Import, inspect, render and troubleshoot through a command-line tool using the same catalogue.

  • Getting started

    Follow in-app guidance through adding a source, choosing photographs and making an edit.

Need a walkthrough? Open the manual.