What's New in Photo Mechanic®?
We're always working to improve Photo Mechanic® to make it even better and to help you work faster. You can always see detailed Release Notes for every incremental build update in the Readme file included with the download, as well as posted in the announcements section of our forum. Check out some of the more notable recent highlights below that you should be aware of.
Click here for system requirements for the current version of Photo Mechanic
Universal Binary: Photo Mechanic for macOS is Apple Silicon-native
Photo Mechanic has been rewritten with Apple’s newest hardware in mind. This is the Apple Silicon-native version for people with new Apple computers with M1, M2, M4, etc. chips so that Photo Mechanic can run without using the available Rosetta 2 emulation in macOS. As noted many times, Photo Mechanic has run very fast under Rosetta 2 emulation because it is not a processor-intensive application. The read-write speed of the disk drive where photos are being edited is typically the main “bottleneck” for Photo Mechanic performance. And, initially, the Apple Silicon version felt no faster than the emulated version, but our developers have since found some optimizations that have improved the speed significantly Updating the app for native compatibility also allows Camera Bits to develop new functionality that takes advantage of newer macOS features.
This project has taken significant work for Camera Bits developers, as it was not just a matter of recompiling source code for the newer chips. Large sections of code had to be rewritten from the ground up and meticulously tested to make sure they matched the high standards of the current Photo Mechanic program.
These advancements apply to Photo Mechanic and Photo Mechanic Plus for current monthly and annual subscribers, and for perpetual licenses purchased after 11 March 2024.
Read about more new features below:
New in Photo Mechanic
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Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts (macOS only)
Change the keyboard shortcuts for most features to streamline your workflow and work how you want.
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Clipboard Variable
Use the {clipboardtext} variable to be able to insert the text that you've copied into the metadata for multiple photos at once.
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All-in-One Installation
The standard Photo Mechanic or Photo Mechanic Plus? Subscription or Perpetual license? Now, there's just one installer.
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Data Mining Permissions
Invoke the IPTC Data Mining field in your metadata to control how your images are used and prevent them from training AI models
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WebP Support
View .webp files or save your raw files as .webp files for efficient space-saving use on the Web.
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View Affinity Photo and Pixelmator Pro Files
Now see Affinity Photo files and Pixelmator Pro PXD previews (Read-only)
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Manage License Activations
Each Photo Mechanic allows activation on up to two computers (i.e. desktop in the studio and laptop in the field.) With our new licensing platform, you can manage these activations on demand without having to contact customer support.
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Easier software updates on macOS
Update to the latest version of Photo Mechanic in place (only on macOS) without having to download a new installer, making updating faster and easier.
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Updated Application Icon
The new Photo Mechanic app icon conforms to current OS guidelines and brings back the classic RGB aperture blades by popular demand.
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Subscription or Perpetual? Choose what's right for you
Photo Mechanic is now available either as an annual or monthly subscription, or a perpetual license at a one-time cost with updates for one year.
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See More
Find all the release notes in our Announcements forum!