cristibaluta/Imagin-Raw

Source: https://github.com/cristibaluta/Imagin-Raw

Imagin RAW

A lightweight, native macOS application for browsing, culling, and organizing RAW photos - built as a more efficient alternative to Adobe Bridge for read/rate/organize workflows.

An iOS companion app is in development, focused on a simple way to browse your library, cleanup, in field backup of your shots, and scouting.

Architecture

• UI: SwiftUI (macOS 14.6+). AppKit/UIKit for the thumbnails list where SwiftUI performance was poor
• RAW decoding: LibRaw (C++), wrapped via Objective-C++ bridge. CoreImage also used for other formats and as a fallback
• Metadata: EXIF parsed directly from RAW/JPEG binary structures; XMP sidecars read/written for Lightroom/Bridge compatibility
• File system monitoring: FSEvents for real-time folder change detection
• Search: NSMetadataQuery (Spotlight) for indexed file/folder search
• Concurrency: A mix of Tasks and OperationQueue

Features

• Multi-root folder browsing - add any number of folders from local disks, external drives, or SD cards; no import step, no managed library
• Real-time file system monitoring - new photos, deletions, and folder structure changes are detected and reflected immediately
• RAW format support - via LibRaw, covering a broad range of camera manufacturers and formats
• Rating and color labeling - written to XMP sidecars (RAW) or embedded directly without re-encoding (JPEG/HEIC), compatible with Adobe Bridge and Lightroom
• Rejection workflow - a session-scoped label (not persisted across folder changes) for marking photos to delete; batch-delete via right-click
• JPG/RAW pair deduplication - when a RAW+JPEG pair exists, only the RAW is shown in the browser
• Two grid layouts - compact grid (more room for preview) and large grid (more room for browsing)
• Spotlight-backed search - search across files and folder names using the macOS indexing engine
• SD card ingest - copy photos into date-based folder structures, with optional simultaneous backup to a second destination
• Duplicate/similar photo detection - Review mode for quickly resolving near-duplicate burst shots
• Instagram frame export - fits 2:3 RAW images into a 3:4 canvas, exported as PNG to avoid re-encoding loss (useful for Camera Raw edits because it doesn’t support framing)

Comparison with Adobe Bridge

Where Imagin RAW is better

Where Bridge is ahead

• Camera Raw–processed previews - Bridge renders thumbnails with ACR adjustments applied. Imagin RAW currently shows unprocessed previews; replicating the ACR pipeline isn’t feasible, though basic exposure/crop preview adjustments may be explored.

Roadmap

See the open Issues

Screenshots

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Arrow Keys - Navigate between photos
• CMD A - Select all photos
• CMD Click / Shift+Click - Multi-select photos
• CMD Del - Move photos to trash
• CMD Z - Undo photos moved to trash
• 1-5 - Set Star Rating
• 6-0 - Apply Labels
• - - Remove label
• A - Approve photos (same as the 8 key)
• X / Del - Reject photos
• OPT 1-5 - Filter by Star Rating
• OPT 6-0 - Filter by Labels
• OPT X - Filter by Rejected
• C - Toggle Sidebar
• G - Toggle Grid Type
• Return - Open selected photo(s) in external editor

System Requirements

• macOS 14.6 or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel processor

Installation

• Buy from the AppStore if you want to support the project and receive updates automatically
• Download the latest release from Releases. Updates might not be on par with the AppStore and there’s no update notification in app
• Compile from source code

Contributions

Small straightforward fixes and issue/ideas reportings are welcome.