Show HN: Editing 2000 photos made me build a macOS bulk photo editor
Comments
mzajc
om202
yeah earlier versions had subscription, I was experimenting with pricing but I did not like it either, especially for something like this
latest version is one time purchase now
trying to keep it simple and local, no uploads and no ongoing fees
mh-
You should figure out how to fix the way it appears in the MAS listing, it's going to cost you a lot of downloads among a savvy audience. I always check that IAP section on free apps before I bother downloading.
I get why the previous subscription option would still appear, but I'm not sure why the one-time option wouldn't be appearing. Maybe not enough transactions on it yet?
cgomez
Batch photo editors already exist, like the long standing and superb Retrobatch. It’s $30-50 as a one time purchase.
https://flyingmeat.com/retrobatch/
Also, oddly, this post highlights “no subscription” about their project but the App Store page shows several subscriptions and that the app actually costs $40 a year?
0x6c6f6c
This is likely one of the many pains of App Store subscription configuration issues. Once anyone has subscribed you will have to migrate those yourself and even those details I'm not sure what restrictions there are. The latest seems to be one-time purchase, but historical cleanup is probably necessary on their part
om202
yeah Retrobatch is solid, I have seen it
on pricing, that is fair callout, older versions had subscription and App Store listing might still show that depending on update or region I recently moved it to one time purchase because it makes more sense for this kind of tool
still figuring things out as I go
rajptech
The best tools come from scratching your own itch. 2000 photos is exactly the kind of pain point that no existing tool solves well enough because the big players optimize for the casual user, not the power user with a specific workflow. I built a CLI tool for the same reason — existing solutions didn't work the way I needed them to. Curious: are you planning to ship this or keep it as a personal tool?
om202
yeah exactly, it started as just solving my own workflow
I am shipping it now, but still treating it like a tool I use myself first and improving it based on real use
not trying to compete with big tools, more like filling that gap when you have a specific workflow that does not fit well anywhere
Rekindle8090
You are replying to an LLM, not a person.
rajptech
That's the right approach. Building from real use keeps you honest about what actually matters vs what sounds cool in a feature list. Good luck with the launch.
sublinear
> the big players optimize for the casual user
This is the OG enshittification.
Software quality is declining because people don't have the same problems anymore. They've become so detached from their true desires and learned to cope with their walled garden ecosystems. If their iPhone doesn't do it they just pretend it's not possible.
asibahi
How does the application apply the same lighting setting to all photos if applying the same lighting settings in Lightroom is not suitable for all images? What magic is being done here?
(and what advantage does it have over using `magick`?)
hypercube33
I too am interested in these questions. also how do you deal with culling photos?
om202
[dead]
xnx
Sounds like a great use case for a free tool like Gemini CLI. (e.g. "Adjust all the photos in this folder..."). Gemini CLI is smart enough to use ImageMagick or python to apply those changes.
om202
[dead]
jsmith99
Capture One which is the biggest Lightroom alternative (popular with wedding and fashion industry) has pretty good tools for batch edit and getting a consistent look across a shot. It's expensive though.
onion2k
I built my own photo viewer for OSX entirely because Finder doesn't have an 'actual size' option. OSX is pretty terrible for image management.
om202
Wow. Thats cool. I would love to try it out.
lillesvin
If you're not afraid of working in a CLI, ImageMagick is also a very solid tool for editing lots and lots of images in bulk as long as you know what you want done to them.
om202
yeah ImageMagick is solid, especially when the edits are very consistent
I think where I struggled was when the set is mostly similar but still needs small per photo tweaks writing new commands or rerunning pipeline for small changes felt a bit heavy
I wanted something more interactive where I can adjust visually, apply to many, then still tweak few without starting over
Rekindle8090
You didn't build anything you vibe coded it. And no, I'm not paying for it.
foundermodus
Wow, that's so cool man. Gotta try this out. Thanks :))
om202
Thank you. Please let me know if it solves your problem and is useful to you!
inovica
I'd suggest adjusting your text. Sure there is no subscription, but it's also not free. There's a one-time charge. I'm not against that - just saying it would be appropriate to be more transparent
om202
Thanks. Yah, I should have let the new non-subscription version release before putting on HN. But its gonna follow freemium model with one time life time purchase.
> It runs locally on your Mac with no uploads and there is no subscription.
From the bottom of the description on apps.apple.com: