Stuck or curious? Email hello@papermint.studio and a human reads every message, usually within a day.
Getting started
Open a folder - click Open Folder, press ⌘O, or drop any folder onto the window. Photos appear in a grid; subfolders appear as tiles you can drill into.
View a photo - click any thumbnail. Use the arrow keys, trackpad swipes, or the scroll wheel to move between photos; hold an arrow key to scrub fast.
Press ? inside the app for the full keyboard shortcut list - almost everything has a key.
Formats
Lumen opens JPEG, PNG, HEIC/HEIF, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, GIF (with playback and frame stepping), TIFF, BMP, PSD, EXR, and common RAW formats: DNG, CR2, NEF, ARW, RAF. If a file you care about doesn't open, email us - format support is something we actively expand.
Lumen Pro
What's included - adjustments with auto-enhance and export, crop & straighten, batch convert & resize (with optional EXIF/location stripping), cinematic slideshows, Present mode for external displays, and Live Text.
One-time purchase - $9.99 once, no subscription, all future updates included.
New Mac or reinstalled? - open any Pro feature and click Restore Purchase. The unlock follows your Apple Account.
Common questions
Where do deleted photos go? - to the macOS Trash, and Lumen shows an Undo button right after. Nothing is ever deleted permanently by the app.
Does Lumen change my folders? - never on its own. Viewing is read-only; edits are always saved as copies next to the original unless you explicitly replace a file.
Why does Lumen ask me to open folders again after an update? - macOS security (the App Sandbox) requires apps to be granted folder access explicitly. Lumen remembers the grants you make; occasionally macOS invalidates them and a fresh Open Folder renews access.
Slideshow on a TV? - connect via AirPlay, HDMI, or Sidecar, then press T for Present mode (part of Pro).
Privacy
Lumen collects nothing and connects to nothing. The full policy is three sentences: read it here.