Getting Started

Getting Started

Install

Desktop app. Download an installer from Releases:

• Windows: the -x64.exe for most PCs (Intel and AMD), the -arm64.exe for ARM PCs (such as Snapdragon). It installs into Program Files, adds Illuminator to the Start menu, and a page of the installer after the folder choice has an Add to desktop checkbox (ticked by default). The .msi always adds the desktop shortcut.
• macOS: the -arm64.dmg for Apple Silicon, the -x64.dmg for Intel. The app is not code signed: right-click it and choose Open the first time.
• Linux: the .deb for Debian and Ubuntu (sudo apt install ./Illuminator-*.deb), or the .AppImage for other distributions (chmod +x it, then run it). The .deb adds Illuminator to the applications menu. The first time an AppImage runs it asks whether to add itself to the applications menu, with an Add to desktop checkbox (ticked by default); it only writes into your home folder.

Or run it from source (Node.js 20 or newer):

git clone https://github.com/AbstractPolygon/Illuminator.git
cd Illuminator
npm install
npm start

npm run dist builds an installer for your system (Windows, macOS, Linux).

Browser. Each release also has the web version, Illuminator-<version>-web.zip: unzip it and upload what is inside to any web server (served over HTTPS). Or serve the app folder of the source; nothing to install for the people who use it.

npm run web            # http://localhost:8080
npm run build:web      # a static copy in dist/web, for any web server

Illuminator needs a browser with WebGL 2 for fast rendering (any current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari). Without it, everything still works on the CPU, more slowly.

Open a photo

• Drag .LFR / .LFP files anywhere onto the window.
• Settings → Import Lytro Desktop library… for your old Lytro Desktop library.

Every photo you open is added to your library, so it is there next time (Library and Albums).

The window

• Left sidebar: the library: All photos, your albums and the photos in the selected album. Choosing an album shows its photos as a grid of thumbnails in the middle; click a photo to open it.
• Middle: the picture. Click to focus on that spot; drag to move the viewpoint. Above it, and switch between the picture and the raw microlens image, with the zoom controls on the right; below it, the animation controls.
• Right sidebar: the editing panels (Editing). Click a title to open or close it.
• Top bar, right:

Full screen (click again or press Esc to leave)

About

Settings

Your edits are saved

Every change is saved with the photo as you make it; there is no Save button. Open the photo again and it looks as you left it. Reset buttons and double-clicking a slider put things back.

Updates

The desktop app checks for a newer version when it starts, and again every few hours while it is open. Help > Check for Updates… checks right away and says so when you are up to date. If there is one, a popup lists that release's downloads (Windows, macOS and Linux, with this computer's first), each a direct link to the file. Install it over the current version; your library and edits stay as they are. Don't remind me about this version skips that release.