Stillroom 0.4.0 beta

New

• The Lightbox: a tray on the right edge of the window for gathering references while you work. Drag images in, or use "Add to Lightbox" in an image's ⋯ menu.
• Show on screen: each Lightbox image floats in its own small window above every other app.
• Drag a floating image to move it; drag its corner or scroll over it to resize it, keeping its proportions.
• Hover over a floating image for an opacity slider; faded images let whatever is underneath show through.
• Lock floating images with the lock button or Ctrl+Alt+L (from any app): they stay put and clicks pass through to the app underneath.
• The Lightbox tray, and each image's position and opacity, are remembered between sessions.
• Automatic updates: Stillroom checks for new versions and installs them when you agree. Settings → Check for updates… checks on demand.
• "New folder…" in the sidebar's + menu creates a folder inside the one you're viewing.

Improved

• The Open in Explorer button in the top bar now has a folder icon and also works in The Cellar.
• Right-clicking an image, folder, collection or tag opens Stillroom's own menu for it, at the pointer.
• Find duplicates has been removed from the library menu.

Fixed

• Adding or removing a tag on a single image, changing its author, or starring it can now be undone with Ctrl+Z.
• Right-clicking no longer shows the web browser's menu (with options like Share).

Known issues

• 0.3.0 can't update itself: install 0.4.0 by hand once, and later updates arrive automatically. Your libraries, tags and notes are kept.
• The beta warnings still apply: back up first, avoid cloud-synced and network folders, and attach Settings → Show log file when reporting a bug.

Install

Download Stillroom_0.4.0_x64-setup.exe below and run it. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit; no admin rights needed.

Stillroom isn't code-signed yet, so Windows shows "Windows protected your PC": click More info → Run anyway. Upgrading from 0.3.0 keeps your libraries, tags and notes.

Stillroom-setup.exe is the same installer under a name that never changes (for links that always point to the newest version). latest.json is used by Stillroom's automatic updates.

SHA-256 of Stillroom_0.4.0_x64-setup.exe:
EBDB9364298EE6E0F5235C4408347C2650EA90A62848A70F39C252DDA456C2C1

Stillroom 0.3.0 beta

Stillroom 0.3.0 beta: release notes

Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · 2.4 MB installer · free

Stillroom is a quiet, local library for visual references. It works with the
folders already on your disk: each folder is a board, and Stillroom adds tags,
notes, favorites and collections on top, without moving your files somewhere
hidden. Everything stays on your computer. Nothing is uploaded, and there's no
account.

This is the first public beta. It has been tested carefully, but please read the
beta notes at the end before pointing it at a collection you care about.

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Features

Your folders are the library

• Add any folder as a library. Its subfolders appear as boards in the sidebar, and
  folder tiles preview what's inside.
• Keep several libraries open at once, such as one for work and one for personal projects.
• Create, rename, move and delete folders from inside Stillroom; the changes happen on
  disk. Drag folders in the sidebar to reorganize them.
• Live updates: add, rename or move files in Explorer and Stillroom catches up
  on its own. Tags and notes follow files that move inside the library.
• Folders that already have their own Stillroom library are detected, so libraries
  don't end up nested by accident.

Bringing references in

• Drag files from Explorer onto the window, paste images
  with Ctrl+V, or use Import. Files are copied into the folder you're viewing,
  and a progress panel shows larger imports.
• Supports PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, AVIF, SVG and ICO images, plus MP4, WebM,
  M4V, OGV, MOV and MKV video. Which video codecs play depends on Windows.

Organizing

• Tags with suggestions as you type. Rename, merge or delete a tag across the
  whole library from the sidebar.
• Notes on every item, saved automatically as you type.
• Author field for crediting the artist or source.
• Favorites: star anything and find it in Favorites, across all libraries.
• Collections group references from different folders without moving or
  copying the files. Drag items onto a collection in the sidebar to add them.
• Rename an item by editing its title. The file is renamed to match.
• Drag and drop items into folders or collections, or drag to reorder them
  in a custom order.
• Multi-select with Ctrl/Shift-click or Ctrl+A to tag, move, favorite or set
  aside many items at once.
• Undo (Ctrl+Z) for moves, renames, reordering, folder changes, tag renames and deletes, and The Cellar.

Finding things

• Search titles, authors, notes and tags. Type #tag to match tags only.
• Show the current folder only, or include subfolders.
• Sort by newest, oldest, title, or your own custom order.
• Adjust the thumbnail size with the slider.
• Find duplicates spots identical files anywhere in a library, even when they
  have different names.

Viewing

• Click a card once for its notes, twice for the viewer.
• Zoom and pan with the scroll wheel or a double-click, and use the arrow keys to
  step through the board.
• The viewer shows each image's colour palette, its details, and its tags and notes.
• Videos play in the viewer, and their thumbnails come from the first frame.
• Reveal any file in Explorer, or open it in its default app.
• Arrow keys move between cards on the board too.

The Cellar

• Send to The Cellar instead of deleting. Items set aside there disappear from
  boards and search but keep their tags and notes.
• Restore puts an item back in the library root, or in the folder it came from.
• Delete from The Cellar moves the file to the Recycle Bin.

Built for big collections

• Tested with libraries of 30,000 items. Opening, scrolling, searching and
  editing stay quick.
• Thumbnails are made in the background, visible items first, and stored in a
  local cache instead of inside your library.

Comfort

• Dark, light, or match the system theme.
• Resizable, collapsible sidebar.
• Works offline. No account, no tracking, no network access needed.

For bug reports

• Stillroom keeps a small log file of errors. Open it from Settings → Show log file.
• Settings → Third-party licenses lists the open-source software Stillroom uses.

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Beta notes: please read

Back up first. Stillroom works directly with the real files on your disk:
renaming, moving and deleting in the app changes them for real. Keep a copy of any
reference collection you can't replace before adding it as a library.

Avoid cloud-synced folders for now. OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud
can conflict with Stillroom's index while syncing, which can lose tags and notes.
Your images themselves stay safe. Folders on network drives carry the same risk.
Use a local folder for this beta.

About deleting:

• Delete from The Cellar moves the file to the Recycle Bin, and its tags and notes
  are removed from Stillroom. A file restored from the Recycle Bin comes back
  without them.
• On network drives and some external drives, Windows skips the Recycle Bin, so
  deletes there are permanent.

The .stillroom folder. Each library gets a hidden .stillroom folder that
holds your tags, notes, order, collections and The Cellar. Deleting it loses that
information. Your images in the library itself are never affected.

Install warning. Stillroom isn't code-signed yet, so Windows shows "Windows
protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway. On PCs with Smart App
Control turned on, Windows blocks unsigned apps entirely, and Stillroom can't run
there yet.

Windows only, for now. Stillroom is made for Windows 10 and 11 and has so far
been tested on Windows 11. Linux and macOS versions are planned but untested.

Large libraries. The first time a big library opens, thumbnails take a while to
fill in. The duplicate finder reads every file, so on large libraries it can take
a while, and that library's other actions wait until it finishes.

No automatic updates. Download new betas from the website. Installing a new
version keeps your libraries, tags and notes.

Found a bug? Send what you were doing, what happened instead, your Windows
version, roughly how big your library is, and your log file (Settings → Show log
file → stillroom.log). The log may include file and folder names, but never
image contents or notes.