FAQ
Updated
About Lucarne
Is Lucarne free?
Yes. Lucarne is free to download and use, with no account and no advertising. The advanced features, such as object removal, super-resolution, and AI denoise, are free too.
What Mac does it need?
macOS 26 or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon.
Is this the final version?
Lucarne is in public beta, and you can download it free from the download page. A beta may have bugs, so keep a backup of your photos. When a new version is out, Lucarne tells you in the app.
Which languages does it support?
The app and this website are in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
Can Lucarne replace Lightroom?
Like Lightroom, Lucarne takes you from importing and choosing photos to editing and exporting them in one app, with a photo library, RAW editing, local adjustments, and batch editing. Lucarne is free, with no subscription. See A free Lightroom alternative for the Mac.
Your photos and privacy
Does Lucarne upload my photos?
Lucarne does not upload your photos. Your photos, your library, and your edits are kept on your computer, and editing and the AI features are processed on your Mac.
Lucarne goes online for three things only: a check for a new version once a day, anonymous usage statistics if you agree to share them, and the AI models you choose to download. If you connect an AI assistant, the photo previews it reads may be sent to its provider. See Privacy.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Organising, editing, and exporting photos need no internet connection. The AI features’ models are downloaded once; after that, they work offline too.
Does Lucarne move or copy my photos?
No. Lucarne works with your photos in the folders where they already are, and adds new photos as they appear there. Your edits are saved separately in Lucarne’s library, and the original files stay untouched.
Cameras and formats
Does it support my camera?
Lucarne opens RAW files from major cameras by Sony, Fujifilm, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus and OM System, Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, Phase One, and others; DNGs from phones and drones; and common image formats such as JPEG, HEIF, PNG, and TIFF. The full list is in the specs.
Can it edit Fujifilm RAW?
Yes. Lucarne develops Fujifilm’s X-Trans files with a demosaic designed for them, uses the lens corrections the camera writes into the RAF file, and has 20 film simulations. See How to edit Fujifilm RAW on a Mac.
What can I export to?
JPEG, HEIF, PNG, and TIFF, and HDR photos with a gain map that look right on HDR and standard screens alike. When you export, you can set the size, sharpening, and colour space, add a frame or a watermark, and save your settings as a preset.
AI features
What are the AI features?
- Object removal takes passers-by and clutter out of a photo and fills in the background.
- Super-resolution enlarges a photo two times and fills in detail.
- AI denoise cleans up night and high-ISO photos while keeping their detail.
- AI masks select the subject, people, the sky, or the ground in one click, for local adjustments.
Do the AI features need the internet?
The AI features process your photos on your Mac, with no internet connection, and your photos are not uploaded. A feature that needs a model downloads it once, before its first use.
How big are the AI models?
AI denoise is about 160 MB, object removal about 210 MB, sky and ground selection about 240 MB, and super-resolution about 30 MB; the optional generative super-resolution is about 6.8 GB. Subject and people selection use features built into macOS and need no download. The space and memory a model needs are shown before you download it, and you can remove a model in Settings.
AI assistants
What is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a way for AI assistants to use the apps on your computer. Lucarne has a built-in MCP server, so an AI assistant that supports MCP can find, edit, and export your photos in Lucarne. See What is MCP?
Which AI assistants can I connect?
Any AI assistant that can run a local MCP server, such as Claude Desktop, Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app, Cursor, and LM Studio.
How do I connect one?
In Lucarne’s Settings, open Connect Your AI Agent, set what the assistant may do, then copy the message shown and send it to your assistant. See Work with AI.
Can an AI assistant see my photos?
Once connected, an AI assistant can read information from your library and previews of your photos. Many assistants run on their providers’ servers and send what they read there. You can ask an assistant to edit without looking at your photos; whether it does as asked depends on the assistant.
How can I limit what an AI assistant does?
- Turn off Let agents edit photos, and the assistant can only look.
- The assistant exports only to the folder you choose; with no folder chosen, exporting is off.
- Each change the assistant makes is a step in the photo’s history, and can be undone.
- Assistants have no tools to remove photos from the library, or to delete presets, snapshots, or tags.
Other
How do I report a problem or make a suggestion?
Write to hello@lucarneapp.com.