We’re excited to introduce the Mac Beta for Darkroom 7, a major milestone in our journey, and one that happens to coincide with our 10-year anniversary as your photo editing app of choice. Your edits are about to get faster, sharper, and more precise, and you can try it today in the Darkroom 7 Beta.

At the core of this release is a completely rebuilt rendering engine. Dramatically improving speed, responsiveness, stability, and accuracy. This is the engine that will power the next generation of features, and we’re incredibly proud of how it performs.

But before we launch it to everyone, we need your help.

## Join the Beta

Today, we’re opening up the Mac Beta for Darkroom 7, and we’re inviting you to help shape its final form. We will open up the beta for iPhone and iPad soon as well, but first we want the Mac to be rock solid. You should expect some issues, and we hope you’ll help us work through them. To ensure we can connect with you more directly during the beta period, we’re starting fresh with a new TestFlight group. If you’d like access, we ask that you sign up with your email and fill out the form. This allows us to send you updates, reach out for feedback, and keep you in the loop as new builds land.

<a href="https://darkroom.notion.site/1d6ecc0e3ffb80dfa71af03f0ef6a5f5?pvs=105" className="button">Request Beta Access →</a>

As we’ve rebuilt the engine that powers every tap, swipe, every zoom, every slider, every mask, and every edit, we now want to know: how does it feel in your hands? What’s faster, what’s smoother, what still needs work? While we’re keeping the full nitty gritty details under wraps for now, we couldn’t resist giving you a quick peek. Here’s a taste of what’s new in Darkroom 7.

<Figure
 src="/assets/images/posts/2025-08-12-beta-bento.jpg"
 alt="Bento overview graphic of all that has changed in Darkroom 7"
 caption="There’s a lot to explore, test, and even more on the way..."
 width="1280"
 height="640"
 wide
/>

---

## Performance & Quality

Most of the work in this release likely won't be noticeable at first glance, as it happened under the hood — and for good reason. Over the past few years, your files have ballooned in size. Apple’s ProRAW, larger sensors, more advanced DSLR’s, and increasingly high-resolution video formats like ProRes and 8K have pushed average file sizes from just a few megabytes to as much as 150MB or much more for video.

We’ve optimized Darkroom 7 to meet this challenge head-on. Opening RAW files is sharper, and more stable. Video loads just as fast, and playback has many new features. Zooming, as well as Crop, and Mask overlay controls are super smooth. We’ve introduced smarter caching, optimized our memory footprint, and reworked how tools load so that editing feels responsive right from the first touch or swipe.

Whether you’re working through a massive shoot or fine-tuning a single photo, Darkroom 7 gives you more speed and stability than ever before. Even long editing sessions that used to bog down now glide smoothly from start to finish.


## Why We Rebuilt the Engine

To be honest, this wasn’t the plan. We set out to build new features, to push forward creatively. But as Darkroom matured and grew in complexity after introducing [Masks](/blog/2022-04-masks), we started to feel the cracks. Performance issues cropped up. Crashes became more frequent than we wanted with large files. And we realized that to keep delivering the quality product we all expect and are proud of — and to build what we wanted next — we had to go back to the foundation. 

So we did. [Just like in ’19](/blog/2020-03-new-renderer), we paused, rethought, and rebuilt. The new engine in Darkroom 7 is faster, more efficient, and far more resilient. It’s designed not just for today’s needs, but for where photography and video are headed next.

## Looking Ahead

This release is a recommitment to one of our oldest principles: Darkroom should never get in your way. When you’re editing, your focus should be on enabling your creativity — not on Darkroom.

That’s why we did this work. To make sure Darkroom fades into the background, while your creativity takes the lead. And in today’s fast-moving, high-resolution, multi-device world, that’s more important than ever.

For little bit more behind the scenes context, please check out our [Summer Update](/blog/2025-08-12-2-summer-update) post.

<Links>
 <URL 
 url="/blog/2025-08-12-2-summer-update"
 title="Summer Update"
 excerpt="Summer’s in full swing, and so is our push to get Darkroom 7 out the door."
 coverImage="/assets/images/posts/2025-08-12-2-summer-update.jpg"
 />
</Links>

We can’t wait to hear how it feels in your hands. If you want to stay in the loop of new beta's, and the latest news, please [sign up to our newsletter!](/subscribe)

_The Darkroom Team_

---

### Frequently Asked Question

<RichFAQ>
 <FAQItem
 id="beta"
 question="How do I get access to the beta?"
 answer="You can request access to the beta filling out the beta <a href='https://darkroom.notion.site/1d6ecc0e3ffb80dfa71af03f0ef6a5f5?pvs=105'>request access form</a>.
 Note that the access roll out will be controlled, and not immediate when you request access. You will receive an email when you have access."
 />
 <FAQItem
 id="devices"
 question="Is the beta available for iPhone, and iPad?"
 answer="No, the beta is available for Mac only. We are working on the iPhone and iPad beta, and will let you know when it's ready."
 />
 <FAQItem
 id="existing-edits"
 question="Will my existing edits and presets work in the beta?"
 answer="Yes, your existing edits and presets will work in the beta. You might notice some small differences in how you edits render, specifically for highlight and shadow recovery. If you notice any issues, please let us know!"
 />
 <FAQItem
 id="feedback"
 question="What should I do if I find bugs or have feedback?"
 answer="Please use the 'Ask a Question' found in settings, or the Help menu on Mac, to reach out to us. The more details you can provide around file type, steps to reproduce, and what you were doing when the issue occurred, the better. Screenshots and videos are also helpful."
 /> 
 <FAQItem
 id="beta-duration"
 question="How long will the beta last?"
 answer="We don't have a timeline. We are more focused on getting the beta out to you on the best possible terms, and then we will see how it goes."
 />
 <FAQItem
 id="ios26"
 question="Is Darkroom 7 for Mac compatible with macOS 26?"
 answer="Yes, Darkroom 7 for Mac is compatible with macOS 26, but isn't optimized for it yet and is not updated to use the new Liquid Glass interface. We plan to release an update for it later this year.
 Apart from quite a few visual issues caused by the new Liquid Glass interface, we know of one other issue that is causing certrain RAW images to not be loaded correctly. As we are dependant on Apple for our RAW support, we have contacted Apple for a fix, and will update you as soon as we have more information."
 />
</RichFAQ>

Join us in testing Darkroom 7 for Mac, featuring a completely rebuilt rendering engine that delivers unprecedented speed, stability, and performance.

Darkroom 7 Beta for Mac

As we shared in [our ‘24 Wrap-Up post](/blog/2025-02-12-ten-year-anniversary), we’ve spent the past year steadily evolving Community Presets into one of the most powerful and creative parts of Darkroom. With a few new major updates now live, we thought this was the perfect moment to not only highlight the latest improvements, but also revisit everything that makes Darkroom’s Community Presets such a powerful and unique part of the app.

- **Smarter Search** — Thanks to auto-generated preset descriptions, search is now more useful—and more fun—than ever, and because we use a fuzzy approach instead of literal search. Looking for film vibes? Try keywords like *film*, *analog*, *kodak*, *fuji*, or *grain*. Want a specific aesthetic? Search for *wes anderson*, *matrix*, *sepia,* or *cinematic*. Need a mood match? Type *warm*, *blue*, *vintage,* or *summer*. However you search, you’ll find creative presets tailored to your style.
- **Auto-Generated Descriptions** — We explored allowing custom descriptions, but quickly ran into challenges with quality, consistency, and spam. Instead, we turned to AI with the help of [Anthropic’s Claude LLM](https://www.anthropic.com/claude), which—through careful prompt engineering—has allowed us to generate unique, rich, natural language descriptions for every preset, automatically.

<Figure
 src="/assets/images/posts/2025-03-27-search-preset.jpg"
 alt="Left: updated preset design with auto-generated descriptions and new discovery navigation. Right: improved community preset search, allowing you explore looks, styles, and vibes with search."
 caption="Left: updated preset design with auto-generated descriptions and new discovery navigation. Right: improved community preset search, allowing you explore looks, styles, and vibes with search."
 width="1280"
 height="1280"
 wide
/>

- **Easier Discovery Navigation** — We’ve added a persistent navigation bar across all preset and collection pages, so you can jump between collections or start a new search no matter where you are. Discovering presets is now faster and more intuitive—on any device.
- **Updated Preset Design** — We gave preset pages a thoughtful refresh, specifically for desktop, making space for auto-generated descriptions and improving overall clarity. Every preset you’ve installed is now clearly marked *Installed* when browsing in the app. QR codes are now also available on iPhone, making it easier to share your favorite presets with friends. All small touches that make a big difference.
- **Directory Pages** - We’ve added comprehensive directory pages for our community presets to help new users discover all the amazing work being shared, and to further improve SEO.
- **App-Wide Improvements** — We’ve made browsing and searching community presets inside the app faster and smoother. On Mac, keyboard shortcuts are more responsive. We polished scrolling, refined transitions, and improved a ton of little details—all to keep you in your flow.

<Figure
 src="/assets/images/posts/2025-03-27-desktop.jpg"
 alt="Community Presets shown in a desktop browser"
 width="1280"
 height="1016"
 wide
/>

And that's just what's new. Darkroom's Community Presets is such a substantial feature that entire web platforms and apps dedicate themselves solely to preset discovery. What makes Community Presets in Darkroom unique is its seamless integration and ease of use. There's no need to manage, host, download, or import files—just web links that anyone can freely view, install, and try.

- **Preset Discovery** — Over the past year we also launched dedicated collections like the [All-Time Most Exported](https://darkroom.co/presets/collections/all-time-exported) and [All-Time Most Installed](https://darkroom.co/presets/collections/all-time-installed) presets—highlighting the best of what the community has shared since launch. On top of the 3 automated ([Top Exported](/presets/collections/most-exported), [Fresh Arrivals](/presets/collections/new), [Top Installed](/presets/collections/most-installed)) and 2 curated ([Analog Film Favorites](/presets/collections/analog), [Independent Favorites](/presets/collections/independent)) collections we already had.
- **Preset Sharing** — You can share your custom presets with your friends and the world, it’s quick and seamless. Just select the preset you want to share, tap the options menu (•••), and tap “Share.” You’ll get a simple web link that anyone can preview and install—whether or not they have Darkroom. Once shared, your preset is also added to Community Presets, making it discoverable by others.
- **Custom Presets** — Want to create your own preset? If you’re thinking about making and sharing your own preset but aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got you. We put together a detailed step-by-step guide that walks you through the entire process—from developing a strong look to publishing it with confidence.

<Links>
 <URL 
 url="/blog/2024-03-01-create-preset"
 title="Create your own custom preset"
 excerpt="Learn how to create and develop your own unique preset and share it with the community."
 coverImage="/assets/images/posts/2022-1029-preset-highlights-header.jpg"
 />
</Links>

Custom presets—originally called *filters*—have been a core feature of Darkroom since [we launched in 2015](https://darkroom.co/blog/2015-02-introducing-darkroom-10). That same year, we [experimented with preset sharing for the first time](https://darkroom.co/blog/2015-08-introducing-darkroom-20), but it didn’t quite take off. Our community was still small, and while sharing is essential, we later learned that discovery—and making both effortless—is an entirely different challenge.

When we reintroduced preset sharing in late 2022, adoption was slow. But with the rollout of discovery features a year later, usage swiftly took off. Now, with new features and fresh community presets added daily, it’s become one of the most creative and vibrant corners of the Darkroom experience.

With hundreds of new presets published each month—and more than 2,800 already shared to date—there’s never been a better time to explore.

---

To celebrate the arrival of spring, we’ve curated a fresh batch of presets perfect for the season. Whether you’re capturing blooming landscapes, golden hour bike rides, or quiet morning moments, these presets will help you bring out the warmth, color, and clarity of your spring stories.

### Fresh Starts & Soft Light

Celebrate the softer tones and new beginnings of spring. This theme is perfect for early morning light, delicate textures, and the understated magic of renewal.

<PresetCollection
 ids={[
 "6F0A483A-4963-4E56-9339-F46C75CA35B2", // Bart Warm
 "D0360D8D-35B6-462C-A69A-3DA76F494B61", // GTD_Warm
 "043A5C4F-F38F-4763-999E-8E9810E14178", // Glow
 "3FA5C1DD-BC5B-4614-80B0-645D473D1F13", // Portra 160
 "76A19AA8-BAE3-43DC-8AD6-80D34C879EC1", // Classic Negative
 "133AB4BA-856C-473C-A282-F8A64AF2E557", // Glowy II
 "F23D81A8-4B1D-434C-8114-AB3777F795B8", // Polaroid 600
 "9EA618EF-4F10-4CEA-BD5B-548B5737C5D1", // Classic Chrome
 "D818F2E8-BAAD-4A44-B99E-1FEBDB206E1F", // Leica M8
 "4A1A017F-02D3-4A73-A0BF-0E85ABF1CA32", // Kodak Portra 400
 "C6C06A8C-89F3-43A4-857B-B15A998D35E0" // Loomono Profil 200
 ]}
 presets={presets}
/>

### Spring in Bloom

Vibrant colors, bursting flowers, street markets, and lush gardens—this set captures the full bloom of spring. Great for city strolls, tulip fields, and saturated street scenes.

<PresetCollection
 ids={[
 "97D02F0C-CF7A-46BA-967F-D57F96E72131", // Fuji1
 "AD29BE6D-368B-4313-9986-AB73418E620C", // Kodak Gold200
 "147DA1C1-DC1F-43E6-A348-B5D2A1469F61", // Nature III
 "495D6E16-7F42-44C4-BB82-F83F28CE2D3E", // Kodak Punch
 "75CE87B5-C4F5-4DF1-A36F-5A3E98270954", // Coffee Shop
 "03A4E2FB-4245-4B98-AE79-6D91DE25B993", // GX8-3
 "258150A1-534C-4241-8EAF-32A96BFA36FC", // Thursday
 "949D7035-0C93-409D-AD85-A7F593423B75", // CPB
 "6BCE3248-694F-4209-AC84-61AD58B10B0A", // Glass Pop
 "F1DF23F4-6C8A-4473-88E3-700315723EE9" // Golden Hour
 ]}
 presets={presets}
/>

### Everyday Wanderlust

For spontaneous getaways, bike rides, beach walks, and life lived outdoors. These presets are about capturing candid joy and natural beauty with clarity and subtle pop.

<PresetCollection
 ids={[
 "D9AE79A7-EC02-4ECF-A1E3-07D270F02595", // HP5
 "reset/E629DA80-E6CF-4CD9-876E-38E20136DBB5", // RX1 SW Pimp
 "094EED78-B252-4C64-B340-63EB30B709E1", // Malediven 6
 "5B165543-E8F8-4F0A-9907-124C87C3078D", // E1
 "CF0406FB-49EF-4333-A1AB-A515E0AEAA5E", // Blue Sky
 "D3A46E2E-383C-4C44-A100-AE4FA049C475", // Filmfeel
 "1E4A6D01-3016-4756-8F85-4900C0D5F009", // Wedding 1
 "7454A159-2D06-434C-BC38-AC67AF698D4E", // Golden
 "CD6C3F84-2C4F-4CDE-B6CA-E0929D9B4438" // Cinematic Product
 ]}
 presets={presets}
/>

Explore the latest Community Preset updates, with smarter search and other fresh spring additions.

Community Presets, Updated for Spring

Darkroom comes with 8 sets of <darkroom-plus-link>Darkroom+</darkroom-plus-link> presets for your photos and videos. With these 39 presets, you can easily emulate analog film, apply vintage and cinematic looks, and enhance your portraiture or landscape photos.

Based on classic analog black and white films, these presets mix film-style grain and increased contrast. Great for adding a dramatic and striking look.

Inspired by the contemporary ‘teal and orange’ big movie look. Emphasizing skin tones and color contrasts between warmer and cooler tones.

Cinematic

A broad selection of free presets curated from our premium sets. Including XPRO (crossed processed), Black and White, Landscape, Portrait, and others.

Darkroom

What are these preset names? The letter (C) represents the set name (Cinematic). The first number represents the main variant (C100), the second number a subtler or stronger subvariant (C110).

Instant presets emulate the nostalgic look of classic instant film (polaroid) with their shifted and faded colors and crushed shadows.

Instant

Boost colors and bring out details in photographs of nature, for the blue sky, the green grass, and the yellow sand. Custom-made for an eye-catching look.

Landscape

Tailor-made presets to add punch and emotion to skin tones specifically. Perfect for those who want that extra boost of color and vibrance in their portrait photos.

Portrait

Cross Processed is inspired by the analog experimental process of using the wrong chemicals. Creating interesting color shifts and increased contrast.

XPRO

Bundled Premium Presets

Questions? Answers.

Adjust the tone of individual colors in your photos, even when you turn them black and white.

Color Tool

Achieve any look with just a few targeted swipes on our easy to use RGB curves. Adjust just your global RGB shadows or mid-tones, or tweak them in just the Red channel.

Curves Tool

Efficiently cull your ever-growing photo library with the flag and reject review actions: flag what you're interested in, reject what you don't want to keep. You'll automatically advance to the next photo, so you can get in the zone and zoom through your latest shots.

Flag & Reject

Adjust the tone of your photos or videos to match your style. Make subtle or bold changes to the color, saturation, and luminosity with ease to the highlights, mid-tones and shadows.

Color Grading

It doesn't hurt to have a bit of fun now and then and customize your home screen. Pick from our historic brand update favorites or special edition variants of our famed app icon.

Customize Your App Icon

With Masks you can enhance the lighting in an area of your photo or easily separate a subject from its background to direct the viewer's eye, helping you tell a more compelling story.

Local Adjustments with AI backed Masks

Videos in Darkroom feel as lightweight as photos. They animate, zoom, crop, autoplay and loop, and every edit is made in real-time. Adjust, process and export your 4K video creations in a selection of formats.

Video Export

For a more explicit form of online protection and clear attribution, set a text or image watermark, and control its size, location, opacity, typeface, and even color.

Watermark

Access <premium-features-link>all premium features</premium-features-link> in Darkroom with a simple membership. Enjoy advanced tools to elevate your photo editing — free trial and upgrade for more control, quality, and creativity.

Fully Unlock Your Creative Potential with Darkroom+

Save {discount}% on your first yearly Darkroom+ membership. Don't miss out on exclusive tools and features designed for professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Limited {discount}% Discount Offer

Install our free app on your iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Vision Pro. Start editing your iCloud Photos in seconds, without any setup or importing hassles.

Dive into Darkroom today!

Go premium with Darkroom+ and enjoy full creative control while editing.

Try all premium Darkroom+ features with export restrictions. Use many quality <free-features-link>features for free</free-features-link>.

Free

Subscription that unlocks all tools for just {price} per month, trial not included. Share Darkroom+ with your family.

Monthly

A one time purchase that's only {price} to unlock Darkroom+ features forever. <family-sharing-link>Limited family sharing</family-sharing-link>.

One Time

Affordable Memberships

Subscription that unlocks all tools for just {price} per year after a free 7-day trial. Share Darkroom+ with your family.

Subscription that unlocks all tools for just {price} <s>{originalPrice}</s> for your first year. Share Darkroom+ with your family.

Yearly

Summer’s in full swing, and so is our push to get Darkroom 7 out the door. We originally planned to launch much sooner, but our internal testing surfaced enough issues that we decided to hold back. We spent the extra time making sure today's Mac Beta release feels as smooth and solid as it deserves to be.

We’re now thrilled to introduce the Mac Beta for Darkroom 7, a major milestone that just so happens to coincide with our 10-year anniversary as your photo editing app of choice. You can read all about it in our [Darkroom 7 Beta for Mac](/blog/2025-08-12-darkroom-7-beta) post.

<Links>
 <URL 
 url="/blog/2025-08-12-darkroom-7-beta"
 title="Darkroom 7 Beta for Mac"
 excerpt="Join us in testing Darkroom 7 for Mac, featuring a completely rebuilt rendering engine that delivers unprecedented speed, stability, and performance."
 coverImage="/assets/images/posts/2025-08-12-beta-header.jpg"
 />
</Links>

Behind the scenes, there’s been a lot happening. Our founder [Majd](https://x.com/jtaby) just went on paternity leave (🎉 welcome to the world, little one!), and other members of the team have been taking well-earned summer breaks. Things might feel a little slower, but it’s all part of building with care.

With the Mac beta out, we’re already lining things up to bring the same attention to iPhone and iPad, including finishing some updated tools and making video playback as smooth and accurate as possible.

While we’re not focused just yet on making Darkroom shine with Liquid Glass on iOS/iPadOS/macOS 26, it’s absolutely on our radar. First, we want Darkroom 7 to be the strongest possible foundation for the next generation of updates and features.

Thank you for your patience and excitement. This release is one of our biggest yet, and we can’t wait for you to try it.

Until then, stay cool and keep creating.

_The Darkroom Team_

Let's catch up on what's been happening behind the scenes. Summer's in full swing, and so is our push to get Darkroom 7 out the door.

Summer Update

Darkroom 7 Beta for Mac

Latest Posts

Darkroom 7 Beta for Mac

Community Presets, Updated for Spring