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Feature reference

All 170 features at a glance.

A complete reference for Parergon, grouped into 9 categories, from Metal-accelerated viewing to keyword automation.

Features
170
Categories
9
Pro features
80

§ 01 / Image

Image & Video Viewing

Hardware-accelerated viewing with professional color management, comprehensive format support, and masonry or uniform thumbnail grids up to 2048 px.

  • Masonry Thumbnail Grid

    Pinterest-style masonry layout packs variable-height tiles to each image's real aspect ratio, available in both Filesystem and Photos browsers. Tiles fill the shortest column for a dense, gap-free grid, with smooth scrolling even on large folders. Switch via the footer cell-shape button to cycle Landscape (4:3), Square, Masonry.

  • 2048 px Thumbnail Cap

    Maximum rendered cell size raised to 2048 px (from 512 px) across the Filesystem browser, Photos browser, standalone Metadata Search, and Compare Tray slider. Per-window thumbnail-size sliders in the footer of each browser.

  • Size-Adaptive Thumbnail Quality

    Decode quality scales with rendered cell size and screen pixel density. A Max Thumbnail Quality picker in Settings → Advanced offers 512 px, 1024 px (default), 1536 px, and 2048 px stops for retina sharpness on larger cells.

  • Metal GPU Rendering

    Hardware-accelerated image viewing using Apple's Metal framework with Display-P3 color management for accurate color reproduction.

  • Progressive Image Loading

    Smart thumbnail-first loading with progressive refinement for responsive browsing even with large files.

  • 30+ RAW Formats

    Reads metadata from 34 camera RAW formats and writes to 26 of them, including CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2, PEF, SRW, IIQ, MRW and DNG. Counts measured against the bundled ExifTool 13.59, counting RAW still formats only, so Canon RAW movie and sidecar files are excluded. A format is only listed as writable where ExifTool can write it back to the original file.

  • PSD Thumbnail Support

    View Adobe Photoshop PSD files with embedded thumbnail extraction for quick previews.

  • Video Preview Controls

    Professional video playback with J/K/L shuttle controls, zoom presets, and frame-accurate navigation.

  • Memory-Aware Processing

    Intelligent memory management that adapts to available system resources for stable performance with large collections.

  • Isolated Image Decoder

    A separate background process handles image decoding, preventing memory pressure when cycling through large images. Handles camera RAW decoding with fast, zero-copy GPU rendering.

  • HEIC/HEIF Support

    Full support for Apple's high-efficiency image formats including HEIC photos and HEIF sequences.

  • Full-Screen Viewing

    The image and video viewers, for files and for your Photos library, enter a native full-screen Space from the green window button, View → Enter Full Screen, or ⌃⌘F. The picture fills the display against black at the zoom you chose, with controls that float over it and fade after two seconds. Slideshows keep their pace and videos keep their position, speed and volume through the switch.

  • Zoom & Pan Controls

    Smooth zoom from fit-to-window to 100% and beyond with trackpad gestures and keyboard shortcuts.

§ 02 / Browsing

Metadata Browsing

Comprehensive metadata viewing powered by ExifTool, with organized panels and professional tools.

  • ExifTool Integration

    Powered by ExifTool (exiftool.org), extracting comprehensive EXIF, IPTC, XMP, MakerNotes, and format-specific metadata.

  • 5-Tab Info Panel

    Organized metadata viewing across Favorites, Essentials, Editor, Location, and Advanced tabs for efficient browsing.

  • Metadata Favorites

    Pin your most-used metadata fields to the Favorites tab with inline editing support for quick access.

  • 142-Field Registry

    Curated metadata model with 142 fields across 9 categories, presenting useful data from ExifTool's extraction. Finder Tags and Finder Comment are read-only in Essentials and Favorites, not available in templates, rules, search, Compare, metadata copy, or export.

  • Unified Keyword Reading

    Keywords can live in several metadata blocks at once (XMP, IPTC, and QuickTime on video), and different apps write different ones. Every surface reads the complete, deduplicated union of all blocks in one order: the info panel, compare cards, search results, video tabs, exports, and {keywords} rename tokens. Batch keyword operations keep the blocks in sync, including the QuickTime entry other players read, so an edit can never erase a keyword stored only in a block it did not read.

  • Compare Tray Pro

    Side-by-side metadata comparison for up to 12 images simultaneously to identify differences and similarities. Full drag-drop: drag rows out as file promises to Finder, Mail, Slack, and other apps, drop files in from Finder or other Parergon windows, and reorder rows by drag. Cards reflow to a vertical layout at narrow widths, and a placeholder card appears when a file is deleted or moved. Cross-image keyword operations let you Equalize Keywords (union across all tray images), Copy → Replace, or Copy → Merge to or from any other tray image, with a single Cmd+Z undo across all affected files. With two or more files staged, every field whose values differ across the cards carries a small orange dot before its label, updating live as files are saved, with a Highlight differences toggle to turn the dots off. Tools → Metadata Compare… (⌥⇧⌘C), the toolbar's Compare button and the grid's Compare shortcut all open Compare on the files you selected.

  • GPS & Location Tools

    View GPS coordinates in DMS format with reverse geocoding, interactive resizable map (100–500px), GPS offset for bulk adjustments, batch flip GPS polarity, coordinate copying, and cross-standard sync.

  • Camera & Lens Information

    Detailed camera body and lens metadata including make, model, serial number, lens specifications, and MakerNotes data extracted by ExifTool.

  • Hide Empty Fields

    Toggle visibility of empty metadata fields to focus on populated data and reduce clutter.

  • Label Sets

    Create custom labels with a name, color, and icon to categorize your files. Assign from the Info Panel or context menu (including search results with multi-file selection). Filter by label in Metadata Search.

  • Custom Metadata Panels

    Add up to 8 custom tabs to the Info Panel, each populated with whatever metadata fields you choose from the registry. Drag fields into your preferred order.

§ 03 / Editing

Metadata Editing

Powerful editing tools with templates, batch operations, and inline field editing.

  • Inline Field Editing

    Edit metadata fields directly in the info panel with instant save and validation. Free version allows up to 5 edits per day.

  • Metadata Template Manager Pro

    Create, manage, and organize metadata templates for consistent metadata application across your library.

  • Built-In Templates Pro

    Professional templates across Metadata, Technical, and Custom categories, ready to use for common workflows or to duplicate as a starting point.

  • Custom Template Creation Pro

    Build your own templates with supported editable metadata fields. The read-only Finder Tags and Finder Comment are not available in templates.

  • Batch Template Application Pro

    Apply templates to hundreds or thousands of files at once with progress tracking and error handling.

  • AI Provenance Fields (IPTC 2025.1)

    Disclose how an image was generated or assisted using the standard's own vocabulary: AI System Used, AI System Version Used, AI Prompt Information, and AI Prompt Writer Name. Editable in the IPTC Extension section, and available to templates, batch operations, and exports.

  • Standards Vocabulary Pickers

    Fields governed by an official standards vocabulary show a picker instead of a free-text box: you choose the human-readable term, Parergon stores the canonical value, and a value outside the official list cannot be introduced through Parergon's editors. Digital Source Type carries the full IPTC Digital Source Type vocabulary including the AI-provenance terms, and Data Mining carries the PLUS vocabulary for AI and machine-learning training and indexing permissions. Non-standard values written by other tools stay visible, marked, and untouched. Profile authoring gets the same picker, with a List and Expression toggle so token-based values still work.

  • Verified Metadata Writes

    Multi-value fields (Keywords, Person Shown, Creator) keep their exact item boundaries on every rule and profile path, so a name like "Smith, John" stays one person and a keyword containing a comma survives a transformation rule intact. Every rule action and profile path writes the modern XMP form, so a change made by a rule appears in Parergon, Lightroom, and Bridge alike. Applying a profile, or a rule that applies one, re-reads the file afterwards and names any field that did not actually move, in the batch summary and in the rule activity log.

  • Batch Metadata Redaction Pro

    Template-driven metadata removal with 3 built-in templates for location data, client delivery cleanup, and GDPR compliance (plus your own custom templates). Field-based redaction is fully recoverable, keeping a 7-day backup with ⌘Z undo, and covers RAW (NEF, CR2, DNG), TIFF, and video, including embedded video GPS. Three Strip All Metadata presets (Safe, Complete, and Strip All except Copyright) remove what per-field redaction can't reach, including MakerNotes, unknown XMP, and embedded thumbnails, with the same 7-day recoverable backup; Strip All runs on a safe-format allowlist and skips RAW. Preview counts affected tags per group before you commit.

  • Video Metadata Editing

    The video Editor tab is the same registry-driven editor images use, showing only the fields a video can carry, so Hide Empty Fields, keyword chips, per-field saving, Manage mode, field reordering, and workspace presets all work for video. Edit Dublin Core, QuickTime, and Production & Media metadata including genre, year, album, director, producer, and composer. XMP location fields are readable and writable for video. Suggest Title, Suggest Headline, and Draft Description deliver into the video's info panel with wording that describes a video rather than a photograph. Set Absolute Date can write the offset-bearing Keys:CreationDate that Lightroom Classic reads when importing MOV and MP4 video, so clips land at the right local time. Every tag written includes the QuickTime mirrors third-party players read.

  • Multi-Language Field Values Pro

    A file can carry its description, title, copyright notice, usage terms, or alt text in several languages at once, added, edited, and removed by hand from the Editor tab's Languages disclosure. Your original value is never touched: each language is stored as its own separate tag, so editing one variant and removing another are separate, deliberate acts. Language codes are validated before anything is written. The pencil beside a language puts the cursor straight into its text, and ⌘↩ or ⌘S saves it. Authoring variants is a Pro feature, reading a file that already carries them is free.

  • Date/Time Field Editing

    Edit capture dates, modification dates, and GPS timestamps with timezone support.

  • One-Click Scenario Presets Pro

    Copy Metadata and Date Operations each offer a row of plain-language scenarios that set up a real task in a single click, with the full manual controls still right below. Copy Metadata scenarios: Restore after an AI edit, Fill in a scan or copy, and Everything but camera settings (all preserve capture dates). Date Operations scenarios: Fix a wrong camera clock, Make all dates match, and Read dates from filenames.

  • Editable Technical Camera Fields

    Edit technical camera metadata including Camera Model, Lens Make/Model, Focal Length, Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, Exposure Program, Metering Mode, Flash, serial numbers, and exposure compensation.

  • GPS Date Management Pro

    UTC-labeled GPS dates with batch synchronization between GPS timestamps and EXIF, XMP, and IPTC date fields.

  • Temporal Enrichment Pro

    Three derivation paths in the Date Operations panel. Derive OffsetTimeOriginal from GPS timestamps using local arithmetic, derive it from GPS coordinates through system location services, or derive UTC GPS timestamps from local time and OffsetTimeOriginal. Each path is opt-in and handles date rollover.

  • Linked Metadata Profiles Pro

    Apply a bundle of metadata fields in one step. Create named profiles for copyright info, contact details, or workflow tags. Use expression tokens like {filename}, {year}, and {date:format} for dynamic values that fill in automatically. Lives in the Workbench (⌘7) with a single Merge mode picker (Smart, Fill Empty Only, Replace All, Append to Lists) and inline progress during multi-file apply.

  • Custom Metadata Fields

    Define your own XMP metadata fields using the ms: namespace. Choose data types (text, number, date, list, boolean) with type-correct editing controls (DatePicker for dates, numeric-only input for numbers, chip picker for Allowed Values). Structured Validation Type picker (None, Whole Number, Decimal Number, Pattern Match, Allowed Values) with live test indicator and seven ready-made pattern examples. Lives in the Workbench (⌘6). Import and export definitions as JSON.

§ 04 / Search

Search & Analytics

Advanced search with full-text indexing, filters, and visual analytics dashboard.

  • Folder-Scoped Metadata Search Pro

    The standalone Metadata Search window has the same scope control as the in-browser search: a Scope picker, a Folder chip naming the scoped folder so an active scope is never invisible, and a Subfolders chip deciding whether files further down count. It starts pointed at the folder you were looking at, and the scope lasts for that window's session rather than changing underneath you because you navigated a browser window behind it. Clear Filters clears the folder along with everything else.

  • Filter Overlay Pro

    Resizable filter panel with advanced IPTC/XMP filters, technical/EXIF filters, date ranges, and saved presets for both built-in and custom filter combinations.

  • Progressive Density Pro

    Three display levels (Compact, Standard, Detailed) with inline metadata rows, hover popovers, and automatic thumbnail scaling per density level.

  • Relevance Cues Pro

    Color-coded relevance badges, multi-field match chips, and search term highlighting for quick visual assessment of result quality.

  • Background Index Building Pro

    Build and maintain searchable indexes of your photo libraries for fast metadata queries with SQLite FTS5. Streaming pipeline with concurrent ExifTool extraction sustains roughly 241 rows/second on a typical mixed JPEG/RAW folder, with first results appearing in about 3 seconds. Browse, search, and edit while a large library indexes in the background. Search-during-ingest p95 stays under 4 ms. Video keywords are indexed too, including those stored in a video's QuickTime block.

  • Auto-Indexed Libraries Pro

    Metadata Search indexes exactly your registered Libraries, and auto-indexed Libraries refresh while Parergon is open, coalescing Finder changes so search stays current as files change. Search settings surface next-refresh time, last-indexed age, queued or running state, offline status, and per-Library controls. Background refresh is incremental, reprocessing only the files that actually changed instead of the whole library each cycle.

  • Per-Library Index Management Pro

    The Search window reports the real number of results across the index. Each Library row shows an indexed-item count with its own Clear Index, and Remove Entries Outside Libraries cleans up index rows and their analysis data left behind by folders no longer in any Library, reclaiming disk. Every indexed file records the metadata engine version that read it, and Settings → Search → Index Status reports how many rows came from an older engine, so you can decide whether a Library is worth rebuilding.

  • Filter Categories Pro

    Filter by ISO, aperture, focal length, shutter speed, camera, lens, date ranges, GPS, and more.

  • Saved Searches Pro

    Save frequently used search queries for quick access to common workflows.

  • Analytics Dashboard Pro

    Visual analytics with histograms, timelines, and camera/lens usage rankings across your library.

  • Histogram Charts Pro

    Visualize distribution of ISO, aperture, focal length, and other numeric metadata.

  • Timeline Analysis Pro

    See when photos were taken over time with interactive timeline visualization.

  • Search Grid & List Views Pro

    Toggle between grid and list layouts in the search window with adjustable thumbnail size (64–512px), match context chips, relevance scores, and search term highlighting.

  • Search Inspector Panel Pro

    Mini sidebar showing detailed metadata for selected search results including match context. Toggle with Option-Shift-Command-I.

  • Search Action Toolbar Pro

    Prominent toolbar with Focus in Browser, Open in Viewer, Send to Batch, and Edit Metadata buttons for quick actions on search results.

  • Folder Scoping Pro

    Search within current folder or all indexed files with a scope picker in the filter overlay.

  • Smart Collections Pro

    Create dynamic, query-based collections that auto-update whenever your metadata changes. Find them in the main window sidebar while you browse. Three built-in collections included: Untagged Files, Geotagged Photos, and 5-Star Rated.

  • Selection Context Bar & Saved Sets Pro

    See your active selection source and item count at a glance with Quick Export and Batch Actions inline. Name and persist curated collections as Saved Sets in the main window sidebar for quick recall.

§ 05 / Export

Export System

Flexible export to multiple formats with professional document generation.

  • Free Export Formats

    Export a file's metadata in the free version: Plain Text without limit, and JSON, XML, CSV, Markdown, XMP Sidecar, YAML, HTML and NDJSON up to 3 exports a day.

  • Metadata Export Formats Pro

    Pro removes the daily export limit and adds multi-file export and PDF document export.

  • NDJSON for Elasticsearch

    Export in newline-delimited JSON format optimized for Elasticsearch and OpenSearch bulk imports. Counts toward the free daily export allowance; unlimited with Pro.

  • PDF Portfolio Export Pro

    Generate professional PDF documents with thumbnails, metadata tables, and custom cover pages.

  • HTML Portfolio with Lightbox Pro

    Create web-ready galleries with responsive design and built-in lightbox functionality.

  • Cover Page Template Manager Pro

    Design custom cover pages with title, creator, customer, and description fields. Export a template as a package and bring it back in with Import Template Package.

  • Typography Customization Pro

    Four semantic typography roles (Title, Section Header, Field Label, Field Value) with per-role font family, size, and Bold/Italic/Underline controls. Six presets (Modern, Classic, Technical, Minimal, Serif, Creative) for quick setup.

  • Color Theme System Pro

    Apply professional color themes to your exports for consistent branding.

  • Watermark Support Pro

    Add text or image watermarks to exported documents for copyright protection.

  • Catalog Card PDF Export Pro

    Export assets as beautifully formatted, print-ready catalog cards with hero image and grouped metadata. Choose A4, Letter, or A5 page size, portrait or landscape, and 1, 2, or 4 cards per page. Five built-in field presets plus custom presets, and 1/2/3-column data layouts.

§ 06 / Photos

Photos Integration

Native integration with Apple Photos for seamless library access, with masonry thumbnails, a dedicated footer toolbar, and iCloud support.

  • Masonry in Photos

    The Photos browser supports the same Masonry cell shape as the Filesystem browser, using a SwiftUI N-column shortest-column-first packing algorithm reading PHAsset.pixelWidth and pixelHeight directly. Full arrow-key navigation. Cell shape persists per-window.

  • Native Library Browsing

    Browse your Photos library directly within Parergon without duplicating files.

  • Album Access

    Navigate Photos albums and smart albums to find exactly the images you need.

  • iCloud Download Progress

    Visual progress indicators when downloading originals from iCloud for editing. Cancel appears only when a download can be stopped, and Resume starts it again.

  • Smart Prefetch

    Intelligent prefetching of nearby images for smooth browsing even with cloud-stored originals.

  • Compare Photos Library Assets Pro

    Add to Compare Tray works on a photo, or a whole selection, from the Photos right-click menu, and the photo stays put across relaunches. The card shows its thumbnail and full metadata (camera, lens, exposure, dimensions, location, keywords, captions) beside anything else in the tray, including files on disk. Because Parergon never writes to your Photos library, comparing is read-only for photos: actions that would write are visibly disabled with an explanation rather than present and inert, and a mixed tray runs keyword actions on the file rows and reports how many photos it skipped.

  • Export Originals to Filesystem

    Export original files from Photos library to any location on your Mac for backup or sharing, with a progress bar showing the file count, a Cancel button, and Reveal in Finder on every entry point.

  • Import from Filesystem to Photos

    Import images from your filesystem directly into your Photos library with metadata preserved.

  • Shared Album Support

    Access photos from shared iCloud albums for collaborative workflows.

  • Low Power Mode Awareness

    Respects system low power mode to preserve battery life on MacBooks.

§ 07 / Automation

Automation

The Keyword Workbench consolidates vocabulary, keyword rules, transformation rules, activity, sets, custom fields, and profiles into one tabbed window. Pair with controlled vocabularies, the Batch Keyword Editor, and Finder metadata sync for end-to-end keyword automation.

  • Keyword Workbench

    One tabbed Tools → Workbench… window with seven tabs reachable from ⌘1 to ⌘7: Vocabularies, Keyword Rules, Transformation Rules, Activity, Sets, Custom Fields, and Profiles. Tab selection persists across close and reopen. Cross-tab right-click navigation wires vocab terms, rules, and activity entries together (jump from a term to rules that reference it, from a rule row to recent activity, from an activity entry back to its rule). A persistent filter pill shows the active cross-tab filter with one-click clear. The Workbench sidebar opens at 200 pt by default; drag-resize persists across close and reopen. The Keyword Rules and Transformation Rules tabs, and creating profiles, require Pro.

  • Keyword Inspector

    A reusable popover available from any keyword chip (info panel, Batch Keyword Editor, Vocabulary Browser, suggestion chips). Shows canonical vocabulary form, hierarchy, orphan status, usage count, matching keyword rules, and inline synonym editing for editable source vocabularies.

  • Interactive Side-Panel Keyword Chips

    Keyword chips in the info-panel Keywords section respond to right-click (context menu: open inspector, add or remove, copy) and double-click (opens Keyword Inspector directly). Hover tooltips show the canonical vocabulary form.

  • Keyword Sets Pro

    Save reusable named keyword collections and apply them in one click from the Batch Keyword Editor's Sets menu. The Workbench Keyword Sets tab (⌘5) provides list and detail management with rename, delete, and chip-based editing: add terms as removable chips with vocabulary autocomplete and a Browse Vocabulary picker, kept exactly as entered so a set stays a precise, literal list. Sets stored at ~/Library/Application Support/Parergon/Vocabularies/keyword-sets.json.

  • Cross-Image Keyword Operations Pro

    Right-click any Compare Tray image to access Equalize Keywords (union across all tray images, disabled with fewer than 2 images), Copy Keywords → Replace → target, or Copy Keywords → Merge → target. Both Copy actions offer individual target selection or All Other Images. All three operations are undoable with a single Cmd+Z.

  • Categories: Apply and Remove Pro

    Staged Apply Category and Remove Category actions in the Batch Keyword Editor's Categories menu, scheduling every keyword in a vocabulary category as a single batch. Right-click a category header in the Vocabularies tab for the one-step shortcut. The {category:CategoryName} template token expands to the comma-separated, deduplicated keyword set for the named category.

  • Active Vocabulary Strip Pro

    A persistent strip in the Batch Keyword Editor shows currently active vocabularies as dismissible chips. Clicking a chip deactivates that vocabulary for the session; the add button opens the vocabulary picker.

  • Keyword Rule Creation Wizard Pro

    The New Rule button in the Keyword Rules tab opens a 3-step guided wizard (Conditions → Actions → Name & Save) with vocabulary suggestions in Step 1. An Advanced… button on any step escapes to the full editor pre-seeded with current wizard state.

  • Transformation Rule Creation Wizard Pro

    A 4-step wizard for new transformation rules (trigger → action with live preview → guard conditions → name and save). An Advanced… escape hatch pre-seeds the full editor with current wizard state. Built on the same guided flow as the keyword rule creator.

  • Transformation Rule Auto-Apply Pro

    Rules configured with On Save, When Any Field Changes, or When <field> Changes triggers fire end-to-end after every successful metadata write. Changes queue for user review before landing. Applied changes are recorded in Activity with the trigger type shown. The Activity Log reaches full query parity with the keyword log (filter by file, rule ID, or date range).

  • Batch Keyword Editor Pro

    Edit keywords across multiple files simultaneously in a dedicated editor window. Full vocabulary autocomplete with synonym enrichment, normalization badges, and per-file keyword distribution. Compact scope picker narrows autocomplete to vocabulary and category. When variant expansion is on, an inline preview shows exactly which synonyms and translations will be written before Apply. Add files or folders mid-session without losing staged changes. Vocabulary side panel docks alongside the editor with a toolbar toggle and persistent scroll position.

  • Keyword Normalization

    Detects when file keywords match vocabulary synonyms and suggests normalizing to canonical terms. Normalization badges on keyword chips with per-chip and batch normalization options.

  • Controlled Vocabularies

    4 built-in vocabularies with 600+ industry-standard terms: IPTC Media Topics (17 categories), IPTC Scene Codes, ISO 3166 Country Codes, and Common Keywords.

  • Vocabulary Browser

    Search-first browser inside the Workbench (⌘1) with faceted filters (active vocabularies only, terms with synonyms, orphaned terms, most-used terms). Interactive tree UI for hierarchical vocabularies with expand/collapse chevrons, descendant counts, and keyword usage badges. Keyword-count badges on vocabulary rows show total terms and active-index matches. Cross-vocabulary search, language filters, synonym display, and IPTC code references. An Include parent keywords checkbox with a live preview shows the exact keywords one apply will deliver before anything is staged, with Shift inverting the setting for a single apply. Access via Tools → Workbench… or ⌃⌘V.

  • Vocabulary Import/Export

    Import custom vocabularies from TXT, MD, CSV, or JSON with validation for duplicates, hierarchy integrity, and IPTC code format. Paste a delimited keyword list (semicolon, newline, pipe, or comma auto-detected) directly into a new or existing vocabulary, with case-insensitive merge into synonym lists. Export for sharing or backup.

  • Finder Metadata Sync Pro

    Bidirectional sync: IPTC keywords write to Finder tags, captions sync to Finder comments. Batch sync with loop prevention for consistent metadata across macOS.

  • Duplicate Built-in Vocabulary

    Built-ins (IPTC Subject, IPTC Scene, ISO Country, Common Keywords) ship read-only so Parergon can refresh their content with each release. The Duplicate button creates a fully editable user copy with all terms, synonyms, translations, categories, IPTC codes, and hierarchical structure preserved.

  • Disable Vocabulary Without Deleting

    A power-toggle on every vocabulary header turns it OFF without losing data. Disabled vocabularies stay in the sidebar but stop appearing in keyword autocomplete, synonym enrichment, normalization suggestions, and rule-target pickers. Existing keyword rules referencing a disabled vocabulary keep working.

  • Hierarchy Editor

    The Edit Vocabulary sheet for hierarchical vocabularies splits into a Terms pane (term content edits) and a Hierarchy pane (full tree view with search, right-click reparent, and confirmation toasts). Reparent failures from cycles surface as orange toasts, successful moves as green. Scales smoothly to vocabularies with thousands of terms.

  • Duplicate Term Names Across Branches

    Term names only need to be unique among siblings, so "Nikon > 2026" and "Canon > 2026" can coexist in one vocabulary. An ancestor path always disambiguates, and Parergon shows the full path wherever a bare name would be ambiguous: the Keyword Inspector lists every match with its ancestor path, and synonym enrichment skips ambiguous names rather than guessing a branch. Expanded CSV export and import round-trip duplicate-bearing vocabularies losslessly.

  • New Child Keyword from the Context Menu

    Right-click any term in the Hierarchy pane, in the editor or the browser, and a name field opens anchored at the parent row. Return commits, Escape cancels with nothing created, and the new keyword lands selected with its branch expanded, so a deep taxonomy can be built keystroke by keystroke. Empty and duplicate sibling names are refused with inline feedback.

  • Undo and Redo in the Vocabulary Editor

    Cmd+Z and Shift+Cmd+Z step back and forward through term changes (add, delete, rename, reparent, and child creation) for as long as the Edit Vocabulary window stays open, up to 50 steps, including a whole-branch delete restored in one step with its nesting intact. Typing in a text field keeps its own per-character undo. Deleting a term removes its entire subtree, after a confirmation naming how many descendants go with it.

  • Apply a Term's Parent Chain

    An optional preference adds a nested term's full ancestor chain as individual keywords when the term is applied. Hold Shift while applying to invert the setting for a single action.

  • Hide Built-in Vocabularies and Profiles

    Two independent, default-off toggles remove Parergon's built-in keyword vocabularies and metadata profiles from the picking surfaces (autocomplete, the active-vocabulary picker, category filters, Apply Profile, the Launchpad, batch processing, and transformation rules) while keeping your own visible. Nothing is deleted and no automation breaks: keyword rules, synonym enrichment, normalization, and profiles resolved by saved jobs all keep working, and the Workbench tabs always list everything.

  • Keyword-Driven Metadata Rules Pro

    Automatically apply metadata based on keywords in your images using powerful rule definitions. A fresh install ships six worked examples a working photographer could switch on as-is (city from Places keywords, genre from Genre keywords, editorial usage terms, event names, project filing, and job identifiers). They arrive switched off, never apply on their own, and never overwrite a value you already have.

  • Keyword Management

    Add, remove, and organize keywords with hierarchical support and auto-completion, integrated with the keyword rules engine.

  • 4 Match Types Pro

    Match keywords using Exact Match, Hierarchy Prefix, Contains, or Regular Expression patterns.

  • 4 Apply Modes Pro

    Control how rules apply: Overwrite, Fill If Empty, Append, or Prepend to existing values.

  • Template Placeholders Pro

    Use dynamic placeholders like {keyword}, {root}, {parent}, and {leaf} for flexible metadata generation.

  • Rule Groups Pro

    Organize rules into groups for batch enable/disable and logical organization.

  • Import/Export .msrules Pro

    Share rule sets between installations or team members using the .msrules format.

  • Rule Priority & Ordering Pro

    Control rule execution order with drag-and-drop priority management.

  • Transformation Rules Pro

    Multiple action types and comparison operators for automated metadata transformation. Preview changes before applying, save and share rule configurations.

  • Rules in the Workbench Pro

    Keyword Rules (⌘2) and Transformation Rules (⌘3) live alongside Vocabularies, Activity, Sets, Custom Fields, and Profiles in the consolidated Workbench window. Preserved keyboard shortcuts (Cmd+Opt+K opens the Workbench on Keyword Rules; Ctrl+Cmd+T on Transformation Rules).

  • Vocabulary Autocomplete in Rules Pro

    Type in keyword rule fields to get instant suggestions from all loaded vocabularies with source badges and keyboard navigation.

  • Vocabulary Validation Hints Pro

    Advisory validation shows when rule terms match or deviate from vocabulary standards. Non-blocking hints help maintain consistency without restricting custom terms.

§ 08 / Intelligence

Intelligence

On-device intelligence that looks at your photos, reads what you have written, and suggests the next move. Apple Vision recognition of scenes, pets, people, and text drives AI photo descriptions and smart keyword suggestions, while NLP enrichment and weighted scoring learn how you work. Image analysis runs locally using Apple Vision and the bundled model; Parergon does not upload photos for analysis, and nothing is written until you confirm.

  • Translate Metadata Pro

    Translate descriptions and titles with macOS on-device translation, then review each proposal beside its original. Written translations are language-tagged alternatives rather than replacements; keyword translation is a separate opt-in that merges terms. macOS may need to download a language pack before translation is available.

  • Detected Events Pro

    Group indexed photos into events using dates and available locations. Review, rename or dismiss proposals, then explicitly write an accepted event name to its photos if you want it searchable as metadata.

  • Run Intelligence Pro

    Propose keywords, description, headline and title in one reviewed pass over a selection or folder. Each field is optional; keywords merge, existing prose stays protected unless Replace existing values is enabled, and nothing is written until you choose Write.

  • On-Device Image Analysis Pro

    A single Image Analysis toggle extracts text (OCR) and scene labels locally using Apple Vision. Parergon does not upload photos for analysis. It backfills your Libraries with progress you can pause and resume (a pause that survives quitting), a More results / Balanced / Higher accuracy control that applies instantly to already-analyzed photos, per-file Analyze Now and Re-analyze from the Info Panel, and Clear Vision Index to remove all analysis data anytime.

  • AI Photo Descriptions Pro

    Draft a natural-language caption for one photo from what Parergon recognizes, for example "A dog on a beach at sunset," or batch-generate captions for many photos in four tones (Stock caption, Archival record, Social media, Fine art) with a per photo review step. Descriptions fold in location, date, and camera, can transcribe short visible text, and note composition and exact people counts. On macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence, an optional on-device prose rewrite adds fluency while staying grounded to the facts. Available from the Editor tab and from a starred Description in Favorites, with the same badge and expandable editor on both.

  • Draft Title and Headline

    Every surface where a Title or Headline can be edited (the info panel, the editor window, and both Favorites surfaces) offers a Draft button that composes the field from the file's existing Description and Keywords. On macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence, Pro users get a fluent on-device composition grounded strictly in the source text; everyone else gets a built-in draft, on every supported macOS version. Drafting runs entirely on your Mac with no network, fills the field with a Metadata draft badge for your review, and writes nothing until you save. Suggest Title and Suggest Headline also sit in Tools → Intelligence and in the single-file right-click Intelligence submenu, beside Draft Description, and all three open their result in the info panel's Editor tab with the target field ready to edit. Tools → Intelligence → Send Drafts To switches the destination back to the editor window. Drafting also reads the location already written into the file (City, State/Province, and Country), so a photo with a written city can get a title naming the real place, and it never geocodes or touches the network.

  • Batch Suggest Titles and Headlines Pro

    Draft a title or a headline for a whole folder in one pass, from Tools → Intelligence, a folder's right-click Intelligence submenu, or a multi-file selection's. Select two or more files and the run covers exactly those, otherwise it covers the current folder, top level only, with no subfolders, even when Include Subfolders is on. Each proposal is composed from the file's description, keywords, and written location, and listed beside the file's name and its existing value, so a folder's worth of drafts is something you read and approve. Files that already carry a value start unchecked and stay protected until you turn on the overwrite toggle. Nothing is written until you press Write, which reports how many were written and how many failed and keeps the failures checked so a second Write retries only those. Composing shows live progress and can be stopped at any point without losing the proposals already made.

  • Vision Keyword Suggestions Pro

    Analyzed photos surface curated, human-readable keyword suggestions, badged so you know they came from image recognition, across 1,000+ specific subjects including breeds, foods, plants, instruments, sports, landmarks, pets, and people. Suggest-only in keyword autocomplete and the Batch Keyword Editor, each with a source glyph and a 1 to 3 dot match-strength indicator. Auto-Keyword Folder reviews a whole folder in a per photo accept or reject grid.

  • Enhanced Recognition Pro

    An optional bundled on-device model runs alongside Apple's built-in classifier to catch subjects it misses, such as specific breeds, vehicles, and scene objects, each shown as an Enhanced chip and boosted when both models agree. It is off by default and runs locally for image analysis.

  • Find Duplicates: Exact Copies

    Finds the byte-identical copies hiding in your library: a copied file, a re-downloaded original, the same export saved twice. It compares by size and then a full checksum, so a group is a certainty rather than a guess, and it needs no image analysis. A scope menu sweeps This Folder, its subfolders, or All Libraries at once, showing which folder each copy lives in with a jump straight to it. Wide scans stay responsive and can be canceled throughout, and a Library on a disconnected drive is named and skipped rather than silently missing. Nothing is ever deleted, moved, or changed on its own.

  • Find Duplicates: Similar Shots Pro

    Groups near-identical versions of the same shot (the same scene at a different exposure, crop, or format) using an on-device similarity fingerprint that rides the normal image analysis pass. Each group shows its members with a similarity percentage, and the strongest version carries a Best badge ranked by the image-quality score Parergon already computes, as a suggestion rather than an action. Merge Metadata unions keywords across a group and fills each file's empty fields from the group's values, never overwriting a populated field and always confirming first. Any group can be handed to the Compare Tray for a full side-by-side comparison.

  • Enrich from Descriptions Pro

    On-device NLP reads all of a file's free text (title, description, headline, and instructions) and extracts people, places, and organizations into proper IPTC fields (Persons Shown, Location Shown, Creator). A name that appears in several fields becomes one suggestion. Scan and preview, then accept or reject per suggestion. Configurable entity types and confidence threshold (30 to 95%), with optional geocoding validation for locations. Runs entirely on-device via Apple's Natural Language framework.

  • Add Location from GPS Pro

    Turns a file's coordinates into City, Sublocation, State/Province, and Country through the same scan, review, apply window the other enrichment commands use. Empty fields are pre-checked, populated fields stay behind the overwrite toggle, unresolved coordinates are listed rather than dropped, and a burst of shots at one spot is resolved once. Nothing is written until you apply.

  • Smart Keyword Suggestions Pro

    Multi-source suggestion engine combining recent terms, frequent terms, synonym matches, and vocabulary entries with weighted confidence scoring. Surfaces the right keyword as you type rather than forcing you to scroll through long lists. The list re-opens after each staged keyword, minus the one you just took, so three suggestions land in three clicks.

  • Rule Suggestions from Vocabularies Pro

    Auto-generate keyword rules from IPTC vocabulary synonym mappings. Parergon analyzes terms to create smart rules that catch variations automatically, so a single canonical keyword captures every common spelling and translation.

§ 09 / Workflow

Workflow

Every session starts from the Launchpad and the four-tab sidebar. Per-window footer toolbars, configurable grids, and an extensive customization surface keep Parergon responsive to how you actually work.

  • Four-Tab Sidebar

    The sidebar is a four-tab shell: Favorites, Libraries, Browser, and Photos. The active tab persists across launches. Photos album loading is lazy until the Photos tab is selected. Sidebar row spacing, icon size, and font scale are adjustable from a dedicated footer toolbar.

  • Libraries Tab

    Replaces Quick Access as a first-class concept for registered, indexed folders, the folders you have added for ongoing metadata work. Library rows show a compact path subtitle. Drag to reorder, and Library rows stay distinct from Favorites bookmarks.

  • Finder-Style Browser Tab

    Recursively expands any folder under This Mac and External Drives. Child folders load lazily, stay cached while the window is open, and auto-expand to the current directory. Browser folders can be starred into Favorites or promoted to Libraries via context menu. A subtle star on each row reflects Favorites changes from other windows.

  • Active Library

    Tap any Library to mark it as the active configuration scope, shown with a filled accent-color left border. Context-menu toggle. Persists across app restarts; stale persisted ID falls back cleanly to no-active-library on launch.

  • Lightroom-Style Offline Grammar

    Folder rows whose target is unreachable dim to about 45% opacity with a question-mark badge on the trailing edge, replacing the older mix of warning icons. One consistent grammar across Favorites, Libraries, and Browser. Auto-reconnect on volume mount clears badges automatically.

  • Go to Containing Folder

    Select any file and press ⌥⌘↑ to navigate to its parent folder in place, or ⌥⇧⌘↑ to open it in a new window. Clears Include Subfolders and preserves the selected file for highlighting. Scrolls the selected file into view after navigating. List-view selection survives the navigation without resetting to the top.

  • Configurable Launchpad

    Toggle tiles on or off, drag-to-reorder, or reset to defaults from Settings → Interface → Launchpad → Configure Tiles, or via the Edit Tiles… button directly in the Launchpad. Hidden tiles drop to a dimmed Hidden section. Customized users see a new-tile-available banner when new tiles ship; default users automatically receive them at their registry-default position.

  • Launchpad Tile Grid

    A tile grid that replaces the empty-state screen, opening common metadata tasks with a single click. Eighteen tiles cover Open New Window, Copy Metadata, Compare, Workbench, Batch Rename, Fix Dates, Template Manager, Fix GPS, Doc Export, Edit Keywords, Search, Analyze, Import to Photos, Apply Profile, Apply Template, Redact Metadata, Export Metadata, and Export Photos to Filesystem. Apply Profile and Apply Template tiles show inline progress during multi-file apply. Opens automatically when a window has no folder loaded, or on demand from the sidebar header strip or ⇧⌘L.

  • Every Tool in the Tools Menu

    The Tools menu holds every tool Parergon has, including Draft Description, Suggest Keywords, Auto-Keyword Folder, Apply Template, Export Metadata, Export Originals, Equalize Keywords, and a Maintenance section for the thumbnail rebuilds. Sections are grouped around how the commands are used, the three largest (Intelligence, Keywords, and Batch & Export) fold into submenus, and the menu shows only the commands that can act where you are, so browsing Photos does not list file-based commands that would do nothing. The right-click menu carries every feature that acts on what you clicked, including Export Document and Compare Selected.

  • Rebindable Tools Shortcuts

    All 36 Tools commands get a row in Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts → Tools Shortcuts, grouped as the menu is, including the commands that ship without a keystroke. Record a shortcut, clear it, or restore the default, with Reset All to Defaults covering Tools too. A new shortcut takes effect in the menu without relaunching, and conflict detection works in both directions: a keystroke already held by another command is refused with the holder named rather than silently taken.

  • Per-Window Grid Display Preferences

    Six grid settings are per-window: cell shape, filename labels, star-rating overlay, provider-badge overlay, horizontal spacing, and vertical spacing. Two windows can run different densities without coupling. A last-adjusted-window-wins seed mechanism opens new windows with whichever values the last-adjusted window had.

  • Move to Folder

    Right-click selected files for a Move to Folder… action. A folder-picker sheet confirms the destination; the operation is undoable with Cmd+Z. Available in both grid and list browser modes.

  • Custom Folder Shortcuts

    Add frequently used folders to the sidebar Favorites or Libraries for one-click access.

  • Keyboard Shortcuts

    Comprehensive keyboard shortcuts for all common operations with customization support.

  • Resizable Panels

    Adjust sidebar, preview, and info panel sizes to match your workflow preferences.

  • Batch Pause/Resume Pro

    Pause long-running batch operations and resume exactly where you left off.

  • Checkpoint Recovery Pro

    Automatic checkpoints protect against crashes with cross-restart persistence.

  • Include Subfolders Pro

    Process entire folder hierarchies with recursive scanning and file type filtering. The view stays true to the disk: files deleted or added outside Parergon, in the Finder, by another app, or while Parergon was not running, appear and disappear on their own at any depth, with no full refresh needed. Updates are surgical, so only the affected cells change and your scroll position stays put.

  • Drag & Drop Support

    Drag files and folders from Finder directly into Parergon for quick access.

  • Finder "Open With" Integration

    Open images, videos, and folders directly from Finder's right-click menu. Smart routing opens files in their parent folder with automatic selection.

  • Edit In… External App Handoff

    Right-click any file or selection and pick Edit In… to send the files straight to Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Capture One, Pixelmator, or any editor you add under Settings → Edit In…. Multi-selection sends the whole batch in a single launch. Choose Application… opens the system picker and auto-saves the chosen app to your list. The submenu sorts editors by usage so the more you use a tool the higher it surfaces.

  • Reset Window Size

    Press OPT+CMD+0 in any standalone window (Batch, Template Manager, Metadata Search, Help, Analytics Dashboard, Field Picker, Search Settings, Export Wizard, Metadata Copy, Launchpad, Exif Editor, Entity Enrichment, vocabulary windows) to animate back to default size and re-center on screen. Tool windows open on the display you are working on, and every window keeps its full designed minimum size.

  • Toolbar Customization

    Hide/show toolbar items via Settings, three density presets (Compact, Standard, Comfortable), and right-click context menu for quick customization.

  • Batch File Rename Pro

    Stack rules to build any filename pattern (date tokens, a counter, the original name, custom text, case changes) with a live before and after preview that scrolls the whole batch and shows the full filename, extension included, on both sides of every row, which is exactly the name that gets written and the name conflicts are checked against. Save patterns as presets, then rename, duplicate, export, or delete your own. The Add Date rule offers sub-second formats from Date Taken (Original) that keep burst frames distinct while matching RAW and JPEG pairs keep the same basename, plus a custom date format of your own. Insert Text, Add Date, and Add Metadata each place their text before or after a chosen position.

  • Inline Filename Rename

    Rename files directly in the browser with slow-double-click to edit. Works in both list view and thumbnail grid with Enter to confirm and Escape to cancel.

  • Quick Star Rating

    Rate files directly from the thumbnail grid or list view. Click the star overlay, use Option+0–5 keyboard shortcuts, or pick a rating from the context menu. Writes to XMP:Rating instantly.

  • Liquid Glass (macOS 26)

    On macOS Tahoe, toolbars and system chrome adopt the native Liquid Glass material. Toolbar icon buttons (in the browser, Photos, Metadata Search, Compare, and viewer windows) use the system glass button with a real pressed state, and filter chips and the compare tray use glass effects. The styling is availability-gated: on macOS 15 the same controls use standard bordered buttons.

  • Native Context Menus

    Context menus throughout the app use native macOS menus with stable submenus. Labels, Rating, and Apply Profile submenus no longer collapse when the parent view updates.

  • Rebuild Thumbnails

    Right-click any image, video, or folder to drop the cached preview and regenerate from source. A content-aware cache also auto-refreshes thumbnails when a file is re-encoded at the same path.

  • Library Bundle Protection

    Apple Photos, Lightroom, Aperture, Music, and TV library bundles are treated as opaque packages. A .photoslibrary opens a dedicated Info Panel with a Browse in Photos Environment CTA. Other library bundles get a Reveal in Finder action.

Every feature, one native Mac app.

Download on the Mac App Store

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