The -well tools

Version 1.6.58 30 October 2026

• 126 film negatives whose picture is about as dark as the camera's bars are now cropped between the bars too, instead of being left whole or cropped at an angle.
• The license key box in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager is no longer cut off on the Mac: the box and the Enter key button now have their own lines.

Version 1.6.57 30 October 2026

• 126 film (Instamatic) negatives are cropped to the picture between the dark bars the camera lays along its sides and along its top or bottom, leaving the bars out.
• A print found with a deckled edge, and kept whole, gets the keyword Deckled edge (under Auto Crop, never exported), so you can find those prints.

Version 1.6.56 30 October 2026

• When only one photo is selected while a folder is chosen in the Folders panel, Squarewell asks whether you meant the whole folder, and offers to crop every photo in that folder and the folders inside it.

Version 1.6.55 29 October 2026

• A dark print on a gray board is no longer cropped to just a light patch of it (a white door along its top) or to an odd-shaped part of it: when a crop leaves much of the print outside it, the photo is measured again with the board learned from the rest of the batch.
• A print that fills most of the frame on a gray grid board, with only a thin band of board around it, is cropped to the print instead of left whole.
• Numbers or writing brushed on a surface that fills the frame (slides used as batch markers, for example) are no longer taken for a cut-out photo: the whole frame is kept.

Version 1.6.54 29 October 2026

• A print with a deckled edge is now cropped out to the tips of its scallops, so it keeps its deckled look, with the background showing between them.
• New option Keep deckled edges, on by default, just under Crop off print borders. Untick it to trim deckled prints like any other.

Version 1.6.53 28 October 2026

• On an album page, writing on the border of a print with a deckled edge gets its own copy again, cropped to the writing, while the print keeps its deckled border.
• With Crop off print borders unticked, writing on an album print’s border now gets its own copy too, as well as staying on the print.

Version 1.6.52 28 October 2026

• A print with a deckled edge (cut in small, even scallops) keeps its whole border when Crop off print borders is ticked, as documents do, so the scallops aren’t cut away. This works for single prints and for prints on album pages.

Version 1.6.51 28 October 2026

• Squarewell learns your copy stand’s background from the photos you crop together: the board, its grid and anything fixed to the stand, such as tape or a straightedge. A print whose crop took in a strip of tape or ran out to the frame is cropped again against that background.

Version 1.6.50 28 October 2026

• Create an error log now offers to send the log to The Picture Org for you. You see exactly what would be sent, with your personal details taken out, and nothing goes unless you click Send.
• Prints on a copy stand with a metal straightedge or ruler along the edge of the frame are cropped again; some came back uncropped.
• A print lying right against one of the board’s grid lines is cropped to its own edge, straight, without a sliver of the board.

Version 1.6.49 27 October 2026

• After each run, the crops are saved into the photo files’ metadata (an .xmp sidecar, or the DNG, JPEG or TIFF file), so they aren’t undone by accident; programs that read crop information from the metadata can still change them.

Version 1.6.48 27 October 2026

• The version number moves to 1.x: 1.6.48 follows 0.6.47. It is the same app, and your license key is unchanged.
• Checks for a newer version every time it opens, not once a day.
• Installing an update from the app now updates the Lightroom plug-in too, and the other way round.
• Saving TIFF files beside album pages is more reliable on network drives, and a folder that can’t be written to is reported before the run starts.

Version 0.6.47 26 October 2026

• On Windows, Setup and the uninstaller now close Squarewell if it is still running, so they no longer stop on a file in use.

Version 0.6.46 25 October 2026

• The User Guide is reorganized: what Squarewell is and a quick start come first, then a section for each job.
• When a job finishes, its message now says how long it took, in Lightroom and in the app.
• The buttons at the top of Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager now sit on two rows, so the box fits on smaller screens.

Version 0.6.44 25 October 2026

• Prints bigger than the frame on a dark copy stand board are now cropped at the board when the picture is dark along that edge (a night sky, a dark backdrop), instead of being marked as an irregular shape.
• A white card with a photo printed on it, such as a signed group photo, is now kept whole with its writing, instead of being cropped to the photo.
• The Plug-in Manager and the app’s Menu now have an Other -well tools button that opens The Picture Org’s Tools page.

Version 0.6.43 25 October 2026

• Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager now has Squarewell home page and User Guide buttons. The User Guide opens on the website, or the copy that comes with the plug-in when you are offline. The standalone app’s User Guide works the same way.
• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as “tpo: Squarewell™” so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• The standalone app opens faster: its page shows first while the picture code loads in the background.
• In Lightroom, a “Starting…” bar shows as soon as you choose a Squarewell command.
• When several photos are done at once, the raw file reader now shares the computer’s cores between them instead of each one trying to use them all.
• When an update needs the full installer, Install update now downloads it, checks it and starts it for you.
• User Guide: the License and Updates sections now match the other Picture Org apps, and a bundle key entered in one app unlocks them all.

Version 0.6.42 24 October 2026

• Album pages with prints in two rows on a self-stick page: every print is now cropped whole, close to its edges, where one crop could stop short of a print's edge or cut a strip off another.
• US spelling throughout: “color” in the app, the guides and this change log.

Version 0.6.41 23 October 2026

• After an update, the Windows Start menu and Desktop shortcuts now show the new Squarewell icon.
• Squarewell now shares its license, update, keyword and error log code with the other Well tools, so a fix in one reaches them all.

Version 0.6.40 23 October 2026

• If Squarewell's helper can't start, the run now ends and each photo's note says why, instead of waiting without end.
• The Squarewell app no longer stops partway through a long run.
• The error log now records every setting the run used.
• Download and update links now go to the Squarewell pages.

Version 0.6.39 23 October 2026

• A new Squarewell icon.
• The app shows the Squarewell icon beside its name.

Version 0.6.38 23 October 2026

• Faster: on a computer with four or more cores, two or three photos are looked at at once. On four cores a run takes about 40% less time, and the crops are exactly the same.
• Faster album pages, and faster checks of print borders.
• Big selections in Lightroom start sooner, and "Build Standard previews when done" builds up to three previews at once.

Version 0.6.37 23 October 2026

• In Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the License section is now last, just above Status.
• Once a license is entered, the License section says thank you.
• The Plug-in Manager now shows the Squarewell icon beside its description.
• Windows: Settings > Apps > Installed apps now shows the Squarewell icon.
• Windows: the Choose buttons in the app open their dialog more reliably, and say so if it can't open.
• A new picture in the Setup program.

Version 0.6.36 22 October 2026

• With Crop off print borders unticked: a print bigger than the frame on a copy stand, whose light border runs off the frame and meets the board along one side, now keeps its border out to the frame and the board's edge. Before, the border was taken for a white background and only the picture inside it was kept.

Version 0.6.35 22 October 2026

• Better copy stand crops: prints larger than the frame, with a strip of board showing along one side, are now cut off at the print's edge, tape over the board included. Before, many came back whole.
• Prints held with colored tape on black card are now found when their dark parts match the card.
• Oval prints whose edge matches the background on one side are now boxed whole.
• Our keywords are now always set not to export, including ones already in your catalog, and the app keeps them in sidecar files only, never in the pictures it saves.
• Folder pickers on Windows now have an address bar, so you can type or paste a folder's path instead of clicking through the tree. You can also paste a path into the box next to Choose.
• Updates: when an update can't be installed from inside your version, the panel now says to use Download installer for that one.
• Download files are now named after the app: ThePictureOrg-Squarewell-Setup, -Mac and -Win.
• Wording: "black background" is now used throughout.

Version 0.6.34 22 October 2026

• Better crops of cut negative strips and sheet film: the crop now goes to the picture instead of the film's clear or fogged edge.
• Better copy stand crops: prints on a grid board held down with a strip of translucent tape along the edge of the frame are now cropped to the print. Before, the tape joined the print and many came back whole. Print backs and cards held the same way are found too.
• Prints on a black background whose folds catch the light are now cropped to the print, not to the frame's sides.
• Album prints with a wide, punched binding margin along one side now lose that margin with their other borders.
• Mac: the text at the top of the Plug-in Manager is no longer cut off.
• XPan is now the last of the film formats in the Image format list.
• Crop off print borders now always trims the border, handwriting and printed dates included, on single prints and on album pages. To keep writing or other notes on a print's border, untick it so the whole border is kept.
• Album pages: each patch of writing on a print's trimmed border, a caption or a date, still gets a copy of its own cropped to it (Photo 2 note), now found without reading the writing.
• Reading captions is no longer part of Squarewell; it moves to Labelwell, a separate app.

Version 0.6.33 21 October 2026

• Better crops of prints held down with colored tape on black card: the tape is no longer taken for part of the print, whether it lies over a corner or runs along a whole side. Before, many came back with the tape included.
• Certificates, awards, invitations and printed cards keep their border with Crop off print borders ticked: light paper that is mostly blank with thin lines of text is left whole. Photos are trimmed as before.
• Better copy stand crops: a print pushed against tape with a ruler lying beside it is cropped at its own edge, and comes out straight.
• Studio card mounts: a wide bottom margin with the photographer's signature on it is now trimmed with the other sides.
• Print sizes: a print that comes out a little short is moved out to its real edge on one side, never in, when that edge plainly shows there.
• The dialog: the list is now called Image format, with dividers between film, print and instant sizes; "Crop off white or cream borders" is now "Crop off print borders"; and the note at the top explains that grouping slides or negatives of one size helps them crop more accurately.

Version 0.6.32 20 October 2026

• New: print sizes. For slides and prints the Film format list is now called Format or size, and it also lists print sizes (wallet, 3x5, 3.5x3.5, 3.5x5, 4x4, 4x6, 5x5, 5x7, 8x10 and 4x10 to 4x12 panoramic) and instant prints (Polaroid SX-70/600/i-Type, peel-apart, Spectra and Go; Instax Mini, Square and Wide). Choose one for a stack of prints of one size: a print whose shape doesn't fit is cropped as found and its note says why. With print borders cropped off, an instant print is checked against the picture inside its white frame.
• Better album pages: on some magnetic album pages, a print at the top of the page now comes out whole.
• Better copy stand crops: on a grid board photographed close up (wide grid lines), with a ruler along the top and tape down one side, prints, tintypes and print backs are now found, also when pushed up under the ruler or against the tape. Before, many came back whole, cropped to the board, or not cropped.

Version 0.6.31 20 October 2026

• Better album pages: on magnetic album pages where faded prints are laid edge to edge, with no page showing between them, each print is now found (before, some of these pages came out whole).
• Film format: 127 (square) and 828 added; Kodak Disc is now called Disc; the medium formats come after the small ones. For slides the list shows only the formats slides came in, mounted (35mm full and half frame, XPan, 110, 126, 127, 828, 6x4.5, 6x6 and 6x7); a saved profile with another format uses Auto for slides.
• User Guide: "What's in the plug-in folder" is now an appendix at the end.
• Mac: the app's icon in Applications > ThePictureOrg now updates when you install a new version.
• A license is now for one person on up to 2 computers.

Version 0.6.30 19 October 2026

• The app now installs in a ThePictureOrg folder (Windows: in your user Programs folder; Mac: Applications > ThePictureOrg). If you kept it in the Dock, drag it in again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.
• Better album pages: on magnetic album pages (light, self-stick pages with a clear film over the prints), faded prints laid close together are now found one by one, where before some were missed or several came out as one. A print that can't be boxed cleanly still gets its own copy, cropped to the box round it, with the "irregular shape" note.
• Rotation check: a sideways photo of a person in a patterned top is now flagged (the pattern looked like a second face the right way up).

Version 0.6.29 19 October 2026

• New: named settings profiles. Save the settings you use for a kind of work under a name and choose it at the top of the settings window, in Lightroom or in the app (they share the same list). Three come with it: "Film negatives (35mm)", "Slides and prints" and "Album pages". Each quick menu command can use its own profile.
• New: film format for negatives and slides (Auto, or a format such as 35mm full frame, half frame, 126, 110, 120 sizes, 4x5, XPan, Kodak Disc or a custom ratio). With a format chosen, a side that can't be seen is placed from it, and a frame that doesn't fit is cropped as found, with the reason in its note.
• "The photos are of" (in the app, "What they are") is now called "File content", and its choices run Film negatives, then Slides, prints, magazines or documents, then Album pages.
• "Build Standard previews of the cropped photos when done" is now on unless you turn it off.
• Shorter text at the top of the Lightroom settings window.
• Better crops: pale prints on a gray board are found (some got the whole frame before); a ragged print on a gray board gets a box round its outline and the "irregular shape" note; a slide whose mount has a halo is cropped to the slide; loose scraps on album pages are kept as notes instead of being cut as prints; a dark print on a black page that was found in pieces is joined again.

Version 0.6.28 18 October 2026

• The Squarewell™ name now shows everywhere: in Lightroom, the app, the installers, the Start menu and the Mac app.

Version 0.6.27 18 October 2026

• Film negatives: a negative whose film edge is fogged dark is now cropped (loosely, and straightened) instead of being left alone. Its note says "fogged film edges", as some of the fogged edge may show.
• Film negatives on a dark background are now cropped to the picture even when "Trim print borders" is off. That option is about a print's white border; before, it also kept the clear film around each negative.
• "35mm film negatives" is now called "Film negatives", and the quick menu command "Auto Crop now: film negatives", as it also handles Kodak Disc frames and cut negatives on a dark background.
• Crop edge now goes up to +4% (was +2%), for an even margin around each photo. A margin and "Crop inside rounded or mounted corners" can't both be on: choosing one turns the other off.
• Fixed on Windows: "Check my setup" reported "Writing in the log folder" as missing when nothing was wrong.
• Fixed on Windows: after updating from inside Lightroom or the app, Settings > Apps still showed the old version and name. It now shows the version you have, the first time Squarewell runs after an update.
• Create an error log: the pictures now show an album page once, with all its prints' crops drawn on it, and up to 50 photos fit (was 20). They are drawn the way your last run cropped them, so pages run with "Auto Crop now: album pages" are no longer drawn as negatives.
• Standalone app: "Check my setup" now runs separately, so a problem it finds can't stop the app.

Version 0.6.26 18 October 2026

• New name: Squarewell™ Auto Crop & Straighten. The Lightroom menu commands keep their wording, under a "Squarewell™" heading in Plug-in Extras, so keyboard shortcuts still work. Licenses, settings and updates carry on as before. On a Mac the app is now called Squarewell; on Windows its Start menu folder and shortcut are too.
• New: each photo that gets a color label, or isn't cropped, says why in plain words. In Lightroom this is the "Squarewell note" field in the Metadata panel (choose the "Squarewell" view at the top of the panel). In the standalone app it shows under the photo.
• New option: "Leave unsure photos uncropped" (off unless you tick it). When a photo's edges barely show, it is left as it was instead of guessed at, with a yellow label and a note saying why. On an album page, only the doubtful print is left out; the page gets the yellow label and the note.
• New: "Create an error log" can include small pictures of the problem photos, showing the crop that was found and the crop the photo has now, so you don't need to send the originals. It asks first, and it's off unless you tick it.
• New: "Check my setup", in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager and in the app's Settings. It checks that everything Squarewell needs works on this computer and gives you text to copy or save for an email.
• Turn the flagged photos now also takes the "Check rotation" sentence out of each turned photo's note.

Version 0.6.25 17 October 2026

• New: Library > Plug-in Extras > Turn the flagged photos. It turns each selected photo that has a "Check rotation" keyword the way the keyword says, using Lightroom's own Rotate, so any crop turns with it and Edit > Undo turns it back. Its keyword and purple label then come off.
• New option: "Build Standard previews of the cropped photos when done", so the grid and Loupe show the new crops straight away.
• Fixed: a photo already turned a quarter turn in Lightroom was checked as if it were upside down, and an album page turned a quarter turn in Lightroom had its prints numbered in the wrong order.
• Album pages: the copies (and the TIFF files, if saved) now appear in reading order in the grid and in the stack, not last first.
• Album pages: prints on black pages are cropped to their true edges more often, a torn slip on a striped page is kept whole, and a torn print on a black page is kept as one piece.
• Fixed: a print on a gray copy board with thick grid lines, with tape or a ruler running to the edge of the frame beside it, was treated as one photo filling the whole frame. The print is now found and cropped.
• Standalone app: when a raw photo is turned the right way up in its XMP sidecar, its "Check rotation" keyword and purple label come off, and Adobe programs show it turned.
• Windows Setup: it now closes Auto Crop if it is still running in the background, instead of stopping with "Error opening file for writing". The desktop shortcut now shows the new icon, and the Setup screens show it too.
• Mac: the Auto Crop & Straighten app now shows the new icon (it kept the old one after updating to 0.6.24).

Version 0.6.24 17 October 2026

• Album pages: the prints on a page are now always numbered in reading order as the page is shown, left to right and top to bottom, even when the page photo is turned in Lightroom.
• Album pages: a dark print on a black page that was found as two or three separate pieces is now put back together as one print.
• Album pages: a typed slip laid close beside a print is now cut away from the print and saved as its own note, and white slips are found on more kinds of page.
• Album pages: a torn scrap of paper or a small slip with writing on it is now saved as a note rather than as a photo.
• Check rotation: a sideways photo is now flagged in borderline cases where the scene check and the face check agree on the same turn.
• New app icon.
• The download now includes the source code of the libraries that read HEIC photos, as their license asks.

Version 0.6.23 17 October 2026

• Fixed: versions 0.6.20 to 0.6.22 stopped in Lightroom with the message "attempt to call field 'getenv' (a nil value)" when Auto Crop was run or its Plug-in Manager page was opened. Auto Crop runs normally again.

Version 0.6.22 16 October 2026

• New: HEIC photos (the format iPhones and many newer phones save) are now read, in Lightroom and in the standalone app. In the app, a HEIC saved as "Same as the original" becomes a JPEG.
• Standalone app, Check rotation only: a JPEG saved turned the right way up is now copied exactly, with only its rotation setting changed, so its quality stays the same.
• Standalone app: when XMP sidecars are chosen and none of the photos are camera raw files, the save panel now says that Lightroom and Bridge will not read those sidecars.
• The save panel now explains more clearly what each format choice does to JPEG, HEIC, PNG, TIFF and raw files.
• This version adds a HEIC reader to the bundled Python, so it is installed with the full installer rather than as an in-Lightroom update.

Version 0.6.21 16 October 2026

• Reading 8-bit scans (JPEG and 8-bit TIFF) is faster: about 1 second less per photo on large scans, with the same crops.
• The run log (autocrop-log.txt) no longer grows without limit: past 2 MB it is kept as autocrop-log.old.txt and a new one starts.
• Mac (Intel): the one-time setup no longer reports that it did not finish when it did.
• Mac: a photo whose file name ends in a space is now found instead of reported as "no answer from the helper".

Version 0.6.20 16 October 2026

• Album pages with a striped, yellowed magnetic backing: a print's crop no longer takes in a band of the page along one of its sides.
• The narrow strip of page between two prints side by side is no longer kept as a note.
• "Create an error report" is now called "Create an error log" (Lightroom: Library > Plug-in Extras; app: Settings). The file saved on your Desktop is named "Auto Crop error log" with the date.

Version 0.6.19 16 October 2026

• New: Check rotation only. It checks whether photos look sideways or upside down without cropping anything. In Lightroom it is in Library > Plug-in Extras; photos you have already cropped are checked as cropped. In the standalone app it is the button under Find crops, and the photos to turn can be saved turned the right way up.

Version 0.6.18 16 October 2026

• Album pages photographed whole, lying on a board or backdrop: the prints on the page are now found one by one. Before, the board was taken for the page and the whole album page came back as one photo.
• Black album pages: prints crowded close together come apart, and dark prints whose dark parts run into the page (a suit, a shadow, hair) are cropped to the whole print.
• Magnetic album pages with striped, yellowed backing: each print is found, and creases and the row of binding holes are no longer kept as notes.
• A single print alone on an album page is cropped to the print, not the page.
• Torn album pages: prints on either side of a tear are no longer joined into one.

Version 0.6.17 16 October 2026

• Finding the crop is about a sixth faster, with the same crops as before.
• Album pages in a batch are now measured on their own: a setting picked up from the photo before (such as a white scanner lid) no longer carries over to the next page.
• Standalone app: new images saved from raw files keep their brightest highlights, as Auto Crop sees them when it measures the crop.
• Photos whose rotation tag is stored far inside the file (some DNGs) are now read the right way up.
• A photo whose file or folder name has a tab or line break in it is now listed under "Not cropped" with the reason, instead of being left out without a word.
• Lightroom: the check that Lightroom kept each crop as given now covers all four sides, and error reports list which steps chose each crop, so problems can be found faster.

Version 0.6.16 15 October 2026

• Sideways and upside-down photos: a new scene check, trained on thousands of photos, flags pictures without faces (buildings, landscapes, food) far more reliably and stops false flags such as a cook at a grill.
• Print borders: a wide bottom margin is now trimmed all the way, and so is a white border left on one side only.
• Fixed a photo that could stop with an "index out of bounds" message when the print reached the edge of the frame.
• Mac: Auto Crop now installs with an installer app and an uninstaller app, signed and checked by Apple: no Terminal window, and only macOS's usual one-time "downloaded from the Internet" question.

Version 0.6.15 15 October 2026

• Album pages: prints on a patterned scrapbook page (damask paper, for example) lying on a board are now found one by one; title letters and cut-outs are left out.
• Album pages: black pages crowded with white-bordered prints, which could come back as one box, now give each print, including prints held together by tape at the edge of the frame.
• The standalone app remembers the last folder you used, even after it is closed, and offers it again with an Open again button.

Version 0.6.14 14 October 2026

• Kodak Disc negatives photographed in their holder are now cropped to the picture, leaving out the holder, frame numbers and the disc's rim.
• Bright slides on a pure black background are no longer cropped out into the glow around them, and small slides ringed by light (such as subminiature slides) are cropped to their window.
• A page or print that nearly fills the frame on a gray or colored board (such as a scrapbook page) is now cropped to the page instead of being left whole.
• A photo that can't be read at first (for example, one still arriving in a synced folder) is tried once more.

Version 0.6.13 14 October 2026

• Negatives: a strip photographed partly close up and partly from further back now crops correctly as one batch.
• Negatives: cut strips or sheets lying on a black background (a masked light box) are now cropped to the film.
• Slides, prints and negatives on pure black: the crop no longer runs past the item into the faint glow around it.
• Negatives: a frame with no clear edges is left uncropped instead of being straightened at a steep, wrong angle, and marks along the film's edge are no longer mistaken for sprocket holes.

Version 0.6.12 14 October 2026

• Lightroom's merged panoramas and HDRs (DNG files saved with JPEG XL compression) can now be cropped, in the plug-in and the app, instead of stopping with "Unsupported file format or not RAW file".
• The options dialog opens on the tab that matches "The photos are of" (Cropping, or Album pages) and follows it when you change it.
• Fine-tuning (crop edge and inside corners) is now a button that opens its own small window; Cancel puts the settings back.
• The Plug-in Manager says "negatives" rather than "35mm negatives".

Version 0.6.11 14 October 2026

• Everyone starts a fresh 21-day free trial from the first run of this version, including computers where the trial had already ended.
• Windows: the installer is now a plain Setup program (no zip to open first), shows "&" in the name, has new artwork, and its last page says where to find the plug-in in Lightroom Classic.
• The first time you use an "Auto Crop now" command, you are asked to check your settings before it runs.
• The first run in each Lightroom session tells you straight away when a newer version is available.
• "Make a report" is now "Auto Crop: Create an error report".
• The Album pages tab repeats the settings from the Cropping tab that apply to album pages too.
• Print borders: faint borders that were missed on one side (a light picture next to its white border) are now found, and a print is no longer cropped slightly wide onto a lit background.
• Album pages with print borders trimmed: every print on a page is trimmed the same way, even where photo corners hide part of a border. A print with a handwritten caption on its border keeps all four borders, whatever the border setting, and gets the blue label.

Version 0.6.10 14 October 2026

• Three new commands under Plug-in Extras: "Auto Crop now" for slides and prints, 35mm negatives, or album pages. Each one starts straight away with your last options, so you can give each kind of photo its own keyboard shortcut.
• A large print on a black background that is lit all over is now cropped to the print, not to nearly the whole frame.

Version 0.6.9 13 October 2026

• One "Crop edge" slider replaces "Trim a little extra" and "Crop closer to the edge": move it left to trim in, to 0 to crop right on the edge, or right to leave a margin of background. Your earlier setting carries over.
• Album pages on a black background that is lit unevenly: every print is found, instead of tiny crops of tape or background, prints run together, or one box round the whole page.
• Album pages on a light page: a print with a pale sky comes back as one photo, without extra pieces of sky or empty notes.

Version 0.6.8 13 October 2026

• New "Make a report": when a crop looks wrong, one click saves a small text file on your Desktop to email to us, with your settings, the crops and the log. In Lightroom it is under Library > Plug-in Extras, in the app under Settings.
• The log now records each run's settings and every photo's crop, so a problem can be traced without repeating it.

Version 0.6.7 13 October 2026

• A 35mm negative selected with slides or prints is found by its sprocket holes and cropped to its frame, without choosing negatives.
• A slide in a dark mount on black is cropped to the mount's window instead of the whole mount.
• A sheet negative on white card or a light table is cropped inside the film's clear edge, and a negative filling the frame on a light table loses the strips of table along the frame, also with print borders kept.

Version 0.6.6 12 October 2026

• Color labels now follow the keywords: when a later run takes off "Check rotation" or "Irregular shape", the purple or green label it gave goes too. Labels you set yourself are never touched.
• Better "Check rotation" flags for a face in profile looking down.
• Prints on white card: a pale sky along the edge is no longer cut short, and the print's shadow is left out even with print borders kept.

Version 0.6.5 12 October 2026

• A new, simpler look for the standalone app: everything on one screen, with your choices on the left, the crops in the middle and saving along the bottom.
• In the app, one click on the circle keeps or skips a crop, and "Worth a look" shows just the flagged photos.
• Opening a photo in the app now shows it large with a strip of all your photos below and a straighten slider beside it, so you can step through and adjust them quickly.
• The Lightroom window is tidier: the options are grouped on three tabs (Cropping, Album pages, Fine-tuning), with a one-line summary so nothing is hidden.

Version 0.6.4 12 October 2026

• Prints on a gray or black background lit from one side are now found even when part of the picture is darker than the background, and the crop no longer takes in a strip of background or the print's shadow along one side.
• A pale, glossy print on white card is now cropped, even where its sky matches the card.
• Album pages: a plain patch of background at the edge of the frame no longer becomes an extra photo.
• Better "Check rotation" flags: a second, newer face finder catches sideways black-and-white prints, profiles and half-hidden faces.
• Faster: large JPEG and TIFF files are read noticeably faster, with exactly the same results.
• "Read the writing" now works on single photos too, not only album pages: writing on a print (a caption on its border, say) goes into its Caption field as a draft to check.
• Clearer wording in the main window, and white backgrounds listed in the guide.

Version 0.6.3 12 October 2026

• Safer updates: Install now only installs an update signed by The Picture Org, and never an older version than the one you have.
• Safer saving: cropped pictures and sidecars are written in a way that can't be redirected to another file, and downloads only ever use secure connections.
• Folder and file names with unusual characters are handled safely on the Mac.

Version 0.6.2 12 October 2026

• Better "Check rotation" flags: a sideways photo of someone standing with the sky down one side is now flagged even when their face is in profile or behind sunglasses.
• Fewer false rotation flags: a light, textured wall beside a dark doorway is no longer taken for a sky.

Version 0.6.1 11 October 2026

• Flatbed scans on a white lid: prints scanned on the glass with the lid closed are now cropped, with or without a white border, including pale pictures with hardly anything darker than the lid. For several prints in one scan, use the album pages option.
• A print border that runs into an equally light part of the picture on one side (a white dress, snow) is now trimmed there too, when the other three sides have a border of the same width.
• The bundle key now names the Video Preservation Toolbox (renamed from Media Preservation Toolbox).

Version 0.6.0 11 October 2026

• New: a standalone Auto Crop app for Windows and Mac that needs no Lightroom. Choose a folder or some photos, and it finds the same crops as the Lightroom plug-in.
• See every crop before anything is saved: each photo is shown with its crop outlined and the cropped result beside it. Untick any you don't want, or drag a side, move or turn a crop to adjust it.
• Save as new cropped pictures (JPEG or 16-bit TIFF) in an "Auto Crop" folder or a folder you choose, or as XMP sidecars beside the originals for Camera Raw and Lightroom. Your originals are never changed.
• The flags (check rotation, irregular shape, print kept whole for its writing) and captions read from album labels go into the new pictures' color label, keywords and caption.
• One installer for both: choose the Lightroom plug-in, the app, or both. One license covers both, and they share one free trial.
• The app checks for complimentary updates and installs them with Install now, like the plug-in.

Version 0.5.8 11 October 2026

• With a license in place, the License section of the Plug-in Manager now really shows only "Remove license from this computer" (on Windows the Buy button and key box still showed in 0.5.7).
• The plug-in's name in the Plug-in Manager shows its "&" on Windows again.

Version 0.5.7 11 October 2026

• Album pages: with "Crop inside rounded or mounted corners", a print with handwriting on its border (a caption, a date) is now kept whole, corners and all, so the writing isn't cut off. These get the blue label.
• Color labels are now distinct: purple for photos to check for rotation, green for irregular shapes, blue for prints kept whole for their writing.
• Album pages mode no longer splits a single slide with a dark scene into several small pictures.
• With a license in place, the Plug-in Manager shows only "Remove license from this computer".

Version 0.5.6 11 October 2026

• Updates install from inside Lightroom: when a new version is out, click Install now (or Install update in File > Plug-in Manager) and Auto Crop downloads it, checks that it arrived whole, and installs it. Then restart Lightroom Classic. No installer to download and run.
• If an update can't be installed this way, everything is left as it was and you are offered the installer download instead.
• This works from 0.5.6 on, so install this version with the installer once.

Version 0.5.5 11 October 2026

• Album pages mode now handles a mixed selection: photos holding a single print are cropped on the photo itself, exactly as without album mode, and photos of 35mm negative strips are cropped as negatives. Before, single prints could be left uncropped or cut into odd pieces, and negatives were cut into many small pictures.
• Black photo corners on dark album pages are now fully cropped out with "Crop inside rounded or mounted corners", including shiny corners and prints in a row that reaches the edge of the frame.
• With the corners option, a print with a corner cut away far more than a rounded or mounted corner (such as a school photo cut round at the bottom) is treated as an irregular shape instead of being cropped deep into the picture.
• Fixed a print that filled most of the frame being over-cropped at the top.

Version 0.5.4 11 October 2026

• Update check: once a day Auto Crop looks up the current version number, and when a newer one is out it tells you the next time you run it, with Download, Not now and Skip this version. Nothing is downloaded or installed by itself, and only the version list is fetched: nothing about your computer, your photos or your license is sent.
• A new Updates section in File > Plug-in Manager shows whether you are up to date, with Check now, Download, What's new, and a switch to turn the daily check off.
• Updates within the major version are now described as complimentary.

Version 0.5.3 11 October 2026

• Small prints on a wide dark surround (wallet-size school photos on a black background): the white border is now cropped off on every side. Before, the plug-in could take the print for a scan filling the frame and leave the border on one or two sides, or tilt the crop.
• Mounted prints on a light base board: a print in a wide card mount is found even when tape, a binder clip or a patch of glare on the board touches it, and the crop goes to the picture inside the mount. Before, these were not cropped at all.
• Card mounts and borders that are lit unevenly, getting lighter toward the picture, are trimmed instead of kept.
• A slide with a dark scene against one side of a dark mount is cropped like the rest of its batch, instead of as an "irregular shape".
• Fixed a rare "The trial has ended" message during the free trial, when Auto Crop and the Media Preservation Toolbox checked the trial at the same moment.
• The Buy a license button now goes to thepictureorg.com/tools.

Version 0.5.2 11 October 2026

• New installers that put Auto Crop in Lightroom Classic's own plug-in folder, so Lightroom loads it by itself when it starts: no File > Plug-in Manager > Add step, and no administrator rights needed.
• Windows: a Setup program (PictureOrgAutoCrop-Setup download). It asks you to close Lightroom if it is open, replaces an earlier version, and adds a Start menu folder with the User Guide, the cheat sheet and Uninstall. Auto Crop is also listed in Settings > Apps for removing it.
• Mac: the Mac download now has "Install Auto Crop" and "Uninstall Auto Crop" next to the plug-in, plus a "Read Me First" with the steps. Right-click Install Auto Crop and choose Open; it copies the plug-in into place and clears the download mark so it runs without a security prompt. On an Intel Mac it offers the one-time setup.
• If you added Auto Crop before through File > Plug-in Manager > Add, remove that old entry in the Plug-in Manager after installing, or the menu appears twice. Your settings and license key are kept.
• The README, User Guide and cheat sheet explain both installers step by step; installing by hand through the Plug-in Manager still works as before.

Version 0.5.1 11 October 2026

• Album pages are no longer hidden: "Album pages (several photos on each)" is now always a choice under "The photos are of" in the Auto Crop dialog, with its TIFF and reading options. Nothing needs turning on in the Plug-in Manager.

Version 0.5.0 11 October 2026

• Auto Crop & Straighten is now paid software with a free trial. Every feature works during a free 21-day trial on each computer, then for 7 more days with a reminder, then it stops cropping new photos until a license key is entered. Crops already made stay as they are.
• One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, with complimentary updates within the major version (a version 1 key works for every 1.x release).
• New License section in File > Plug-in Manager: the days left or who it is licensed to, Buy a license, a box for your key with Enter key, and Remove license from this computer for moving to a new one. Keys are checked on your computer; nothing is sent anywhere. A bundle key also unlocks the Media Preservation Toolbox.
• When the trial has ended, Auto Crop offers Buy a license or Enter key before doing any work.
• The "Buy me lunch" buttons are gone. New license terms in LICENSE.txt; the README, User Guide and cheat sheet have a "Trial and license key" section.

Version 0.4.6 11 October 2026

• Album pages on a Mac: fixed "An internal error has occurred. ?:0: attempt to index a boolean value" after the photos were found. Lightroom gives back just "true" when it makes a virtual copy, not the copy itself; the plug-in now finds each new copy by its name ("Photo 1", "Photo 1 note") instead.

Version 0.4.5 11 October 2026

• Scans that fill the frame: flatbed and slide-scanner JPEGs with little or no surround. Before, the plug-in looked for a dark surround all round the item; with none, it could crop a strip off the picture as an "irregular shape", or find nothing. Now each side is checked for a straight dark band (the slide mount's window, the scanner lid's shadow) or the picture running right to the frame, and the crop is the frame less those bands.
• A slide whose picture is dark right against a narrow mount band (a dark wall, a forest, a coat) no longer has that band left in the crop.
• Print borders: a border that a scanner's shadow darkens toward the frame, or with a glint along the paper's edge, is now trimmed (it was left on one side). A thin sliver of white or cream border left along the frame of a closely cropped scan is trimmed too.
• A black background or card lit unevenly: the brighter side of the background no longer joins the print, so the print is found and cropped inside its white border.
• Album pages, reading the writing: writing on a print itself now also gets its own copy cropped to just the writing, named like a label's ("Photo 1 note"), for an easy spot check against the caption.

Version 0.4.4 10 October 2026

• Album pages, reading the writing: captions written on the prints themselves are now read too, not only separate labels. The text goes into that photo copy's Caption, ahead of any label's. Only writing on plain light paper counts, such as a white border or a pale studio backdrop; writing in the scene (a shop sign on a brick wall) is mostly left out, though a white street sign against a bright sky is read.
• Block capitals and clear handwriting are read well; small faint script is not. About 1 to 2.5 seconds more per photo.

Version 0.4.3 10 October 2026

• Album pages: new option "Read the writing on labels into the Caption field" (off). The writing on each label or note is read on this computer (nothing is sent anywhere) and put in the Caption field of the note's copy and of its photo's copy, with the keyword "Check caption" (under Auto Crop) so the drafts can be found and corrected. A photo copy's caption is only filled if nobody has written one there.
• The reader: on a Mac, Apple's own text reader (Vision, built into macOS); on Windows, or if Vision can't be used or reads nothing, RapidOCR with PaddleOCR's PP-OCRv6 small models on ONNX Runtime (about 30 MB of models).
• In testing on handwritten labels in block capitals, about three words in four were read correctly, at about half a second to a second per label. Faint cursive is mostly not read.
• The download grows: ONNX Runtime 1.23.2, PyYAML, the models, and on Windows the Microsoft C++ runtime files ONNX Runtime needs; on the Mac also PyObjC (for Vision).

Version 0.4.2 10 October 2026

• Album pages: label and note copies are no longer cut off. They are now cropped to the whole slip plus a small margin, never tighter; a slip tucked under a print is cropped up to the print's edge, so a sliver of the print may show rather than cut letters.
• A label the photo-splitting step had cut in two (a line of writing looked like a seam) is put back together as one note.
• A note goes with the photo just above it when there is one (captions are written under the picture); before, a label tucked under the next print down could be given to that print.
• New option "Crop inside rounded or mounted corners" (off): crops in from each side just far enough that no rounded corner, black photo corner or mount corner shows, at most 15% of the short side. For slides, prints and album pages, not negatives.

Version 0.4.1 10 October 2026

• Album pages: labels and slips of paper on the page (often with names or dates written on them) now get a copy too, named after the photo they are beside: "Photo 2 note" (a second one "Photo 2 note 2"). Each comes right after its photo, is cropped to the whole slip (no border trim, no rotation check), and is saved as a TIFF with the others when that option is on.

Version 0.4.0 10 October 2026

• Album pages (test feature, hidden until turned on in the Plug-in Manager): one photo or scan of an album page, on a black or dark page, a light page or grid, or a flatbed, can hold several prints. Choose "Album pages (several photos on each)" under "The photos are of". Each print found becomes a virtual copy of the page named "Photo 1", "Photo 2" ... (in reading order: rows from the top, left to right), cropped and straightened to that print; the page itself is left as it is. Optionally each is also saved as a 16-bit TIFF beside the page ("<page> - Photo 1.tif"), added to the catalog and stacked with the page.
• Prints that touch or overlap are split where one print's edge crosses the other (a step in brightness right across, an outline that jogs there, or a white border beside it). A straight line inside one print (a horizon, a fence rail, bricks) is not a split. Labels and captions on the page are found and left out, and so are tape, photo corners and slivers of the page edge. A pile of overlapping prints gives one copy per visible strip.
• On album pages a print border is trimmed only when it is found on all four sides; otherwise the whole print is kept, caption and all.
• Running again on a page (with "Replace crops already made") updates its existing "Photo" copies.
• About 3 to 10 seconds a page. Single photos, gray bases and negatives are unchanged.

Version 0.3.6 10 October 2026

• Gray and tinted backgrounds: photos taken on a copy stand's gray base board or a cutting mat (gray or green, grid lines and all) are now cropped. The item is whatever differs from the board, lighter, darker or in color, measured against the board's own level across the frame (uneven light is allowed for). The grid lines are smoothed away, a print's soft shadow on the board counts as board, and the rectangle comes from the middles of the item's sides, so tape and fingers at its corners don't move it.
• Print borders: a border that narrows along a side (the picture printed a little crooked on its paper) is now trimmed to its widest point; a crease or uneven light across the border no longer stops the trim.
• Card mounts: with "Crop off white or cream print borders" on, a portrait's buff or cream card mount is trimmed to the picture. Untick the option to keep the mount and its imprint.
• Downloads are now named PictureOrgAutoCrop-Win-<version>.zip and PictureOrgAutoCrop-Mac-<version>.zip.

Version 0.3.5 10 October 2026

• Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later): a separate Mac download carries its own Python 3.12 with NumPy, OpenCV and rawpy, as the Windows download does. Nothing to install: no python.org, no Setup-Mac.command, no Terminal. On its first run the plug-in clears macOS's "downloaded from the internet" mark on its own folder so the built-in Python can run without a security prompt.
• Intel Macs, and Macs older than macOS 13, fall back to Setup-Mac.command as before (the message says so).
• NOTICE.txt lists the Mac components; licenses in python-mac/licenses.

Version 0.3.4 10 October 2026

• Mac: the "Run Setup-Mac.command" message, the README, User Guide and cheat sheet now say how to reach it. Finder shows the .lrplugin folder as a single item, so the file couldn't be found: right-click the plug-in, Show Package Contents, right-click Setup-Mac.command, Open.

Version 0.3.3 10 October 2026

• Undoes the 0.3.2 raw-file change: Lightroom measures these crops on the whole sensor after all, so raw crops are back exactly where 0.3.1 put them.
• Negatives: a side whose edge shows along only part of its length (a dense sky above shadows) is now found from the whole side at once, rather than guessed from the sprocket holes.
• Negatives: the sprocket holes are measured to a fraction of a pixel and fitted as one straight row, so sides placed from them land closer. Sides placed from the holes no longer get extra trim.
• Negatives: 1 pixel less trim inside every edge (the edges are sharp; the crop still sits inside the bright line at the frame edge).

Version 0.3.2 10 October 2026

• Raw files (DNG, NEF and others): crops moved to allow for the raw file's default crop area. (Undone in 0.3.3.)
• New troubleshooting row in the User Guide and cheat sheet: a photo with an earlier edit can look shifted; Develop > Reset fixes it.

Version 0.3.1 10 October 2026

• Negatives: edges that can't be seen are now placed from the sprocket holes. A camera moves the film exactly 8 holes per frame and holds it at a fixed height, so on one roll every frame sits in the same place relative to the holes. Frames in the selection whose edges show give that place; the others use it. Fixes "no frame edges found" on frames whose picture is nearly clear along two sides.
• Negatives: the edge finder looks past a neighboring frame at the side of the capture, and finds low-contrast edges that could leave the sprocket-hole strip in the crop.
• Negatives: a side with nothing to go on is placed from the 3:2 shape of the frame, or on the sprocket side just inside the holes, before falling back to the capture's edge. Sides placed this way get 2 pixels more trim.
• User Guide and cheat sheet: where to find autocrop-log.txt (type %TEMP% in File Explorer's address bar).

Version 0.3.0 10 October 2026

• New: 35mm film negatives. In the options dialog, "The photos are of" > "35mm film negatives (in a carrier)". Edges are found where the picture gets darker than the clear film base (measured beside the sprocket holes), so the crop leaves out the rebate, sprocket holes and frame gaps, and is straightened to the frame. Frames from one camera are the same size: when three or more frames in the selection agree, that size places any side that can't be seen (a thin, nearly clear part of the picture), else the 3:2 shape is used. A side that runs off the capture is cut at the capture's edge. Crop before inverting.
• Print borders, Crop closer and rotation flags are not used for negatives (grayed out in the dialog).
• Documentation updated: User Guide section 11 (negatives; later sections renumbered), cheat sheet, README, design document.

Version 0.2.12 10 October 2026

• Rotation flags now follow how Lightroom shows the photo. The helper used the rotation saved in the file (or its sidecar), which can differ from Lightroom's own, so some sideways photos were not flagged. The plug-in now passes Lightroom's rotation to the helper (it falls back to the file's if Lightroom doesn't give one).
• autocrop-log.txt now gets one line per run saying for how many photos Lightroom's rotation was used.
• "Buy me lunch" buttons, as in the Media Toolbox: in the options dialog and in the Plug-in Manager panel.

Version 0.2.11 10 October 2026

• Fewer false rotation flags from faces: a sideways face must now be found at three different sizes of the picture. The face finder sometimes sees a faint "face" in a pattern, such as aircraft panels, at one size only. Real faces are found at every size. No slowdown: the extra sizes are only checked when a face turn is in view.
• New one-page cheat sheet: docs\Auto-Crop-Cheat-Sheet.html and .pdf.
• Documentation brought up to date: README, User Guide (troubleshooting for false flags and the empty log, new Planned section) and design document.

Version 0.2.10 10 October 2026

• Slides with a pale sky or sand along an edge no longer lose it to the "print border" trim. A real border ends in a straight line along the side; sky and sand end wherever the scene does, and a blue sky is never taken for a border. Prints with real borders are trimmed as before.
• A dark object in the picture that runs right up to an edge (a table leg, say) no longer pulls that whole side in: when part of the side agrees on one straight edge further out and the rest scatter inside it, the straight edge is used.

Version 0.2.9 10 October 2026

• Photos given an Auto Crop keyword (Check rotation or Irregular shape) also get the purple color label. Labels are never removed, since one may be your own.
• Orientation: a blue, smooth sky down one side now flags the photo.

Version 0.2.8 10 October 2026

• Photos cut to a circle, an oval or a ragged shape are recognized and cropped to the rectangle around the whole photo, so none of the photo is cut off. They get the keyword "Auto Crop > Irregular shape", and the summary says how many there were. Ordinary prints and slides are unchanged.

Version 0.2.7 9 October 2026

• New option "Crop closer to the edge" (off by default). Where the picture is dark against an edge, the crop goes to the outer end of the edge's soft fall-off, and no extra trim is used. Keeps detail that runs right to a slide mount. A thin dark line may show along some edges, so it is meant for the photos that need it.

Version 0.2.6 9 October 2026

• Soft slide edges: where the mount's shadow dims the last few pixels of picture, those pixels are now kept. A dark band near the mount's own darkness is still cropped off.
• Along each edge, the bright stretches count most, since a dark part of the picture against the edge makes the edge look further in than it is.

Version 0.2.5 9 October 2026

• Added LICENSE.txt, NOTICE.txt, this change log, a User Guide (docs folder, Markdown and HTML) and a design document (docs folder, Word). No change to how photos are cropped.

Version 0.2.4 9 October 2026

• When a slide's picture window isn't square (the camera slightly off square to the slide), the crop trims a sliver rather than show any border.
• The straighten angle is also checked for the one that keeps the most picture inside all four edges.

Version 0.2.3 9 October 2026

• The edge check from 0.2.2 pulled some sides in too far. It now goes by most of each side rather than its worst stretch, and can move a side out slightly where the picture clearly runs further.
• The extra trim inside the edge is now 0.15% by default (was 0.3%). Saved settings from earlier versions are replaced by the new default once.

Version 0.2.2 9 October 2026

• Each edge is checked in 16 short stretches along its length and moved in where the picture's edge is wavy or slightly crooked, so no black shows.

Version 0.2.1 9 October 2026

• Logo and a short description in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager.
• Orientation check also looks for a horizon running top to bottom.
• Orientation is judged as the photo is shown (the file's own orientation tag, or an .xmp sidecar for raw files).

Version 0.2.0 9 October 2026

• Slides: edges found on the camera's linear (raw) brightness, in stops, so dark pictures are not mistaken for the surround; mount glow and dark bands are passed over.
• Batch check: photos taken in the same holder are compared, and a side that disagrees with the rest is moved to the agreed place when the photo has a clear edge there.
• White or cream print borders on two sides are both trimmed.
• Orientation flags: keywords "Check rotation - turn left / turn right / upside down" under "Auto Crop", never included in exports. Nothing is turned automatically.
• One helper run for the whole selection, with a progress bar per photo; Cancel stops after the current photo.
• Windows bundle moved to OpenCV 4.14 (OpenCV 5 no longer includes the face detector).

Version 0.1.0 9 October 2026

• First test: Lightroom Classic plug-in with a Python helper. Crops and straightens photographed prints, magazines and documents on a dark background; optional print-border trim (on by default). Windows Python bundled; Mac uses its own Python 3 with Setup-Mac.command.

Version 1.0.17 26 October 2026

• Windows: Setup and Uninstall now close Pivotwell if it is running, so they no longer stop on a file that is in use.

Version 1.0.16 25 October 2026

• Lightroom's Plug-in Manager now has buttons for Pivotwell's own web page, the User Guide (on our website, or the copy that comes with Pivotwell when you're offline) and the other -well tools.
• The messages at the end of Check rotation and Turn the flagged photos, and in the app, now say how long the job took.
• The app's menu has an "Other -well tools" item too.
• The User Guide now starts with what Pivotwell is and a quick start, followed by step-by-step guides for Lightroom and the app.

Version 1.0.14 24 October 2026

• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as "tpo: Pivotwell™" so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• When it checks several photos at once, each one now gets its fair share of the computer's processor for reading raw files, so they no longer slow each other down (mainly on Windows). The answers are the same as before.
• When an update needs a new installer, the app now downloads it, checks that it's genuine, and starts it for you.

Version 1.0.13 24 October 2026

• Starts faster: the app's window is ready in about half the time, and in Lightroom, Check rotation shows its progress bar the moment you click it.
• User Guide: the License and Updates sections now match the other Picture Org apps, and it says that the Windows Setup program is signed.
• "Color" is now spelled the American way everywhere.

Version 1.0.12 24 October 2026

• Under the hood: Pivotwell now uses the same license, update and error log code as the other Well tools, so a fix made for one reaches them all. Nothing changes in how you use it.
• License messages now give the app's full name, Pivotwell Photo Rotation Check.
• After an in-app update on Windows, the Start menu and Desktop shortcuts move to the new app icon by themselves.

Version 1.0.11 24 October 2026

• New app icon: the sideways photo now shows our twin-lens camera. It appears in the app, the Plug-in Manager, the Start menu and Windows Settings, the Mac Applications folder, and Setup.
• Faster: Check rotation now looks at up to three photos at once on computers with enough cores and memory, with the same answers as before.
• Sturdier: if an update can't be installed, the message now says exactly why, and a problem starting the photo check is written to the error log instead of leaving the progress bar waiting.
• Removing a license now says that a Well Tools bundle key is removed for the other Well tools on that computer too.

Version 1.0.10 23 October 2026

• Folder windows on Windows now have an address bar, so you can type or paste a folder's path instead of clicking through the tree. You can also paste a path into the box next to Choose for the folder new pictures are saved in.
• Fixed: on some Windows computers, Choose a folder did nothing. If the window can't open, Pivotwell now says so and lets you paste the path instead.
• Pivotwell's keywords are never exported with your photos. New pictures saved by the app carry no flag keywords; XMP sidecars keep them, filed under "Rotation Check".
• More reliable on Windows when writing the label, note and How sure fields to the catalog.
• Plug-in Manager: the app icon is shown at the top, and the License section moved to the end, just above Status. A thank-you line shows once you have a license.
• Windows: Settings > Installed apps shows the Pivotwell icon, and Setup shows the Pivotwell icon too.
• Downloads are now named ThePictureOrg-Pivotwell-…

Version 1.0.9 22 October 2026

• Fixed: Lightroom Classic could disable the plug-in with "An error occurred while reading the schema". The "How sure, 0-100" field now holds the number as text (for example 082), so it still sorts in order.
• Mac: the app's icon now shows correctly in Applications after an update.

Version 1.0.8 19 October 2026

• All Picture Org apps now install into one ThePictureOrg folder, each in its own: on Windows in your Programs folder (ThePictureOrg\Pivotwell), on a Mac in Applications > ThePictureOrg. Setup moves an earlier install there by itself; your settings and license key stay as they are.
• Mac: if you kept Pivotwell in the Dock, drag it in again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.

Version 1.0.7 19 October 2026

• New: named settings profiles. Save your settings under a name in the app (Profile, then Save as...), and switch between them in one click. Three come ready to use: Flag every turned photo, Only the sure ones, and Camera raw: turn in sidecars. In Lightroom, choose one in the Plug-in Manager under When to flag a photo.
• Better: a stray "face" in a patterned sweater or a busy background no longer keeps a sideways photo of people from being flagged.
• Check my setup and the error log now say which profile is in use.

Version 1.0.6 18 October 2026

• New name: Pivotwell™ Photo Rotation Check. The commands in Library > Plug-in Extras keep their names, so your shortcuts still work.
• Fixed: on Windows, Check my setup wrongly said it could not write in its log folder.
• Fixed: on Windows, Settings > Apps now shows the new version after an update installed from inside Pivotwell.
• The error log can now include pictures of up to 50 photos (was 20).

Version 1.0.5 18 October 2026

• New: each flagged photo says why in plain words, in its "Pivotwell note" in the Metadata panel and under the photo in the app (for example "it looks like it needs a quarter turn to the right, from the faces, 82% sure").
• New: "Only flag when at least N% sure" (off unless you turn it on). Photos it is less sure of then get the yellow label and a note instead of a keyword, so you can look at them yourself.
• New: "Check my setup" in the Plug-in Manager and in the app checks that everything it needs works on your computer, and gives you the result to copy or email.
• New: the error log can include small pictures of the problem photos, if you tick the box, so we can see what went wrong.

Version 1.0.4 17 October 2026

• Fixed: in Lightroom, photos already shown turned a quarter (turned by you, or by their own rotation setting, as many phone portraits are) were checked as if upside down, so the suggestion for them could be wrong.
• Fixed: "Turn the flagged photos" stopped after the first photo. It now turns them all, and checks each turn once Lightroom has saved it.
• Fixed: on Windows and Mac, the app could keep showing its old icon after updating. It now shows the new one.
• Fixed: on Windows, Setup could fail with "Error opening file for writing" if the app had just been closed. Setup now closes everything the app left running first.

Version 1.0.3 17 October 2026

• New: how sure the check is. In the app each photo says how sure it is of its answer, out of 100; "Not sure" shows the doubtful ones and "Least sure first" puts them at the top. In Lightroom each photo gets a "How sure (Rotation Check)" field (High, Medium, Low) that the Library Filter can pick out.
• New: "Turn the flagged photos" in Lightroom (Library > Plug-in Extras). It turns the photos you select the way their keywords say, one at a time, takes off the keyword and purple label, and checks every turn.
• New: in the app, XMP sidecars for camera raw files now hold the turn itself, so Camera Raw, Bridge and Lightroom show the photo turned. Untick the option to get the purple label and keyword instead.
• HEIC photos are now read by the same code as Picture Org Auto Crop & Straighten, so both tools always read them alike. The source code of the HEIC libraries (libheif and libde265) is now included in the download.
• A new app icon.

Version 1.0.2 16 October 2026

• Fixed: HEIC photos that a phone saved turned (most portrait iPhone photos) were checked a quarter turn off, so the suggested turn could be wrong. They are now read the same way as a JPEG of the same photo.

Version 1.0.1 16 October 2026

• New: reads HEIC photos, the format iPhones and many newer phones save in, in both the Lightroom plug-in and the app. In the app a turned HEIC photo is saved as a JPEG.
• The app now copies a JPEG losslessly even when the file has no rotation setting at all (it adds one), so more photos are turned with no loss.
• "Create an error report" is now "Create an error log", in Lightroom and in the app.
• Clearer wording in the app's save options, and a note when the sidecar option is picked for photos that are not camera raw files.
• Mac: the setup check now reports correctly when something goes wrong.
• The log no longer grows without limit: once it passes 2 MB, it is set aside and a fresh one starts.

Version 1.0.0 16 October 2026

• First release. Finds the photos that look sideways or upside down and says which way to turn each one, using faces, the scene, and sky and horizon. Made for digital photos: phone and camera pictures, downloads and family photos. The same check as Auto Crop & Straighten's Check rotation only.
• Lightroom Classic plug-in: Library > Plug-in Extras > Check rotation flags each photo to turn with a keyword (turn right, turn left or upside down) and the purple label. Nothing is turned or edited, and running it again after turning a photo takes its flag off. Photos already cropped are checked as cropped.
• Standalone app, no Lightroom needed: shows every photo turned the way it suggests, lets you change any turn, then saves turned copies in a Turned folder (a JPEG is copied exactly, with only its rotation setting changed, so nothing is lost) or XMP sidecars with the label and keyword. The originals are never changed.
• Reads JPEG, TIFF, PNG, DNG and camera raw files, including Lightroom's merged panoramas and HDRs.
• Windows Setup program and a signed, Apple-checked Mac installer; each installs the plug-in, the app, or both. 21-day free trial; one license covers the plug-in and the app on up to 2 computers, with complimentary updates within version 1.

Version 1.6.29 27 October 2026

• Lightroom: before writing dates or undoing a run, Datewell now has Lightroom save its own changes to the files first, so crops (from Squarewell or made by hand), keywords and captions you haven’t saved yet are kept. If Datewell can’t do that for you, it asks you to save them and click Continue.

Version 1.6.28 27 October 2026

• Datewell’s version numbers now start with 1. This version follows 0.9.27; nothing else changes, and your license key keeps working.

Version 0.9.27 26 October 2026

• The app now checks for a newer version every time it opens.
• Lightroom: Datewell checks for a newer version every time Lightroom starts, not once a day.
• Installing an update from the app now updates the Lightroom plug-in too, and the other way round.

Version 0.9.26 26 October 2026

• Network folders and NAS drives: before writing, Datewell checks that each folder can be written to. A read-only folder is left alone and listed as Not written with the reason, and the other folders are dated as usual.
• When you ask Datewell to set a file’s Date created on Windows and the drive doesn’t keep it (many network drives and memory cards don’t), the photo now says “Date created not kept” instead of nothing. Its Date taken is still set.
• The app no longer looks through the snapshot and recycle-bin folders a NAS keeps (such as #snapshot and #recycle) when you include the folders inside a folder.

Version 0.9.25 26 October 2026

• Windows: Setup and uninstall now close a running Datewell first, so updating or removing it no longer fails on files in use.

Version 0.9.24 25 October 2026

• Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager: the buttons now sit on two rows, so the Datewell icon stays inside the box.
• The User Guide now starts with what Datewell is and a Quick start, then step-by-step guides for each kind of photo.

Version 0.9.23 25 October 2026

• A new “Other -well tools” button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager, and in the app’s Menu, opens our Tools page with every -well tool.
• When Datewell finishes writing dates or putting them back, it now says how long that took.

Version 0.9.22 25 October 2026

• A new “User Guide” button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager, next to “Datewell home page”, opens the User Guide on our website (or the copy that came with Datewell when you’re offline). In the app, Menu > User Guide opens the web guide too.
• The website button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager is now “Datewell home page” and opens Datewell’s own page.

Version 0.9.20 25 October 2026

• New in Lightroom Classic: Date photos in their Lightroom order. Sort prints by hand (Custom Order), pick their date, and each photo gets that date with a time that follows its place (12:01 PM, 12:02 PM, …). Lightroom’s own Rename Photos then puts the date in front of their names, with two templates Datewell adds: “Datewell date first” and “Datewell date first sequence” (adds -0001, -0002 in your order).

Version 0.9.19 24 October 2026

• Numbered photos with the same date now get times that follow their numbers, starting from noon: “-0001” gets 12:01 PM, “-0002” 12:02 PM, and so on. Sorting by file name or by Date taken now gives the same order. Times already in a file name are kept, as before. On by default; you can turn it off in the settings.
• Fixed: in Lightroom, adding the “Check date stamp” keyword after the new dates were read could stop with an error.

Version 0.9.18 24 October 2026

• In Lightroom Classic, the plug-in now appears as “tpo: Datewell™” so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.

Version 0.9.17 24 October 2026

• Faster reading of date stamps and print borders: Datewell now reads several photos at once, one for each processor core. On our 52-photo test set, 13 minutes became 9.5 on a 4-core computer. The dates it reads are exactly the same.

Version 0.9.16 24 October 2026

• Updates: when a new version needs the full installer (for example a newer Python inside Datewell), Install update now downloads it, checks that it is genuine and unchanged, and starts it for you, instead of sending you to the download page.

Version 0.9.15 24 October 2026

• Starts faster: the app opens its window right away, and reading date stamps and borders gets under way sooner. The dates it reads are exactly the same.

Version 0.9.14 24 October 2026

• The User Guide now has step-by-step instructions for getting an API key from Claude, Google Gemini or OpenAI to read hard date stamps online, with a note on what each service does with what you send.
• User Guide: a new Updates section; the License and Help sections now match the other Picture Org apps.

Version 0.9.13 23 October 2026

• Date stamps that are hard to read now give the same answer every time you run Datewell on the same photos.

Version 0.9.12 23 October 2026

• Behind the scenes: Datewell now shares its license, update and setup code with the other Picture Org apps, so fixes reach every app at once. License messages now use Datewell's full product name.

Version 0.9.11 23 October 2026

• Lightroom Classic: if Datewell's helper can't start, you now get a message instead of a wait that never ends.
• Mac: saving an online-reading API key is a little safer.

Version 0.9.10 23 October 2026

• A new Datewell icon: the photo behind the calendar page now shows The Picture Org camera in front of the hills. Your Start menu and desktop shortcuts pick it up after the update.

Version 0.9.9 23 October 2026

• Faster reading of date stamps and printed borders: each photo is now opened once instead of twice.
• Lightroom Classic: large selections get started sooner.

Version 0.9.8 23 October 2026

• Optional: date stamps this computer can't read can also be read online, with your own Claude, OpenAI or Google Gemini API key. Only the bottom right corner of the photo is sent, never the whole photo. Turn it on in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, or in the app under the date stamp setting (Read hard stamps online). The app and the plug-in share the same settings.
• Windows app: Choose a folder and Choose photos now open their window reliably. If the window can't open, Datewell says so and points you to the box where you can paste a folder's path.
• Lightroom Classic on Windows: a run no longer risks stopping while Lightroom is showing its progress.

Version 0.9.6 22 October 2026

• Thin, faint date stamps from quartz date backs are now read, even over a busy background.
• When part of a date stamp is hidden, Datewell compares what it can see with the stamps of the photos next to it, and uses their date if exactly one fits. These photos are flagged so you can check them.
• Lightroom Classic: the preview now shows pictures. Each photo has the date found and a close-up of the stamp or border it was read from, and the thumbnails can be made larger or smaller. The text list is still there in its own tab.
• Photos with a date stamp Datewell could not read now show a close-up of the stamp, so you can read it yourself.
• In Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the License section is now last, just above Status.
• Once a license is entered, the License section says thank you.
• The Plug-in Manager and the app now show the Datewell icon beside the description.
• Windows: Settings > Apps shows the Datewell icon, and Setup has a new picture.

Version 0.9.5 22 October 2026

• App: check the dates before writing them. A slider makes the thumbnails bigger, a click shows a photo large (and at full size), and for dates read from a camera's date stamp or a print's border the part of the photo Datewell read is shown beside the date.
• App: paste or type a folder's path instead of clicking through folders; on Windows the folder dialog now has an address bar you can type into.
• Download files are now named ThePictureOrg-Datewell-…

Version 0.9.4 22 October 2026

• Photos with a camera date stamp Datewell can't fully read (say, something red crosses it) are now flagged so you can check them: the app has a "Date stamp not read" filter, and in Lightroom Classic they get the keyword Datewell > Check date stamp, which is never exported.
• The app's progress bar now shows which photo it is on and about how long is left (reading date stamps and borders takes a few seconds a photo).

Version 0.9.3 22 October 2026

• New: reads the orange date a film camera printed in the corner of the picture (91 1 27, 30 10 '97) when the file name has no date, or only the year. The stamp gives the full date; with a year in the name, it must be from that same year.

Version 0.9.2 21 October 2026

• Reads seasons: "1971 Summer" or "Fall of 1965" gets the middle month of the season (winter January, spring April, summer July, fall October).
• Reads European month names (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Scandinavian, with or without accents), such as "4. Juli 1987" or "4 juillet 1987".
• Day first or month first for dates like 07-04-2004 now starts out matching your computer's region.
• New: reads the month and year a lab printed on a print's white border (JUNE 1956, JUL · 57) when the file name has no date, or only the year.

Version 0.9.1 21 October 2026

• Lightroom Classic: after writing the dates (or undoing a run), Datewell now has Lightroom read the new dates from the files for you (Metadata > Read Metadata from Files). On a Mac, allow Lightroom under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility the first time.

Version 0.9.0 21 October 2026

• First version, for testing: sets each photo's Date taken from the date in its file name, in the Datewell app (Windows and Mac) or the Lightroom Classic plug-in.
• Reads phone and camera names (IMG_20190312_142310), year-month-day names with any separators, US or day-first dates, two-digit years, month names (July 4 1987), month-and-year and year-only names, the folder's name, and a custom pattern of your own.
• Always a preview first; nothing changes until you click Write dates. Each photo is read back to check the date, and every run can be undone.
• Writes the EXIF, XMP and IPTC date fields together; camera raw files get an .xmp sidecar. The pictures themselves are never re-saved.

Version 1.15.0 30 October 2026

New

• Find date stamps, a new task: Spoolwell finds every place the camcorder's date is on the screen and opens a page with the first and last dates, as close-ups, so you can read them without stepping through the tape frame by frame. It's also in Lightroom (Library > Plug-in Extras > Find Date Stamps). Your videos aren't changed.

Changed

• The update notice now sits at the top of the Windows dashboard, where you'll see it.

Version 1.14.4 30 October 2026

New

• Closing Spoolwell while a job runs now asks first, with Keep working or Quit anyway, so a slip of the mouse doesn't stop a long job. The same goes for Quit in the browser dashboard and the x on Lightroom's progress bar.

Version 1.14.3 30 October 2026

Fixed

• Minimizing the Windows dashboard sends it to the system tray again, instead of closing it.

Version 1.14.2 30 October 2026

New

• Trim blue screen also cuts the vertical lines and static a tape shows when the camera was stopped, at the start and end of a video and right next to a blue screen. Lines or static in the middle of a recording are left in.
• An Open logs folder button beside the console log, to look back at the last five runs.

Fixed

• Minimizing the Windows dashboard now really sends it to the system tray, instead of leaving a small title bar above the taskbar. The separate Minimize to Tray button is gone.
• In Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the Enter key button is no longer cut off on a Mac.

Version 1.14.1 30 October 2026

Changed

• In Lightroom, when only one video is selected while a folder is chosen, Spoolwell asks whether you meant every video in the folder (and the folders inside it), or just that one.

Version 1.14.0 29 October 2026

New

• A tidier dashboard, on Windows and in the browser. The tasks are a list on the left in three groups (Check, Make videos, Fix finished videos), and each task opens with its name and what it does.
• Recipes: save a task's choices under a name, such as Client VHS, and fill them all in again with one click. Both dashboards share them.
• Merge, trim and split keep the choices most jobs leave alone under More options, with a one-line summary of what is set. The console log stays folded until a job runs.

Version 1.13.13 28 October 2026

New

• Create an error log can now send the report to The Picture Org for you, from either dashboard or the Lightroom plug-in. You see exactly what is sent first, with your name, email and license key taken out, and nothing goes unless you click Send.

Version 1.13.12 28 October 2026

Changed

• On Windows, Spoolwell now opens as one window: no PowerShell or terminal window sits beside it, so there is nothing extra to close by mistake. The Start menu and desktop icons start the new Spoolwell.exe, and older icons are updated the next time Spoolwell opens.

Version 1.13.11 27 October 2026

Fixed

• On Windows, the Spoolwell window now fits on a smaller screen and scrolls when you make it shorter, so every option can be reached. The break-point player fits the screen too.

Version 1.13.10 27 October 2026

New

• Sound: when you trim, merge or split, you can make the sound louder by the amount you choose, with a limiter so nothing distorts, or as loud as it can go without clipping. Set Sound Level... plays a few seconds of the tape at that level so you can hear it first, and shows how much room there is.
• Reduce hiss: Light or Strong takes the steady hiss out of the tape’s sound, before the level is raised, so a louder copy doesn’t get louder hiss. The sound stays exactly in step with the picture.

Version 1.13.9 27 October 2026

New

• Leave the family name blank and the title card takes it from the folders the video is in: the project folder, or a folder with “family” in its name. If none is found, Spoolwell asks you to type one, or to go on without it.

Fixed

• A finished video is no longer lost when Windows won’t let it take its name at the end of a trim, split or merge (“Access to the path is denied”). Spoolwell waits and tries again, and if it still can’t, it keeps the video and tells you where it is.
• With black bars (and any full re-encode or merge), the work is done on your computer’s own drive and only the finished video is copied to a server or network folder, so it is faster and lighter on the network.

Version 1.13.8 27 October 2026

New

• Black bars: when you trim, merge or split, you can cover a ragged edge at the top or bottom of an old tape’s picture with black. The picture keeps its size and shape. Set Black Bars... opens a frame of the tape with two lines you drag over the edges, and Show Sample shows the finished look before anything is made.

Version 1.13.7 27 October 2026

New

• When you trim, merge or split, you can type the title card’s title and second line before the video is made: Title Text and Second Line. Leave them blank for the title from the file name, as before.
• Show Title Sample fills those boxes in for a single tape, so you can fix a word and look again, and its window has a Looks right button that starts the job.

Version 1.13.6 27 October 2026

New

• Trim blue screen also cuts the silent black at the very start and end of a tape, along with any blue next to it. Black in the middle of a tape, such as a fade between scenes, is kept, and so is black with sound under it. It is on by default: Cut silent black at the start and end.

Changed

• When a job makes nothing because its video is already there, Spoolwell says so, instead of just finishing. Tick Replace existing to make it again.

Version 1.13.5 26 October 2026

New

• Set a video's date: a new tile for a video that was given the wrong date. Type the right date (and the time, if you know it) and the video gets it, without re-encoding.

Fixed

• The dashboard opens again: in 1.13.3 it closed as soon as it started.

Changed

• Install Update names any other Spoolwell window that is still open and offers to close it for you.
• The Update ffmpeg tile is gone: new ffmpeg and PowerShell versions now come with a Spoolwell version they were tested with.
• Two tiles have clearer names: Merge DV video files by day, and Video details inventory (it was Storage manifest).
• The toolbox is now called the Spoolwell™ Video Finishing Toolbox. Only the name changed.

Version 1.13.3 26 October 2026

Changed

• Checks for a newer version every time it opens, not once a day. In Lightroom, the first Spoolwell command after Lightroom starts checks too.

Version 1.13.2 26 October 2026

New

• Show Title Sample: see the title card or overlay of the first videos exactly as it will look, before anything is made. It works in Merge by day, Trim blue screen, Split a video and Fix a title, and an overlay is shown over a frame of your own video.
• A job whose output folder can't be written to (a read-only folder, or a locked studio project) stops before any work and says so, instead of failing when the video is saved.

Changed

• The dashboards show each task as a tile with a plain name, such as Check videos, Merge by day or Trim blue screen, instead of a list of script names.
• Scans skip snapshot and recycle folders, and names that differ only in case, such as -Final and -final, count as the same name.
• Auto-Move now puts a broken video in an _On Hold folder beside it (it was called failed), so it stands out and someone goes to look. Videos in an old failed folder are still skipped.
• On a studio ZFS server, a running job tells the server so the project isn't sent or archived halfway through, and large working files stay on your computer, and nothing is made directly in the folder that holds the projects. Nothing changes on other drives or networks.

Version 1.12.9 26 October 2026

Changed

• Blue that runs to the end of a tape is cut even when there is sound under it, such as tape hiss. Blue in the middle of a tape is still only cut when it is silent.

Fixed

• An Output Folder typed as just a name, such as “2007-03-10 - Piercing Truth”, is made inside the folder you’re working on. Before, the job failed with “Access to the path is denied”.

Version 1.12.8 26 October 2026

Fixed

• Install Update in the Windows dashboard works after you’ve run a job. Before, it did nothing.
• If you run Setup while the toolbox is open, Setup asks you to close it, instead of stopping on a file in use.

Version 1.12.7 26 October 2026

Fixed

• Trimming the blue screen with a title card keeps the sound in step with the picture. Before, some players started the sound while the card showed and rushed the start of the video to catch up.
• Captures whose picture starts a moment after their sound are trimmed in sync, and blue at their very start is cut.

Version 1.12.6 25 October 2026

Changed

• The User Guide has a new order: what Spoolwell is and a Quick start come first, then one section for each job (check, merge, trim, split, titles, AAC, storage manifest, Lightroom), then the reference. The version history is now an appendix at the end.
• The Cheat Sheet points at the User Guide’s sections by name.

Version 1.12.5 25 October 2026

New

• A User Guide button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager, and the dashboards’ User Guide, open the guide on thepictureorg.com, or the copy that came with Spoolwell when you’re offline.
• A new Other -well tools button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager and in the dashboards opens the Tools page with every Picture Org tool.
• When a job finishes, Spoolwell now says how long it took, in the dashboard and in Lightroom.

Changed

• The website button in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager now says Spoolwell home page and opens Spoolwell’s own page.
• The Updates box in Lightroom’s Plug-in Manager now looks like the other Picture Org plug-ins, with Spoolwell’s toolbox details below it.

Version 1.12.4 24 October 2026

New

• Update from Lightroom: the plug-in checks for a new version once a day and offers it before a command (Install update, Not now, Skip this version). File > Plug-in Manager > tpo: Spoolwell™ has Check now, Install update, Download installer and What’s new. Install update is the same signed update, or full installer, as the dashboard’s Install Update. Restart Lightroom afterwards.

Version 1.12.3 24 October 2026

Fixed

• The Lightroom plug-in no longer stops with an “attempt to call field ‘getenv’” error on Windows.

Changed

• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as “tpo: Spoolwell™” so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.

Version 1.12.2 24 October 2026

Changed

• With Use GPU on, the merge tool, the blue-screen tool’s exact edges and Find Scene Changes in the split player also decode on the graphics card, which can be faster for MP4, MOV and MPEG-2. Every frame comes out the same as before. DV (MiniDV) gets no gain: graphics cards can’t decode DV, so it stays on the CPU.
• Install Update now works on a Mac too, and for a version that comes with a new PowerShell or ffmpeg: it downloads the full installer, checks that it is signed by The Picture Org and starts it. Your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are kept.
• Update-Toolbox now says plainly that it installs the newest ffmpeg and PowerShell from their own sites, not the versions Spoolwell was tested with.

Version 1.12.1 24 October 2026

Changed

• Faster start: the Windows dashboard window opens sooner, and in Lightroom each Spoolwell command shows its dialog sooner. Nothing changes in the videos the tools make.

Version 1.12.0 24 October 2026

New

• A Lightroom Classic plug-in. Select videos in Lightroom, then choose Library > Plug-in Extras: Check Videos for Problems, Merge Clips by Date, Trim Blue Screen, Split at Blue Screens, Convert Sound to AAC, Mark Breaks and Split (Windows) or Make a Storage Manifest. It runs the same tools with the same settings as the dashboard, so the videos come out exactly the same. New videos are added to your catalog and selected; the check fills in Spoolwell fields in the Metadata panel and marks videos with a problem with a keyword that is never exported. Lightroom’s progress bar shows the file it is on, and Cancel stops the tool.
• Setup and the Mac installer add the plug-in to Lightroom for you, and updates keep it current. It uses the same license key and free trial as the dashboard; File > Plug-in Manager > Spoolwell shows the license and which toolbox it uses.
• Spoolwell: Create an error log in Lightroom’s Plug-in Extras menu saves the same error log as the dashboard’s Settings button.

Changed

• US spelling throughout: “color” in the dashboards, the User Guide and the Cheat Sheet.

Version 1.11.16 23 October 2026

New

• Install Update (Windows): when a newer version is out, the update bar has an Install Update button. It downloads the update, checks that it is signed by The Picture Org, puts it in and starts the dashboard again. Your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are kept, the previous version is kept as a backup, and it starts only when no task is running. On a Mac, Download works as before.

Changed

• The corruption and sync check reads each file's details in one pass, so a big folder is checked faster. The results are the same.
• Merge reads its clips' details several at a time, about twice as fast before the merging starts. The merged videos are the same.
• The trial and license messages use each app's full name.

Fixed

• Merge: clips in a folder whose name starts like the output folder's (for example "card" for the output and "cardsrc" for the clips) are no longer left out.
• A file that could not be swapped in or moved aside is now reported as a failure instead of as done.
• Problems that used to be passed over without a word are now written to the log, to make support easier.

Version 1.11.15 23 October 2026

Changed

• Setup now installs in a ThePictureOrg folder (C:\Program Files\ThePictureOrg\Spoolwell, or in your own account when it's only for you) and moves an older install there by itself, with new Start menu and desktop icons. Your settings, Reports, Logs and license key stay where they are. If the toolbox is running, Setup asks you to close it first.
• On a Mac the app is now in Applications > ThePictureOrg. If you kept the app in the Dock, drag it in again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.
• Settings now shows the Spoolwell icon beside its description, and the License section is now last.
• Once a license is entered, the License section says thank you.
• A license covers one person on up to 2 computers.
• The downloads have new names: ThePictureOrg-Spoolwell-Setup, -Standalone and -Mac, followed by the version.
• Setup has a new picture on its first page.
• The User Guide now says you can type or paste a folder path into the Target Media and Output Folder boxes (and use Cmd-Shift-G in the Mac chooser).

Version 1.11.14 18 October 2026

Changed

• New name: Spoolwell™ Video Preservation Toolbox. The Start menu folder, desktop icon and Mac app are now called Spoolwell Video Toolbox, and Setup and the Mac installer remove the old ones. The tools and buttons, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are unchanged.

Version 1.11.13 18 October 2026

Changed

• A name of its own: the toolbox moved to a new product name, by The Picture Org(anizer). The Start menu folder, desktop icon and Mac app were renamed to match (Setup and the Mac installer remove the old ones). The tools and buttons, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are unchanged.

Version 1.11.12 17 October 2026

Fixed

• The desktop shortcut now shows the new app icon (it kept the old picture, while the Start menu showed the new one). Open the toolbox once after updating and the shortcut is updated.

Version 1.11.11 16 October 2026

Added

• Create an error log: if something isn’t working, open Settings and click Create an error log. It saves one text file on your Desktop with the versions, your settings (no license key or folder names), the end of each log and the newest Report, ready to email to us. Nothing is sent by itself.
• A new app icon: a VHS tape whose reels are the lenses of our logo’s camera, on the Start menu, desktop, taskbar and Mac apps.
• The console logs of the last 5 runs are kept, not only the latest.

Version 1.11.10 16 October 2026

Changed

• Logs and Reports no longer grow without end. Each time the toolbox opens, a log longer than 2000 lines keeps its newest 2000, and the Reports folder keeps the newest 50 Reports of each kind; older ones are deleted. Nothing else in your files is touched.

Version 1.11.9 16 October 2026

Changed

• Smart cut (Remove Blue Screen, Replace Title): the re-encoded pieces now carry exactly the same H.264 settings as the untouched parts, checked on the first piece, so every player sees one consistent video. Captures whose frame rate varies (dropped frames) are re-encoded whole instead, so the sound can’t drift; the reason shows in the log and report. Sound in any format, PCM captures included, now rides along the smart cut instead of quietly falling back to a full re-encode. Frame counts are checked exactly and lengths to within two frames. New “StrictHeaders” option for a player that is fussy about headers.
• Merge Videos by Date: a DV clip whose sound runs a little faster or slower than its picture (“unlocked” audio) now has its sound gently stretched to the picture’s length, so the two stay together to the end; the log says by how much, and “NoAudioStretch” turns it off. One high-quality scaling step instead of two, color tags for PAL, NTSC and HD, and an exact frame rate. Picture and sound lengths are compared on every output.
• Test MP4 Integrity: the sync check compares where picture and sound start and end, in milliseconds, allowing one frame plus 50 ms (it used to allow half a second on total length).
• Split Video at Marks passes Preset, Audio Bitrate, Fade Seconds, Min Part Seconds and StrictHeaders on to the cutter, so joined parts match; the break-point record is kept only when parts were made.
• Convert Audio to AAC: the audio bitrate can be typed as 256k, 256 or 256000.
• The blue-screen scan is quicker.
• Dashboards: the log no longer slows the desktop dashboard on long runs; accented file names show correctly in the browser log; cancelling no longer freezes the window while ffmpeg stops; a part name with a semicolon stays one name; a second browser tab no longer loses log lines; a missing ffprobe no longer wipes the last report.
• Trial: a signed trial extension is honoured even when this computer’s clock was once wrong.
• Updates: new ffmpeg files are swapped in only once both are downloaded, so a failed download never leaves half an update, and Setup clears out any PowerShell an earlier update left half-installed.

Added

• A tests folder with a self-check that makes its own test clips and checks every tool’s output for frame counts, sync and untouched frames, plus a tool to compare graphics-card encoders with the CPU encoder on your own clip.

Version 1.11.8 15 October 2026

Changed

• Mac: the toolbox is now signed by The Picture Org and checked by Apple, so macOS opens it without the “can’t check for malicious software” warning and without a trip to Privacy & Security. Install it with the new Install Video Toolbox app in the download (it replaces the Install and Uninstall .command files); there is an Uninstall Video Toolbox app too.
• Mac: Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates now only checks, because the signed app isn’t changed after it is installed. Each new Mac package brings current versions.

Version 1.11.7 14 October 2026

Added

• Replace a title: a new tool fixes the title card or title overlay at the start of a finished video, to correct a spelling or add a line that was missed, without redoing the whole video. Only the first few seconds are redrawn; the rest of the picture and all of the sound are copied untouched, so nothing drifts out of sync. The original is kept in an “Old titles” folder until you are happy. Choose “Replace-VideoTitle” in either dashboard and click Preview Titles first to see what would change.
• Videos made from this version on remember their title text inside the file, so a later fix finds it right away.

Changed

• Everyone gets a fresh 21-day free trial, once: the first time this version starts, the trial begins again from day 1, even if an earlier one had run out. A license key you have entered isn’t affected.

Version 1.11.6 12 October 2026

Added

• New videos now end with “-Final”, so the finished copy is easy to tell from the captures it came from: for example Tape 3-Final.mp4, Tape 3 - Part 01-Final.mp4 or Tape 3 - Edited-Final.mp4. This applies to the merge, blue-screen, split and AAC tools.
• Change the word or turn the ending off in Settings > File Names. Your originals are never renamed, and videos you made earlier without the ending aren’t made again.

Version 1.11.5 12 October 2026

Security

• Security fixes throughout the toolbox. Nothing changes in how you use it.
• The browser dashboard only accepts a real picture file as the studio logo, and keeps its private address from being passed to websites you open from it.
• File names with quotes, brackets or other unusual characters are handled safely in title text and the blue screen tool.
• Windows: the Setup program only ever removes the toolbox's own files, and updating ffmpeg checks downloads more strictly.

Version 1.11.4 11 October 2026

Changed

• The Media Preservation Toolbox is now the Video Preservation Toolbox. Only the name has changed: the tools, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key stay as they are, and it installs in the same folder.
• Windows: the Start menu folder and desktop icon are now called Video Toolbox, and the Setup removes the old Media Toolbox ones. Mac: the app is now Video Toolbox.app, and the installer removes the old Media Toolbox.app.

Version 1.11.3 11 October 2026

Added

• The toolbox now tells you when a newer version is out. At most once a day, when the dashboard opens, it reads the short list of current version numbers from our download service; nothing about you, your files, your license key or your computer is sent. When a newer version is out, a bar above the console offers Download, What's New, Not Now and Skip This Version. Nothing is downloaded or installed by itself.
• Settings has a new Updates row: the version you have, Check Now, and a tickbox to turn the daily check off.

Docs

• User Guide section 22 (New versions of the toolbox), README and Cheat Sheet.

Scripts: new ToolboxUpdateCheck.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.11.2 11 October 2026

Changed

• Updates within the major version are now called complimentary updates in the license and the guides: a license for version 1 covers every 1.x version.
• Buy a license now opens the Tools page on our website, where both tools are sold.

Fixed

• Opening two dashboard windows at the same moment on the first day could show the trial as expired. The trial date is now saved in one step, so this no longer happens.

Scripts: PictureOrgLicense 1.0.1.

Version 1.11.1 11 October 2026

Changed

• The Setup program asks who will use the toolbox. "Anyone who uses this computer" (the default) installs it in C:\Program Files\The Picture Org\Media Toolbox, like other Windows programs, with Start menu and desktop icons for every account; Windows asks for an administrator's permission. "Only for me" installs in your own account as before, with no permission needed.
• Your own files are no longer kept in the toolbox's folder. Settings, studio branding, Reports and Logs are kept in your own account: %LOCALAPPDATA%\PictureOrg\MediaToolbox on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/PictureOrg/MediaToolbox on a Mac. Each person who uses the computer has their own, and installing, updating or uninstalling leaves them alone. The first time 1.11.1 opens it copies these files from where earlier versions kept them; the originals are left where they were, so nothing is lost. Settings in both dashboards shows the folder under "Your Files", with an Open Folder button, and the Start menu has "My Reports and Logs".
• If an earlier version is installed only for you and you now install for everyone, Setup removes the old copy's Start menu and desktop icons, so there aren't two, and offers to remove its program files, keeping your settings, branding, Reports and Logs.
• Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates, with the toolbox installed for everyone: checking works as before; installing asks Windows for an administrator's permission and shows its progress as usual. If permission is refused, nothing is changed and the log says why. A downloaded PowerShell is switched in at the next start, after a short message and one more permission prompt.
• Mac: the package is now an app, Media Toolbox.app, with "Install Media Toolbox.command" (copies it into Applications and clears the download mark) and "Uninstall Media Toolbox.command" (removes the app and keeps your files and license key). The app starts the browser dashboard without a Terminal window; the dashboard stops by itself 10 minutes after its last page is closed, when nothing is running.

Docs

• README, User Guide (where your files are kept, installing for everyone or only for you, the Mac app, updating) and Cheat Sheet.

Scripts: Update-Toolbox 1.1.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.9, Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.2, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.9; new ToolboxPaths.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.11.0 11 October 2026

Added

• A 21-day free trial with every feature, then a license key. The donation link at the bottom of both dashboards is replaced by the license area: the days left in the trial (or "Licensed to" and your name), Buy a license, Enter key... and, once licensed, Remove license from this computer (it asks first, and says when a bundle key also comes off Auto Crop & Straighten). Keys are checked on the computer itself; nothing is sent anywhere. They are kept in your user account, so they survive upgrades. One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, and updates are complimentary within the major version.
• For 7 days after the trial the toolbox keeps working, and a reminder with Buy a license and the key box opens each time the dashboard opens. After that the dashboard still opens and the license area works, but Execute Task, the player, the preview copy and the scene search ask for a key first. Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates always runs.
• Run from the command line, the tool scripts check too: after the trial they print the reason and stop with exit code 9 before doing anything; during the reminder days they print a warning and carry on.

Changed

• LICENSE.txt is now a paid license (21-day trial, then a license key; one person on up to 2 computers; updates complimentary within the major version). The copyright, no-modification and third-party terms are as before.

Docs

• README, User Guide (new section 21, Trial and license key), Cheat Sheet and Design Document.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.8, Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.1, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.2, Convert-AudioToAac 1.0.1, Test-Mp4Integrity 1.3.3, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.5, Set-MergedVideoDate 1.0.2, Sync-MediaManifest 1.3.2, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.8; new PictureOrgLicense.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.10.15 10 October 2026

Fixed

• A PowerShell process could still be left behind after closing the dashboard (reported after 1.10.14). The dashboard, the player window and the browser dashboard now end their own process outright once settings are saved and jobs stopped, instead of asking PowerShell to quit (which can wait on shutdown handlers). The player leaves its result for the dashboard in a small file beside the break points.

Added

• Logs\dashboard_trace.log lists the other pwsh.exe processes running when the dashboard starts, with their command lines, so any left behind (by the toolbox or another program) can be traced.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.7.

Version 1.10.14 10 October 2026

Fixed

• Closing the dashboard, the player window or the browser dashboard could leave a hidden PowerShell (pwsh.exe) running, and they added up each time the toolbox was opened and closed. PowerShell waits for every leftover thread before it quits (Windows' video playback or a job that is still stopping can leave one), so each one now ends its process outright once it has saved its settings and stopped its jobs.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.6.

Version 1.10.13 10 October 2026

Added

• Mac package, MediaToolbox-Mac-1.10.13.zip: the toolbox with its own PowerShell 7.6 and ffmpeg 9 for Apple silicon Macs, so nothing needs installing. Double-click Launch.command; the first time, allow it under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway (the toolbox isn't registered with Apple). Intel Macs use PowerShell and ffmpeg from Homebrew, as before.

Fixed

• Split with Join: kept parts that follow each other (nothing skipped between them) now run on with no fade. Before, every break between two kept parts got a fade, even where nothing was cut.
• The Windows dashboard now deletes player preview copies and scene scans older than a week from the temp folder, as the browser dashboard already did (they piled up when only the Windows dashboard was used).
• Browser dashboard: Find Scene Changes falls back to Fewer, the default, rather than Normal.

Docs

• README, User Guide (sections 1, 2, 13, 14, 17 and others) and Cheat Sheet: the Mac package, the Setup program for upgrading and uninstalling, the Reports and Logs folders, the full folder layout and the AAC tool.
• Script help, tooltips and code comments checked against the code and brought up to date (dashboard versions, report names, log paths, the Output Folder tooltip per tool, player parameters and exit codes).

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.7, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.1, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.4, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.5, Update-Toolbox 1.0.1.

Version 1.10.12 9 October 2026

Added

• Windows Setup program, MediaToolbox-Setup-1.10.12.exe, as an easier alternative to the zip. Installs for the current Windows account without administrator rights (in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Picture Org Media Toolbox), with Start menu shortcuts, an optional desktop icon, and an entry in Settings > Apps. Installing a newer version over an older one keeps settings, studio branding, Reports and Logs; uninstalling keeps them too unless asked.
• The dashboard doesn't offer to make a desktop shortcut when it was installed with the Setup program.

Version 1.10.11 9 October 2026

Added

• Split player (both): a Result line under the parts list says exactly what the split will make before you run it: each file and its name with the times it covers, the stretches left out, or, with Join ticked, the one joined video and its length. The Windows dashboard tells the player whether Join is ticked.

Docs

• User Guide section 19 starts with "How parts are made, skipped and joined": six plain rules (a part runs from its break to the next; skipped parts are removed; every kept part is its own file, named or not; delete a break to merge two parts; Join makes one video; nothing is made until Execute Task) and a worked newscast example. Cheat sheet updated to match.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.4.

Version 1.10.10 9 October 2026

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer now suggests a few more breaks than it first did (changes of 12 and up; it was 15 before 1.10.9 and 25 in 1.10.9). Normal (8) and More (5) are unchanged.

Scripts: Find-SceneChanges 1.0.3.

Version 1.10.9 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows split player: the Frame buttons (and Left / Right) went to the start of the video. The position is now noted before pausing and kept by the player while paused, instead of being read back from Windows' player, which can report 0 just after pausing. If the two disagree, Logs\dashboard_trace.log says so.
• Windows split player: after clicking the slider or the picture, the arrow keys could stop working (keyboard focus went nowhere). Clicking anywhere but a text box now gives the keys back to the player; Esc leaves a text box. Browser player: ticking Keep no longer takes the keys away.

Added

• Start and End buttons at the two ends of the player's button row, and the Home / End keys, in both players.
• Windows player: each part's tooltip says where it runs, from its break to the next one.

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer is stricter (changes of 25 and up, was 15). Reversed in 1.10.10.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.3, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.2.

Version 1.10.8 9 October 2026

Added

• Split tool: keep only some parts. The Windows player's list now has a Start row (the part before the first break) and, on every row, a Keep tickbox and a name box, so you no longer have to type "skip" (the browser player already had these). Untick Keep to leave a part out, such as a blue screen or a commercial.
• Split tool: "Join the kept parts into one video" (-Join on the command line). Instead of a file per part, the parts you keep go into one video, "<name> - Edited.mp4", with a quick fade where a part was left out. Example: a newscast where you keep the segments before and after a commercial and drop the rest of the tape.

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer (sharpest changes only) is now the default, in both players and Find-SceneChanges.ps1.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.6, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.0, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.1, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.2.

Version 1.10.7 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Blue-screen tool missed short blue flashes in the middle of a tape. A flash of blue can last only about half a second (flat blue, silent), and blue had to last at least 1 second to be cut. The shortest blue now cut is 0.3 s (-MinBlueSeconds). Blue that is still too short is now listed in the log as "[KEEP] Blue but shorter than ..." instead of being passed over silently.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.5.

Version 1.10.6 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows split player still closed while clicking through breaks. Its exit code (0x80131623) is WPF ending the program on an internal check, not the video decoder. The likely trigger: the break-point text box was selected, scrolled and unfocused from code while a click in it was still being handled. Now the breaks are shown in a separate list beside the text box (click one to go to it; the one shown is highlighted), and the text box is never changed from code during a click. Names typed after "# suggested" are tidied once you've left the box.
• Preview copy (after the player closed): the picture area now says the copy is being made, with a percentage and the time left, and the break list, markers and Find Scene Changes work while it is made. If the copy fails, ffmpeg's reason is shown and logged.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.1.

Version 1.10.5 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows dashboard: the whole dashboard could close while clicking through break points in the split player. The trace log showed the process ending with no error at all, which is Windows' video playback failing inside the player (no script can catch that). The player now runs as its own program (Show-BreakPlayer.ps1 1.0.0), so only the player closes. Its break points are saved as you go and come back to the dashboard either way. After such a close, the dashboard offers to reopen the player on the small preview copy, which Windows plays more reliably.
• While the player is open, Find / Mark Breaks... shows "Player is open...", and Execute Task for the split tool asks you to finish in the player first.

Version 1.10.4 9 October 2026

Changed

• CSV reports now go in a Reports folder and logs (dashboard_debug / _trace / _error, web_debug) in a Logs folder, both next to the scripts. On start, the dashboards move reports and logs left beside the scripts by earlier versions into these folders.

Fixed

• Windows split player: clicking quickly through the breaks (markers, list lines, N / P) could make the player stop working. Jumps are now spaced at least 150 ms apart; only the latest one is applied, so the frame shown still ends up on the last break clicked. Opening and closing the player is now written to the trace log, so a crash there can be told apart from one elsewhere.

Version 1.10.3 9 October 2026

Changed

• Both dashboards: Output Folder now sits right under Target Media (shown for the merge, blue-screen, split and AAC tools), and File Prefix sits under the Title / Family name row, next to the other naming choices.

Version 1.10.2 9 October 2026

New

• Settings button (top right, both dashboards). FFmpeg Binary and Studio Branding (studio name, title card color, logo) moved there from the main window, which now shows only what changes from job to job. Done or Esc goes back. If a job can't find ffmpeg, the Settings window opens by itself.
• Split tool: the player button is now "Find / Mark Breaks..." (was "Mark in Player..."), since it's also where the suggested breaks come from. When the player opens with no break points yet, Find Scene Changes starts by itself (Normal sensitivity); you can mark your own while it runs. The empty Break Points hint says the same.

Fixed

• File Prefix (and other fields) sometimes came back from a couple of runs ago. All windows of a dashboard share one settings file, and a second window, or one left minimized to the tray, wrote all of its older values back when it closed or changed anything. Each window now writes only the fields changed in it. The browser dashboard also saves each field as it changes, not only when a job starts.

Version 1.10.1 9 October 2026

New

• Split player, both dashboards: a row of markers under the slider / timeline, one per break (yellow = suggested, blue = yours, white = the break shown). Click one to go straight to that break.
• The break the frame shown belongs to is highlighted in the list, so after N, P or a click you can see which one you're on.
• Click a break in the list to go to it: a single click on its line (Windows; was a double-click) or anywhere on its row (browser). In Windows a click on the time also gives the keys back to the player.

Changed

• Windows player: a name typed after "# suggested 23" is moved in front of the note (it used to be read as part of the note and ignored), and Remove Suggestions no longer removes a suggestion that has been named that way.

Version 1.10.0 8 October 2026

New

• Convert-AudioToAac.ps1 (Convert-AudioToAac 1.0.0), in both dashboards: converts the sound in videos to AAC, whatever its format (PCM, FLAC, AC-3, MP2, MP3, ALAC, Opus, DTS ...). The picture is copied untouched; tracks already AAC are copied; files are not renamed (MP4, M4V and MOV keep their extension; AVI, MKV, MTS and the like become MP4, or MOV for DV). Each new file is checked before it is used: the picture must be identical (SHA-256 of every packet, or of every decoded frame for AVCHD), every sound track must decode cleanly, start in step with the picture and be as long as before, and a copy to another drive or the NAS must match by SHA-256. New files go into an AAC folder, or with "Replace the originals" each takes its original's place and the original is deleted, only after every check has passed (the dashboards ask first, and the option isn't remembered). Report: aac_report_*.csv. User Guide section 20; on the Cheat Sheet.

Fixed

• Browser dashboard: rows hidden for the update tool (such as the branding color) could still show.

Version 1.9.6 8 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows dashboard: the progress label said "% of this day" for every tool. It now says "of this file" for the blue-screen, split and other tools, and "of this day" only when merging.

Version 1.9.5 8 October 2026

New

• One-page Cheat Sheet (docs\Media-Toolbox-Cheat-Sheet.html and .pdf, letter size): starting the toolbox, the five steps of every job, which tool to use, the key options, file dates and names, player keys, checking suggested breaks, reports and logs, and common fixes. Linked from the top of the User Guide and the README.

Changed

• User Guide: the dashboard_trace.log description now matches 1.9.2 (keeps history, records jobs and crashes).

Version 1.9.4 8 October 2026

Changed

• Blue-screen and split tools: with File Prefix blank, the prefix comes from the family name, as for merging ("The Smith Family" gives "Smith_"). The family name is now passed whatever the Title setting; it is still shown only on a title card.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.4, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.3.

Version 1.9.3 8 October 2026

New

• File Prefix for the blue-screen and split tools (-Prefix), as for merging: "Smith" gives "Smith_1995-03-26.mp4" or "Smith_1995-03-26 - Part 01.mp4". Blank keeps the original name. The title card and the date still come from the original name.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.3, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.2.

Version 1.9.2 8 October 2026

Changed

• Windows dashboard: dashboard_trace.log now keeps earlier sessions (the newest 2000 lines) instead of starting empty each time, marks each line with the window's process number, and records when a job starts and ends. If the dashboard closes unexpectedly, the error that ended it (even one on a background thread) and the process exit are written there first, so the cause can be found after reopening.

Version 1.9.1 8 October 2026

Fixed

• Blue-screen and split tools: an unexpected error on one file (for example a file locked or removed on a network share, or a permission problem) stopped the whole batch. Now that file is marked FAIL in the log and the CSV report, with the error, and the batch carries on with the next file.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.2.

Version 1.9.0 8 October 2026

New

• Find Scene Changes (Find-SceneChanges 1.0.0), in the split tool's player in both dashboards: reads the whole video once and suggests a break wherever the picture changes suddenly (the camcorder stopped and started, or one recording taped over another). Suggestions land on exact frames and are marked "suggested" for you to check before splitting. Three settings: Fewer, Normal, More; changing it is instant after the first search. Camera flashes and brief dropouts in the middle of a scene are ignored; static between two recordings counts as one change, with the break on the first clean frame after it.
• Player: Break > and < Break (keys N and P) jump from break to break; Move Nearest Break Here (H) nudges a break that is a frame or two off; Remove Suggestions clears the ones you haven't named or moved.
• Break-point lines can carry a note after " #" (Find-SceneChanges writes "# suggested 23").

Fixed

• Windows player window: times were rounded to whole seconds, so frame stepping and Add Break Here would not have worked.

Scripts: Find-SceneChanges 1.0.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.1, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.1.

Version 1.8.0 8 October 2026

New

• Split a video at break points (Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.0): choose the new tool, pick a video, and scrub through it in a player (a window in the Windows dashboard, part of the page in the browser dashboard). Step frame by frame, add a break wherever a new video should start, name the parts, leave out the ones you don't want. Each part becomes its own MP4 ("<name> - 02 Birthday party.mp4") in a Split folder. Breaks land on the exact frame; with Smart cut only the frames up to the next keyframe are re-encoded, and the sound is cut at the same point.
• Videos the player can't play (DV AVI, MPEG-2) get a small preview copy to mark on, frame for frame the same as the original. The original is what gets split.
• Break points can also be typed or pasted (one per line, "00:12:30.5 Birthday party"; "skip" leaves a part out) or given on the command line, and are saved next to the parts as <name>.marks.txt.
• Blue-screen tool: "Split into separate videos at the blue screens" (-Split). Each stretch of picture between the blue screens becomes its own video ("<name> - Part 01.mp4"), cut like a join, with no fades. Moments shorter than 2 seconds between two blue screens are left out (-MinPartSeconds).
• Split parts are dated from the original's date plus the part's start time, so they sort in order. With a title card, each part gets one ("Part 2 of 5", or the part's name as the title).

Changed

• Blue-screen tool: a split, or several parts, share one copy pass of the source, so a long tape on a network share is still read only once.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.0, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.0.

Version 1.7.0 8 October 2026

New

• Title card or overlay for the merge and blue-screen tools (Title: No title / Title card / Overlay text). The card is 4 seconds before the video with the logo, family name, title, date and "Preserved by <studio>"; the sound is delayed by exactly the card's length, so sync is unchanged. The overlay shows the title and date at the lower left of the first 4 seconds. For the blue-screen tool the title comes from the file name; for merging it is the day's date.
• Family name (optional), shown on the title card.
• Merge: with File Prefix blank, the file prefix comes from the family name ("The Smith Family Archives" gives Smith_, "The Smith-Jones Family" gives Smith-Jones_).
• Studio Branding: studio name, card color and logo, saved in branding.json, so other studios can use the toolbox under their own name. The dashboards show the chosen logo too.
• Playfair Display bundled as the title font (or put your own in assets\fonts).
• Donationware license (LICENSE.txt): free to use, not to modify or resell. "Buy me lunch" link in both dashboards.
• README.txt (installing, upgrading, uninstalling) and this change log.

Changed

• New name: Picture Org Media Preservation Toolbox (was Media Automation Toolbox / Media Operations Dashboard).
• Copyright notices in every script and launcher; NOTICE.txt credits FFmpeg, PowerShell and Playfair Display, and the FFmpeg license text is included in bin.
• Bundled PowerShell updated to 7.6.6.
• User Guide: new introduction and requirements; Design Document brought up to date.

Fixed

• The Family name box could only be typed in when Title was set to Title card.

Scripts: Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.1.0.

Version 1.6.0 8 October 2026

New

• Update ffmpeg and PowerShell: "Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates" in the tool list (Update-Toolbox 1.0.0). Downloads are checked against their published checksums; the old versions are kept.
• Several dashboard windows can run jobs at the same time, each with its own log and reports.
• Merge: with Recursive Scan, each sub-folder is treated as its own tape with its own Merged folder.
• Time taken for each file or day, in the log and in a new Time column in the reports (the blue-screen report also breaks it down by step).
• Blue-screen tool: a date at the start of the file name (e.g. 1998-10-25 Halloween.mp4) is written into the output and onto its file dates. Files with no blue get a dated, untouched copy.

Changed

• Blue-screen tool is much faster on network drives: it reads only what it needs and writes the output once.
• Blue-screen edges are exact to the frame.

Scripts: Merge-VideosByDate 1.2.1, Remove-BlueScreen 1.0.4, Update-Toolbox 1.0.0.

Version 1.5.0 8 October 2026

New

• Trim Blue Screen tool (Remove-BlueScreen): removes the VCR blue screen from the start, end and middle of tape captures. Smart cut re-encodes only around each cut and copies the rest untouched; Full re-encode and Copy only are also available.
• Automatic GPU encoding (NVIDIA, Intel or AMD) when available, with the CPU as fallback.

Version 1.4.0 7-8 October 2026

New

• Merge by date tool (Merge-VideosByDate): one MP4 per recording day from AVI/DV captures, NTSC or PAL, dated from the day's first clip. Preview only is on by default.
• Set-MergedVideoDate (command line): dates MP4s that were merged in other software.

Fixed

• A DV clip with no aspect-ratio flag is treated as 4:3 instead of being squeezed.
• A clip that can't be read is left out with a warning; the rest of the day is still made.
• Tape dropout messages are summarised as one line per day.
• A prefix such as "Smith" gets an underscore, giving Smith_2001-12-01 17.08.25.mp4.
• Validator (Test-Mp4Integrity 1.3.2): the harmless "UDTA parsing failed" warning no longer fails a file.

Version 1.3.1 1 October 2026

Fixed

• Browser dashboard: the folder and file choosers open in front of the browser (macOS asks once for permission to control System Events). The Windows chooser got the same fix.

Version 1.3.0 1 October 2026

New

• Browser dashboard (MediaToolboxWeb.ps1) for macOS and Windows, alongside the Windows dashboard, with Launch.command (Mac) and Launch-Web.bat (Windows). It keeps its own settings file.

Version 1.2.2 1 October 2026

Changed

• macOS "._" metadata files are skipped instead of being reported as corrupt video.

Version 1.2.1 1 October 2026

New

• Version number shown in the bottom-right corner of the dashboard.

Version 1.2.0 1 October 2026

New

• User Guide button in the dashboard header, opening the guide from the docs folder.

Version 1.1.0 1 October 2026

New

• First launch asks whether to create a desktop shortcut (with a camera icon from the logo).

Changed

• "Auto-Move Corrupted Files to 'failed'" is ticked on first launch.

Version 1.0.0 1 October 2026

New

• Version numbers in the dashboard, the scripts and the documents.
• Optional logo at the top left of the dashboard (assets\logo.png), also used as the window icon.

Before 1.0.0 1 October 2026

The first day's work, reviewing and finishing the original scripts:

• Dashboard: fixed several bugs; Cancel stops only the ffmpeg it started; the window no longer freezes or errors while a job runs (updates go through a queue); "Deep Analysis" checkbox; settings saved between runs.
• Validator (Test-Mp4Integrity): fixed parse errors and logic bugs; safe with unusual file names; audio clipping detection; live progress lines with percentage and speed; black, freeze and silence findings written as readable lines and included in the CSV report; missing audio is a warning, not a failure.
• Storage manifest (Sync-MediaManifest): fixed frame rate, cover art, missing bitrate, number formats and totals.
• Packaging: bundled ffmpeg, ffprobe and PowerShell with Launch.bat; the dashboard falls back to the bundled ffmpeg and ffprobe and saves paths relative to its folder, so the folder can be moved.
• Troubleshooting: Launch-Debug.bat, dashboard_error.log and dashboard_trace.log.
• Documentation: User Guide, Design Document, and commented scripts with Get-Help.

Version 1.1.5 25 October 2026

• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as “tpo: Sweepwell™” so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• Lightroom: the first search after Lightroom starts no longer waits on a second check for a new version.
• American spelling in messages (“customized”).

Version 1.1.4 23 October 2026

• Faster on a Mac: looking for empty folders checks each file once instead of twice, which helps most on network drives. The same folders are found as before.
• Windows: a little less work per folder while looking. The same folders are found as before.

Version 1.1.3 23 October 2026

• Updates: Sweepwell now checks for a newer version once a day (only the version list is fetched). Install downloads the installer, checks that it is signed by The Picture Org, and opens it. In Lightroom, the Plug-in Manager has an Updates section with Check now; you can turn the daily check off.
• New "Create an error log": saves a text file on your Desktop to email to The Picture Org if something goes wrong (Lightroom: Library > Plug-in Extras; Windows: Start menu; Mac: when it asks "Clean another folder?").
• Windows: the folder window has an address bar, so you can type or paste a folder's path instead of clicking through the tree. Mac: press Cmd-Shift-G in the folder window to type a path.
• Sweepwell now installs in a ThePictureOrg folder (Windows: AppData\Local\Programs\ThePictureOrg\Sweepwell; Mac: Applications > ThePictureOrg). The earlier copy is replaced. If you kept the app in the Dock, drag it in again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.
• Download files are now named ThePictureOrg-Sweepwell-...
• The Plug-in Manager shows the Sweepwell icon beside its description, and Setup shows the Sweepwell pictures.

Version 1.1.2 22 October 2026

• Lightroom plug-in: fixed "An internal error has occurred. We can only wait from within a task" when finding empty folders in a catalog with more than a few dozen folders. Nothing was removed when it happened.
• Mac app: a progress window while it looks for empty folders and while it removes them, with a Stop button. Stopping keeps every folder not yet removed.
• Windows: Setup, the uninstaller and the cleaner script are now signed by The Picture Org LLC, so Windows shows our name as the publisher.

Version 1.1.1 18 October 2026

• Name update: Setup and the Mac installer replace the earlier shortcuts and app with Sweepwell ones; your logs and settings stay where they are.
• In Lightroom the commands now sit under a Sweepwell™ heading in Library > Plug-in Extras.

Version 1.1.0 18 October 2026

• New name: Sweepwell™ Empty Folder Cleaner (was Picture Org Empty Folder Cleaner).
• Windows Setup: installs for your account without administrator permission, with Start menu and desktop shortcuts, an optional File Explorer right-click entry, the optional Lightroom Classic plug-in, and an uninstaller in Settings > Apps. A zip is still available for anyone who'd rather not install anything.
• Mac version: "Install Sweepwell" adds the Sweepwell app and/or the Lightroom plug-in. Choose a folder, see the list, click Remove. Signed and notarized by The Picture Org LLC.
• Lightroom Classic plug-in (Windows and Mac): Library > Plug-in Extras > Sweepwell™ > Find empty folders finds folders with no photos in the catalog, removes the ones that are empty on disk too, and shows you each one so you can remove it from the catalog.
• New app icon: a folder and a broom.
• When installed with Setup, logs go to your account's app data folder instead of the program folder.
• Dragging a folder onto Launch.bat now asks the junk-file question and offers to clean another folder. The hidden Mac "Icon" file now counts as a junk file.
• Safer: Mac packages (Photos, Final Cut and iMovie libraries, disk images, apps) and folders meant to be empty (Syncthing's .stfolder, .git, lost+found) are left alone, recycle folders are recognized whatever the capitals, and each folder is checked once more right before it is removed.
• Windows: a desktop.ini that gives a folder a custom icon or name is not treated as junk, the log is written as each folder is removed, and the right-click entry works on a whole drive.
• Lightroom: a folder holding a link is kept, nested selections are listed once, and Cancel works while the catalog is searched. Setup asks you to close Lightroom Classic before adding the plug-in.

Version 1.0.0 8 October 2026

• First release. Previews the full list of empty folders, including folders that hold nothing but other empty folders, and asks before removing anything.
• Handles folder names with square brackets, such as "Smith [1998]".
• Lists each folder once, which keeps scans quick on network shares.
• Optional junk-file handling (Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, .DS_Store, ._ files).
• Leaves links, junctions, recycle bins and snapshot folders alone, and refuses system folders.

Version 1.6.14 27 October 2026

• Version numbers now start with 1: this is the version after 0.9.13. Your license key and complimentary updates carry on as before.
• The app now checks for a newer version every time it opens.
• Installing an update from the app now updates the Lightroom plug-in too, and the other way round.
• Moving the backs of photos into a Backs folder is now safer on network drives.

Version 0.9.13 26 October 2026

• Fixed: on Windows, Setup and the uninstaller now close Labelwell when it is open, so they no longer stop on a file that is in use.

Version 0.9.12 25 October 2026

• User Guide: rearranged so it starts with what Labelwell is and a quick start, then one section per job.
• New: in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, buttons open Labelwell's home page, the User Guide on our website (or the copy that comes with Labelwell when you're offline) and our other -well tools.
• New: Other -well tools in the app's menu opens our Tools page.
• Each finished job now says how long it took, in Lightroom and in the app.
• Fixed: in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the Labelwell icon no longer runs past the edge of the box.

Version 0.9.10 25 October 2026

• Faster: several photos are read at once, about 1.7 times as fast on a 4-core computer, with the same readings.
• Faster start: the first photo is read sooner, in Lightroom and in the app.
• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as “tpo: Labelwell™” so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• New: the User Guide now walks you through getting an API key for reading online, step by step.
• User Guide: the License, Updates and Help sections now match the other Picture Org apps.
• When an update needs a fresh install, Install update now downloads the installer, checks it and starts it for you.

Version 0.9.9 24 October 2026

• Fixed: on a Mac, a short line such as a date written on its own could be missed.

Version 0.9.8 24 October 2026

• When you check captions, the back of each photo is shown larger and the front smaller, so the writing on the back is easier to read.
• Fixed: the writing on a back could come out last line first.
• Fixed: handwriting could come out as letters of another alphabet (it looked like Russian).
• A word read as a jumble of capital and small letters now comes out in small letters, ready for you to correct.

Version 0.9.7 23 October 2026

• Labelwell now shares its license, update and setup code with the other Picture Org apps.
• Fixed: the reminder after an update now names Labelwell's own Read captions command.
• On Windows, the app's shortcuts now show the new icon after an in-app update.

Version 0.9.6 23 October 2026

• Fixed: if the reader could not start, Lightroom could wait forever; it now says what went wrong.
• Small reliability and privacy fixes in the app and in saving your API key on a Mac.

Version 0.9.5 23 October 2026

• Faster reading of album pages with several labels.
• A new app icon.

Version 0.9.4 23 October 2026

• Fixed: Enter API key... in the Plug-in Manager now opens the box to paste your key.
• Fixed: on some Windows computers, Choose a folder and Choose photos in the app did nothing.
• Steadier progress reporting on Windows while Labelwell reads.

Version 0.9.3 22 October 2026

• New: the Labelwell app, which reads captions without Lightroom Classic and saves them into the photo files themselves. Check and correct every caption before it is saved, and undo a run later if you need to. Setup lets you install the Lightroom plug-in, the app, or both.
• New: copy a caption to nearby photos. In Lightroom, Library > Plug-in Extras > Labelwell: Copy caption to selected photos; in the app, Copy to... under any caption.
• New: read hard handwriting online with your own Claude, OpenAI or Google Gemini API key, only when your computer isn't sure. Only label slips and photo backs are sent, never the photos.
• Labelwell now checks for updates and can install them from inside Lightroom (File > Plug-in Manager).
• New: Check my setup in the Plug-in Manager, and Library > Plug-in Extras > Labelwell: Create an error log.

Version 0.9.2 22 October 2026

• Writing that is sideways or upside down is now read too.
• Label slip copies get the keyword "Labelwell > Label slip", so you can remove them when a project is done.
• In Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the License section is now last, just above Status, and it says thank you once a license is entered. The panel now shows the Labelwell™ icon beside its description.
• The Windows Setup now shows the Labelwell picture.

Version 0.9.1 22 October 2026

• New: Read captions from photo backs (Library > Plug-in Extras). Scan each print's front, then its back (or a note or scrap of paper that belongs to it), and Labelwell puts the writing from each back on its front. Backs get the keyword "Labelwell > Back of photo".
• New: check and correct every caption before it is saved. Labelwell shows each photo with the caption it read; fix any typos, or clear a box to leave that photo as it is.
• The Labelwell keywords are never included when you export photos, even if you made them yourself.

Version 0.9.0 22 October 2026

• First release. Labelwell™ reads the writing on album label slips and on print borders into each photo's Caption in Lightroom Classic (Library > Plug-in Extras > Read captions...).
• Every caption it writes is a draft, marked with the keyword "Labelwell > Check caption" so you can find, check and correct them in one place. Captions you have already written are kept unless you choose to replace them.
• Works from Lightroom's crop: run Squarewell™ on album pages first, and the writing on each label also goes onto the print beside it. Single prints cropped by hand work too.
• Reads on your own computer: Apple's built-in text reader on a Mac, RapidOCR on Windows. Your photos are not uploaded anywhere.
• Windows Setup installs for your account without administrator permission; the Mac installer adds the plug-in to Lightroom Classic.
• 21-day free trial, then a license key.

Version 0.9.25 26 October 2026

• Windows: the Setup program and the uninstaller now close a running Matchwell app first, so installing an update no longer fails on files in use.

Version 0.9.24 25 October 2026

• The User Guide is reorganized: it starts with what Matchwell is and a Quick start, then a section for each job (cleaning up a folder, Lightroom, how alike, moving the kept copy, continuing a review).

Version 0.9.23 25 October 2026

• Each group can move its kept copy after the merge: to the folder of one of its duplicates, or to another folder you choose. It is optional and set group by group; nothing moves unless you choose.
• If a rejected duplicate there has the same name, it is renamed "name (2)" so the kept copy takes its place. Undo moves everything back.
• Lightroom: the moved photo keeps everything the catalog had for it, using the same file moving as Sortwell.
• App: each copy shows the whole path of its folder.

Version 0.9.22 25 October 2026

• Lightroom: the pictures' previews are fetched in the background, for the first list while the groups are read and for the next and previous lists while you look at one, so the lists open quicker.
• Lightroom: a line under the list says that Merge does the groups you have looked at, and asks before doing the rest.

Version 0.9.21 25 October 2026

• Lightroom: each copy is a row of its own, with the whole path of its folder beside the picture.
• Lightroom: a notice shows while the groups are drawn again (Smaller, Larger, Next and the other buttons).
• Lightroom: every group in a long list now draws, however large the pictures.
• The Plug-in Manager's buttons sit on two rows, inside the box.

Version 0.9.20 25 October 2026

• When a merge or an undo finishes, the message says how long it took (in Lightroom and in the app).

Version 0.9.19 25 October 2026

• Lightroom: each copy shows the folder it is in, under its name.
• Lightroom: opening a saved review, and reading the groups after a scan, show their progress, with Cancel.
• Lightroom: the long list comes in lists of 50 groups (More / Fewer per list sets 25 to 200), with Previous and Next, so very large results open quickly and the buttons under the list always show.

Version 0.9.18 25 October 2026

• How alike is now five buttons, one per level, each with its description, instead of a slider (in Lightroom and in the app).

Version 0.9.17 25 October 2026

• Lightroom: the long list holds every matched group, not 40 at a time.

Version 0.9.16 25 October 2026

• One long list: the matched groups come in a list you scroll up and down, instead of a screenful at a time. The Screens button switches back, and Matchwell remembers your choice.
• An "Other -well tools" button in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, and in the app's Menu, opens The Picture Org's tools page.

Version 0.9.15 25 October 2026

• Lightroom's Plug-in Manager has a "Matchwell home page" button for Matchwell's own page and a "User Guide" button for the guide on the web (the copy that comes with Matchwell opens when you're offline).
• In the app, Menu > User Guide opens the guide on the web, or the copy that comes with Matchwell when you're offline.

Version 0.9.14 24 October 2026

• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as "tpo: Matchwell™" so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• Lightroom: Look closer keeps the copy you are leaving on screen until the next one is drawn, to stop the flash when switching.
• "Take out" is now "Not a duplicate": the copy leaves its group and its file is left alone.
• Same shot, any version (the loosest level) now also checks the fine detail, so different scenes with a similar layout, like a bright sky over dark ground, are no longer grouped.
• The buttons you use all the time are together at the bottom: These are duplicates under each group's pictures, and Previous, Next and the size buttons by Merge.

Version 0.9.13 24 October 2026

• Lightroom: Look closer switches between the copies in place, with much less flash, so differences are easier to spot.
• Take out: when only some copies in a group are duplicates, take the others out. Two or more taken out make a group of their own, and the review remembers it.
• A group you untick leaves the review when you move on, with nothing changed and no merge needed.
• Each copy shows its Date taken next to its name and size.
• Lightroom: every metadata choice (color label, rating, title and the rest) is a row of buttons, like Date taken.

Version 0.9.12 24 October 2026

• Bigger pictures for checking the groups. In Lightroom, two larger sizes, up to twice the old largest, and a "Look closer" button under each copy. It shows the copy as large as your screen allows, with Previous copy and Next copy to flip between the copies in the same place, and Keep this one.
• The app: the Size slider goes twice as large. Click a picture to see that copy as large as the window, use the left and right arrow keys to swap between the copies, and the up and down arrow keys for the next group. Side by side still shows them all at once.

Version 0.9.11 24 October 2026

• Continue a review: photos added since the scan are found, and Matchwell offers to add them. Only the new photos are read, and the choices you've made are kept.
• Lightroom: copies already set aside by a merge (keyword Matchwell > Duplicate) are left out of later scans, so they aren't grouped again before you delete them.
• The app: a continued review no longer shows groups you never opened as "Left out".
• Updates can now include Matchwell's built-in tools when they change.

Version 0.9.10 24 October 2026

• Lightroom: Matchwell starts faster, and "Matchwell: starting" shows at the top of Lightroom right away. Large catalogs on a network drive no longer pause before the scan begins.
• Lightroom: more groups on each review screen, plus "More per screen" and "Fewer per screen" buttons. Matchwell remembers your choice.
• Lightroom: the Date taken choices are listed with a button beside each one, instead of a drop-down list.
• The app opens its window sooner: the comparison tools load in the background.
• User Guide: new Updates section; License and Help sections now match the other Picture Org apps.

Version 0.9.9 24 October 2026

• Lightroom: fixes an error when the review was saved ("attempt to call field 'rename'").
• Lightroom: "Matchwell: starting" shows at the top of Lightroom as soon as you choose Find duplicate photos, so you know it's on its way.

Version 0.9.8 23 October 2026

• Your review is saved as you go. Close it part way and Matchwell offers to continue where you left off, with your choices kept. In Lightroom there is one saved review for each catalog; in the app, one for each set of folders.
• Merge only the groups you have looked at: the rest are kept for later.
• If a photo has changed since the scan, its group is ticked off so you can check it again.
• A scan timer: the review shows how long the scan took, step by step.
• The deep search is much faster on network drives (a NAS) and USB thumb drives: each photo is read only once, and fewer at a time. Matches are exactly the same.
• During the deep search, the progress line says "photo pairs compared", so the count makes sense.
• Lightroom with more than one screen: the review now fits on any of your screens, instead of running across them.

Version 0.9.7 23 October 2026

• The groups now fill your screen with no scrolling: as many as fit, side by side where there's room. Previous and Next (or the left and right arrow keys in the app) move to the next screenful.
• You choose which keywords and people go onto the kept copy: each one from the other copies is listed with a tick, so untick any you don't want.
• Lightroom: when the copies have different dates taken, you choose which date the kept copy gets. Matchwell has Lightroom save the kept copy's metadata, writes the date into the file (or its .xmp sidecar), and has Lightroom read it back. Undo puts the old date back.

Version 0.9.6 23 October 2026

• Windows: after an in-app update, the app's Start menu and Desktop shortcuts change to the new Matchwell icon.
• Lightroom: the reminder after an update now says to run Find duplicate photos again.
• License messages now give the full product name, Matchwell Photo Deduplicator.
• Behind the scenes: Matchwell now shares its license, update and app code with the other Picture Org tools, so a fix in one reaches them all. Matches are exactly the same.

Version 0.9.5 23 October 2026

• New choice under What happens: when the holding folder is on another drive, Matchwell can check every copy byte by byte before removing the original. Off by default, so moves stay as fast as before.
• Clicking Find duplicates twice quickly can no longer start two searches.
• Behind the scenes: tidier code, sturdier updates, and the Lightroom plug-in always finishes a search even if something goes wrong. Matches are exactly the same.

Version 0.9.4 23 October 2026

• A new Matchwell icon: both prints now show The Picture Org camera in front of the hills. Setup has new pictures to match.

Version 0.9.3 23 October 2026

• Faster with 16-bit TIFF scans: each one is read about three times as fast.
• Faster on large folders with many near-identical photos, and when looking for exact copies. The groups found are exactly the same as before.

Version 0.9.2 23 October 2026

• Lightroom: choose the copy to keep with "Keep this one" under its picture, instead of a list above the group.

Version 0.9.1 23 October 2026

• Windows: Choose a folder now opens the folder dialog in front of your browser. If the dialog ever can't open, Matchwell says so; you can always paste or type the folder's path in the box below the button.
• Lightroom: Find duplicate photos no longer stops with an "Access is denied" message on Windows.
• Lightroom: "The folders or collections shown now" works again, including All Photographs and other special sources.

Version 0.9.0 23 October 2026

• First release. Finds duplicate photos, keeps the best copy of each, and merges the other copies' keywords, people, captions, titles, ratings and places into it.
• Five levels of "how alike", from exact copies to the same shot in any version: copies at another size or in another format, edited, retouched, slightly cropped or black and white versions, and copies turned sideways or upside down.
• Deep search (optional): also mirrored copies and copies cropped much tighter.
• Keeps the copy with the most pixels, then camera raw over TIFF over JPEG, then the larger file; you can pick another.
• When copies disagree, you choose: the kept copy's value, another copy's, or both combined.
• Two ways, one license: the Matchwell app for Windows and Mac (no Lightroom needed) moves the extra copies to a holding folder with a report; the Lightroom Classic plug-in merges in the catalog and flags the extra copies as rejected.
• Nothing is deleted, and every run can be undone. Camera raw files get an .xmp sidecar; the pictures themselves are never re-saved.
• Every folder box lets you type or paste a path.
• Free 21-day trial; a license covers 2 computers, with complimentary updates.

Version 1.6.17 28 October 2026

• Create an error log can now send the report to The Picture Org for you; you see exactly what is sent first.
• Reading hard handwriting online now uses the same shared code as Labelwell and Datewell; your settings and API key carry over.

Version 1.6.16 27 October 2026

• Sortwell is now version 1. Nothing changes in how it works, and your license key and settings carry over.

Version 0.9.15 26 October 2026

• The app now checks for a newer version every time it opens.
• Installing an update from the app now updates the Lightroom plug-in too, and the other way round.

Version 0.9.14 26 October 2026

• Network drives: sorting and finishing now work when folders on a NAS are separate drives on the server. Sortwell copies and checks each photo where a simple move isn't possible, and never makes, renames or removes a NAS's own project folders.
• Two file names that differ only in capital letters are no longer made in one folder.

Version 0.9.13 26 October 2026

• Windows: Setup and the uninstaller now close a running Sortwell before they replace its files, so installing an update no longer stops on a file in use.

Version 0.9.12 26 October 2026

• The User Guide is reorganized: what Sortwell is and a Quick start come first, then one section for each job (making the cards, sorting in Lightroom Classic or the app, reading hard handwriting online, finishing the folders and deleting the cards).

Version 0.9.11 25 October 2026

• New: "Let Lightroom import the moved photos in one go", which is faster on big folders. Sortwell has Lightroom Classic synchronize the folder, then puts back each photo's flags, stars, keywords, edits and collections.
• Lightroom's Plug-in Manager has new buttons: Sortwell home page, User Guide, and Other -well tools. The app's menu has Other -well tools too.
• When Sortwell finishes a job, its message says how long it took. The error log also shows how long each step of Finish the batch folders took.

Version 0.9.10 24 October 2026

• Safer in Lightroom Classic: after moving photos, Sortwell removes their old catalog entries only when exactly those entries are selected. If a filter or another folder gets in the way, nothing is removed and Sortwell tells you.
• Faster in Lightroom Classic with large folders: photos are added and the old entries removed with much less waiting.
• In Lightroom, the plug-in now appears as "tpo: Sortwell™" so all The Picture Org plug-ins sit together.
• Updates: when an update needs a new installer, Sortwell downloads it, checks it and starts it for you.

Version 0.9.9 24 October 2026

• Starts faster: the app opens its window sooner, especially the first time after installing, and in Lightroom Classic a "Sortwell: starting" bar shows straight away while it gets ready.
• User Guide: step-by-step instructions for getting an API key for reading hard handwriting online, a new Updates section, and License and Help sections that match the other Picture Org apps.

Version 0.9.8 24 October 2026

• Fixed: in Lightroom Classic, Finish the batch folders stopped at once with "An internal error has occurred".
• "Colour" is now spelled "Color".

Version 0.9.7 24 October 2026

• New: Finish the batch folders. Each batch folder's date goes into its photos as the date taken, its event name is added as a keyword, the batch number comes off the folder's name, and the photos are renamed with the folder's name and a four-digit number (1982-10-31-Halloween-0001 …). In Lightroom Classic they are numbered in the order Lightroom shows them. Undo puts it all back.
• New: Delete the batch cards. Only the batch cards go to the Recycle Bin or Trash; no other photo is touched.
• Faster with camera raw files: each photo's preview is read in one step.

Version 0.9.6 24 October 2026

• Lightroom Classic: the review screen now shows each card's date, batch number and description, ready to check, with every batch ticked. Before, the boxes were empty.
• New "Copy, rather than move" tick box: the photos are copied into the batch folders and the originals stay where they are. Undo deletes the copies.
• The review screen shows the folder the batch folders go in, with a button to change it. Afterwards Lightroom Classic opens that folder (or the new batch folders) for you.

Version 0.9.5 24 October 2026

• Behind-the-scenes reliability work: the app can no longer start the same job twice from a quick double click, and Lightroom Classic waits for each step of removing the old catalog entries instead of fixed pauses.
• On a Mac, a saved API key file is private from the moment it is made.

Version 0.9.4 23 October 2026

• A new Sortwell icon, in the app, Lightroom's Plug-in Manager, the Start menu, Installed apps and the Windows Setup.

Version 0.9.3 23 October 2026

• Faster: finding the batch cards in a folder of large scans is several times faster, and camera raw files are opened much faster.
• Lightroom Classic: reading what the catalog knows about each photo before and after sorting is faster on big runs.
• Camera raw files whose built-in preview is small are now read from Lightroom's larger preview, so their cards read better.

Version 0.9.2 23 October 2026

• Batch cards are found by the card designator, a circle with two black quarters in the middle of the card, so the cards can be any color. You can use a mark of your own instead: choose a picture of it in the settings.
• Folders are now named date-subject-batch, such as 1982-10-31-Halloween-0001, with four-digit batch numbers. The pattern can still be changed.
• Dates are kept as written, with 00 for a month or day that isn't known (1976-03-00, 1975-00-00).
• Reads each part after the word printed for it on the card (Batch, Date, Subject), and reads faint pencil on cards of any color much better.
• Optional: hard handwriting can also be read online by Claude, OpenAI or Google Gemini with your own API key. Only the batch cards are sent, never your photos.
• Cards are read from the full-size file, so small writing reads better in Lightroom Classic.

Version 0.9.1 23 October 2026

• Windows, Lightroom Classic: finding the cards could stop at once with "Access is denied". Fixed.
• Windows: the app's Choose a folder button now opens the folder dialog every time. If the dialog ever can't open, the app says so, and you can type or paste the folder's path instead.

Version 0.9.0 23 October 2026

• First version. Sortwell finds the batch cards in a folder of scans, reads the date, batch number and description written on each card, and moves every batch into its own folder named from its card.
• Lightroom Classic plug-in for photos already in your catalog, such as tethered captures: each photo keeps its flags, stars, keywords, captions, edits and collections at its new place.
• Standalone app for Windows and Mac that doesn't need Lightroom, for scans that aren't in a catalog or to sort a folder before importing it.
• A review of every card before anything moves: fix a misread date, number or description and see the folder name change as you type.
• Card backs scanned after each card go into the same folder. Folder names follow a pattern you choose.
• Every run can be undone. When you're done with the batches, Sortwell marks the cards (and the photos you rejected) for deletion in Lightroom, or moves them to one folder in the app.