MacnifyIt
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Release notes

What changed in each version of MacnifyIt. Version 1.2 will be the first public release; it is being prepared for distribution and is not yet available to download. Dates are the dates the builds were made.

Version 1.2 — first release, in preparation

MacnifyIt 1.2 is the first version of the Mac app. It enlarges photos with Lanczos-3 resampling in linear light and has no AI anywhere: nothing is invented, and photos never leave your Mac. The release build is being signed and notarized; the download opens on this site when that is done.

What is in 1.2

  • Enlarge a photo 2×, 4× or 8× with non-generative Lanczos-3 resampling, computed in linear light with Apple’s Accelerate framework. Output is capped at about 400 megapixels per image.
  • Compare view: the original beside the enlargement with a draggable divider, at Fit or at 100% (one output pixel per screen pixel). At 100%, drag or scroll to pan; the arrow keys nudge the divider.
  • Inspector: scale, output format (PNG, JPEG or TIFF), Keep colour profile (on), Strip GPS location (on), Sharpen after resize (off), Preview and Export Full Resolution. Your settings are remembered.
  • Open or drop several files at once. Exports are queued and saved next to the original with the scale in the name (photo_2x.png), or where you choose. An existing file is never overwritten: a second export gets a new name.
  • Finder menu: MacnifyIt ▸ Enlarge 2×, 4× or 8× in Finder’s right-click menu, switched on from the app’s first-run screen or in System Settings under Extensions.
  • Reads JPEG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC, WebP and the other formats macOS reads, 8-bit or 16-bit; 16-bit sources stay 16-bit in PNG and TIFF. Embedded colour profiles and supported metadata are kept, and the EXIF orientation is applied so rotated photos come out upright. Animated GIF and HDR images are refused with a message; nothing is written.
  • Each export is written to a staged file and published only when complete, so a stopped or failed export leaves nothing behind.
  • Free trial: 10 full-resolution exports and unlimited previews, no account. Failed and stopped exports never count. When the ten are used, previews continue and the app offers a licence.
  • Licence: one code activates one Mac online, then works offline and renews quietly about once a month when the Mac is online. Save Licence and Restore Licence keep a copy of the code, and About shows the licence and renewal state.
  • Privacy: photos are processed locally and never uploaded; the app has no analytics and sends no telemetry. Its only connection is licence activation and renewal.
  • One universal app for Intel and Apple silicon. Support for macOS 12 or later is planned; see System requirements.

Known limitations of the pre-release builds

  • Tested so far only on macOS 26.6. Testing on macOS 12 on Intel and Apple silicon is planned before launch.
  • The Finder menu needs a build signed with an Apple Developer ID, which the notarized release build will have. In the pre-release test builds Finder does not load the extension; the first-run screen says so and offers to open System Settings.
  • English only.

Pre-release builds

Test builds made while preparing 1.2. None was released.
Build 10 · 12 September 2026
  • Sharpen after resize is now scale-aware: the sharpening taps sit half a source pixel apart at every scale, so 4× and 8× exports sharpen as visibly as 2× (the effect used to fade at larger scales). Unsharpened exports are unchanged.
  • App icon: every size is drawn edge to edge on the cream tile; macOS no longer draws its own backing along the bottom.
Build 9 · 12 September 2026
  • The toolbar shows icons only, with the labels as tooltips.
  • Drag to pan at 100%: press away from the divider and drag to move around the enlargement (hand cursor). The divider is still grabbed near its line, and the arrow keys still nudge it.
Build 8 · 11 September 2026
  • The Finder-menu switch reports the real state and reads “on” only once Finder has loaded the extension. When macOS needs your consent first, the first-run screen says so and offers Open System Settings.
Build 7 · 11 September 2026
  • First build signed with an Apple Development certificate (test Macs only). No functional changes.
Build 6 · 11 September 2026
  • New app icon: the pixel-mosaic lens with the joined “It” on a cream tile, in the app, the disk image and on this site.
Build 5 · 10 September 2026
  • The inspector refreshes before a licence-revocation notice is shown.
Build 4 · 10 September 2026
  • Exports are staged and published atomically. Existing files are never deleted or overwritten, and Save replaces a file only after the panel’s confirmation.
  • One export path for the window and the Finder menu: jobs are queued, each file is checked against the trial and licence before it runs, and Finder requests wait their turn instead of beeping.
  • Trial bookkeeping is saved before an export is counted; if the trial record cannot be read or written, exports pause with an explanation.
  • Licences renew from day 7 of each monthly lease and fail closed if the dates are unreadable.
  • 100% shows one output pixel per screen pixel on Retina displays; preview tiles render in the background with the original shown while they are pending.
  • Stop is safe at any point of an export.
  • GIF and floating-point HDR images are refused by their decoded type; folders are ignored in the Finder menu.
  • Wording: “Unlock unlimited exports” on the trial gate, the no-refund line, the privacy line on the welcome screen, Save/Restore Licence, and the export success message names the folder.
Build 3 · 10 September 2026
  • Button labels no longer truncate; Export Full Resolution is the default button while a photo is open.
  • Verified: 4× and 8× exports, 16-bit PNG stays 16-bit, EXIF-rotated JPEGs export upright, animated GIF is refused, and the trial counts only successful exports.
Build 1 · 10 September 2026
  • First build of the universal app and the Finder Sync extension, with the Finder-route export verified. Fidelity against an independent linear-light Lanczos reference: mean difference 0.28 of 255 code values.
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