Rembrandt, a free desktop photo editor with on-device AI
Rembrandt is a free, open-source photo editor for Mac, Windows and Linux that its developer pitches as a Lightroom replacement. According to the project page, it develops RAW files from more than 1,000 cameras, offers masks and batch editing, and imports Lightroom Classic catalogs along with a report of anything that cannot transfer. Its AI tools, including denoise and subject masking, run on your own computer, and the developer says nothing is uploaded. Edits are saved as XMP sidecars, small companion files that Lightroom can also read, so the original photos stay untouched.
- For
- Detroit photographers, creatives and small business owners who edit photos and want to cut or avoid a Lightroom subscription, especially anyone who prefers to keep client images on their own machine.
- Cost
- Free with no account or subscription, per the developer. The only paid feature is optional cloud sync of edits, albums and photos across computers, web and phone; that is the only part that requires an account. The provider does not list a price for sync. The developer notes features Lightroom has that Rembrandt lacks so far, including Print, Book, Slideshow, Web and Map modules, face recognition, Adobe camera profiles, built-in tethered capture and a plugin ecosystem.
- Access
- Open to anyone; licensed under GNU GPL v3.0 or later. Downloads are available for macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows (x64 and ARM) and Linux, where installation runs through a terminal command. Builds are not code-signed yet, so your computer will show a security warning on first launch: on macOS use System Settings, Privacy & Security, Open Anyway; on Windows click More info, then Run anyway. Super Resolution and AI Denoise run on the computer's graphics processor (GPU), so performance will depend on your hardware.
Your moveDownload the build for your system from the project's GitHub page and try it on a copy of a small photo folder before pointing it at your full library or importing a Lightroom catalog. Check the import report to see what did not come over.
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