Past Perfect for Mac

Support information for the Mac app, including system requirements, key workflows and feature notes.

Mac · iPhone & iPad · Privacy

System requirements

Overview

Past Perfect is a photo editor for scans, family photos and everyday pictures. Editing runs entirely on the device, so your photos are not uploaded.

Past Perfect works non-destructively: your edits are saved automatically while the original image is preserved. The finished image is only created when you export. If Save copies is turned off, the original is overwritten.

Getting started

Add one or more folders to the library using the sidebar. You can expand subfolders and then select a photo from the strip below the preview.

Right-click a folder in the library to remove it from the library or start batch processing. Files on disk are not deleted when a folder is removed from the library.

Useful keyboard shortcuts: ← / → for the previous or next photo, Cmd-E to export and Cmd-+ / Cmd-- to zoom.

Editing tools

You will find the editing tools in the inspector on the right. They are grouped into tabs by task:

• Light adjusts brightness and tonal values, including exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, black point and white point. It also includes midtones, noise, clarity and sharpness. Automatically improve analyzes the image and suggests suitable slider values.
• Color provides temperature, color cast, saturation and vibrance, plus a Color Mixer for eight color ranges. For each range, you can adjust hue, saturation and brightness independently. You can also import LUT files and use them as a color look.
• Looks contains ready-made image looks, including black-and-white, color and dithering looks. Looks can be mixed with the original image. The farther the slider is moved to the right, the stronger the look becomes. You will also find vignetting and frames here.
• Restore contains optional tools for cleaning up and restoring old or damaged images: dust and scratches, denoise, face restoration and upscaling. The individual steps can be enabled independently.
• Remove background removes the background using Apple Vision directly on the device. If transparency should be preserved, save or export the result as PNG.
• Transform lets you rotate and mirror images, straighten the horizon and crop the image to the desired aspect ratio.

Dust, scratches and denoise

Under Restore, you can optionally clean up an image before face restoration. These functions are disabled by default and are only applied when you enable them:

• Dust and scratches detects and reduces typical small defects such as dust spots and scratches. A higher strength removes more, but can also smooth out fine image details.
• Reduce noise is a stronger denoise operation applied to the entire image, particularly useful for noisy or scanned images.

If several Restore steps are enabled, they are processed in a fixed order: first dust and scratches, then denoise, followed by face restoration and finally optional upscaling.

The noise reduction under Light is a gentle adjustment that changes the image directly. Full-image denoise under Restore is a separate processing step and can also be included in a profile.

Restore faces

Three GFPGAN versions are available for face restoration. No single version suits every photo — if the result does not look natural, try another model:

• GFPGAN 1.4 intervenes the least and is best for subtle correction with minimal “AI look”. It works well when you want only light improvement, including on low-quality or slightly out-of-focus shots. It is not necessarily the best choice for heavily damaged faces.
• GFPGAN 1.3 is the default. It can apply a more noticeable correction than 1.4 — though that depends on the photo. If 1.3 feels too strong or artificial, switch to 1.4.
• GFPGAN 1.2 is generally not recommended. It tends toward a strong “beauty” look with over-sharpened, over-drawn detail that can appear artificial.

GFPGAN detects faces and then automatically enhances them. It can help with typical wear in old or small portraits, but very small faces contain little actual image information, while very large faces can make AI changes more noticeable. Always compare the result with the original.

Practical tip: For a result close to the original, start with 1.4. If the correction is too subtle, try 1.3 — but switch back to 1.4 if 1.3 feels too strong.

Face restoration can be enabled or disabled independently of upscaling. For 2x or 4x upscaling, you can use Lanczos and, if the model is available, Real-ESRGAN. At 1x, no additional upscaling is performed.

Profiles

Profiles save a combination of editing steps and export settings. This lets you reuse a proven workflow with just a few clicks. Manage profiles via Manage profiles or the gear icon next to the profile buttons.

Each profile can define:

• Processing steps, for example cleanup, denoise, face restoration, automatic corrections, crop, rotation, fixed export size, look and vignette.
• File rules, where Save copies defines the destination folder, naming scheme and output format. If the option is turned off, export overwrites the original.

When you select a profile, its settings are applied to the current photo. With No Profile, you can return to manual editing.

Batch processing

To process several images at once, right-click a folder in the library, choose Batch Processing and then select a profile. Past Perfect processes the readable images in the folder one by one and saves the results according to the profile's rules.

A progress window shows which image is currently being processed. Batch processing can be cancelled between two images.

For batch processing, the destination must be defined in advance. Use a fixed export folder or Next to original in the profile. Ask every time cannot be used for batch processing.

The output format is also defined by the profile, for example same as source, HEIC, JPEG or PNG.

Export and files

Edits are saved automatically. There is no separate Save command; when you move to the next photo, your editing state is preserved.

Press Cmd-E to export the current image. The active profile's settings are used. With Save copies, a new file is created; without it, the original is overwritten. If transparency should be preserved, PNG is the appropriate format.

Camera RAW files such as ARW, NEF, DNG or CR2/CR3 can be opened and edited. They are not overwritten; for export, use a profile with Save copies.

Reset All removes the saved editing steps and restores the original editing state. Once the original has been overwritten, the previous version cannot be restored.

Glossary

Automatically improve

Analyzes the image and sets suitable values for the main Light controls. It is not a fixed look, and the values can still be adjusted afterwards.

Floyd-Steinberg

A dithering method that builds an image from black and white dots. The dot size affects the visible grain.

GFPGAN

An AI-based face restoration method that runs entirely on the device. Past Perfect includes versions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. Version 1.4 is the most subtle; 1.3 is the default and may apply a stronger correction; 1.2 is generally not recommended.

Real-ESRGAN

An AI-based upscaling method. It is available at 2x and 4x if the corresponding model is present; alternatively, Lanczos can be used.

Dust and scratches

Optional automatic cleanup of typical small defects such as dust and scratches. The strength determines how strongly the image is processed.

Denoise (full image)

Optional denoise for the entire image. It is stronger and more fundamental than the regular noise slider under Light and can also be included in a profile.

Fit vs. Fill

Fit shows the entire image within the target format, which can leave empty borders. Fill and Crop fills the entire target format and therefore crops part of the image.

Vignetting

A gentle darkening of the image edges that draws the eye more toward the center.

Non-destructive

Edits are saved separately while the original pixels remain unchanged. The changes are only written to a finished image file on export, or directly to the original if Save copies is turned off.

Privacy

Past Perfect is designed to keep your photos on your device. Editing, restoration and AI processing run offline. Your images are not uploaded to our servers.

The only network use related to your app usage is optional crash diagnostics via Sentry, described below. A full privacy notice is also available as a standalone page: Privacy notice.

Photos and editing data

• Photos, scans and exports stay on your Mac (or other local storage you choose).
• Face restoration, upscaling, denoise and other tools run on-device.
• We do not operate a cloud library, account system or photo upload service for Past Perfect.

Crash diagnostics (Sentry)

If the app crashes or encounters a serious error, diagnostic information may be sent to Sentry so we can fix bugs and improve stability. This can include technical details such as device model, operating system version, app version, and crash stack traces. Depending on Sentry’s configuration, an IP address may also be associated with the report.

Crash reports are not intended to include your photos or the contents of your photo library. Diagnostics are used only to maintain and improve the app.

What we do not do

• We do not sell your personal data.
• We do not use advertising trackers or analytics SDKs beyond crash reporting.
• We do not upload your images for processing in the cloud.

Contact

Privacy questions about Past Perfect: m.wilka@gmail.com

Past Perfect for Mac · iPhone & iPad support · Privacy notice