Questions about Jepex

What is Jepex?

Jepex is the all-in-one photo library, editor, and film simulation recipe manager. You cull your photos with no import and no catalog, give them final touches that keep your colors, and manage the recipes behind them, on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The recipe library also works in any browser.

Who makes Jepex?

Jepex is made by Karto (SIA Karto), a small software studio in Riga, Latvia.

Does Jepex use AI?

No. Jepex has no AI features, deliberately: the look comes from your camera, not from algorithmic processing.

Why JPEG first?

SOOC is making every choice at the shutter and trusting the camera. The JPEG is the photo. Jepex works on top: small adjustments (crop, light, color, heal) at high quality, EXIF and MakerNote intact.

What about RAW files?

Develop RAW files in the editor: exposure, white balance, shadows, noise reduction, sharpness, local tone mapping. Save JPEG writes the developed photo next to the RAW and opens it with every tool: crop, light, color, effects, heal, borders. Develop takes DNG, uncompressed RAF, and the RAW formats macOS itself opens. Compressed RAF can’t be developed yet. Info and Recipes read a RAF the way they read its JPEG: shooting info, film simulation, and the recipe behind the shot.

Is Jepex on iPhone and iPad?

Yes: one app for both, with the library, the editor, and recipes. Download it from the App Store; it needs iOS 17 or later. RAW develop stays on the Mac.

Is there a web version?

Yes. The web covers the recipe side of Jepex: browsing the community library, reading EXIF and recipe metadata from any JPEG you drop in, creating and publishing your own recipes. The library and editor stay native, where the file system and performance work properly: Mac, iPhone, and iPad today, with Windows and Android on the roadmap for 2027.

Will there be Windows, Android, or Linux versions?

Windows and Android are both on the roadmap for 2027, Windows first: the waitlist asked for it ahead of Android. Linux stays demand-driven. Toggle your platform in the waitlist; that mix sets the order.

What are the system requirements?

On a Mac: macOS 14 or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel, under 100 MB of disk. On iPhone and iPad: iOS 17 or later. The recipe library on the web runs in any browser.

Does Jepex work offline?

Yes. The library and the editor work entirely offline. The internet is needed only for the community recipe library and for signing in to your account.

What cameras are supported?

Fully supported today: Fujifilm X (X-Trans I through V) and Ricoh GR III/IIIx/IV, with full MakerNote and Image Control parsing. Sony Alpha (Creative Look) recipes are in progress. Nikon and Canon photos show their shooting info in the Info panel today, and photos from any camera show full shooting info.

Does Jepex work with Sony, Nikon, or Canon?

Yes, for shooting info: Nikon and Canon photos show theirs in the Info panel today, and photos from any camera show full shooting info and keep every setting through the save. Sony Creative Look recipes are in progress.

Where do my photos live?

On your disk. Jepex reads photos from the folders and Apple Photos albums you point it at, edits them in place, and never uploads anything. The library and editor work entirely offline. No catalog, no import, no copying anywhere. We don’t upload anything you didn’t explicitly publish.

Does Jepex change my original files?

Only when you save. Edits wait as pending changes, shown in the previews, until you save them: over the originals, as copies next to them, or to Apple Photos. Export writes new files to a folder you choose. Every save keeps your camera’s EXIF, and camera JPEGs keep their MakerNote.

Where are ratings and flags stored?

In small sidecar files beside your photos, never inside the photos themselves. They move with the files, so your ratings continue on any device that sees the folder, with no vendor cloud.

Which files does Jepex open?

JPEG, HEIC, and PNG photos open in the editor. RAW files (ARW, NEF, CR2, CR3, RAF, DNG, ORF, RW2, PEF, SRW) show in the library, a RAW and JPEG pair as one photo, and develop in the editor on the Mac. WebP, AVIF, GIF, and BMP open in the library to rate, flag, and sort. Video clips (MOV, MP4, M4V) sit beside your photos with the same ratings and filters.

Recipes vs filters or presets: what’s the difference?

A filter or preset is a transformation applied after capture. A recipe is a set of in-camera parameters (film simulation, grain, color chrome, white balance, dynamic range, tone curve) that the camera renders before the JPEG is written.

Jepex catalogs and matches the latter. The community is sensitive to the distinction; we are too.

How does Jepex find the recipe behind a photo?

Jepex reads the settings your camera wrote into the photo (film simulation or Image Control, grain, Color Chrome, white balance and its shift, dynamic range, tone, sharpness, noise reduction, clarity) and ranks the recipes that match, each with a match percentage. On the web, the photo is read in your browser and never leaves your device.

Are recipes free?

Yes. Recipes stay free, forever: browse, match, favorite, create, and publish without limits, on every platform including the web. Favoriting, creating, and publishing need a free account.

Can I publish my own recipes?

Yes. Create a recipe in the full settings editor, or start from the settings in one of your photos, then publish it with your name on it. Every published recipe gets its own page on the web, and every author a public profile with their recipes.

Can I send a recipe to my camera?

Soon. Jepex will send any recipe to a custom slot on your Fujifilm over USB, free, on the Mac first.

Do I need an account?

No. The full library, browsing community recipes, and trying every editor tool all work without an account. A free account adds the rest of the recipe side: create, publish, favorite, and match recipes from a photo, all unlimited. Jepex Pro adds the workflow: ratings, flags, batch operations, and saving edits.

How much does Jepex cost?

Jepex is free to download, and recipes stay free, forever. Jepex Pro, €49.99 a year or €9.99 a month, adds the workflow: rate and flag to sort a shoot, final touches, clean JPEG saves, and the same edits on a whole shoot at once.

Is there a free trial?

No. The free plan is the tryout: browse your library, open every editor tool, and use every recipe feature for free. Saving edits, ratings, and flags is Jepex Pro, which also comes monthly.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Cancel anytime. Your files, ratings, and recipes stay yours: everything you rated stays visible and filterable, you just can’t rate new photos.

Does one subscription cover Mac, iPhone, and iPad?

Yes. Jepex Pro belongs to your Jepex account: subscribe once, on the web, in the Mac app, or in the iPhone and iPad app, and sign in with the same account on each device.