A native layer-based photo editor for macOS. Real non-destructive masks, on-device neural depth effects, and transparent pay-as-you-go AI — launching at $69 once. No subscription landlords. I'm hand-picking 25 creators who edit photos for their work to push it hard and shape v1. The First 25 keep it free for life.
[ 01 — CAPABILITIES ]
State-of-the-art generative AI at your fingertips in a fully-featured layered editor for professional-grade photo manipulation. One-click selections, live filters, built-in agentic chat assistant, and intelligent content-aware tools.
01 / SUBJECT ISOLATION
One click pops the subject onto its own non-destructive layer — and automatically fills in the background plate it left behind.
02 / GENERATIVE REPLACE
Rough-select a region, type your prompt, and pick the best take — layered non-destructively and seamlessly integrated into your scene.
03 / ON-DEVICE DEPTH
Bokeh, relight, atmospheric fog, tilt-shift, sunrays — each reading the true 3D depth of the scene, updating live as you drag the sliders.
Original
04 / PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLES
Golden hour, analog film grain, cinematic moods, or artistic effects — applied across the entire frame in a click, while maintaining subject identity and pose.
05 / SKY REPLACEMENT
Trade a flat, blown-out sky for golden hour, blue hour, or a dramatic storm — and the landscape automatically harmonizes its foreground lighting to match.
[ 02 — ARCHITECTURE ]
A professional desktop image editor built from the ground up for performance and creative independence.
Not a phone app with stickers. DepthField Photo features real layers, clipping masks, vector pen paths, 25 blend modes, live adjustment filters, dynamic text layers with Google Fonts, and infinite undo history.
Runs natively on Apple Metal GPU and Neural Engine. Over 70% of operations — including portrait blur (bokeh), sunrays, subject isolation, and color grading — run entirely on your Mac with zero cloud latency and at no cost.
Full support for OpenRaster (.ora) for seamless cross-app
interoperability, plus .png, .jpeg, .tiff,
.webp, .avif, .heic, and .svg.
Even DepthField's own .dfp format is open and documented — third-party
integrations are welcome. Your creative work belongs to you.
At launch, DepthField Photo will be $69 once — no monthly subscription. When you use cloud AI models, you see the exact cost in real dollars down to micro-cents before you click. No artificial token markups, no surprise billing.
[ 03 — THE INVITATION ]
No automated feedback surveys. No corporate PR handlers. A direct, respectful partnership between craftspeople.
[ 04 — PHILOSOPHY ]
Somewhere along the way, your creative tools became subscriptions. The editor you used to own became a recurring bill, charging you whether you used it or not. The AI inside it gets cheaper to run every month — but you'd never know it from the price of your ever-expiring "credits".
I believe you should own what you buy, see what things actually cost, and pay only for what you use.
DepthField exists to prove that's still possible.
Your creative work is your property. Four simple principles, guaranteed:
Not with advertisers, not with data brokers, not with anyone.
No image, layer, or filename ever leaves your computer unless you explicitly choose a cloud AI edit.
Anonymous telemetry is strictly opt-in, with zero account attachment.
The editor works offline indefinitely on your Mac.
[ 05 — PARTICIPANTS ]
This beta is tailored for people who edit images as a real, recurring part of their business or craft:
[ 06 — JOIN THE BETA ]
Fill out the brief form below. I'm picking 25 people for the closed beta; I'll review every application personally and respond within a few days. No portfolio, no technical test.
Hi, I'm Jens.
I've been building software for three decades, and DepthField Photo is the editor of my dreams: one with the power of a professional photo editing suite at a price tag for everyone, with all the instant movie magic of Hollywood software — "Enhance!"
There are no investors, no growth marketers, and no exit strategy. I'm hand-picking 25 people because at this stage every single piece of feedback matters — and every note you send lands directly with me, the person who wrote the code.
[ 07 — FAQ ]
The core editor is substantially complete and stable, but I haven't put it in front of real workflows at scale yet. Expect some rough edges: certain secondary flows aren't polished and minor bugs may pop up. I'll fix what you report rapidly. Features may shift or refine based on what I learn from this cohort. It's macOS-only at this stage (Apple Silicon and Intel); Windows is on the roadmap for later.
About 2–3 weeks of active testing. Your free lifetime license stays yours forever regardless of how heavily you use it during the beta.
Honest, unfiltered reactions. What felt intuitive? What confused you? What did you try to do and couldn't find? Quick gut reactions in week 1, and more considered workflow thoughts in week 2.
The product moves into an early-access founders' program (around $29), followed by a public launch later in 2026 at $69 once. Your free lifetime license carries through every stage — beta, founders' release, v1, and a free upgrade to v2.
There isn't one. The beta provides the candid user feedback I need to ensure DepthField Photo is genuinely great before launch. Beta testers get the tool free forever in exchange for trying it on their real work and two short notes.
No. Cloud AI credits are on me during the beta — your copy comes with $20 of cloud AI included (good for 150+ heavy generative edits), with no setup beyond signing in. Prefer to bring your own API key? That works too at zero markup. Over 70% of the app (including depth estimation and subject isolation) runs entirely on your Mac with no cloud calls at all.
Yes! If they fit the audience criteria above, please share this page. I'm keeping the group strictly capped at 25 so I can personally engage with every participant, but strong fits are always welcome.
A larger founders' program opens after this stage — paid early access at a steep discount on the $69 list price, with the same direct line to me. You can leave your email to be notified the moment it opens.
Zero ad tracking, zero data selling. The application form captures your name and email solely so I can contact you about the beta. Your images, layers, and prompts never leave your Mac unless you explicitly run a cloud AI edit.
