Photo Mechanic vs Pineapple Pictures
Photo Mechanic
home.camerabits.comPineapple Pictures
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Photo Mechanic | Pineapple Pictures |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $12.42/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · Photo Viewer Software | 7.9 (#10) | 8.3 (#6) |
| Audience | Camera Bits says Photo Mechanic helps professional photographers work faster and more efficiently, including photojournalists and other professional photographers. | The README describes a use case of keeping a reference image visible while working in other software. |
| Metadata | It supports captions, copyright, keywords, IPTC metadata, variables, structured keyword lists, and code replacements. | The project recommends optional libexiv2 support to display more image metadata. |
| Security | Camera Bits says it uses generally accepted industry standards to protect personal information during transmission and after receipt, while noting that no internet or storage method is completely secure. | The 1.6.0 release page says its tag and commit were signed with the committer’s verified signature. |
| Support | Camera Bits provides a knowledge base, contact support, and user forums where users can ask Photo Mechanic developers and support staff questions. | The maintainer directs users with issues to open a GitHub Discussion thread or issue. |
| Supported systems | Photo Mechanic is available for macOS and Windows; macOS requires version 13 or higher and Windows requires 64-bit Windows 10 or higher. | Release 1.6.0 lists Linux with Qt 6.4 or later and a stacking window manager, Windows x64, and macOS ARM as supported platforms. |
| What it does | Photo Mechanic is a fast media browser for viewing, organizing, managing, and exporting digital photos. | Pineapple Pictures is a lightweight desktop viewer for opening images quickly. |
Plans
Photo Mechanic
- Photo Mechanic$14.99 a month
- Photo Mechanic Plus$24.99 a month
- Photo Mechanic$149 a year
- Photo Mechanic Plus$249 a year
- Photo Mechanic$299, paid once
- Photo Mechanic Plus$399, paid once
In their own words
Photo Mechanic
Photo Mechanic is a media browser for viewing, organizing, managing, and exporting digital photos on macOS and Windows. During ingest from memory cards, users can view thumbnails, cull, rate, and tag pictures while copying them. Metadata features include captions, copyright, keywords, IPTC fields, variables, structured keyword lists, and code replacements. Batch editing can copy, delete, tag, watermark, rename, resize, or add IPTC metadata to multiple images.
The software can apply saved GPS tracking logs and add city, state, and country names to photo metadata. It uploads directly to services including PhotoShelter, Zenfolio, Amazon S3, Flickr, and SmugMug, can send files through an existing SMTP email server, and can make web galleries from templates. Photo Mechanic Plus adds an image database for cataloging pictures across storage locations.
Pineapple Pictures
Pineapple Pictures is an image viewer for opening common image formats on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its listed formats include JPEG, PNG, GIF, SVG, PSD, KRA, XCF, TGA, HDR, and AVIF. A Stay-on-Top setting can keep a reference image visible above other software while you work. The project also lists RAW support and a metadata viewer; optional libexiv2 support is recommended for showing more image metadata.
The viewer is free, and Pineapple Pictures as a whole is licensed under MIT, though individual files may have other compatible licenses. Downloads are linked through GitHub Releases, SourceForge, Arch Linux AUR, itch.io, and FlatHub. Format availability depends on Qt imageformats plugins, which users may need to obtain from their distribution or build themselves on Windows. Release 1.6.0 lists Linux with Qt 6.4 or later and a stacking window manager, Windows x64, and macOS ARM. The maintainer says the project will remain in maintenance mode for the foreseeable future while continuing to receive updates. An itch.io purchase supports development and provides experimental additional format support.