Louppe started as a pet project for my personal use. Somewhere along the way it turned into an actual app; I saw downloads count climbing. For 1.9, I focused on making it easier to find your way around from the first session
So let me introduce Louppe
a place to make your choices
Louppe is a free media culler for Mac. You open a folder, go through what's in it, decide what you want to keep, and take those files into whatever comes next
You can review one item at a time or look through a grid (kinda a contact sheet), mark yes or no, add stars and colour labels, and export your choices. You don't need to import everything into a catalogue first. Your media stays on your Mac, and exporting makes copies by default
As an interdisciplinary artist, I wanted to make culling different file types seamless and easy. As of now, Louppe supports photos, video, and audio. V.1.9 add a read-only text files support, which i hope to expand in the future, so sorting through your prose becomes easier too.
In the future, i see Louppe becoming a home for all media archives – sort of a media oriented Finder or something. Have some crazy ideas in my mind (eg just look at Brian Eno's archive with those crazy randomization looping of material)!
But that's future stuff. For now, Louppe's just meant to make your archives slightly cleaner.
making the first few minutes easier
A lot of the work in 1.9 is about helping the app explain itself
There's a proper Help window now, searchable keyboard shortcuts, and review tips you can dismiss once you don't need them. I've also reorganised the command palette so it's easier to find an action without already knowing its exact name
Filters are clearer too. It should be easier to see what's active, understand why you're looking at a smaller set of files, and get back to everything. The export choices are more explicit, especially which items you've selected and what you're about to copy or move
Some of the changes are small: a more compact start window, a folder you can drop straight into it, and quieter save feedback. Others make reviewing feel more natural, like a zoom slider and pinch-to-zoom for photos
I don't expect one update to make everything obvious. But I want fewer moments where you have to stop and work out what the app is asking you to do
give it a go, and tell me where you get stuck
Louppe 1.9 is available now. Give it a try, and I'd love to hear how it feels when you open it for the first time. Louppe is open source and secure: there's no account to create, no internet connection, and the app has no telemetry. So if something feels confusing, a message from you is much more useful than me guessing how your first session went
What wasn't obvious? What did you expect to happen? What would make you want to use it again?
Send me a note — it comes straight to me
And if you're curious about the person behind the app, you'll find my other work at alex-markin.com