Quantum Photoboom — User Guide
This getting started guide explains how to use Quantum Photoboom: the menu bar, the editing sidebar, the filmstrip, and what each adjustment does.
Window layout
| Area | What it is |
|---|---|
| Left sidebar | Histogram at the top, then collapsible Editing Controls sections. Click a section title to expand or collapse it. |
| Top of sidebar | Hide Edits / Show Edits — toggles whether your adjustments appear on the main preview (before/after). |
| Main area | Large live preview of the active photo. Scroll when the image is larger than the view. Double-click the preview to Fit To Window. |
| Bottom | Filmstrip — thumbnails for every photo in the open photobook. |
| Footer | Name of the open photobook, photo count, app version, and update notice when available. |
Application menus
File
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| New Photobook | Create a new, empty photobook (you name it in a dialog). |
| Open Photobook | Pick an existing photobook from a list and open it. |
| Export Photobook | Export all photos in the current photobook. |
| Manage Photobooks | Rename or delete photobooks, or remove individual photos from a photobook. |
| Import Photos | Add image files to the photobook that is currently open (available after a photobook is open). |
| Export Selected Photos | Export only the photos selected in the filmstrip (see Filmstrip). |
Edit
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Undo | Reverts the last edit change (shortcut shown in the menu, typically ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z). |
| Redo | Reapplies an undone change (⌘⇧Z on macOS, Ctrl+Y on Windows/Linux, as shown in the menu). |
| Crop | Enters crop mode on the active photo (see Crop). |
| Remove Crop | Clears the crop on the active photo (available when a crop exists). |
| Convert to Black and White / Convert to Color | Toggles black-and-white treatment for the active photo. The menu label switches to match the action you will get. |
| Reset Current Photo’s Edits | Returns all sliders and related settings for the active photo to their defaults. |
View
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Zoom In / Zoom Out | Steps the preview zoom level. |
| Fit To Window | Scales the preview so the whole image fits and resets pan to the center. |
| Switch To Dark Mode / Switch To Light Mode | Toggles light or dark appearance (the label shows the mode you will switch to). |
Help
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| About | App information and contact details. |
| View License | Shows your current license status. |
| Activate License | Opens the license key dialog. |
Histogram
At the top of the sidebar, the Histogram shows how bright and dark tones are distributed in the current preview.
Below the chart, five labels mark broad regions: Blacks, Shadows, Exposure, Highlights, and Whites. Moving the pointer across the histogram highlights the region you are over, which helps you decide which tone sliders to use.
Filmstrip
The filmstrip is the horizontal row of thumbnails along the bottom of the window.
Selecting and navigating
- Click a thumbnail to make that photo active — it appears in the center preview and receives any edits you make.
- The active photo has a blue border.
- ⌘+click (macOS) or Ctrl+click (Windows/Linux) toggles whether a photo is included in a multi-selection for export. Selected photos also show a green outline.
- Scroll horizontally when there are more photos than fit on screen.
Edited badge
A small Edited label on a thumbnail means that photo has adjustments that differ from the defaults.
Right-click menu
Right-click (or Control+click on macOS) a thumbnail to open a short menu:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reset Photo's Edits | Clears all edits on that photo. |
| Export Photo | Opens the export dialog for that photo only. |
| Remove Photo | Removes the photo from the photobook (you will be asked to confirm). |
Export dialog
When you choose Export Selected Photos or Export Photobook, you can set:
- Format — JPEG, PNG, or WEBP.
- Max Dimension (px) — Caps the longest side; use 0 for no cap (full resolution, within other settings).
- Naming Pattern — How files are named;
{name}and{index}are common placeholders. - Destination Folder — Where files are saved. Use Browse… to pick a folder.
Click Export to start, or Cancel to close without exporting.
Crop
Choose Edit → Crop to place a crop frame on the preview. The frame has corner and edge handles and a rule-of-thirds grid.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drag the frame or handles | Move or resize the crop. |
| Aspect | Free, 1:1, 4:5, 3:2, or 16:9. |
| Lock | Keeps the chosen aspect ratio while resizing. |
| W / H | Set export width and height in pixels; ⇄ swaps W and H. |
| Cancel | Exit crop mode without applying. |
| Done | Apply the crop and return to normal editing. |
Keyboard (when crop mode is active and focus is not in a text field):
- Arrow keys — Nudge the crop box.
- Shift + arrows — Resize instead of move.
- Alt (Windows/Linux) or Option (macOS) — Smaller nudge steps.
Use Edit → Remove Crop to clear an applied crop.
Editing controls
Each slider has a matching number field. You can drag the slider, type a value, or drag horizontally on the number field to scrub. Double-click the slider or number to reset that control to its default.
Sections are grouped in collapsible panels (Basic, Tone Curve, and so on).
Basic
| Control | Effect on the photo |
|---|---|
| Temperature | Shifts overall color toward warmer (yellow/orange) or cooler (blue). |
| Tint | Balances green versus magenta in the image. |
| Exposure | Brightens or darkens the entire image. |
| Contrast | Increases or decreases separation between lights and darks overall. |
| Highlights | Targets bright areas — recover detail in blown highlights or brighten them further. |
| Shadows | Targets dark areas — lift shadow detail or deepen shadows. |
| Whites | Sets how bright the brightest tones can become (white point). |
| Blacks | Sets how dark the deepest tones can become (black point). |
| Texture | Enhances or softens medium-scale detail (skin texture, fabric weave) without strongly changing overall contrast. |
| Clarity | Adds midtone contrast and local punch; strong values can look gritty or harsh on faces. |
| Dehaze | Cuts through haze and flatness, or adds a foggy look when reduced. |
| Vibrance | Boosts muted colors more than colors that are already strong — useful for natural-looking saturation. |
| Saturation | Raises or lowers color intensity across the whole image. |
Tone Curve
Parametric sliders bend tone in four zones before the point curve:
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parametric highlights | Brightest tonal region above the main highlight range. |
| Parametric lights | Upper midtones and lighter areas. |
| Parametric darks | Lower midtones and darker areas. |
| Parametric shadows | Deepest shadow region. |
Point curve
- Choose Channel: RGB for overall tone, or Red, Green, or Blue for per-channel curves.
- Click the graph to add a point; drag points to reshape contrast. The corner points stay fixed.
- Reset Curve restores a straight diagonal for the current channel.
Sharpening
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Amount | Overall sharpening strength. |
| Radius | How wide the area around each edge is sharpened. |
| Detail | Emphasis on fine versus coarse structure. |
| Masking | Restricts sharpening to stronger edges; higher values leave smooth areas (sky, skin) softer. While dragging Masking, hold Alt (Windows/Linux) or Option (macOS) to preview which areas receive sharpening. |
Noise Reduction
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Luminance | Reduces brightness “grain” and speckle. |
| Luminance detail | How much fine texture is preserved versus smoothed away. |
| Luminance contrast | Keeps or softens contrast in noisy areas after luminance smoothing. |
| Color | Reduces colored speckles and blotches. |
| Color detail | Preserves or smooths fine color variation. |
| Color smoothness | How evenly color noise is blended away. |
Color Grading
Three wheels — Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights — let you add a color cast to each tonal range. Drag on a wheel: distance from the center sets saturation, and angle sets hue. A readout under each wheel shows the current values.
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Blending | How smoothly the three zones blend into one another. |
| Balance | Shifts grading influence toward shadows or highlights. |
Lens Corrections
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Profile Corrections | Strength of automatic lens-profile fixes when applicable. |
| Remove Chromatic Aberration | Reduces purple/green fringing along high-contrast edges. |
| Manual Defringe | Extra cleanup for remaining color fringe. |
Effects
Applied as creative finishing on the cropped image:
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Vignette amount | Darkens or lightens the edges of the frame. |
| Vignette midpoint | Where the vignette transition sits between center and edge. |
| Vignette roundness | More circular versus more rectangular falloff. |
| Vignette feather | Softness of the vignette edge. |
| Highlights priority | How much bright areas resist being darkened by the vignette. |
| Grain amount | Strength of added film-like grain. |
| Grain size | Coarseness of the grain pattern. |
| Grain roughness | Irregularity and character of the grain. |
Optics (Manual)
Manual lens-style adjustments without relying on a profile:
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Distortion | Corrects or adds barrel/pincushion bending at the edges. |
| Lens vignette amount | Darkens or lightens corners optically. |
| Lens vignette midpoint | How far from the center the lens vignette begins. |
| CA Red / Cyan | Shifts red–cyan fringing correction. |
| CA Blue / Yellow | Shifts blue–yellow fringing correction. |
Transform
Changes geometry — perspective, rotation, scale, and position within the frame:
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Vertical | Tilts the image to correct converging vertical lines (keystoning). |
| Horizontal | Tilts to correct converging horizontal lines. |
| Rotate (°) | Rotates the image within the frame. |
| Aspect | Stretches or compresses width relative to height. |
| Scale | Zooms the image in or out inside the frame. |
| Offset X / Offset Y | Moves the image left/right or up/down. |
Masking
Masking applies adjustments only where you define a mask. Global sliders still affect the whole image; mask sliders add on top of those values inside the masked area (0 means no extra change there).
Create Mask opens a dialog to pick a mask type:
| Group | Types |
|---|---|
| Geometry | Radial, Linear gradient, Brush |
| Range | Color range, Luminance range |
| Auto | Subject, Sky, People, Objects (AI-assisted; use Generate AI mask in the drawer when needed) |
After creating a mask:
- Select it in the list under Masking.
- Use the drawer to name the mask, adjust components, and set local edit sliders.
- Add to mask adds another component (layer) to the selected mask; choose Add to mask or Subtract from mask when combining.
- Edit Mask (for brush, radial, or linear types) lets you adjust the shape on the preview.
- Delete mask removes the entire mask and its components.
Mask-specific controls (depend on type):
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Invert component | Applies the opposite of the masked region for that layer. |
| Density (component) | Strength of that mask component (0–100%). |
| Feather (radial/linear) | Softness of the mask edge. |
| Brush size / hardness / flow / strength | Size, edge softness, build-up rate, and opacity of brush strokes. Erase subtracts from the mask; Clear strokes removes brush strokes. |
| Hue center / width / falloff (color range) | Which colors are selected and how softly the selection fades. |
| Low / high / falloff (luminance range) | Which brightness range is selected. |
Relative adjustment sliders in the drawer (exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, texture, clarity, dehaze, saturation, vibrance, sharpen amount, noise luminance, temperature, tint) change the photo only inside the mask, added to your global settings.
Mask overlay options help you see the selection: show overlay, color, intensity, and overlay view mode (color on image, color on grayscale, highlight outside selection, or selection only).
On the preview, drag on-image handles for radial gradients, linear gradients, and brush strokes when Edit Mask is active.
Calibration
Fine-tuning of how the app interprets color:
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Shadow Tint | Green–magenta balance in shadow regions. |
| Red / Green / Blue Primary Hue | Shifts where each primary sits on the color wheel. |
| Red / Green / Blue Primary Saturation | How vivid each primary is rendered. |
Tips
- With the preview focused, ⌘+ / Ctrl+ zooms in and ⌘- / Ctrl- zooms out, similar to many other apps.
- Hide Edits is handy for a quick before/after on the active photo without changing any settings.
- Use the histogram zones and tone sliders together: if highlights clip, try Highlights or Whites before pushing Exposure further.