Frequently asked, plainly answered.
Privacy, format support, installation, and the awkward bits. If your question isn't here, open a GitHub issue.
Is LocalPix really offline? Does it upload my images?
No. Everything happens on your computer. There's no analytics, no telemetry, no "phone home." You can verify by disconnecting from the internet or watching your firewall — LocalPix will keep working.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once installed, you can be completely offline and LocalPix still works. No license check, no cloud sync, no nothing.
What's the "Strip metadata" toggle do?
By default LocalPix removes EXIF, GPS coordinates, camera info, XMP and other metadata from converted images. The safe choice if you're sharing photos publicly. Turn it off if you're archiving and want everything preserved — or pair it with Preserve color profile if you want personal data scrubbed but colors to render correctly.
Is there a privacy policy?
There's nothing to have a policy about. LocalPix doesn't collect
data, so there's no data to store, sell, or hand over. The closest
thing to a privacy policy is the source code — read
server.js and confirm there's no fetch
to anywhere outside 127.0.0.1.
Why can't LocalPix convert to HEIC?
HEIC uses the HEVC codec, which has patent licensing complications that make it difficult to include in free, open-source software. LocalPix reads HEIC files from your iPhone and converts them to JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF or any other supported output format. AVIF is the modern alternative to HEIC: same container family, comparable compression, but royalty-free.
Why can't I save as SVG or PSD?
SVG is a vector format; converting a photo to SVG is a
fundamentally different task ("tracing") that doesn't make sense
for arbitrary images. PSD is a layered Photoshop format; LocalPix
can read the flattened image but writing a useful
.psd requires the source app's layer
structure.
Will it support PDF or RAW camera files?
PDF input and RAW formats (DNG, CR2, NEF, ARW) are on the roadmap. PDF needs a separate decoder we can ship in the bundle (Ghostscript isn't an option); RAW needs validation against real camera files. See the v1.1 known limitations and the issues page for status.
What's JPEG XL and should I use it?
JPEG XL is a modern royalty-free image codec with excellent compression and full alpha support. It's great if you control the pipeline (your own storage, your own viewer) — less great if you need broad browser support today, where AVIF and WebP are safer. LocalPix supports both as inputs and outputs as of v1.1.
macOS says "Apple could not verify…" — is something wrong?
No. The warning shows for any app that hasn't been signed with Apple's $99/year Developer ID. Right-click the app → Open → Open, or go through System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. Once you've done it once, you won't be prompted again. See the install steps.
Windows SmartScreen blocked the installer — is something wrong?
Same story. SmartScreen flags software that hasn't been signed with a $300+ Windows code-signing certificate. Click More info, then Run anyway. The installer doesn't require admin rights — it drops LocalPix into your user folder.
Does LocalPix work on Linux?
Not in the default releases. Linux works fine from source — clone
the repo, npm install, npm run app.
Pre-built Linux artifacts are on the maybe-list; open an issue if
you'd use them.
How big is the install?
About 24 MB to download, ~80 MB installed. Most of the size is
Electron and the bundled native libraries
(sharp's libvips, the
magick-wasm blob).
Where does LocalPix save converted files?
By default, ~/Documents/LocalPix/ on macOS or
Documents\LocalPix\ on Windows. Click
Change… next to the output folder, or use
⌘⇧O / Ctrl+Shift+O
to pick somewhere else. LocalPix remembers your choice between
launches.
How big a batch can I convert?
As big as your machine can handle. There's no artificial cap — you're bounded by disk and RAM. Conversions run sequentially per file, with sharp's libvips handling internal parallelism for big images.
Are settings preserved between launches?
Your output folder is. Format quality knobs reset to their defaults at launch — they're per-session, since the right value depends on the batch. If you want sticky quality settings, open a feature request.
A file converted with a red border — what happened?
That's an error state. The file row shows the underlying message (corrupt input, unsupported subformat, out-of-memory on a giant TIFF, etc). Click Convert again after fixing the input, or drop a copy of the file into a fresh batch.
HEIC files won't open
HEIC reading goes through magick-wasm, which
handles the common Apple HEIC variants. If a specific file fails,
it's almost always an unusual HEVC profile or an encrypted iCloud
export. Try re-exporting from Photos with "Most Compatible"
selected.
How do I report a bug?
Open a GitHub issue. Include the input file (or a sanitized version), the output format, and the LocalPix version (visible in the footer of the app). Screenshots help.
Where's the version number?
Footer of the app window. The releases page on GitHub keeps every previous version available if you need to roll back.
Didn't find it?
Drop a question on the GitHub issues page. There's no support inbox — bug reports and questions both live there, in the open.
Open an issue on GitHub