Files browser

The Photomator Files browser offers a quick and easy way to browse and edit photos anywhere on your device, or even in external locations. You can edit photos from cloud services like iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and Google Drive, as well as from SSDs, NAS devices, SD cards, and more.

When you edit photos in Photomator, it saves the changes in a separate sidecar file without changing the original photo. This means that your original photo stays unchanged, allowing you to undo any edits at any time. Additionally, sidecar files are especially lightweight, so, for instance, if you're working with large RAW photo files, they won't take up much extra space on your device.


Browse files

On iPhone, you can browse files, folders, and images by choosing an option at the bottom of the screen:

Recents shows your recently edited images.

Shared shows images and folders you share with others using iCloud.

Browse show locations on your device, connected cloud services, storage drives, and more. The default locations in Photomator are:

  • On My iPad shows files, folders, and images stored locally on your device.

  • iCloud Drive shows files, folders, and images stored in iCloud Drive.

  • Recently Deleted shows your recently deleted files, folders, and images.

Favorites show folders or locations you've saved as favorites.

Tags show the files and folders you tagged on your device or in iCloud.

View or open individual images

View or open an image

To view or open an individual image, do any of the following:

  • Tap the thumbnail of an image to open it. If an image is grayed out in the Files browser, its file format may not be supported in Photomator.

  • Drag the Zoom slider or pinch open or close on the trackpad to zoom the photo. You can drag the zoomed photo to reposition it.

See details about an image

To view photo info like the image type, camera settings, location info, or date, do any of the following:

  • Touch and hold the thumbnail of the photo and choose Get Info.

Move between images

When viewing photos from a location for the first time, you can choose to display other photos from that same location and easily navigate between them using the Photomator filmstrip. To give the filmstrip access to a specific folder or location, follow these steps:

  1. Tap and hold the folder thumbnail, then select Edit with Filmstrip.

  2. Open the photo, tap Give Access at the bottom, navigate to the root folder where your photo is stored, and tap Open.

Create a new folder

In the Files browser on iPhone, tap Browse at the bottom of the screen, then do any of the following:

  • Create a new shared folder: Touch and hold the folder you want to share, then tap Share and choose Send a Copy or Collaborate and choose how you want to send your share invitation.

Rename a photo, album, or folder

  1. In the Files browser, touch and hold the image, folder, or file you want to rename.

  2. Tap Rename in the menu that appears

  3. Type a new name and tap Done.

Add or import images, folders, or locations

Photomator integrates seamlessly with the iPhone Files app, allowing you to browse and access locations directly without importing files.

Delete photos and folders

  1. In the Browse tab, navigate to the photo or folder you want to delete.

  2. Touch and hold its thumbnail, lift your finger, and tap Delete in the Quick Actions menu.

To delete an image shared with you by someone else (so that it can no longer be recovered), tap Delete Now.

Recover a recently deleted photo or folder

  1. In the Files browser on iPhone, tap Browse at the bottom of the screen, then tap Recently Deleted.

  2. Do any of the following:

    • Recover one or more items: Tap Select in the upper-right corner, tap one or more images, then tap Recover at the bottom of the screen. To recover only one item, you can also touch and hold the name, lift your finger, and then tap Recover in the menu that appears.

    • Get information about a recently deleted item: Touch and hold the name of the image or folder, lift your finger, then tap Get Info in the menu that appears.

When you delete an image that's been shared with you, it’s deleted immediately from your device and can’t be recovered from Recently Deleted. If you later need to see the image again, tap the link you received in the original invitation or ask the owner to send another.

See also

Files browser

Interface overview

Save, share, and export

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