Release Notes

A concise changelog of recent updates to Lucida.

v1.3.17 — 2026-05-02

Mobile selection toolbar fix, bug fixes

  • Fixed selection toolbar layout on mobile — the "Select Your Canvas" toolbar (width/height inputs and Apply button) now wraps correctly on narrow screens instead of overflowing or misaligning.
  • Fixed wrong title in the Grid Options dialog.
  • Code cleanup and various small bug fixes and performance improvements.

v1.3.16 — 2026-04-26

Pop-out panels, independent posterize band counts

  • Pop-out panels for Posterize, Overlay & Blending, and Grid tools — each panel can now be opened as a floating dialog, keeping it visible while you work in the main canvas.
  • Independent band counts for posterize modes — By Value and By Color now remember their own band count separately, so switching between them no longer resets your settings.
  • Range sliders now render consistently across browsers.

v1.3.15 — 2026-04-22

Limited palette simulation (Pro), bug fixes

  • Limited palette simulation (Pro) — remaps every pixel of a reference image to the closest color achievable by mixing a chosen set of artist pigments; shows what the scene would look like painted with only those pigments before any paint is mixed.
  • Built-in palettes included: a general-purpose 9-color default palette, a strict primary triad, and the classic Zorn palette (lead white, yellow ochre, vermilion, ivory black).
  • Pigment library — over 100 traditional artist pigments available to add to a palette, each with accurate perceptual color values. Custom colors can also be added via color picker.
  • Custom palettes — up to 10 custom palettes can be saved per device; each palette supports up to 16 colors.
  • Fixed posterize-by-color not updating when a new image is pasted — swatches now update immediately on image change without having to adjust the band count.
  • Fixed posterize-by-color swatches not updating when switching palette simulation palettes — the swatch colors and sort order now refresh whenever the underlying pixel data changes.
  • Fixed dialog repositioning after resizing the browser window — dialogs that had been dragged to a position would drift when the window was resized.

v1.3.14 — 2026-04-11

Color analysis, closest pigment matching, update notifications

  • In-app update and notification banners — the app now polls for new versions and shows a dismissible banner when an update is available.
  • Color picker improvements — clicking the color status bar opens a detailed popup with paint mix breakdown, HSL values, and closest matching artist pigment.
  • Closest pigment matching — the color picker now identifies the nearest traditional artist pigment (cadmium red, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, etc.) using perceptual color distance.
  • Improved color status bar — always shows the color swatch and a "click for details" hint; clips gracefully on narrow screens.
  • Fixed paint mix recipe instability — near-neutral and very dark colors no longer produce erratic spikes in the paint mix calculation.

v1.3.13 — 2026-04-09

Bug fixes & mobile improvements

  • Fixed camera stream not released when switching to an image — on iPhone, the camera indicator and screen lock prevention now stop correctly when you load a photo.
  • Fixed closing a dialog triggering a click on whatever was behind it — tapping the X button no longer accidentally activates elements underneath.
  • Fixed dialog dragging with touch — dragging popup windows by their title bar no longer stops after a short distance on touch screens.
  • Mobile layout adjustments — various small refinements to the mobile bottom toolbar and pane layout.

v1.3.12 — 2026-04-08

Mobile toolbar, smarter menus, sync gestures

  • Mobile toolbar — the app now has a dedicated bottom toolbar on phones and tablets, making all tools reachable with one thumb.
  • Refactored menu positioning — menus now open in smarter positions and flip or resize automatically when near screen edges instead of clipping off-screen.
  • Improved layout splitting — the divider between the two panes behaves more predictably in edge cases.
  • Opacity panel in tracing/overlay mode — adjust blend opacity directly from a panel without hunting through menus.
  • Cross-pane touch gesture handling with sync support — placing one finger in each pane no longer causes erratic behavior; in sync mode it pans both images together.
  • Synchronized single-finger pan between panes when sync is enabled — dragging one image moves the other in real time with no lag.
  • Dynamic media pane names — pane labels now reflect the loaded file name instead of a generic placeholder.
  • Fixed posterization rendering bug — certain combinations of posterize settings were producing incorrect output.
  • Fixed license handling — improved reliability of license activation and session restoration, particularly after cookies are cleared.

v1.3.9 — 2026-03-28

Posterize controls, touch rotation, sync color picker

  • New posterize features: contrast adjustment and per-band color control — tweak contrast within posterized regions and assign individual colors to each value band.
  • Touch rotation gesture — two-finger twist gestures now rotate the image, consistent with how pinch-to-zoom already worked.
  • Sync color picker marker between panes — when sync is on, the color sample point moves on both images simultaneously so comparisons stay aligned.
  • Fixed camera device ID loading on macOS — the correct camera is now restored properly across sessions.
  • Fixed settings persistence — brightness, contrast, zoom, and other per-slot settings are now saved and restored correctly on reload.
  • Smoother pan and zoom gestures — CSS transitions are temporarily disabled while your finger is moving to eliminate animated lag.
  • Small fixes for iOS — addressed layout and interaction issues including scroll bounce and context menu timing.

v1.3.7 — 2026-03-21

PWA support, clipboard paste, iOS fixes

  • PWA (Progressive Web App) support — the app can now be installed to your home screen and used offline like a native app.
  • Paste image command — paste an image directly from the clipboard into either pane, useful for quickly comparing something you just copied.
  • Fixed selection issues with Apple Pencil — perspective selection handles now register correctly with the Pencil.
  • Fullscreen fix for iOS — the fullscreen button now works correctly on iPhone and iPad.
  • Add reload command for PWA — when running as an installed app, a reload button is available to refresh without losing your session.

v1.3.6 — 2026-03-20

Bug fixes & iOS improvements

  • No context menu inside menus — right-clicking inside a dropdown no longer opens a browser context menu.
  • Paste command fixes — addressed several cases where pasting images would fail silently or produce incorrect results.
  • Fixed viewport scale issues in some iOS browsers — automatic zoom that was throwing off touch coordinates is now detected and corrected.

v1.3.5 — 2026-03-19

Timelapse recording, new blend modes, settings persistence

  • Timelapse recording — capture frames from the live camera feed and export them as a timelapse video of your painting session.
  • Sync-aware center/align commands — the "center image" command moves both images when sync is enabled.
  • New strobe speed and toggle commands — strobe mode can now be toggled and its speed adjusted from the keyboard or toolbar.
  • New blend modes (multiply/screen) — overlay blend modes now give more natural-looking transparency when tracing.
  • Camera focus lock UI — on supported devices, you can lock the camera's autofocus to keep your subject sharp.
  • Native HEIC support when available — iPhones shoot in HEIC format; the app now uses the browser's built-in decoder when available.
  • Drag-and-drop media loading — drag an image file from your desktop directly onto either pane to load it.
  • Image export — the processed image (with posterization, adjustments, etc.) can be saved as a PNG directly from the app.
  • Settings persistence — zoom, pan, rotation, and adjustment settings are saved and restored the next time you open the app.

v1.3.2 — 2026-03-08

Sync, session restore, URL loading

  • Sync toggle — link both panes so that zoom, pan, and rotation stay matched between them.
  • Improved selection UI — perspective correction handles are easier to grab, with clearer visual feedback.
  • Session cookie restoration — if your activation cookie was cleared, the app now silently restores it from a locally stored token.
  • Load images via URL — paste a URL to load an online reference without downloading it first.
  • Context menu improvements on touch devices — long-press context menus now appear and dismiss more reliably on phones and tablets.

v1.3.1 — 2026-03-06

Context menus, media source menus, flip transforms

  • Context menus — right-clicking (or long-pressing) on a pane now opens a context menu with relevant actions for that image.
  • Media source menus — each pane now has its own source menu for switching between camera, file, and URL inputs.
  • Flip X / Flip Y transforms — mirror images horizontally or vertically, useful for checking compositional symmetry.
  • Command architecture refactor — all toolbar actions are now unified behind a command system for consistent keyboard shortcuts and behaviors.
  • Toolbar reorganization — buttons regrouped with clearer structure and overflow handling for narrow screens.