Changelog

Big Things Ahead

We've learned a great deal in the past few months about scaling the back-end of Raster. With larger libraries demanding more from Raster's front and back-end, we've identified and been working on key opportunities to improve the user experience.

From rewriting the image edit stack to database overhaul, we have big things in store for what Raster can do.

New Features & Improvements

• Improved quality of AI tagging once again
• NEW: Full RAW image support
• Soon: Google Drive import coming to Enterprise customers
• Raster now supports M4V video format as well

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an annoying issue where Raster would silently fail on image upload. This was due to unknown, large, or corrupted metadata. Raster now nicely lets you know what's going on, so you're not left in the dark again
• Improved conversion of original files to Raster original formats
• Improved back-end processes for deleting user data. When you delete a library, we make sure all your images are actually deleted on the server as well.
• Fixed issues where metadata transfer would silently fail

Stability & Raster Image Stack

We've completely rewritten the back-end of Raster to a custom stack. What this means is that we'll finally be able to deliver on the following items today:

• Instant edit previews, no more waiting several seconds for image previews to update
• Shorter URLs
• Faster CDN image load times throughout

And the following features in the near future:

• Replace versions that have already been published
• AI-based editing features
• More edits and other cool stuff

This is a huge update and there may be bugs and issues in the beginning, but it enables us to finally take Raster to where we envision it can be.

Improvements & Bug Fixes

• Improved tag design
• Bumped dependencies & security fixes
• Improved image tags using Google Gemini

We thank all of our beta tests and users for your awesome feedback and support. 🙏🏼

Public Beta, Video Support & more

Raster is live on ProductHunt and is now in Public beta.

NEW! Raster now supports video hosting

Raster now supports video. No editing functionality at the moment, but you can store, organize, tag and serve MP4 files via the Raster CDN.

Improvements

• New Metadata: "Uploaded By"
• Click to copy photo dimensions
• If you invite someone to an organization who hasn't joined Raster Private Beta yet, they will also receive an invite to Raster
• When creating a new version of a photo, Raster will not intelligently name the version based off of the branching version name, rather than incrementing "Untitled"
• Wayyyy better alt text generation — using Blip ML
• Organization names can now be three or more characters (previously required four characters)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where version names may not save correctly
• Fixed an issue where photo dimensions may not display properly
• Fixed an instance where Empty trash would not work
• Fixed multiple small issues with dragging and scrolling
• Some dark mode text color fixes

The April Fools Update

• Raster is now on the blockchain
• All your pictures are NFTs now
• Just kidding... here are the real updates:

New! Personal Organizations

We're introducing Personal Organizations! While not truly an Organization, it behaves like one in the sense that you can create Personal libraries within it. Every Raster user now has a Personal organization that will remain free to use forever. The only limitations of Personal Organizations versus Organizations is that you cannot invite other users to your personal Organization.

New Features

• Transfer photos between libraries by dragging and dropping
• Bulk invites! You can now invite more than one user to Raster, at a time
• You can now "Empty trash" with one click
• Improved Organization settings UX
• Improved messaging when accessing an Organization you don't have access to
• API key managament is now restricted to Organization owners

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where, in some instances, you could save a duplicate view infinitely
• Fixed an issue where you could not save Organization settings
• Fixed an issue where alerts & notifications in Raster were overlapping
• Fixed an issue where the drop zone did not appear whilst drag and dropping

The Stability Update

For this month, we made tons of backend updates to ensure Raster runs smoothly.

• Organization switcher now has a slightly refined look & feel
• Mobile sidebar toggle switch is now much more usable

More Updates

• Upgraded SvelteKit to 1.0! 🎉
• (yes this means the new layout structure)
• Show friendly errors if you're snooping around in Organizations you don't have access to
• Removed unnecessary logic that was called on every page navigate
• Fixed an issue where an Organization would load forever
• Fixed instance where errors would not show in light mode because they were the same color as the background
• Fixed bug where Raster would occasionally throw a 404 error (this one was pesky, but we found it and squashed it)

Website Updates

• We launched Raster Blog
• Performance improvments
• Raster Design System usability improvements
• You can now copy the SVG of an icon in Raster Design System
• Fixed incorrect share metadata

Introducing Libraries

Workspaces are now Libraries, and paired with Organizations, are now a lot more powerful. A Library is a collection of images in Raster. A Library also contains its own subset of tags and users. You can transfer a Library to another Organization within Raster.

New onboarding flow

We've added a quick Welcome flow in Raster (< 90s).

It guides new users through choosing their display mode, creating their first organization and library, and uploading their first photos.

Improvements

• Improved 404 pages, when you don't have access to view a workspace
• Added ability to change Library URL
• Two new actions in the command palette: "Switch organization" and "Open Library"
• Command palette now has separate actions which can be called
• Fixed layout shift on command palette, which is now faster

Easier cropping and transforming

Cropping photos just got way easier. Users will be able to use a familiar interface, and control the maximum width and height of the image in the Output pane.

Archive versions

Based on user feedback, we learned that Raster needed a way to archive versions. We've added that, and redesigned the interface in the meantime. Now, you can archive versions, and view archived versions in any image.

Improvements

• Our website now supports light and dark mode
• For accessibility, users who prefer high contrast or users who who prefer reduced motion are respected on the app and website
• We've removed the Details pane in the image editor and spread it into the other panes

User settings

Previously, users had no way to view or change their profile information, like name, email, or profile picture. We've added that in the latest update.

Light mode

Toggle light or dark mode with the flip of a switch. Or, use your system settings (default).

Right click actions

Right click on any photo or tag to bring up options, like copying many URLs at once, or copying a tag's link.

Improvements

• Faster processing times on images (up to 2x)
• Better support for HEIC and HEIF image types
• Use the right/left arrow keys to navigate through images
• Added link to documentation in the profile dropdown
• While in edit mode, hitting escape will exit out of edit mode, instead of closing the image
• Better emails. All of Raster's emails are now branded and have a more consistent look

New photo editor

Raster's photo editor got a major upgrade from a list of parameters to an interactive and engaging tool to quickly make changes.

Introducing versions

Versions are a way to make changes to a photo without creating an entirely new one, leaving your workpsace nice and clean. Create a new version by hitting the "Edit" button on any image.

1. Each version has its own unique URL
2. Versions are non-destructive (they cannot be edited afterwards)
3. You can have unlimited versions on an image

Improvements

• Faster frontend performance. Raster now supports thousands of images on one page.
• No more invite link. Users can log into Raster using their invited email; no need to use the link in the email.
• Faster image load times. Raster preloads images it expects you to open soon.
• Version data is now shown in the sidebar (created date, width, height)
• Support for GIF images added
• The file extension is now removed from the image name when uploading
• AI tags are able to be deleted

Command palette

We've added support for searching through images with a command palette. Use Cmd+K to open the command palette on any page. Search for images, commands, and more. You can only search in the selected workspace.

Improvements

• We now show a sample image on your very first workspace, to help users become more familiar with Raster.
• Instead of deleting images immediately, they are moved to your trash for a brief period of time. You can restore them from your trash.
• Better upload reliability. More images can be uploaded in one session than before.