Opportunities › Open-source raw photo editing software › Proposed app
Carryover
Move raw edits, ratings and keywords between photo editors without losing work
- Score
- 30
- confidence 51
- Evidence
- 10
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 4
- named in sources
- First version
- 45 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2007
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Photographers preview migrations and check edit conversions in focused sessions at a computer before switching raw editors. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Migration preview
18,420 photos scanned92%
About this appAI proposal
Carryover is a browser-based tool for photographers who are leaving a subscription raw editor, or want to try an open-source one, and fear losing ratings, keywords, collections and edit settings. Point it at your catalog or sidecar files and it shows what can move and what cannot, before you commit.
Everything runs on your device. Photos and catalogs are read locally and never uploaded. Carryover writes open, readable sidecar files next to your raws, so your work stays yours whichever editor you use next.
It does not replace your raw editor. It is the bridge: audit, convert, check, and keep a portable copy of your edits so switching is a choice, not a risk.
- Tagline
- Switch editors. Keep your work.
- Voice
- PlainCarefulReassuring
- Why this name
- Carryover says the one job: your ratings, keywords and edits come with you when you change editors.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Migration preview
See which ratings, flags, keywords, collections and edit settings will carry over, and which will not, before anything is written.
No member yet
Local-only processing
Catalogs and images are read in your browser. No photo or catalog leaves your device.
No member yet
Open sidecar export
Write plain, documented sidecar files beside each raw so any editor that reads them can pick up your work.
No member yet
Before and after check
Spot-check converted edits against the original look on sample frames and flag the ones that drift.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#B4442BDarkroom Rust · primary#F6F1E7Paper · surface#1F1B16Ink · text#2F6F6AFixer Teal · accent#D9A441Safelight · data
Typography
Aa
Carryover
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Switch editors. Keep your work.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices, only that subscription cost is a pain point. These tiers are a starting point to test, with a one-time fee suited to a one-time switch.
Free
Free
- Migration preview and lost-setting report
- One catalog, up to 500 photos
Switcher
$29 once
- Unlimited photos
- Open sidecar export
- Before and after check
- Re-run after new editor releases
Studio
$8 a month
- Ongoing portable backup of edits
- Multiple catalogs
- Priority converter requests
Would you pay Studio · $8 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Users publish their lost-setting report and migration guide for a given editor pair. Other switchers find these and the converter behind them.
- Do they become customers?
- Readers of a shared report are switchers with the same problem and can become paying users. Test whether report pages convert to free runs and then to paid exports.
- First customers
- Hobbyist and semi-pro photographers with 5,000 to 50,000 raws who are moving from a subscription editor to an open-source one and worry about losing work.
- Where to reach them
- Open-source editor communities: Offer help in forums and issue threads where users report losing settings when they switch.
- Photography subreddits and forums: Post worked migration examples with real lost-setting reports.
- Hacker News: Show HN launch of the local-only converter, tied to the interest in Lightroom alternatives.
- First milestone
- Fifty free migration previews run and ten paid Switcher purchases within 60 days, from one editor pair.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedGitHub repository gained 4503 stars in 8 days
- Public claimPhotographers need raw photo editing and processing software, as evidenced by the existence of a category of raw-editor and raw-processing tools and the creation of a clean-room Lightroom reimplementation.
- AI inferenceThe project has attracted significant developer interest and adoption within 8 days, indicating demand for an open-source alternative.
- VerifiedHacker News post received 39 points and 44 comments
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Local processingWebAssembly modules in Web WorkersParse catalogs and render previews in the browser so no photos are uploaded.
- This app · File accessFile System Access API with fallbackRead libraries and write sidecars beside raws; needs a fallback for browsers without it.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalEdit settings rarely map one-to-one between editors; converted looks may drift, which could erode trust. The look check must be honest about it.
- Intellectual propertyReading proprietary catalog formats may raise legal questions. Interoperability for the user's own data needs legal review before launch.
- PlatformBrowser file access is limited on Safari and iOS, so large local libraries may work only on desktop Chromium browsers at first.
- CommercialSwitching is a one-time event, so repeat revenue is weak. Demand for a paid bridge, rather than free converters, is unproven.
- DataCatalog formats change between versions, so converters need constant upkeep and test libraries.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.