---
title: "Introduction and what's new"
url: https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/gioi-thieu
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-22
alternate:
  vi: https://phatdev.net/docs/pixgamma/gioi-thieu
markdown: https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/gioi-thieu.md
---

# Introduction and what's new

Part of the doc set: [PixGamma](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma.md)

> What PixGamma is, its three principles, major changes by version and the documentation index.

**PixGamma** upscales and restores photos with AI on the Mac. A small, blurry or heavily compressed image comes back at **2x to 16x** with clearer detail, processed entirely on the **Apple Silicon GPU**. PixGamma ships as a macOS app, a `pixgamma` command for batch work and a **local HTTP API** for scripts, websites and other apps.

> PixGamma is the new name of **Pixora** (up to 0.2.1): old installs update to PixGamma on their own, and the `pixora` command keeps working.

> **Current version: 0.2.1** (2026-10-20) · macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon · See the [Changelog](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/changelog).

<div style="margin:1.6em 0"><figure style="margin:0"><a href="https://phatdev.net/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-light-3840.webp" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="pd-th-light" style="display:block;border:0" aria-label="The new interface, Light and Dark: the photo fills the window, a dock for modes, a filmstrip below, split comparison at 100% (4K)"><img src="https://phatdev.net/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-light-1920.webp" srcset="/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-light-960.webp 960w, /uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-light-1920.webp 1920w, /uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-light-3840.webp 3840w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 760px" width="3840" height="2160" alt="The new interface, Light and Dark: the photo fills the window, a dock for modes, a filmstrip below, split comparison at 100%" loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block;border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:12px"></a><a href="https://phatdev.net/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-dark-3840.webp" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="pd-th-dark" style="display:block;border:0" aria-label="The new interface, Light and Dark: the photo fills the window, a dock for modes, a filmstrip below, split comparison at 100% (4K)"><img src="https://phatdev.net/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-dark-1920.webp" srcset="/uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-dark-960.webp 960w, /uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-dark-1920.webp 1920w, /uploads/p/pixgamma/app-v2-vi-dark-3840.webp 3840w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 760px" width="3840" height="2160" alt="The new interface, Light and Dark: the photo fills the window, a dock for modes, a filmstrip below, split comparison at 100%" loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block;border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:12px"></a><figcaption style="margin-top:8px;font-size:13px;line-height:1.5;color:var(--muted);text-align:center">The new interface, Light and Dark: the photo fills the window, a dock for modes, a filmstrip below, split comparison at 100%</figcaption></figure></div>

The photo fills the window; a small dock at the bottom picks the mode, scale and **Xem trước** (preview); the filmstrip sits below and the tuning column on the right collapses. **Fit** shows the whole photo with the preview area outlined, **100%** and **200%** compare before/after split or side by side. Light, Dark or follow the system.

## What it is for

- **Product and e-commerce photos**: label, keycap and packaging text stays correct; materials get no invented texture.
- **Portraits and old family photos**: clearer eyes, hair and skin; old scans get their grain cleaned up with the original tones kept.
- **Wildlife, nature, landscapes, architecture**: fur, whiskers, feathers and carved detail hold up in large prints.
- **Illustration, anime, graphics**: clean lines, flat color areas.
- **Screenshots and UI**: clearer text, Vietnamese diacritics kept.
- **Developers**: a CLI for whole folders, JSON reports and a local HTTP API.

## Three principles

- **Photos never leave the Mac.** Everything runs through Core ML on the machine. No account, no server, nothing uploaded.
- **No invented text.** Keycaps, labels and banners are detected separately by Apple Vision (including Vietnamese with full diacritics) and rebuilt with a faithful model. Text too small to rebuild correctly is kept faithful instead of being redrawn as other letters.
- **Your photo stays your photo.** Original color, tone and facial features are kept. Generated detail always has a strength slider.

## What's new

| Version | Highlights |
|---|---|
| **New on GitHub** (unreleased) | **New interface**, Light and Dark, export one photo or all · **PixGamma Photo v2** is the default photo model: crisper fur, hair and fabric, text regions still use Photo v1 · **Recover** describes each photo with Apple Vision, picks its own resemblance and has a safety lock for text, maps and products · face restoration no longer colours black-and-white or sepia photos |
| **0.2.1** (Oct 20) | Text regions run through **PixGamma Photo v1**: keycap letters are sharper and straighter (OCR 91.1%), 3x faster · **Recover** no longer redraws keycaps and is no longer killed by macOS on large images · checked across every mode, 1x–16x and grayscale, CMYK, transparent, TIFF, WebP and HEIC inputs |
| **0.2.0** (Oct 20) | **PixGamma Photo v1**, our own photo model (PSNR 30.5 dB vs 29.0 dB for its base, no color drift) · DMG installer · **auto-update** from GitHub with SHA-256 checks · dedicated text model, Vietnamese text recognition · halo removal · diffusion-based **Recover** mode |
| **0.1.0** (Oct 18) | Three-pane SwiftUI app, five Core ML modes, face restoration, CLI and local API |

## Documentation

**Getting started**
- [Install & auto-update](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/cai-dat): DMG, CLI, Recover models, update token, requirements.

**Features**
- [AI modes](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/che-do-ai): Auto, Standard, High Fidelity, Art & CGI, Low Resolution, adjustments.
- [Text protection](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/giu-chu): how PixGamma finds, measures and rebuilds text, Vietnamese included.
- [Recover](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/recover): skin, hair and fur regenerated with diffusion.
- [Own models & training](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/model-rieng): PixGamma Photo, benchmarks, how models are chosen.

**Integration**
- [The pixgamma command](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/cli): batch processing, every flag.
- [Local API](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/api): `pixgamma serve`, endpoints, parameters.

**Reference**
- [Changelog](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/pixgamma/changelog).