It's been a long time since we've done a public beta of a major app release. In fact, we've never done this before for Acorn. But we feel now is a great time to open up Acorn 6's beta to the public.

So we're happy to say that we've got Acorn 6 in public beta for you to try out today.

We're introducing some great new features and refinements, including text on a path, cloning across layers and images, improvements to web export and smart layer export, and new shape stroke options.

We've also added some great new tools for working with color profiles and wide gamut images, which is becoming more important every day for iPhone and pro photographers alike. You can now load and export color profiles from the Image ▸ Color Profile… menu. And when you're exporting for the web, you can highlight the areas of your DP3 or wide gamut image which are out of the range of sRGB.

And there's more of course, so why not grab the beta?

We're doing something new with trials in Acorn 6. The direct version will get its usual 14 day trial, but after that's up you'll be able to still use Acorn to view your images. The only change will be that the tools are disabled if you choose not to purchase it. We're also doing this for the App Store version in Acorn 6. When Acorn officially ships you'll be able to download it for free and "purchase" a 14 day trial for $0.00. When that's up you can keep on using Acorn to view your images, or you can unlock Acorn at the usual price. This will make it really easy for App Store customers to download Acorn and try it out.

Finally- one of the reasons we're doing a public beta, and one of the reasons that we still love working on Acorn, is hearing about what you like and what you think needs improvement. So if you like something- let us know! And if there's something you'd like to see better- let us know! And if you hate it- let us know that too. The feedback we get from our customers is the main driver for changes in Acorn.

So go grab the Acorn 6 beta already.

Mini FAQ: If you purchase Acorn 5 directly from us between now and Acorn 6's release, you'll be emailed an Acorn 6 license when it ships. We aren't able to do this for the App Store however (sorry).
Acorn 6 requires 10.11.4 or later, including MacOS 10.12 Sierra. Acorn will of course support 10.13 when it comes out in the fall.

P.S., I'm also using this as an opportunity to kick off our new forums, which you can find at https://forums.flyingmeat.com.