pictLense

pictLense is an Ableton Live Extension for attaching one photo and one memo to a Live track.

It is designed for visual recall of modular synth patches, hardware synth settings, pedalboards, outboard gear, microphone positions, and recording setups.

Version

0.1

Ableton Live may display this release as 0.1.0.

Features

• Open pictLense from an Ableton Live track context menu.
• Attach one JPEG, PNG, or WebP photo.
• Save one memo.
• Reopen a track and load its saved photo and memo.
• Preview portrait photos in a taller dialog.
• Zoom the photo preview in place with -, Fit, +, Ctrl/Command shortcuts, or Ctrl/Command + mouse wheel.
• Save without changing Ableton track names.

Requirements

• Ableton Live 12 Suite Beta 12.4.5 or later
• Ableton Extensions SDK 1.0.0 beta
• Node.js v24.16.0 or later

Install

Use the release archive:

release/pictLense.ablx

In Ableton Live:

1. Open the Extensions panel.
2. Enable Developer Mode if Live asks for it.
3. Drag and drop pictLense.ablx into the Extensions panel, or click Choose file and select it.
4. After installation, right-click an Audio Track or MIDI Track header and choose Open pictLense.

The .ablx file does not need to be copied into the project folder manually. Keep it anywhere convenient, such as the release/ folder or a downloads folder, then install it from Ableton Live.

If pictLense was installed before, uninstall the old pictLense entry from Ableton Live's Extensions panel, restart Live, then install pictLense.ablx again.

Usage

1. Right-click an Ableton Live Audio Track or MIDI Track header.
2. Choose Open pictLense.
3. Click Add / Change Photo and select a JPEG, PNG, or WebP image.
4. Write a memo.
5. Click Save.

To view saved data again, open pictLense from the same track context. The photo and memo are loaded from Ableton's extension storage.

The photo preview starts in Fit mode. Use -, Fit, and +, or Ctrl/Command shortcuts and mouse wheel zoom, to inspect the image.

Troubleshooting

If Open pictLense does not appear after installing the extension:

1. Close Ableton Live.
2. End stale Node or Extension Host processes from Task Manager.
3. Start Ableton Live again.
4. Open the Extensions panel and confirm pictLense is installed.
5. Right-click an Audio Track or MIDI Track header.

Developer Setup

Place the SDK folder locally at:

docs/extensions-sdk-1.0.0-beta.0/

That folder is ignored by Git.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run build
npm run start -- --live "C:\ProgramData\Ableton\Live 12 Beta\Program\Ableton Live 12 Beta.exe"

Release Build

npm run build:production
npx extensions-cli package . --output "release/pictLense.ablx"

The .ablx archive is ignored by Git.

Runtime Data Layout

<storageDirectory>/pictLense/
  Projects/
    CurrentLiveSet/
      PCL-001/
        photo.jpg
        metadata.json