Projects, saving and recovery

A project is a package

A PodEditor project is a single item in Finder, a package with the extension .podproj. Inside are the project’s edits, converted copies of its audio, the drawn waveforms, artwork and a few working files. Everything the project needs is in it, so you can move it, copy it or back it up like any file. Do not change what is inside the package yourself.

Edits never change your original audio files, and PodEditor does not delete the audio it has copied into a project.

Starting, saving and copies

• File ▸ New… (⌘N) opens an untitled project straight away. PodEditor asks where to keep it the first time you save (⌘S).
• Save As… (⇧⌘S) saves under a new name and continues with the new one.
• Save a Copy… saves a copy and keeps working on the original.
• Close Project (⌘W) asks about unsaved changes. Save and Save As wait for an import in progress to finish.
• File ▸ Open Recent lists projects you have opened lately.

Undo history lasts for the time a project is open; it is not saved with the project.

Autosave and recovery

PodEditor saves your unsaved work in the background a few seconds after you make a change. This is separate from your own Save: your last saved version stays exactly as you saved it until you save again.

If PodEditor quits unexpectedly, the next time you open that project it asks: Restore unsaved changes? with Restore or Use Saved Version. Restore brings the edits back as unsaved changes, so you still choose to save them. For an untitled project, PodEditor offers to recover it at the next launch.

Autosave does not run while an import is in progress.

When another program has changed the project

If something other than PodEditor changed a project while you had it open, PodEditor notices when you save and asks before replacing those changes: Cancel or Replace Changes. This can happen with a sync service or when the same project is open elsewhere. While a project is open PodEditor keeps a small note in it that says so; command-line tools and other programs use it to stay away. Leave it alone.

Moving a project, and iCloud Drive

To move a project to another Mac, copy the .podproj package, for example with AirDrop or an external drive. It is large, because it holds a converted copy of all its audio.

A project in iCloud Drive works, with one thing to know: on a Mac where the audio has not been downloaded yet, PodEditor asks macOS to download it when you open the project. A small progress window shows it, and if more than 100 MB is needed it asks first and tells you the size. Offline, the window waits until you cancel. Do not open the same project on two Macs at once; the second to save is asked before it replaces the first one’s changes.