RIOT 2026.11 Image Optimizer Adds Crop, Rotate and Flip Before Compression

What RIOT is, and why this release matters​

RIOT is a native desktop image optimizer for Windows, macOS and Linux. It analyses each file and optimizes in parallel across CPU cores. It also lets you compare the original and the result before you save a batch. JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF are the output formats. TIFF, HEIC and AVIF can be opened but not saved.

Automatic presets run from high quality to aggressive Eco savings. Manual controls cover quality, chroma, PNG compression, WebP effort, resize and palettes.

2026.11 is the third public build of the rebuilt, cross-platform app. The rebuild began with 2026.9, which the project described as a new application and not a skin on the classic Windows build. The older Windows RIOT was already known for rotate, flip and resample, and an older review once complained that it couldn't crop. This release closes that gap. It also lets you do the editing in the same pass as the optimization, so you don't need a separate editor first.

Rotate, flip and crop​

Rotate & Flip offers 90° counter-clockwise, 180° and 90° clockwise. Clicking the selected angle again clears it. The Horizontal flip mirrors left to right. The Vertical flip mirrors top to bottom. The two flips are independent, so you can use both together.

Processing order is rotate, then flips, then crop, then resize. This matters in practice. Crop coordinates are measured on the already rotated and flipped image, not on your original file.

Crop has two modes:

• Centered takes the largest centered area at a chosen ratio. The presets are Square (1:1), 5:4, 4:3, 7:5, 3:2, 16:10, 16:9, 2:1 and 21:9. You can also enter a custom ratio.
• Orientation can follow each image or be forced to landscape or portrait. Portrait swaps the preset, so 16:9 is cut as 9:16.
• Coordinates takes X, Y, width and height in pixels. Setting width or height to Auto runs to that edge. An all-zero area means no crop.

The draggable frame​

With Crop on, the compare view keeps the whole image and paints a frame over it. The area outside the frame is darkened.

• Drag a corner or edge to resize the frame.
• Drag inside the frame to move it.
• Hold Shift to keep the proportions.
• The frame can't shrink below 1 pixel and stays within the image.
• Dragging a Centered crop switches the panel to Coordinates, and the X, Y, W and H fields update live.

If Resize is also on, the file that will be saved is drawn inside the frame. That inset is hidden while you drag, until the new file is ready. You get a visual way to place the crop and exact numbers to repeat it.

The project says Compare applies the same rotation to both sides, so the comparison stays about compression and not about orientation.

New resize filters​

RIOT already had Nearest, Cubic (Catmull-Rom), Mitchell and Lanczos3. It now adds three more:

Each filter has a tooltip, and the project publishes a guide showing the same scenes through all seven. There is one caveat. When you enlarge with Mitchell, Lanczos3 or either Magic Kernel, RIOT uses the Cubic curve. The new filters are therefore mostly a downscaling story. If you plan to upscale, don't expect the filter name you picked to be used as-is.

Prefix and suffix naming​

File handling now has Prefix and Suffix fields. They wrap the file name stem, and the output format still supplies the extension. For example, photo.jpg with pre_ and _opt becomes pre_photo_opt.jpg.

• Unique names, backups and keep-original all keep that text.
• Empty or whitespace-only values leave the name unchanged.
• RIOT rejects separators, Windows-forbidden characters, control characters, . and .., and anything over 64 characters.
• The decorated stem is capped at 200 characters.
• Both fields are saved with Last Used, but Compare and preview don't apply them. A preview name can therefore differ from the saved name.

Workflow and desktop changes​

• Panels: Resize, Rotate & Flip, Crop and Quantization open as panels from the Operations menu. A switch beside each title turns the step on or off. Off keeps your settings but saves the picture without that step. Remove closes the panel and switches the operation off. Last Used restores the open panels and which switches were on.
• Window memory: Position, size and maximized state are restored. If the saved rectangle no longer fits a connected screen, for example after unplugging a monitor, the window opens at the default centered size. Maximized is kept either way. The Original folder destination is remembered separately from the last custom folder.
• External changes: While Compare is open, RIOT watches the source file. If another program replaces it, the view reloads with a note saying so.
• Shortcut: Save in Compare is now Ctrl+S (⌘S on macOS). The dialog still opens in the source file's folder.
• File list: Columns can be dragged to new widths. Name takes the remaining space. Size, Status, Output and Saved keep the width you set. The project says those widths last only while RIOT is open and aren't saved yet, so the next launch uses the defaults.
• Dark theme: Fields, dropdowns, checkboxes and radio buttons are now a shade lighter than the panel card, so they're easier to see.

Languages​

The release adds nine interface languages in total, per the project's own summary. The new ones are German, French, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian and Simplified Chinese. They join English, Spanish and Romanian. You can switch language at runtime. On a fresh Windows install, the installer writes the display language if none is saved. Traditional Chinese selects the Simplified catalog. The release credits 大眼仔~旭 for the Chinese translation and bovirus for the Italian.

Smaller downloads​

The project says the Qt runtime bundled with the Windows and macOS packages is now smaller. These are the project's own figures against 2026.10, not independent measurements.

Neowin lists the Windows installer at 25.2 MB and the portable build at 33.5 MB, which matches the project's table. Linux is listed separately. A cached search result of the project's home page showed Linux still on 2026.10 (stable, 18 September 2026) when it was captured. Check the download page for your platform before assuming 2026.11 is available.

Practical advice for Windows users​

1. Plan your edits in order. Rotate first, then flip, then crop, then resize. Enter crop coordinates against the rotated image.
2. Use the frame, then switch to numbers. Drag the crop on Compare to get the framing right. Then read the live X, Y, W and H values if you need to repeat the crop on other files.
3. Remember that Centered crops are per file. With orientation set to follow the image, a mixed batch of landscape and portrait shots keeps each file's own orientation. That is handy for batches.
4. Use prefix and suffix as a safety net. Naming outputs _opt helps avoid overwriting originals. Don't expect Compare to show the final name.
5. Don't count on persistent column widths between sessions yet.

Analysis​

This is a solid, practical release and not a flashy one. Its main strength is that the editing and compression steps sit in one place. Each step can be toggled without losing its settings, and the draggable crop frame makes the result easy to judge before you save.

It is still an optimizer, not a photo editor. Its crop and rotate tools are meant for quick preparation before encoding, not retouching.

The weaker points are minor. Upscaling quietly falls back to the Cubic curve for several filters. Column widths don't persist. The size savings are the vendor's own numbers. RIOT is freeware, and the team says the new engine is meant to underpin future versions, so expect further builds.