Everything you need to get the most out of Helium2 — from your first album to print-ready collages.
Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
100 MB free disk space
Display: 1024×768 or higher
macOS 11 Big Sur or later
Apple Silicon (M1+) or Intel (2015+)
2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
100 MB free disk space
Go to the download page and choose the installer for your operating system.
Windows: Double-click the .exe installer and follow the prompts. macOS: Open the .dmg file, drag Helium2 to your Applications folder.
Open Helium2 from your Start Menu (Windows) or Applications folder (macOS). The welcome screen appears.
Click Settings in the sidebar, then Activate License and enter your key. Without a key, Helium2 runs as a 30-day free trial.
Helium2 has three main areas:
Click the + button in the sidebar header or the + New Album button on the Welcome screen. Type a name and press Enter. The album is created immediately and you are taken to it.
There are four ways to add photos to an album:
Tip: Helium2 never copies your files. It stores only the file path. If you move or rename a photo, Helium2 will flag it as missing. You can re-add the file at its new location.
JPG · JPEG · PNG · GIF · WebP · BMP · TIFF · TIF · AVIF · SVG
Click the ✏️ pencil button next to the album title, or double-click the title itself. Edit the name and press Enter to save, or Escape to cancel.
Click 🗑 Delete in the toolbar. A confirmation dialog will appear. Deleting an album removes only the metadata — your original photo files are never deleted.
Right-click any photo thumbnail and choose Remove from Album. A confirmation dialog appears. The physical file is not affected.
Photos are displayed in a responsive grid. Use the size slider (🔍) in the toolbar to adjust thumbnail size from 80 to 400 px. Your preferred size is saved automatically.
Type in the Search by filename… box to filter photos live as you type. The search is case-insensitive and matches any part of the filename. Results update instantly with no delay.
Use the sort dropdown to order photos:
Click any thumbnail to open it full-screen. Navigate using the arrow buttons or your keyboard arrow keys. Press Escape or click ✕ to close. The viewer shows only the currently visible (searched/filtered) set.
Right-click any photo for these options:
If a photo's original file is moved or deleted, its thumbnail shows a missing-file indicator. Helium2 checks your albums periodically (every 30 seconds) and notifies you via an in-app toast. All missing/restored events are logged in the Logs view.
Each album in the sidebar shows a small cover thumbnail (34×34 px). You can set any image — a photo from your collection or one of 12 built-in artistic designs — as the cover.
Click the cover thumbnail on the left side of any album item in the sidebar. The Cover Picker dialog will open.
The picker shows a 4-column grid of built-in designs:
Ocean · Sunset · Forest · Night Sky · Arctic · Sakura · Autumn
Rose · Gold · Abstract · Minimal · Cosmic
Click any design to apply it immediately. A checkmark indicates the currently active cover.
Click 📷 Browse from Files… in the picker to open a file dialog. Select any supported image file. It will be displayed as the album cover, resized to fit the sidebar thumbnail.
Tip: You can also set a cover by right-clicking any photo in the album grid and choosing Set as Album Cover. This is a quick shortcut that bypasses the picker dialog.
Click ✕ Remove Cover in the picker. The cover reverts to the default photo-placeholder icon.
Click ☑ Select in the album toolbar to enter selection mode. Thumbnails show a checkbox overlay.
Click thumbnails to select them. A blue count badge shows how many are selected. Click ✕ Clear to deselect all.
Click 🎨 Create Collage. The Collage Editor opens in a new window with your selected photos already placed.
Use the Canvas Size dropdown in the collage header to choose a preset size:
Sizes are calculated at 96 DPI (screen-standard). For print use, scale up before exporting.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Select a photo | Click it on the canvas or click its layer in the Layers panel |
| Move | Click and drag the selected photo |
| Resize | Drag the resize handles at the corners and edges |
| Rotate | Drag the rotation handle above the photo, or use the Rotation slider |
| Delete | Click Remove in the properties panel |
When a photo is selected, the right sidebar shows:
Click the BG color swatch in the header to pick a canvas background color.
Use the Layout dropdown to auto-arrange photos:
Click ⟳ Refresh to re-randomize the current layout.
Note: Trial version exports include a watermark. Purchase a license to export clean, watermark-free files.
Select photos in an album using the Select button, then choose a creative mode from the toolbar. Each mode opens its own window.
Photos float as glowing polaroid balloons over a starry background. Use the BG button to pick one of 12 gradient backgrounds. Hit ⏺ Record to capture up to 2 minutes of video — saved automatically to your Recordings folder.
Photos texture the faces of 3D shapes rotating in perspective. Pick a shape type (cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, cylinder, gem), adjust the count slider (1–8), and change the background. Record as video.
Photos bounce around on 2D shapes with glow, vignette, and shape-specific overlays. Choose from 8 shape types, adjust the tile count (1–12), pick a background, and record as video.
Design a personalized greeting card using photos from your selection. Add text, choose a layout, and export as a print-ready image.
The Photo Tree opens a full interactive canvas with a painted tree. Your album photos appear in a strip at the bottom — click one to select it, then click anywhere on the tree to place it as a shaped photo node.
Select a photo in the strip, then click the tree canvas to place it. Click an existing photo-node to select it, then drag to reposition.
When a node is selected, a green rotation handle (↻) appears above it. Drag the handle to rotate freely. Or use the Rotation slider in the toolbar, the ↺ Reset button, or press [ / ] to rotate by 15°.
Change the selected node's shape (circle, leaf, heart, hexagon, star, diamond, pentagon, burst) using the shape buttons. Adjust Shape size (30–130 px) and Photo fill (60–200%) with the sliders.
Click the + button on the left of the photo strip to pick additional photos from your computer — they're added to the strip without replacing your existing ones.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| [ | Rotate selected node −15° |
| ] | Rotate selected node +15° |
| Delete / Backspace | Remove selected node |
| Escape | Deselect node |
Masks clip a photo to a specific shape. Select a photo in the collage editor and scroll to Mask Shape in the right properties panel.
None · Circle · Rounded · Diamond · Star · Heart · Flower · Hexagon · Arch
The mask clips the photo canvas. Shadows and borders follow the mask shape. The original photo is unchanged.
Click a mask shape preview in the picker to apply it. The photo is immediately clipped. Selecting None restores the rectangular shape.
Frames are decorative SVG overlays drawn on top of the entire canvas. Click ☐ Frame in the collage header to open the frame panel.
Forest · Ocean · Autumn · Sakura · Bamboo · Meadow
Ornate · Vintage · Floral · Simple Border · Corner Leaves · Gold Filigree
Open ⚙️ Settings from the sidebar footer to access themes.
Aurora — Warm coral & teal
Ocean — Deep blue sidebar
Sunset — Orange & amber
Forest — Rich green tones
Berry — Purple & pink
Midnight — Deep navy & purple
(More dark themes planned in future updates)
Click any theme card to apply it instantly. The change is saved and persists between sessions.
Below the presets, the Custom Theme section lets you set individual colors:
Click Apply Custom Theme to apply, or Reset to Preset to return to the last active preset.
The thumbnail size slider in the album toolbar controls the grid tile size globally. Drag the slider or type a number from 80 to 400 px. This preference is saved automatically.
Helium2 silently monitors all albums every 30 seconds while it is running. If a linked photo is moved, renamed, or deleted, Helium2 logs the event.
Click 📋 Logs in the sidebar footer. The Logs view shows the last three months of log files, with the most recent at the top.
Each log entry shows:
When a file goes missing or is restored, a toast notification appears in the bottom-right corner of the app. The notification disappears automatically after 5 seconds.
Log files are stored in the application's user-data folder and are automatically cleaned up after one month. Logs older than 30 days are deleted on startup.
Tip: If you move a large photo library to a new drive, re-add the folder to the affected album. Helium2 will skip duplicates and pick up any new photos at the same time.
No. Helium2 stores only file path references to your photos. Your files are never copied, moved, or transmitted anywhere. See the Privacy Policy for full details.
Album metadata, configuration, thumbnail cache, and logs are stored in the standard application user-data folder:
%APPDATA%\Helium2~/Library/Application Support/Helium2Helium2 will mark those photos as missing and log the events. Re-add the new folder to the album — Helium2 will re-link them and skip any photos already in the album. Remove the old missing entries by right-clicking and choosing "Remove from Album".
A Personal License covers one device. A Family License covers up to five devices in the same household. Album data is stored locally and is not synced automatically between devices.
Choose the target paper size (e.g., A4 Portrait) from the Canvas Size dropdown in the collage editor before adding your photos. Export as PDF and print from your PDF reader at 100% scale (no scaling/fit to page).
The free trial includes a watermark on collage exports. Purchase a Personal or Family license to remove it. See Pricing.
This typically happens when a file is moved to a location Helium2 can no longer reach (e.g., an unmounted drive). If the drive is reconnected or the file is restored, Helium2 will automatically detect it within 30 seconds and clear the missing flag.
Email amit@thehobbyist.in within 30 days of purchase with your order ID. See the License Agreement for full refund policy.
Have a question not answered here? Contact us at amit@thehobbyist.in