# LosslessCut — The Swiss Army Knife of Lossless Video Editing

> A cross-platform desktop tool for fast, lossless trimming, cutting, and merging of video and audio files using FFmpeg.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# LosslessCut — The Swiss Army Knife of Lossless Video Editing

## Quick Use
```bash
# macOS
brew install --cask losslesscut

# Linux (Flatpak)
flatpak install flathub no.mifi.losslesscut

# Windows — download from GitHub Releases or Microsoft Store
# Open a video, set start/end points, click Export
```

## Introduction
LosslessCut is a cross-platform GUI tool for performing fast, lossless operations on video and audio files. Instead of re-encoding, it cuts at keyframe boundaries using FFmpeg, preserving the original quality while completing operations in seconds rather than minutes. It handles virtually any format that FFmpeg supports.

## What LosslessCut Does
- Trims and cuts video and audio files without re-encoding
- Merges multiple files of the same codec into a single output
- Extracts individual streams (audio, video, subtitles) from containers
- Captures screenshots and thumbnail grids from video frames
- Batch-processes multiple files with saved segment configurations

## Architecture Overview
LosslessCut is an Electron application that drives FFmpeg as its media processing backend. The playback engine uses Chromium's built-in media capabilities for preview, while actual cut operations invoke FFmpeg in stream-copy mode. The app parses keyframe data to show accurate cut points and warns users when cuts between keyframes would require re-encoding.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via Homebrew, Flatpak, or download portable binaries from GitHub
- Configure default output directory and filename template in settings
- Set preferred keyframe cut mode (nearest keyframe or exact with re-encode)
- Customize keyboard shortcuts for timeline navigation
- Choose output container format independently from the source

## Key Features
- Near-instant operations by avoiding re-encoding
- Supports virtually all video and audio formats via FFmpeg
- Smart cut mode for frame-accurate cuts with minimal re-encoding
- Built-in media player with frame-by-frame navigation
- Segment label editor for organizing multiple cuts in a single session

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **FFmpeg CLI** — same engine but command-line only; LosslessCut provides visual timeline editing
- **Shotcut/Kdenlive** — full NLE editors that re-encode on export; LosslessCut is faster for simple cuts
- **Avidemux** — similar lossless cutting but older UI; LosslessCut has a more modern interface
- **HandBrake** — focused on transcoding; LosslessCut avoids re-encoding entirely

## FAQ
**Q: Why are my cuts slightly off from where I placed them?**
A: Lossless cutting can only split at keyframes. Enable smart cut mode for frame-accurate results at the cost of brief re-encoding near cut points.

**Q: Can LosslessCut join files of different codecs?**
A: No. Merging requires all input files to share the same codec and parameters since no re-encoding is performed.

**Q: Does it support subtitle extraction?**
A: Yes. LosslessCut can extract subtitle tracks as separate SRT or ASS files from any container format.

**Q: Is there a CLI mode?**
A: LosslessCut is primarily a GUI application. For scripted workflows, use FFmpeg directly with similar stream-copy flags.

## Sources
- https://github.com/mifi/lossless-cut
- https://losslesscut.app

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-67cf9c33
Author: AI Open Source