Using the File > Export > Mac App… menu item, you can turn your composition into an macOS application (.app file).

When exporting a composition that refers to files on your computer (such as images, scenes, or movies), typically Vuo will know to copy those into the exported app. If you’ve added these files to your composition by dragging them onto the canvas (without holding down ⌥) — creating a node such as Fetch Image or Play Movie — then the files will automatically be copied into the exported app. In fact, Vuo will automatically copy files and folders for all relative paths found in ports named URL, URLs, or Folder on nodes that read files.

If you’ve held down ⌥ while dragging a file onto the canvas, or if you’ve typed an absolute path into the input editor for a URL, then Vuo won’t copy the file into the exported app. This is useful if you want to refer to a file that you know will be in a certain location on every computer that runs the app, such as an image that comes with the operating system.

In some cases, you may want a file to be copied into the app, but Vuo may not be able to figure this out. This may happen, for example, if your composition uses an Append Text node to construct relative file paths out of smaller pieces. If Vuo doesn’t copy your files into the exported app automatically, then you can copy them yourself. For example, if your composition uses a file called image.png: