Troubleshooting

AppImage won't run on Linux

Solution: Make the AppImage executable:

Then run it directly:

Missing dependencies on Linux

Solution: Install required dependencies:

For Arch/CachyOS:

macOS says "app is damaged" on launch

Solution: This is a macOS security gate for unsigned apps. Right-click the app and select "Open", then click "Open" in the dialog. This only needs to be done once.

Varve is slow or laggy

Solution:

• Check if you have many objects on canvas (viewport culling helps, but extreme counts may slow down)
• Ensure your GPU drivers are up to date
• Close other applications to free memory
• Check if you're running on Wayland (primary dev environment) vs X11

Canvas rendering is slow

Solution: If you're experiencing slow rendering, check if you're using the WASM backend (web) vs native backend (desktop). The native Rust engine is significantly faster. Try switching to the desktop app for best performance.

Rich text not rendering correctly

Solution: Rich-text source indexing, grapheme-safe transactions, and selected mixed formatting controls are available, but the canonical shaped layout is still being connected to every renderer and export path. Keep complex per-span compositions short while testing and verify the final export. See the Known Issues and Typography pages for current status.

Collaboration features not working

Solution: Collaboration features are UI scaffolding only with no transport or wire protocol. Real-time collaboration is planned for future development.

Print export not showing bleed

Solution: Print bleed and trim guides are available in the current print workflow, but exported trim/bleed geometry remains the final authority. If guides appear stale after changing page settings, reopen the page or export again and verify the PDF.

Varve crashes on startup

Solution:

• Check system requirements (4GB RAM minimum, 8GB recommended)
• Ensure you're using a supported OS version
• Check if other applications are using excessive memory
• Report the issue with your OS, version, and crash logs

Specific tool crashes

Solution: Report the issue with steps to reproduce, your OS, and Varve version. Include any error messages or crash logs if available.