INSTALL GUIDE

From download
to your DAW

Pad Works plugins run on macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon). Windows support is on our roadmap.

Every Pad Works plugin ships as a signed macOS installer. Four steps and it shows up in your session.

Requirements

  • macOS 10.13.4 High Sierra or later
  • Intel & Apple Silicon — universal binary, native on both
  • A DAW that hosts VST3 or AU — Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Reaper, FL Studio, Cubase…

  1. Download the installer

    After checkout you get an email from Lemon Squeezy with your download link. It's a .zip: inside is the .pkg installer (that single installer carries both formats) and the uninstaller.

  2. Double-click the pkg

    Run the installer and follow the prompts. It places the plugin where every DAW looks:

    /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3  and  /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components (AU)

  3. If macOS blocks it

    Gatekeeper may warn about a downloaded installer. Right-click the pkg → Open, then confirm with Open in the dialog. You can also allow it under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

  4. The plugin appears in your DAW

    Restart your DAW (or rescan plugins) and it shows up in the plugin browser under Pad Works. Drop it on a track and go.

Upgrading from a pre-release build

If you ever installed a 0.0.x build (beta, test copy), delete it before running the installer — check both plug-in folders, the system one and your user one:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3  ·  /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components

~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3  ·  ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components

The 1.0.3 installer removes those copies by name on its own, but a copy left in ~/Library by an older installer would otherwise win over the release in some DAWs. Sessions saved with a 0.0.x build are not guaranteed to open the same in 1.0.x.

Uninstalling

Every download zip carries uninstall_padworks.command. Double-click it: it lists the Pad Works plug-ins found in both Library folders, asks before removing them, and asks separately whether to delete your user presets. Nothing else is touched. If macOS blocks it, right-click → Open once.

Lost the zip? Download the uninstaller (same file, 5 KB).

Stuck?

Write in — answered by the person who builds the plugins.

hola@martinmake.com