Getting Started on iPad & iPhone

For a first session, follow this short path through the guide:

1. Open photos from a folder or Apple Photos (section 1).
2. Select and rate your photos (section 2).
3. Review in Full View to check details (section 3).
4. Copy or export your keepers to a separate folder and check the results (section 5).

Metadata editing and reusable setups are optional; return to sections 4 and 6 when you need them.

1) Open Your Photos

Tap Show Sidebar, then Library:

• Open Folder: choose a folder in Files, including an accessible card, USB drive, or iCloud Drive folder.
• Bookmarks > Add Bookmark: pick a folder to keep a shortcut to it. Opening a folder alone does not add a bookmark.
• Apple Photos: grant access, then choose All Photos or an album.
• Devices: choose a connected camera when it appears; allow camera access if asked.
• Remote Servers: open a saved FTP/FTPS folder.

To copy a card before reviewing it, use Ingest in Library. Follow the mobile source and Ingest steps.

On a tall screen the sidebar covers the browser and can close after you choose a source. Reopen it for Library, Stats, or Info. On a wide screen it sits beside the grid. PhotoCuller uses one source session at a time on mobile, not Mac-style tabs.

2) Select and Cull

1. Tap a thumbnail to select one item.
2. For several items, tap Select Photos, then tap thumbnails to add or remove them. You can also drag across thumbnails in selection mode. Check the selected count and stay in this mode for batch actions. Done Selecting returns to a single selection.
3. Use the action bar to rate, label, flag, favorite, or reject. In the grid these actions affect the selection. Reject marks a photo; it does not delete it.

Touch and hold a thumbnail for its action menu. For predictable batch work, select the intended photos first. Use More (the ellipsis button) for commands not shown in the toolbar. On narrow screens, More > Toolbar holds Tools, Workflow…, and Group By; on wide screens Tools and Workflow are also toolbar buttons.

Filter and check your progress

Use the toolbar’s rating, flag, and label filters; on a narrow screen open Show Filters or Filters. Clear Filters restores the unfiltered view. Filtering is not the same as selecting photos for an action.

Open Sidebar > Stats for counts and camera information. Tap an available statistic to filter by it. If details are missing, Scan Remaining reads more of the loaded source, not just the selection, and can download iCloud media. Canceling a scan keeps what was already read.

For filesystem photos, Group By > Similar Scenes groups visually related items without creating saved stacks. See Grouping and Similar Scenes.

3) Review in Full View

Leave selection mode, then double-tap a thumbnail. Alternatively select one photo and choose More > Photo > Open Full View. Use the back button to return to the grid.

Swipe left/right for next/previous, swipe up to toggle flag, swipe down to toggle reject, and tap with two fingers to toggle favorite. Pinch to zoom and drag to inspect details. Full View culling affects the focused photo, not the whole grid selection.

Use More > View Options for the filmstrip, histogram, exposure warning, focus peaking, and info overlay. The toolbar has comparison and Subject Panel controls. iPad supports two- or four-photo comparison; iPhone supports two. See touch review, comparison, and crop.

4) Add Metadata

In the grid, select one photo and open Tools > Edit IPTC…. On a narrow screen use More > Toolbar > Tools. In Full View use More > Tools > Edit IPTC.

1. Wait for metadata to load, then enter a title, caption, keywords, or other available fields. Use Choose IPTC Fields to change which fields appear.
2. Tap Apply and wait for completion. Revert discards the unsaved draft.
3. Save before closing the editor or changing photos. The editor’s own previous/next buttons save changes before moving; do not rely on other navigation or dismissal to save them.

In Full View on a wide iPad layout, the editor sits beside the photo. Otherwise it opens in a sheet, including when opened from the grid. Sidebar > Info shows details for the selection; Correct EXIF… under Tools opens supported date, location, or camera corrections. Check the selected scope and tap Apply to save. Apple Photos supports library date/location changes, not rewriting camera EXIF.

Saved Keywords

Keep a reusable list of names, places, or subjects for the IPTC editor and templates:

1. Open More > App > Templates & Presets > Saved Keywords.
2. Enter or paste words separated by commas or line breaks, such as Travel, New York, and tap Add.
3. Close the manager and open a photo’s IPTC editor. In Keywords, tap the list button, search, and tap words to add them. Checked words are already in the field.
4. Close the picker and tap Apply in the editor to save the photo.

Alternatively, type part of a saved keyword and tap a suggestion to add it. For a new word, type it and tap +. Adding a word to a photo does not automatically save it to the reusable list. Use the × on a keyword to remove it from the photo, then apply the edit.

The picker’s gear button opens the manager. Tap a word to rename it and Save; swipe left and tap Delete to remove it from the list. Neither action changes keywords already used in photos or templates.

To share the list, open More > App > Settings > iCloud Sync and enable Saved Keywords on each device with the same Apple Account. It is on by default. This shares the list, not keyword edits on photos; deleting a saved keyword also removes it from the synced list on other devices.

Apply the same IPTC to several photos

Open More > App > Templates & Presets > IPTC Templates. Tap +, name the template, enable only the fields to change, enter their values, and tap Save. Review replace/append/prepend choices where offered.

Return to the grid, select the target photos, and choose Tools > Apply IPTC Template…. Pick the template, check Will Apply and the photo count, then tap Apply. This writes to the selected items. Applying a template inside the single-photo editor only fills its draft; tap the editor’s Apply afterward.

5) Copy, Export, or Hand Off

Make a copy first

1. Return to the grid and select a few test items. Open More > Photo > Copy… for folder, camera, or FTP sources, or Export… for Apple Photos.
2. Choose a separate destination folder with Location. For Copy you can also choose Apple Photos and a library/album destination.
3. Review Assets when shown. Keep every needed photo/video representation and sidecar selected, especially for RAW+JPEG and Live Photos. For Apple Photos, check original versus edited versions.
4. For a folder destination, use Existing Files > Append Number to avoid replacing files. Tap Copy or Export, then inspect the destination and More > App > Activity Log.

Apple Photos Export can offer Metadata > Include when PhotoCuller metadata is available: Don’t Include, XMP Sidecar, Embed in JPEG, or Both. JPEG embedding needs a selected JPEG. Choose deliberately; merely exporting the original does not automatically include PhotoCuller’s edits.

Use a workflow for naming or processing

Open Workflow in the toolbar, or More > Toolbar > Workflow… on a narrow screen. Tap Filter Items and set Run On > Selection. Review every step: the sheet remembers earlier settings.

Tap the destination step, choose Operation > Copy, set Export To, and select the destination. Review naming and collision choices. Use the + between steps to add an image-processing step before the destination, then tap that step to configure it. Omit image processing for video-only delivery. Finish editing the step, review the item count, and tap Run. The bookmark menu saves or updates a workflow preset explicitly.

For a complete remote-delivery example, see delivery to an FTP/FTPS server.

Share or transfer decisions

• More > Photo > Share Selected: choose the offered files, then the receiving app or AirDrop. Some sources need downloads first. Check what the receiver gets; sharing is not a complete backup of PhotoCuller metadata.
• CullSync: publish decisions for later application to matching originals, including on your Mac. It does not copy the photo files or automatically rate a later import. Follow CullSync’s mobile publish/apply steps.

6) Reuse Your Setup

Open More > App > Templates & Presets:

• Filter Presets: tap +, name the preset, add rules, and Save. Apply it from the browser’s Filter Presets control or Filters menu.
• Code Replacements: tap Add to import a TSV file from Files. Select the list, choose Edit, and Save changes. A wide layout shows lists beside their contents; a narrow layout uses a list picker. Enable the list and enter =code= with a code from it in a supported IPTC field; the default trigger is =. Reloading from the original TSV replaces in-app edits, so export a copy first if needed.
• Filename & Folder Templates and EXIF Camera Presets manage reusable naming patterns and camera corrections. A naming preset does not grant access to its folders, and loading camera values does not write them until you apply corrections.

For preferences, open More > App > Settings and choose a section. Under iCloud Sync, enable the desired categories on each device using the same Apple Account. Settings/preset sync, PhotoCuller Metadata for Apple Photos, and CullSync are separate choices. They do not transfer original media, folder access, remote-server passwords, or saved workflows.

For a keyboard or gamepad, use Keyboard Shortcuts or Controller in Settings. Follow the mobile keyboard/controller steps.

See Also

• Troubleshooting and Recovery
• Sources on iPad & iPhone
• Touch Gestures and the Action Bar
• CullSync
• Grouping and Similar Scenes
• Purchasing and Unlocking