Ingest

Ingest copies selected source media or creates lightweight images for review. Choose the source, destination, filters, metadata, and after-ingest actions before starting. These are Mac procedures; iPad and iPhone use a different Ingest sheet.

Open Ingest

Click the toolbar Ingest button, choose File > Ingest…, or press Cmd + Shift + I.

The preset list is on the left. The form contains Source, Destination, optional CullSync/IPTC controls, Filters, Options, and After Ingest. Required session variables and run controls appear below it.

Step-by-Step Ingest Flow

1) Select Source

Choose a source mode:

• Volumes — select detected camera-media volumes. PhotoCuller finds their DCIM folders; review the selected volumes before starting.
• Devices — choose one supported connected camera. Keep it powered on and connected while its contents load and transfers run.
• Folders — add one or more accessible filesystem folders, including mounted drives or shares.
• From Selection — use only the filesystem items currently selected in the active tab. This is not the camera-selection mode.

Multiple volumes or folders can participate in one run; Devices selects one camera. See connected cameras for access and metadata limitations.

2) Set Destination

• Folder — choose a location, an optional Subfolder such as {Year}/{MonthNumber}/{Day}, and a Filename, such as {FileName}. Check the preview. Mounted storage can be chosen as a folder; Ingest does not offer a direct FTP destination.
• Apple Photos — choose Photos Library, Existing Album, or Album Template. Grant Photos access and choose a writable album when required. Folder naming/collision controls do not apply to this destination.

If your templates use sequence values, set Sequence starts at and review Sequence Scope for multiple sources: restart per source or continue across sources. Fill required session variables before starting. See Template Variables.

3) Choose Originals or Lightweight Output

Fast Ingest and Convert RAW are mutually exclusive. Both select RAW-containing items and disable the ordinary File Type control; they are not ways to copy JPEG-only items or videos. Fast Ingest quality and size depend on the preview embedded by the camera. From a connected camera, creating the output may still require downloading the RAW first. Check the results for unsupported files or missing previews.

With Convert RAW, choose Format, Quality, Color Space, and Resolution: 2048px (2K), 4096px (4K), or Full Resolution. The reduced resolutions limit the long edge; conversion is different from extracting an existing preview.

4) Set Filters and File Handling

• File Type — All Files, RAW Only, Non-RAW Only, Images Only, or Videos Only during ordinary ingest.
• Lock Filter — All, Locked Only, or Unlocked Only, based on the source’s reported lock/read-only state. An item with a locked media file counts as locked.
• Rating Filter — choose ratings; use the eye button to include or exclude them. No ratings selected means no rating restriction.
• Date Taken — choose a Relative range or a Custom Range with From/To dates and times. Items without a usable capture date are excluded when this filter is enabled.
• Existing Files — Skip preserves an existing destination; Overwrite replaces it; Rename appends a number; Append Timestamp changes the destination name. These are folder-destination options. Ingest copying does not remove the source on a collision, but after-ingest formatting is a separate destructive action.
• Finder Label — applies a filesystem color label to destination files, not source files.

Relative hours and Rolling months count backward from the run time. Relative days include today: Last 1 Day means today, not the last 24 hours. Calendar Months includes the current month. Date filtering may require reading additional metadata and can make preparation take longer.

Copy New Photos Only

Copy New Photos Only uses successful-ingest history on this device, not a check that your destination currently contains a verified backup. Renaming or moving files does not by itself make them new. Previously imported camera photos may sometimes be recognized as new again, so review the results.

Turn this option off when you deliberately need another copy, a new backup destination, or the RAW originals after a lightweight pass. Successful Fast Ingest or Convert RAW output can record the source as previously ingested. History is not a full-file integrity check, and an old destination may since have been moved or deleted.

5) Optional Metadata and CullSync

Choose an IPTC Template, review its enabled fields, and fill required variables. The pencil button edits the template for this ingest without replacing the saved template; Revert Ingest Changes removes that override. Check the preview before running.

If a CullSync is available, select it and choose All Files or Only Files in CullSync. Membership does not mean “not rejected”: publish a keeper-only snapshot if that is what you want. Matching depends on base filenames, and ambiguous matches are skipped. See CullSync for metadata and matching rules.

Camera culling metadata is stored by PhotoCuller, not written back to the camera card. Ingest can carry that metadata into destination files. Review destination metadata, especially when also applying an IPTC template or CullSync.

6) Configure After-Ingest Behavior

For folder destinations, Open Destination offers Don’t Open, Current Tab, New Tab, Background Tab, or Tab per Subfolder. This control is disabled for Apple Photos destinations.

For eligible selected removable volumes, choose Do Nothing, Eject Source, or Format and Eject Source. Formatting is restricted to detected SD cards containing DCIM and is blocked when the destination is on a selected card. These volume actions are not a command to format a connected camera.

7) Run and Verify

Click Ingest once sources, destination, templates, required variables, and licensed options are valid. The current form runs even if a named preset has not been updated.

The window stays open by default and shows progress. Settings > General > Ingest > Close Ingest window when ingest starts changes that behavior. Check progress and Activity Log for successes, skips, and failures. If a folder destination tab is opened, copied items can appear while the ingest is still running.

Cancelling does not remove copies already completed. If a run pauses for insufficient destination space, free space and use Continue, or cancel. Verify the destination files and metadata before clearing the card or treating the job as complete.

Presets

• + creates a named preset from the current configuration; presets can also be duplicated, renamed, or deleted.
• Update Current Preset writes edits to the selected named preset. Editing the form alone does not update it.
• Last Used records the configuration when you start an ingest; it is separate from updating a named preset.
• Save the preset explicitly before switching presets or closing if you want to keep edits. Do not wait for a save prompt when closing.

Fast Ingest → Cull → Originals

1. Ingest lightweight JPEGs into a separate review folder with Fast Ingest, keeping {FileName} and distinct names for different source photos. Leave source formatting off.
2. Cull those JPEGs, then publish a CullSync. Use a keeper-only filter/selection if you want only the keepers later.
3. On the receiving device, wait for the snapshot to arrive through iCloud or import its .cullsync file and check it.
4. Reopen the original card/camera. Turn Fast Ingest and Convert RAW off, choose the original file types, and turn Copy New Photos Only off for this deliberate originals pass.
5. Select that CullSync, choose membership scope, and ingest to a separate originals destination. Verify RAW files, metadata, unmatched items, and a backup before erasing anything.

Keep base filenames consistent between review copies and originals; renaming the lightweight copies or combining duplicate names from different cards can prevent reliable matching.

Auto-Open on Card Connection

Under Settings > General > Ingest, enable Open Ingest automatically when a memory card is connected if desired. Review the detected sources before starting; this is separate from closing the window when a run starts.

See Also

• Troubleshooting and Recovery
• Template Variables
• IPTC Templates
• Sources, Sidebar, and Tabs
• Settings
• CullSync