Settings

On Mac, open PhotoCuller > Settings or press Cmd + ,. Use the search field to find a control, then click a result to open its section.

Settings Sections

General

• Appearance follows the system or uses Light/Dark. Changing Language offers a restart.
• Culling controls auto-advance after rating, label, favorite, flag, or reject actions. It is off by default. Enable Keep changed photos visible when they no longer match the active filter if you want a just-rated photo to stay visible while reviewing a filtered set.
• Navigation controls wraparound, single-click source loading, opening sources in new tabs, and restoring tabs on launch.
• Folder Updates controls automatic refresh when files change. If you turn it off, use File > Reload Tab when needed.
• Key Behavior chooses whether repeated rating/label presses keep or clear the value. Flag, favorite, and reject can also use Set or Toggle behavior.
• Ingest can open automatically when a memory card is connected, and close its window when ingest starts. Closing the window is not the same as cancelling the transfer; see Ingest.
• Date & Time changes how dates look, not the dates stored in photos.
• File Actions > Confirm before deleting photos is on by default. Keep it on if you want a confirmation before direct deletion. Workflow Trash actions have separate controls.
• Rename & Export > File extension case chooses original, lowercase, or uppercase endings. Show in Finder selects, under File Actions, chooses which matching files Finder highlights.
• Photo State Colors changes selection, rejection, comparison, and stack highlighting.

Under General > Crop, Show crop overlay is on by default. Turn it off to show only the finished crop in thumbnails and Full View; leave it on to see the full image with a crop outline. This changes the display, not the original pixels or saved crop.

Metadata Saving

Under General > Metadata Writing:

• For JPEG, HEIF, and TIFF, save metadata in file controls embedded metadata versus .xmp sidecars for JPEG and HEIF/HEIC/HIF. TIFF and PNG still use sidecars; see Metadata Editing.
• For DNG, save metadata to offers DNG file or XMP sidecar.
• Include workflow state when saving selections is on by default. Turn it off for filename-only selection files; it does not change what an existing selection file restores. See Save Selection / Load Selection.
• Auto-save IPTC editor changes is off by default. When enabled, drafts save when navigating or closing the panel, not after every keystroke.

Grid View

• Enable Show image numbers in the grid for numbered review.
• Date Taken ordering offers Chronological (default), which accounts for recorded time zones, or Camera clock, which compares the times shown by the cameras without adjusting for time zones. Neither changes the photo’s date.
• Default sort and Default order apply to newly opened tabs.
• Photo drag behavior chooses stacking or rearranging as the default; hold Option for the other action. Arrange drag style changes the drop preview. See Grid View.

Thumbnail loading preferences are under Performance, and wraparound navigation is under General.

Full View

Use this section to choose filmstrip position and grouped navigation, the Subject Panel position, background, comparison reference side, frame, and overlay placement.

• Loupe zoom level offers 2x, 4x, or 8x. Keyboard zoom anchor chooses the image center or mouse cursor.
• Keep zoom between images is off by default: arrows pan a zoomed photo. Turn it on to move between photos while retaining zoom. Navigate at zoom edge is available when Keep zoom is off.
• Scroll behavior, Disable animations, and Keyboard navigation speed control how navigation feels.
• Autoplay videos starts clips and Live Photos when opened; it is off by default.
• Info Overlay offers built-in fields or a custom template. Focus peaking has separate color and sensitivity controls.

Image size and RAW preview choices are under Performance > Full Images. See Full View for review controls and Video Support for playback.

Color Labels and External Editors

Color Labels lets you rename the six labels and enable Sync color labels to Finder labels. Label names are used throughout PhotoCuller; Finder still uses its own color labels.

In External Editors, use Add Editor…, reorder apps, or remove them. Choose Prefer RAW or Prefer JPEG for each app and optionally assign a shortcut.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Choose a preset, then customize individual bindings. Double-click a binding to record a shortcut; resolve any reported conflict. Use Save As… to save your own preset, or the reset controls to restore bindings. See Keyboard Shortcuts for the defaults.

The IPTC Field Focus group contains unassigned actions for jumping to fields such as Caption and Keywords. Assign your own shortcuts; see IPTC field shortcuts.

Controller

1. Connect a compatible game controller to your Mac using Bluetooth or USB.
2. Open Settings > Controller and check that the controller appears as connected.
3. Choose an action beside each button, or None to leave it unused. Adjust Stick Sensitivity, then return to the photo browser to try it. Changes save automatically; Reset to Defaults restores the original assignments.

Default assignments include:

The left stick navigates, or pans when zoomed in Full View; the right stick zooms in Full View. Culling buttons affect the browser selection or the focused photo in Full View. If buttons do nothing, close Settings or any open dialog and leave text editing or cropping before trying again.

On iPad and iPhone, configure Settings > Controller and use the controller in the browser or Full View. Syncing Controller Mapping shares assignments and sensitivity, not the Bluetooth connection.

Performance

Image Loading and Memory

• Thumbnails chooses RAW/JPEG preference, Preferred RAW Decoder, and how many local or network thumbnails load at once. Lower network loads if browsing a shared drive overwhelms the connection.
• Full Images sets the maximum loaded size, RAW/JPEG preference, RAW decoder, Apple Photos version, and LibRaw resolution. A smaller size uses less memory; use a larger size for close inspection. These settings do not resize your files.
• Memory Cache sets memory limits for thumbnails, full images, and image analysis, in MB or GB—not numbers of photos. It is not an offline copy or backup.

Metadata Scanning

Under Performance > Metadata Scanning > When opening folders, choose:

• Full metadata (default) to read camera and descriptive information when opening a folder.
• XMP metadata only for a quicker initial scan of saved ratings and other XMP information.
• Automatic to use the quicker scan for selected source types. Choose network volumes, removable drives/memory cards, or local folders under XMP-only sources; other folders use full metadata.

Camera-based sorting or opening detailed information can still require more reading. Use Scan Remaining in Statistics when you need a fuller picture of the loaded source.

iCloud Sync

On Mac, iPad, and iPhone, open Settings > iCloud Sync. Use the same Apple Account on each device and enable the categories you want on each one. The available sync switches are on by default. These PhotoCuller options do not upload photo or video files.

Templates and Settings

Mac has separate Keymap Presets and Keyboard Shortcuts switches. On iPad and iPhone, Keyboard Shortcuts & Presets controls both; only actions supported on that platform can be used.

Saved workflows, Ingest presets, Bin presets, Session Variable Presets, source bookmarks, remote-server profiles/passwords, and performance settings are not included in these categories. Set up source access separately on each device.

Photo Metadata and CullSync

• Apple Photos > PhotoCuller Metadata for Apple Photos shares PhotoCuller ratings, flags, labels, IPTC, and other PhotoCuller edits for matching items in the same Photos library. It is separate from Apple’s photo sync and requires access to the matching library items. See Apple Photos vs Filesystem.
• CullSync shares the snapshots you publish for a later handoff or application to files. It is not automatic synchronization of every folder’s metadata. See CullSync for publishing and applying decisions.

Turn off a category before making device-only changes. Turning it off does not erase data already present; turning it back on may bring in shared settings. Deleting a synced preset or saved keyword can also delete it on other devices. Allow time for changes to arrive and check the receiving device before relying on them. If something is missing, check the account, category switch, connection, and Photos access where relevant.

Updates, License, and Support

Updates controls automatic checks, their frequency, and automatic downloads. License shows activation, trial status, and activated devices. Support provides help and contact links.

See Also

• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Full View
• Metadata Editing
• Ingest
• CullSync