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Archive 2014 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?

  
 
Kit Laughlin
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Like many here, I often have a thousand or more images to sort and do a rough cull on, and to put into folders.

I use Aperture and C1Pro8 presently, but I find they their emphasis is on processing. I would like something fast to do the initial sort–delete/put into folders/ work, and then depending on the job, point either of the processing softwares at the new folders.

Any suggestions?

TIA, KL



Oct 23, 2014 at 09:26 AM
butchM
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


When it comes to culling and sorting, Photo Mechanic has been a favorite of many Photojournalists and Event photographers ... However ... if you set up your preferences and parameters properly, Aperture 3 can be as fast, efficient as PM with the added advantage of utilizing RAW processing tools that are close at hand.

Check out this tutorial/experiment comparing the two apps ...

Here

and Here ...



Oct 23, 2014 at 09:35 AM
sbeme
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Lightroom seems like an obvious choice here


Oct 23, 2014 at 10:10 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Breeze Browser. I use the companion uploader pro for uploading and renaming and folder assignment, then use Breeze to cull and copy to my working raw folder.



Oct 23, 2014 at 10:55 AM
ShotByTom
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


iPhoto works best for me on the Mac, it's fast and very easy to use.


Oct 23, 2014 at 10:58 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Consider what you will be looking at. In the case of the PhotoMechanic it is the built-in previews of the raw files. For Lr it is the converted image. What is best for you will depend on whether or not your in-camera jpg settings are what you really want to see, or have been adjusted to optimise things such as histogram accuracy and sharpness assessment with settings that you would never want to apply to the raw file conversion.


Oct 23, 2014 at 11:08 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


For me I cull in LR .

Import > set LR to view only unpicked images > goto full screen (F) and then just press P (pick) or X (reject).

if you want to cull using the embedded jpeg then you can extract those by using 'Instant Jpeg From RAW' (although that didn't update to Mavericks compatibility but maybe will soon for Yosemite )
that will very quickly generate a bunch of full res jpegs .



Oct 23, 2014 at 11:20 AM
skibum5
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


sbeme wrote:
Lightroom seems like an obvious choice here


Lightroom is very, very slow since it has to first Import photos and create a fully rendered preview of every single image! before it allows you to be able to peek at 100% views while sorting! That also takes up a lot of space, storing a full res, high quality preview for every single image (despite the fact that all RAWs today already include a full jpg preview already rendered inside of them!).



Oct 23, 2014 at 02:33 PM
skibum5
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?



Ian.Dobinson wrote:
if you want to cull using the embedded jpeg then you can extract those by using 'Instant Jpeg From RAW' (although that didn't update to Mavericks compatibility but maybe will soon for Yosemite )
that will very quickly generate a bunch of full res jpegs.


Although maybe this new feature has created a way for Lr to sort more quickly?

Does this simply let you see the embedded jpg or does it do something silly like read the embedded jpg and then re-store it as part of the Lr database of previews and thus waste a lot of disk space a little bit of time (although surely less time than the full render old method)?


Edited on Oct 23, 2014 at 02:51 PM · View previous versions



Oct 23, 2014 at 02:35 PM
skibum5
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Has FM become broken, because when you try to requote a message it keeps clipping off everythin gbut the last thing said now.



Oct 23, 2014 at 02:50 PM
skibum5
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?






I can't seem to find such an option (test Lr 5.6 demo).
How do you make it simply let you use the embedded JPG in the RAW as the preview and 1:1 preview and make it not create and process up any new images?

It would be great if they would let you make Lr not create any new files at all and simply use the embedded JPG and just show that for every image that you haven't edited (and for edited images, then it can show what it has created). Then it wouldn't waste any time and disk space making any previews at all. It would be so much more time and space efficient.

See it just did it again, everything I quoted is gone as it shows in the forums.



Oct 23, 2014 at 02:52 PM
butchM
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


skibum5 wrote:
Lightroom is very, very slow since it has to first Import photos and create a fully rendered preview of every single image! before it allows you to be able to peek at 100% views while sorting! That also takes up a lot of space, storing a full res, high quality preview for every single image (despite the fact that all RAWs today already include a full jpg preview already rendered inside of them!).


It is important to point out, the embedded jpeg is rendered using the in-camera processing engine based upon the user's specific camera settings, while any Lr generated preview (and in many cases this is true of most third party RAW processors) is based upon the specific user's ACR settings and chosen Camera Calibration profiles. The differences between the two can vary from subtle to extreme depending upon those individual settings, making culling more difficult for some folks since they can't quickly see what the default process will be.

This is why PM and Aperture (with the proper settings) are so much faster for initial viewing and sorting, is they are using the embedded jpeg. I do wish Adobe would offer a user preference for this, though those unfamiliar with the difference in appearance between camera generated jpegs and third party processed previews will have to learn to "see" the images differently during this process.

Also, Lr does not store previews for every image in the ACR cache, only a FIFO cache based upon the size you allowed in the preferences. The drive space used is always constant and really never varies. When the cache reaches capacity, it purges the oldest previews and rebuilds new ones as it goes along ... which becomes quite apparent when you scroll through very large libraries and have a small cache setting.



Oct 23, 2014 at 03:46 PM
skibum5
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


butchM wrote:
It is important to point out, the embedded jpeg is rendered using the in-camera processing engine based upon the user's specific camera settings, while any Lr generated preview (and in many cases this is true of most third party RAW processors) is based upon the specific user's ACR settings and chosen Camera Calibration profiles. The differences between the two can vary from subtle to extreme depending upon those individual settings, making culling more difficult for some folks since they can't quickly see what the default process will be.

This is why PM and Aperture (with the proper settings) are so much
...Show more

Yeah I know, but as you say they should offer an option for the many who don't care. Who cares a whit about the specific ACR rendering when you just want to scan for motion/shake blur, missed focus and composition? I'd bet more people don't care about having to see the exact ACR rendering than do. For most shots no standard rendering is remotely close to what I use in the end anyway. So to force the slow bogged down method on everyone just seems crazy in my mind.

Maybe with LR 6 they will fix this? If they ever fix it, I'll give Lr more of a thought.


Also, Lr does not store previews for every image in the ACR cache, only a FIFO cache based upon the size you allowed in the preferences. The drive space used is always constant and really never varies. When the cache reaches capacity, it purges the oldest previews and rebuilds new ones as it goes along ... which becomes quite apparent when you scroll through very large libraries and have a small cache setting.


I suppose that is not quite as bad for storage as I feared then. So long as you sort through all at first import it won't slow things down repeatedly. If you don't and go back and revisit then I guess you need to sit through another cycle of bog down though.



Oct 23, 2014 at 08:42 PM
UCSB
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Photo Mechanic and LR for me ... depending on the specific situation.


Oct 24, 2014 at 02:32 AM
Beni
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Bridge. All the advantages of LR without the catalog stuff and no need for import. Oh and you can use embedded jpgs!


Oct 24, 2014 at 04:15 AM
chez
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


LR for me as I use LR for my image organization and raw processing.


Oct 24, 2014 at 07:52 AM
schlotz
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Kit Laughlin wrote:
Like many here, I often have a thousand or more images to sort and do a rough cull on, and to put into folders.

I use Aperture and C1Pro8 presently, but I find they their emphasis is on processing. I would like something fast to do the initial sort–delete/put into folders/ work, and then depending on the job, point either of the processing softwares at the new folders.

Any suggestions?

TIA, KL


For a "rough cull" I highly recommend PhotoMechanic (PM) which has been part of my standard workflow for a while. Used Breezebrowser for many years and it does an acceptable job. IMO, LR is not where you want to start. Ingesting into LR (very slow) and cluttering up it's database only to turn around and remove the 'culls' seems odd. My workflow is to use PM to cull/delete the obvious, mark the potential keepers as I go through a shoot. Then in PM move the tagged potentials to a separate folder. Exit PM, and import the separate folder via LR. JMTC



Oct 24, 2014 at 08:32 AM
ggreene
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Used Breezebrowser Pro for many years on my PC. Fastest one that I tried. I switched back to a Mac this Summer and so far Canon DPP is the one that is closest to BBPro for speed and UI. The only thing I don't like is that I can't map "move to trash" to the delete key. I have to use a function key which is not nearly as nice to cull one handed using the arrow keys and the delete key.


Oct 24, 2014 at 08:53 AM
chez
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


schlotz wrote:
For a "rough cull" I highly recommend PhotoMechanic (PM) which has been part of my standard workflow for a while. Used Breezebrowser for many years and it does an acceptable job. IMO, LR is not where you want to start. Ingesting into LR (very slow) and cluttering up it's database only to turn around and remove the 'culls' seems odd. My workflow is to use PM to cull/delete the obvious, mark the potential keepers as I go through a shoot. Then in PM move the tagged potentials to a separate folder. Exit PM, and import the separate folder via LR.
...Show more

Just finished a portrait shoot. Took roughly 400 photos. It maybe took 1 minute to import into LR...then I am all set to rate each photo. The culled photos are all rated a 1. After I complete my ratings...I just query for No.1 photos, select all and do a delete. Now my entire shoot has been culled, rated and organized...all in 1 package without the need to flip in and out of different packages. I can now proceed to processing the No.4 rated ( highest ) photos which I have rated for possible prints.

I don't see any slowness in with LR during this entire process from importing to having a shoot completely culled, rated, organized and ready for processing.



Oct 24, 2014 at 09:58 AM
Emile Gregoire
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · What is the best image SORTING/CULLING software you use?


Another vote for Photo Mechanic. Lightning fast for culling and keywording.


Oct 24, 2014 at 10:50 AM
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