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Culling photos on a Mac

PaulMaewpa2
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Culling photos on a Mac

I am sure this has been covered before but I've tried a couple of searches and am obviously not selecting the right terms. I am pretty sure I am in the right forum. :-)

Super-short version of this, with more those kind enough to take the time the read.
I just need an image viewer that allows me to enlarge and delete files and copy them to another location using a mouse. Is there something fast for Mac that'll allow me to work with a mouse this way or a way to set up Preview so that I can use a mouse with it?

I recently replaced my 2019 Windows laptop with an M2 MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM. It certainly speeds up my workflow but there is one step that seems a bit more clunky than it needs to be - browsing through all the files to select those I want to process first and delete the files I don't want to keep. There are sometimes a lot of these.

My main issue is that when I am initially browsing I like to enlarge any photo that looks like it might be worth keeping to 100% or just "big" (on a higher megapixel camera) to check focus and detail. I don't like doing this via keyboard shortcuts (even if there is one for enlarge to 100%) because I like to sit well back from the screen and use a mouse. Using the + and - buttons in Preview is slow, considering it mostly only takes me 1-2 seconds to decide 'okay or not'.

Another, very minor, issue is that if I have a significant number of short video files in the folder these do not open in Preview but separate windows, which is really messy - of course I can just move the video files to a different folder before I start - they are going to be processed in different programs anyway. It's just if I am still out somewhere and have a spare 30 minutes it would be nice to be able to do some selecting and culling without the need to organize things into folders first.

In Windows I can just double click using the image viewer or Faststone to enlarge and video files can be easily passed over - they just load and open like the images in the same window. They also allow me to hold down the mouse button and scroll the enlarged file in any direction. Neither are particularly fast loading on my Windows laptop (Faststone faster) but once the folder is loaded the browsing is quick. Happy to learn new ways though - just explaining what I am looking to do, not needing to replicate the process exactly - using the mouse (or touchpad) is probably the main thing.

I don't do any processing/ organizing/ cropping at this stage so I just need an image viewer that allows me to delete files and preferably to copy them to another location. I no longer even need to flag or grade images (unless the program doesn't allow selected files to be individually copied to another folder). Is there something fast for Mac that'll allow me to work with a mouse or a way to set up Preview so that I can use a mouse with it? Preview is otherwise okay, if not ideal, for the time being.

Jpeg only is tolerable as long as the program doesn't choke on the RAW files it can't open and allows them to be deleted (and very preferably copied). Jpeg is good enough for this stage of the process although I rarely have the need to use jpegs otherwise nowadays.

I don't mind if a program isn't free if it makes me happy to use it but I only need very basic functionality.

Thanks

Edit: I forgot to mention that I am trying out ApolloOne and it seems quite promising but has far more features than I need and I am not sure I like the rather opaque pricing. It is a bit confusing and I don't like that way of doing things.I may change my mind on that.

Edited on Aug 05, 2023 at 01:37 AM · View previous versions

Aug 05, 2023 at 12:53 AM

ruthenium
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Culling photos on a Mac

It seems this kind of questions might be asked by every Windows user who added a Mac, myself included:
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1800624/0?keyword=FastStone#16196284
I bought a MacBook Pro earlier this year. I still prefer using my other Windows laptop for all work-related applications. The MacBook is obviously the choice machine for PP. I ended up installing Parallels Desktop for Mac, bought a Windows license, and finally installed FastStone that runs without problems in this setup. For details, see the above link.
I am interested in alternatives, if there are any, however, the path I took works well for me. My MacBook has 64 GB RAM that means that 8 GB taken by Windows doesn't slow down the PP (in DxO PL 6, in my case).
(Edit: this is unrelated to your question, as a Windows user, another thing that I guess you might be trying to find is a good mouse for MacBook. I tried four different ones, including the ugly "magic" mouse from Apple - the best in my experience, and strongly recommended is Logitec MX Master 3S for Mac)

Aug 05, 2023 at 01:20 AM

PaulMaewpa2
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Culling photos on a Mac

Thanks. Yes I saw that thread but I don't want to do what you did.

Aug 05, 2023 at 02:02 AM

ruthenium
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Culling photos on a Mac

PaulMaewpa2 wrote:
Thanks. Yes I saw that thread but I don't want to do what you did.

Aug 05, 2023 at 02:37 AM

ruthenium
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Culling photos on a Mac

PaulMaewpa2 wrote:
Thanks. Yes I saw that thread but I don't want to do what you did.

Was very tempted to do that for a number of things but I'm going to grit my teeth and master the Mac (for now anyway).

Although I haven't used it seriously yet, with a big folder of RAW/jpegs, ApolloOne initially seems very similar to Faststone with more functionality and arguably smoother and faster. I'll report back when I've given it some hard work to do, unless someone else with experience chimes in first.

I didn't even know Logitech made a mouse for Mac so thanks...Show more →

I bought and installed the Pro version. It is not too bad. Three immediate differences when compared to FastStone:
1) Left mouse click does not give 100% magnification, and the mouse wheel does not resize - both functions are useful in FastStone. These require using a toolbar slider in ApolloOne - doable but less convenient (I suspect this might be a consequence of the apparent general aversion of Apple to the use of mouse wheel)
2) To see EXIF, one must open a panel "Inspector", whereas this pane appears in FastStone on moving the mouse pointer to the right edge.
3) One cannot compare more than two images in ApolloOne. It is easy and convenient to compare 3 and 4 images in FastStone.
I am sure one can get used to these differences; thus, overall the impression is positive, yet FastStone is a better viewer.

Aug 05, 2023 at 03:27 AM

ruthenium
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Culling photos on a Mac

Found option "Zoom image with mouse scroll wheel" in Settings, but this does not work properly with my mouse. I can zoom in, but cannot zoom out. The shortcuts '-', '=', 'Z' can be useful for close inspection.

Aug 05, 2023 at 04:07 AM

PaulMaewpa2
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Culling photos on a Mac

Not sure these are any use - far from being an advocate yet, but for me I have to say this is better than most viewers I've used and it seems (seems) to be very fast. Seemed to load a whole 1TB drive ready to view in a few seconds.

Can't you zoom back out just by double clicking? Personally, I find the loupe just about sufficient for a first look and double click to 100% to check.. but I understand there are cases where scrolling may be useful.

Also, regarding EXIF you may not have noted yet but there are two views depending on whether you go full screen or not. It's odd but worth noting.

If you are full screen there is no bar at the bottom - the filmstrip shows when you move your mouse down there.

However, if you exit full screen the basic EXIF info shows in a bar at the bottom. You can drag to expand the size of the window to close to full screen width and height without losing that EXIF bar.

Aug 05, 2023 at 06:11 AM

jforkner
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Culling photos on a Mac

Perhaps I don’t understand the problem; but on my MacBook Pro, I can:
• View .CR2, .PSD, .TIF, JPG, .DNG, .MP4, .MOV files @ 100% in Finder > Quick Look
• Resize same by dragging a corner.
• Copy files to another location using a variety of methods (e.g., drag & drop; copy & paste).
All of this using only my mouse. No special software required.

Jack

Aug 05, 2023 at 07:05 AM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Culling photos on a Mac

What camera system do you use? I use Canon’s DPP. Quick Check - Full Screen has excellent scaling and shows the files as processed Jpeg’s. You can also view the files magnified.

Aug 05, 2023 at 07:41 AM

chez
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Culling photos on a Mac

I just load them all into Lightroom and use it to select the images that I want deleted. Using a wireless keyboard you can sit back away from the screen and scroll through the images with ease, marking the ones that are to be deleted, then just do a group delete at the end of your review.

Aug 05, 2023 at 09:05 AM

schlotz
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Culling photos on a Mac

The Apollo app does look interesting. History shows the developer is continually updating it. The cost is not bad and if it will do what you want, sounds like a good deal. Another option (more expensive for sure) is what many pro-photographers use, PhotoMechanic. Absolutely great for culling, saving to another location, adding IPTC & EXIF data, zoom in viewing and lots more. I've been using it for years.

Aug 05, 2023 at 09:18 AM

OntheRez
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Culling photos on a Mac

There are many no-Apple mouses (mice?) around. I'm not overly found of the Apple. One superb one you may have overlooked is the Contour Design one handed mouse. Wonderfully shaped for the hand, mutiple programmable buttons, and smooth action. I've been using them for over 10 years. It's currently on sale.

Aug 05, 2023 at 09:45 AM

Abbott Schindl
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Culling photos on a Mac

PaulMaewpa2 wrote:
I didn't even know Logitech made a mouse for Mac so thanks for that! My Logitech mouse is definitely a bit crippled/ weird on a Mac and I am feeling the Apple Store person's "No you don't need to buy a new mouse." should have come with more emphasis on the word 'need'.

Logitech mice work nicely on Macs (I have one). You'll need Logitech's current control app (name was changed recently), and there are 3rd party apps that also work, at least for wired mice. I really like BetterTouchTool (shareware) on my laptops—it offers a lot of useful customizations for trackpad, Apple's Magic Mouse, and third party mice (and for the old Touchbar if you have one of those machines).

Aug 05, 2023 at 11:28 AM

Abbott Schindl
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Culling photos on a Mac

Have a look at FastRawViewer. It's fast, works with most (maybe all) Raw files, and unlike a lot of viewing apps, it actually renders the Raw data (as opposed to displaying the embedded JPEG thumbnail). Double-click to toggle between full frame and 100% magnification, or use the +/- keys to zoom in increments. It also allows drag-and-drop operations.

https://www.fastrawviewer.com/

Aug 05, 2023 at 11:32 AM

Gregory Edge
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Culling photos on a Mac

I am surprised nobody mentioned Photo Mechanic. This is exactly what PM is for. Culling, labeling, rating and copying images for storage.

Aug 05, 2023 at 03:46 PM

justashooter
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Culling photos on a Mac

I'll second Mr. Edge. As a long, long, long time user of PhotoMechanic, it will do what you want.

Aug 05, 2023 at 07:35 PM

ruthenium
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Culling photos on a Mac

I extensively used PhotoMechanic on the Windows laptop, thus this app was among the first installed on the recently added MacBook Pro. However, I find that my culling changed on this Mac, and in practice I stopped using PhotoMechanic on the new laptop. I can explain my reasons, although they are probably not typical. In general, there are three major ways of culling:
1) by viewing the raw images, rendered in an app,
2) by viewing the jpgs embedded in the raw files,
3) by viewing jpgs exported from raw in an app
In the first, the raw files rendered by an app may not look representative of the fully corrected images. In the second, the jpgs can be too small for examining image details, although my A1 does embed full-sized jpgs in the raw files thus this hasn't been a problem to me, and allowed the use of PhotoMechanic.
The third option is my current preference, as the jpgs approach the final quality of fully corrected images.
Of course, this last option requires applying some default profile and exporting from an app, and it makes practical sense only if exporting wouldn't take too long.
On this new 16" MacBook Pro M2 Max 64GB laptop, exporting a 50MP Sony A1 raw to jpg takes 5 s in DxO PL6 (with DeepPRIME denoising as part of a custom profile) or 15 s with DeepPRIME XD. Thus, exporting 100 raw images takes 8 - 9 min with DeepPRIME or 25 min with DeepPRIME XD. I rarely need to cull more than 500 images in a single session. Thus, the approach I adopted on the new laptop is to export the images to jpg and cull the jpgs. In this scenario, apps like FastStone, or this new to me ApolloOne, I find more convenient than PhotoMechanic. Naturally, all of the above is just about personal preferences and by no means I suggest that there are no better alternatives. We all have different needs and preferences.

Aug 05, 2023 at 09:54 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Culling photos on a Mac

I also 2nd (3rd?) Mr Edge. Photo Mechanic does exactly what the OP is looking for.

Aug 06, 2023 at 09:59 AM

Abbott Schindl
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Culling photos on a Mac

ruthenium wrote:
Found option "Zoom image with mouse scroll wheel" in Settings, but this does not work properly with my mouse. I can zoom in, but cannot zoom out. The shortcuts '-', '=', 'Z' can be useful for close inspection.

Try [shareware] SteerMouse (a pref pane). It recognizes most mice and can assign the commands you want to all the buttons and wheels. I don't recall their trial period, but the app's not very expensive.
https://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/

Aug 06, 2023 at 10:52 AM

PaulMaewpa2
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Culling photos on a Mac

jforkner wrote:
Perhaps I don’t understand the problem; but on my MacBook Pro, I can:
• View .CR2, .PSD, .TIF, JPG, .DNG, .MP4, .MOV files @ 100% in Finder > Quick Look
• Resize same by dragging a corner.
• Copy files to another location using a variety of methods (e.g., drag & drop; copy & paste).
All of this using only my mouse. No special software required.

Jack

Thanks. True, but the number of files involved means I want to work much faster than this, with minimal actions for each picture.

Aug 06, 2023 at 09:25 PM

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