Tutorial

Cull a shoot fast: picks, rejects and stars

Updated 15 October 2026 · about 15 minutes

This tutorial takes a card full of photos down to the keepers. You'll import straight from the card, sort every frame into picks and rejects, rate the best, compare near-identical shots, and finish with a view that shows only the picks. On iPhone and iPad you'll use Fast Cull's swipes; on the Mac and on an iPad with a keyboard, single keys.

What you need

A memory card in a card reader, or a camera, connected over USB. Photos already in Files or Photos work too.
Raw Smith on iPhone, iPad or Mac. The steps are the same everywhere except where they say otherwise.

Step 1: Import from the card

Connect the card or camera, open Import RAWs and choose it under Cameras and Cards, then tap Import.

The import sheet groups the card's RAWs by day and marks files you've imported before as Imported. Only new files are selected, so importing the same card twice doesn't create duplicates. Use Select All or Select None to change that, and Eject when you're done. On iPhone and iPad, the first time you need to allow access: Find Connected Cameras in the same menu asks for it. If the card has no RAWs, the sheet says No RAWs; set the camera to shoot RAW or RAW+JPEG.

When the import finishes, the library opens Last Import with just these photos.

Step 2: Sort picks and rejects with Fast Cull (iPhone and iPad)

Open Fast Cull and swipe up on each photo you want to keep and down on each you don't.

On iPhone, Fast Cull is in the More (⋯) menu; on iPad it's in the toolbar, or ⇧⌘F with a keyboard. One photo fills the screen at a time:

Swipe up to pick, swipe down to reject. Swiping the other way steps back to unflagged.
Swipe left or right to move between photos.
Double-tap to zoom in and check focus.

Open the Auto-Advance menu at the top and turn on After Pick or Reject: now every swipe up or down moves you to the next photo, and a whole card goes by quickly. The bar at the bottom has Pick, Unflag and Reject buttons and stars, if you'd rather tap. Tap Done to return to the grid.

Step 3: Cull from the keyboard (Mac and iPad)

Select the first photo and press P to pick or X to reject, then ] to move on.

These keys work in the grid and in the editor:

P pick, X reject, U unflag.
1–5 set the stars; 0 clears them.
6 red, 7 yellow, 8 green, 9 blue colour label; press the same key again to remove it.
[ and ] go to the previous and next photo.

To skip the ], turn on Advance After Flagging and Advance After Rating in the Photo menu (or the matching switches in Settings › Editor). Every change shows a short confirmation with Undo.

Step 4: Check Suggested Rejects (Mac and iPad)

Open Suggested Rejects in the sidebar to see frames Raw Smith thinks you may not want.

It looks for closed eyes, frames softer than the rest of their burst and badly exposed shots. The analysis runs on your device, and nothing is rejected for you: review the list and press X on the ones you agree with. This view isn't on iPhone.

Step 5: Compare near-identical shots

Select two similar photos, open More in the selection bar and choose Compare; for three or more, choose Survey.

In Compare, 100% zooms both photos together, and pinching or panning one moves the other, so you can check the same eye or edge in each. Every tile has its own Pick, Reject, star and label controls. Pick the winner, reject the rest, and tap Done.

Step 6: Rate the picks

Go through your picks once more and give the best ones stars, so the strongest few stand out.

A simple scheme: picks start with no stars, good ones get 3, portfolio frames get 5. To mark many photos at once, select them and use Mark in the selection bar, which has Flag, Rating and Color Label sections.

Step 7: Show only the picks

Open Filter in the toolbar and set Flag to Picks.

The grid now shows only your keepers, and the active filter appears as a chip above it; remove the chip, or choose Show All Photos, to see everything again. Add Rating (for example ★★★ & up) to narrow further. Rejected photos stay in the library, shown faded, until you delete them. To keep these picks together for good, select them and use Add to Album under More, or make a smart album with the rule Flag is Pick.

Where to go next

Edit your first photo from the picks.
Culling in detail, and the library: albums, smart albums, keywords and search.
Importing from cards, cameras, Files and Photos.
Every keyboard shortcut.
Export the picks for the web in one go.

Questions

What's the fastest way to cull photos on iPhone?

Fast Cull. It shows one photo at a time, full screen: swipe up to pick, down to reject, and left or right to move between photos. Turn on Auto-Advance and each decision moves you to the next photo.

Can I cull with the keyboard?

Yes, on a Mac or an iPad with a keyboard: P picks, X rejects, U unflags, 0 to 5 set the star rating, 6 to 9 set a colour label, and [ and ] move to the previous and next photo.

Does Raw Smith reject photos automatically?

No. On iPad and Mac it suggests possible rejects, such as closed eyes or a softer frame in a burst, in Suggested Rejects. Nothing is flagged until you decide.

Is Fast Cull on the Mac?

No. Fast Cull is on iPhone and iPad. On the Mac you cull in the grid or the editor with the keyboard, which is just as quick.