Library View

The library is where you browse, sort, rate and organize your photos. You can also edit right here: select a thumbnail and use the panels on the right.

RapidRAW library with Metadata and Sources on the left, a thumbnail grid in the middle and the Adjustments panel on the right — The library: Metadata and Sources on the left, the grid in the middle, editing panels on the right.

The header

From left to right:

Item	What it does
Library and path	The current folder. Hover the path to see it in full, and the thumbnail progress while a folder loads.
Grid View / List View / Culling View	How photos are shown (see below).
Search (magnifier)	Search by file name, tags and camera data. `Ctrl+F`.
View Options (sliders)	Sorting, thumbnail look and filters. A dot appears when a filter is active.
Jobs (tray)	Running and finished background work: exports, imports, file copies, AI masks, denoise and model downloads. Cancel an export here, or click a finished export to show it in your file manager.
Community Presets (people)	Browse and install presets made by other users.
Go to Home (house)	Back to the start screen.

Three views

View	Best for
Grid View	Browsing. Thumbnails in a grid.
List View	Details. A table with name, date, rating and label. Turn on Show Metadata to add shutter, aperture, ISO and focal length columns. Click a column header to sort, drag the column edges to resize.
Culling View	Comparing. Shows up to six selected photos side by side, large. See Culling View.

Library Grid View with Masonry thumbnails in their original shapes, with star ratings, flags and color labels

Library List View with columns for name, modified date, rating and label

Left: Grid View with Thumbnail Fit set to Masonry. Right: List View.

Selecting photos

Click a thumbnail to select it.
Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click) adds or removes a photo.
Shift+Click selects a range.
Ctrl+A selects everything visible.
Arrow keys move through the grid. ↑ and ↓ jump to the row above or below.
Enter or double-click opens the photo in the editor.

When more than one photo is selected, the bottom bar shows "X of Y images selected". Ratings, flags, labels, tags, presets, paste, export and delete all apply to the whole selection.

Editing in the library

With a photo selected, all editing panels work just like in the editor: adjust sliders, apply presets, add masks. The thumbnail updates and the edit is saved automatically. Open the editor when you want to zoom in, compare before and after, or paint masks precisely.

Rating, flags, labels and tags

Action	Shortcut
Star rating 1 to 5	`1` to `5` (press again, or `0`, to remove)
Pick flag	`Shift+P`
Reject flag	`X`
Remove flag	`U`
Color label red, yellow, green, blue, purple	`Shift+1` to `Shift+5` (`Shift+0` removes)
Tags	Right-click → Tagging, or the Metadata panel

Flags are separate from stars. Use Pick and Reject for a fast yes/no pass, and stars for ranking.
Rejected photos are dimmed in the grid. Giving a rejected photo a star rating removes the reject flag.
Delete all rejected photos at once with Ctrl+Backspace (macOS: Option+Delete), or right-click empty space in the grid → Delete Rejected Images. They go to the trash.

Thumbnails show small badges: rating, flag, color dot, an edit icon for edited photos, VC for virtual copies, and a stack icon for grouped RAW+JPEG pairs.

If a change makes the photo disappear from the current filter (for example you reject a photo while "Hide Rejected" is on), the selection jumps to the next photo and a message with Undo appears.

View Options

Display (left column):

Setting	Options
Sort By	File Name, Date Modified, Rating, Date Taken, Focal Length, ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, Edited Status. The arrow switches ascending and descending.
Thumbnail Size	Small, Medium, Large. Or hold `Ctrl` and scroll over the grid.
Thumbnail Fit	Original Ratio, Fill Square, or Masonry (rows of equal height without gaps, like a photo wall).
Display Mode	Current Folder, or Recursive to include all subfolders. In Recursive mode each subfolder gets its own collapsible heading.
Show Metadata	Off, On Hover, Always. Shows shutter, aperture, ISO and focal length on thumbnails. `T` cycles through them.

Filters (right column):

Filter	Options
Filter by Rating	Show All, Unrated Only, or a star rating. The button next to the stars switches between this rating or higher (≥), exactly this rating (=) and this rating or lower (≤).
Filter by File Type	All Types, RAW Only, Non-RAW Only.
Filter by Edit Status	All Images, Edited Only, Unedited Only.
Filter by Flag	All Images, Picked, Hide Rejected, Rejected.
Group RAW + JPEG	Off, Prefer RAW, Prefer JPEG. Shows a RAW and JPEG with the same name as one thumbnail. Two extra switches appear: Ignore mismatched EXIF dates and Include edited files in groups. In the editor you can switch between the two files with the buttons in the file name pill.
Filter by Color Label	Click a color to show only that label. `Ctrl+Click` to pick several. The grey dot means "no label".

The Quick Filter (funnel icon in the bottom bar) gives you the most-used filters (rating, flags, colors) without opening this menu.

Search

Click the magnifier or press Ctrl+F.

Start typing to filter by file name and tags right away.
Press Enter or type , to turn the text into a search chip. You can add several chips. A chip matches tags.
With several chips, the OR / AND button chooses whether a photo needs any or all of them.
Backspace in an empty field edits the last chip. Click a chip to remove it.

Search camera data with field:value or an operator:

Field	Example	Finds
`iso`	`iso:>=1600`	ISO 1600 and above
`f` or `aperture`	`f:<=2.8`	f/2.8 and wider
`s` or `shutter`	`s:<1/100`	Faster than 1/100 s
`mm` or `focal`	`mm:50`	Exactly 50 mm
`rating`	`rating:>=4`	4 and 5 stars
`camera`, `make` or `model`	`camera:sony`	Camera name contains "sony"
`lens`	`lens:24-70`	Lens name contains "24-70"
`color`	`color:red`	Red label

Numbers support >, <, >=, <= and : or = for an exact match. Text fields only support : and =. A word without a field, like sunset, is a normal tag search.

Example: camera:fuji AND iso:>3200 AND rating:>=3 finds your good high-ISO Fujifilm shots.

If AI Tagging is on, you can search for content such as dog, beach or car without tagging anything yourself.

Culling View

Switch to Culling View in the header to compare similar shots side by side.

Pick photos in the strip on the right. The last six selected photos are shown, arranged automatically.
Click a photo to zoom to 100% at that spot, click again to fit. Use the mouse wheel to zoom and drag to pan.
Sync Zoom and Pan links all photos, so you can compare the same detail (eyes, focus point) in every frame.
Hover a photo for its toolbar: Edit Image, Metadata, Rate & Label (stars, flags, color, tags) and zoom buttons.
All rating and flag shortcuts work here.

See Cull and Rate a Shoot for a complete workflow.

Right-click a thumbnail (or a selection) for these options. Labels change to "N Images" when several are selected.

Item	What it does
Edit Image	Opens it in the editor.
Export Image	Opens the Export panel for the selection.
Copy Adjustments	Copies the edit of the clicked photo.
Paste Adjustments	Pastes onto the selection, using your Copy & Paste Settings.
Productivity	Auto Adjust (Subtle, Normal, Strong), Auto Lens Correction, Auto Straighten, Denoise (Enable, Remove), Convert Negative (Enable, Remove), Frame Editor (1 photo) or Create Collage (2 to 9), Auto Cull (2 or more). See Productivity Tools.
Merge	Stitch Panorama (2 to 30), Merge to HDR (2 to 9), Focus Stacking (2 or more).
Copy Image	Copies the files so you can paste them into a folder (`Ctrl+Shift+C`, paste with `Ctrl+Shift+V`).
Duplicate Image	Physical Copy (a real copy of the file, named `_copy`) or Virtual Copy (a second edit of the same file).
Rename Image	Rename one file, or many with a name template.
Rating, Flag, Color Label, Tagging	Same as the shortcuts.
Add to Album / Remove from Album	Manage albums.
Show in File Explorer	Opens your file manager at the file.
Reset Adjustments	Removes all edits (asks first).
Delete Image	Moves the file and its sidecars to the trash. If a RAW+JPEG partner exists, choose Delete Selected Only or Delete + Associated. Deleting an original that has virtual copies deletes the copies too.

Right-click empty space in the grid for Refresh View, Paste (copy or move files here), Import Images and Delete Rejected Images.

Folders and albums

Sources panel

The Sources panel (L) lists your folders. Its sections are Pinned, Albums, Immich (when set up) and Folders.

The search box at the top filters folders and albums as you type.
The ← / → buttons go back and forward through the folders you visited.
The Options menu (☰) sorts the tree (Alphabetically, Date Created, Date Modified, Image Count) and has Add folder and Refresh Folders.

You can add several root folders, for example one per drive. Use Add folder in the Options menu, or the + Add folder link that appears when you hover the Folders section.

Item	What it does
Remove Root Folder	Removes a root folder from the sidebar. Nothing is deleted.
Pin Folder / Unpin Folder	Keeps a folder in the Pinned section at the top.
New Folder, Rename Folder, Delete Folder	File management on disk. Deleted folders go to the trash.
Change Icon	Give a folder an icon like Travel, Nature, People or Automotive.
Paste	Copy or move files you copied with Copy Image into this folder.
Import Images	Copy photos from a card or another folder into this folder. See Importing Photos.
Show in File Explorer, Refresh Folders

Moving photos

Drag thumbnails onto a folder to move the files there. Their edits, virtual copies and sidecars move with them. Drag them onto an album to add them to the album.

Albums

Albums group photos from different folders without moving any files.

Right-click in the Albums section and choose New Album or New Group (a group holds several albums).
Add photos by dragging them onto an album, or with right-click → Add to Album.
While viewing an album, right-click → Remove from Album takes them out again.
Right-click an album to rename it, change its icon, move it into a group or delete it.

Albums are stored in RapidRAW's app data folder, not next to your photos. Back up that folder if your albums are important. See Installation → Where things are stored.