Cull and Rate a Shoot

Culling is the process of going through everything you shot and picking the keepers. The faster you cull, the more time you have to actually edit. RapidRAW's culling flow is built for the keyboard.

This recipe assumes you've already pointed RapidRAW at the folder of photos.

1. Set up the library

Open the folder in the library (Escape to leave the editor if you're in it). Decide:

Use Grid for parallel comparison.
Use Flat list if your shoot is split across subfolders (e.g. 2026-04-12/morning, 2026-04-12/ceremony).

In the bottom bar, sort by Capture date ascending. This puts the day in chronological order.

2. Choose a rating system

Pick one. Mixing systems halfway through a cull is painful.

Most common: stars only.

5 = portfolio-grade, definitely keep
4 = good, deliver to client
3 = acceptable, keep
1–2 = backup / second-pass
0 = reject

Three-pass system (color labels + stars):

First pass: Shift+3 (green) = keep, no label = reject
Second pass through greens: Shift+5 (purple) = client-ready
Third pass through purples: stars 1–5 for ranking

3. Open the first photo

Press Enter or Space on the first thumbnail. You're in the editor.

Press B any time to compare with the original (useful for noise-judgment).

Press Space to cycle zoom: fit → 2× fit → 100%. At 100%, judge focus.

4. Rate as you go

Action	Key
Next photo	`→` (right arrow)
Previous photo	`←`
Zoom 100% to check focus	`Space` twice (until you're at 100%)
Star rating	`0` to `5`
Color label	`Shift+1` to `Shift+5`
Toggle before/after	`B`
Open Metadata	`I` (camera info, ISO, etc.)

The keys you actually need most: →, 5, and 0 (or Shift+3 for keep / no-key for reject).

5. Cull on focus, exposure, expression, in that order

Don't get distracted by editing. The cull is a binary decision.

Focus. If it's not sharp where it should be (eyes for portraits, subject for landscapes), reject. Zoom to 100%.
Exposure. If it's so dark or so blown that recovery is impossible, reject. Most modern RAWs survive ±2 stops.
Expression / moment. For people: blinks, awkward expressions, missed peak. For action: missed peak.

Borderline shots get a low star (1–2). Decide later if you need them.

6. Filter to your keepers

Back in the library (Escape), use the bottom-bar filter:

"3 stars and above", all keepers.
"Color: green", first-pass keepers.

Now you're looking at only the photos worth editing.

7. (Optional) Tag for delivery groups

In the Metadata panel (I), add tags for delivery sets, client-album, social-preview, print. Set up quick-access tag buttons in Settings so this is a single keystroke per photo.

You can later batch-export each tag set into its own folder.

8. Move on to editing

You're done culling. Continue with Recover Highlights & Shadows, Color Grade with Wheels, or whichever edit your shoot needs.

For applying the same look across multiple keepers, see Copy & Paste Settings or save a preset.

Tips that compound

Stick to single-handed shortcuts for culling: arrows + 0–5 + Shift+1–5 are all reachable without moving your other hand from the spacebar/zoom keys.
Don't second-guess. First impressions are usually right. If you can't decide, give it 3 stars and move on.
Cull aggressively first, then loosen. It's much faster to promote 2-star photos to 4 than to demote 5-star photos to 2.