Pixieset Photo Editor's culling tools help you refine a project before you start editing. Use Smart Culling for AI-powered suggestions, or organize photos manually with flags, color labels, and star ratings. You can also combine both approaches to create a workflow that works best for you.

Note: Culling will never delete or change your original files. Everything stays in your project until you move your picks into Editing, and you can adjust your selection at anytime.

On this page:

• How culling works in Photo Editor
• Setting up Smart Culling
• Reviewing photos in the culling grid
• Using Smart Culling suggestions
• Organizing photos manually
• Filtering your selection
• Moving from culling to editing

How culling works in Photo Editor

Culling happens inside your project, before you move photos into Editing. There are two ways to do it:

• Smart Culling: Photo Editor reviews your photos and suggests top picks, candidates, and rejects, based on factors like similarity, sharpness, face quality, and exposure.
• Manual tools: Adjust your own picks, or, build your own system with flags, color labels, and star ratings.

Tip: You are not limited to one option. Consider starting with Smart Culling, then fine-tuning after with manual labels and ratings.

Setting up Smart Culling

When you first enter Culling mode, you can set up how Smart Culling reviews your project. Depending on your workflow, adjust things like how many photos it surfaces as your strongest images and how sensitive it is to possible rejects or quality issues.

These settings just guide your first pass. You can review the results and adjust any photo by hand as you go.

Tip: Show Top Picks is off by default. You can turn this culling setting on to surface your strongest images, then choose how many to include.

Reviewing photos in the culling grid

While culling, your photos are displayed in a customizable grid designed for quick review. Switch to Focus view to inspect individual images more closely, then use flags, color labels, and star ratings to organize and evaluate your selections.

Move through your images, compare similar shots, review suggested picks and rejects, and make decisions with confidence. Any changes you make are saved automatically, so you can move between Culling and Editing without losing your progress.

Tip: Use the keyboard shortcut D to open the focus view, and G to return to the grid view.

Using Smart Culling suggestions

Smart Culling gives you a faster first pass. It can:

• Group similar images taken close together, so they're easy to compare.
• Flag quality issues like blur, poor face quality, or exposure problems.
• Surface your stronger photos while leaving the final call to you.

Keep, reject, or change any suggestion based on your own creative judgment. Smart Culling helps speed up your review, so you can focus your time on choosing the images that best fit your project.

Organizing photos manually

Manual tools let you keep the system you already use, either on their own, or to refine Smart Culling's suggestions:

• Flags: Mark photos as flagged, rejected, or unflagged.
• Color labels: Create your own categories (final selects, alternates, portfolio candidates, etc).
• Star ratings: Rank by quality or preference, like 5 stars for your strongest shots.

The way you cull your photos is entirely up to you. Use flags, color labels, star ratings, or any combination of the three to build a workflow that works best for you.

Tip: Pick a simple system you can repeat across projects. Consistency makes your work easier to scan and filter.

Filtering your selection

Filters narrow your view to specific groups, like only flagged photos, a color label, a star rating, or a Smart Culling status. They are handy when you want to:

• Review just your possible keepers.
• Hide rejects while finalizing.
• Compare photos with a given rating or label.
• Trim a large project before moving photos into Editing.

Filters only change what's visible. They never delete or remove photos.

Tip: If photos seem to be missing, a filter may be hiding them. Clear active filters to see the full project again.

Moving from culling to editing

When you're done reviewing, move your selected photos into the Editing stage to focus your work on the images you'll deliver.

Photos you don't move stay in your project, just hidden from Editing. Return to Culling anytime to review them or move more across. Your flags, color labels, and ratings travel with each photo and stay editable.