# How to cull hundreds of photos fast: pick, reject, compare

> A fast culling method: let the quality check flag blurry shots, keep the best of each burst, then pick and reject with two keys and compare the close calls.

Source: https://firelet.media/blog/cull-hundreds-of-photos-fast
Published: 2026-10-23 · Updated: 2026-10-23
Applies to: Windows, macOS, Linux

Here's how to cull photos fast: let firelet.media Gallery make the first pass, rejecting blurry and badly exposed shots and keeping the best frame of every burst, then go through what's left in the viewer with two keys, [[P]] to pick and [[X]] to reject. Compare the close calls side by side with [[C]], and delete the rejects only at the very end.

The method works because each pass is quick and none of them can lose anything. Every tool below only sets flags; nothing leaves your drive until you send it to the Recycle Bin yourself.

## How to cull photos fast: let the machine do the first pass

The obvious failures (out of focus, far too dark, blown out) don't need your judgement. Let the quality check find them.

1. Open the **AI** panel with [[Alt]]+[[3]] and expand **Quality & culling**.
2. Press **Analyse quality**. It measures sharpness, exposure and colours in every photograph, at about 60 ms each.
3. Press **Reject blurry and badly exposed**.

![The Quality and culling section of the AI panel after Analyse quality and Find bursts, listing bursts and the Keep the best of each burst button](https://firelet.media/help/media/shot-ai-quality.webp "Analyse quality first; the reject and burst buttons use its measurements")

The button's own promise is "Flags only, and never over a flag you set." Rejected tiles are dimmed in the grid, so you can see at a glance what went.

Glance through the rejects before trusting them. A deliberately dark night scene or an arty motion blur can look like a mistake to a meter. Open **Filters** ([[Alt]]+[[2]]), set **Rating & labels** to **Rejected**, and press [[U]] on anything you want to keep. **Quality & faces** in the same panel also has **Sharpness** (**Sharp**, **Possibly blurry**) and **Exposure** (**Well exposed**, **Underexposed**, **Overexposed**) filters if you'd rather look before rejecting.

## Bursts: keep the best

Bursts are where the pile really grows: ten frames of the same jump, eight of the same smile. In the same **Quality & culling** section:

1. Leave the burst window at **2** seconds, or raise it if your bursts were slower.
2. Press **Find bursts**.
3. Press **Keep the best of each burst**.

A burst here means photos taken within that many seconds of each other, on the same camera, in the same orientation, and (if the library is indexed for AI search) looking alike. The gallery picks the sharpest, best-exposed, most aesthetic frame of each burst and rejects the rest. Again, it never overrides a flag you set.

Each burst is listed with its time and a few thumbnails. Click one to show and select it in the grid, then press [[C]] to compare its frames yourself.

## P and X through the rest

What's left needs your eye, but it doesn't need your mouse. Set **Filters** → **Rating & labels** to **Unflagged**, so you only see what hasn't been decided, then:

1. Double-click the first photo, or select it and press [[Enter]], to open the viewer.
2. Press [[A]] to turn on **Advance after rating**. Now every mark moves you to the next photo.
3. Press [[P]] for a keeper or [[X]] for a reject. Don't hesitate; you'll review the close calls later.
4. When you can't decide, press [[→]] to skip it. It stays unflagged for the next pass.

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| [[P]] / [[X]] / [[U]] | Pick / Reject / Clear the flag |
| [[1]] to [[5]], [[0]] | Stars, or clear them |
| [[6]] [[7]] [[8]] [[9]] | Red, Yellow, Green, Blue colour label |
| [[A]] | Advance after rating, on or off |
| [[Z]] | Switch between fit and 100% to check focus |
| [[K]] | Focus peaking: highlights the sharpest edges |
| [[J]] | Clipping warnings: pure white in red, pure black in blue |
| [[←]] / [[→]] | Previous / next photo |

Aim for a second or two per photo; at that pace, three hundred photos take about ten minutes. When a whole run of shots is plainly bad, it's quicker in the grid: [[Shift]]-click to select the run and press [[X]] once for all of them.

Focus peaking is the fastest focus check there is: if the eyes don't light up, the shot is soft. The full list is in [keyboard shortcuts](https://firelet.media/help/keyboard-shortcuts), and [ratings, flags and colour labels](https://firelet.media/help/ratings-flags-colour-labels) explains how the three kinds of marks differ.

> [!TIP]
> Flags are for keep or bin; stars are for how good. A common rhythm is P and X on the first pass, then stars only on the picks.

## Compare the close calls with C

Some choices can't be made one photo at a time: three nearly identical portraits, or two versions of a view. Put them side by side.

1. In the grid, [[Ctrl]]-click two to six photos.
2. Press [[C]] (or right-click and choose **Compare selected**).
3. Press [[L]] for **Zoom together**, then zoom in. Every pane follows, so you're comparing the same eye or the same sign in each.
4. Move between panes with [[←]] and [[→]] and mark the one in focus with [[P]], [[X]] or a star.
5. Press [[Del]] or [[Backspace]] to drop a pane you've ruled out. This only takes it out of the comparison; the file isn't touched.
6. Press [[Esc]] to close.

With two photos the view is called **Compare**; with more it becomes a survey that you narrow down pane by pane until the winner is left.

## Delete the rejects (to the Recycle Bin)

When the passes are done, decide what to do with the rejects. You don't have to delete them: set **Rating & labels** to **Not rejected** and they're out of sight. Save that filter in the **Presets** panel ([[Alt]]+[[7]]) with **Save current filters** so it's one click next time.

If you want the space back:

1. Open **Filters** and set **Rating & labels** to **Rejected**.
2. Scroll through once more. Press [[U]] on anything you've changed your mind about.
3. Press [[Ctrl]]+[[A]] to select them all.
4. Press [[Del]] and confirm.

The files go to the Recycle Bin, along with any XMP sidecars, so you can still restore them.

> [!WARNING]
> Network drives and some USB drives have no Recycle Bin, so Windows may delete files there permanently. Check the rejects carefully before deleting anything from those drives.

The same tools are in the macOS and Linux builds, which are being finished; there, deleted files go to the Trash and shortcuts accept [[Cmd]] as well as [[Ctrl]]. For duplicate copies rather than bursts, see [too many duplicate photos? How to find and remove them safely](https://firelet.media/blog/too-many-duplicate-photos), and for the full reference of every culling tool, [how to pick your best photos](https://firelet.media/help/pick-best-photos-culling).

## Questions

### Will automatic culling override my picks?

No. Reject blurry and badly exposed and Keep the best of each burst only set flags, and never over a flag you set yourself.

### How many photos can I compare at once?

Two to six. Select them in the grid and press C; with more selected, the first six are compared.