Culling Studio helps save you time culling photos by grouping and rating them according to your preferences. You can quickly review your best photos, tweak the ratings, and then go straight to editing in the Imagen app.

These are the main steps:

1. Create a new culling project
2. Review your culled photos
3. Adjust your results and send your photos to edit
4. Review edited photos

Create a new culling project

When you start a culling project, complete it on the same computer. If you open the project on a different computer, you won't see your culling results.

1. Open Imagen, and on the Projects page, click Create a New Project, and select Cull.
   
   
   
2. Select the source of the photos you want to cull. Imagen supports culling photos from Lightroom Classic catalogs or from compatible Adobe editing software. Click Lightroom Classic catalog or Photos on the computer.
   
   
   
3. Choose the type of photos in the project.
   
   
   
4. Upload the photos.
   

The New Culling Project opens.

6. In the Choose an AI Profile list, select a profile to get an edited preview of the photos. These edited previews help you make an informed choice when culling, and you aren’t charged for them. You’ll be charged only for the images you send to edit later in the process.
   
   
7. (Optional) To filter out photos that are blurry, accidentally captured, or improperly exposed, you need to add Low-rated to the culling results. Low-rated photos are hidden by default, but you can change the filter to show them if you want to review them.
   To add Low-rated, click Culling preferences to open the culling settings, and select Add Low-rated to the culling results.
   
   
   
8. (Lightroom CC only) If your editing software is Lightroom CC, click Culling preferences to open the culling settings. Change the rating from Color labels to Stars or Flags. Lightroom CC doesn't support color ratings. See Understanding culling results for more information about rating methods.
   
   
9. Choose the location of the photos to cull.
   
   
10. Click Upload. Your photos are uploaded, and culling takes place on the Imagen Cloud. On the Projects page, in the Active tab, you can track the culling progress in the Progression column.
    
    

Review your culled photos

1. When the culling is complete, click Review Culling to open Culling Studio. Make sure you are on the same computer where you culled your photos. If you open the project on a different computer, you won't see the culling results.
   
   
   (First-time only) The Culling Studio Quick Start opens.
   
   
   A culling summary opens.
   
   
   
2. Click Got it to close the summary, and Culling Studio opens in grid view. Imagen has rated your photos and grouped them by your culling preferences. In the example below, we use the default preferences, which are Imagen’s best practice.
   

Here is a quick tour of the Culling results page.

1: Check the number of filtered images and the active filters.

2: Choose filters to show and hide different culling rankings.

3: Display the keyboard shortcuts for Culling Studio.

4: Get an overview of the culling results.

5: Toggle between the original photos and edited previews.

6: Toggle between grid view and loupe view.

To filter the best pick from Imagen culling, we recommend you filter your photos by Keepers and Standalones. Keepers are the best photos from a group of similar photos. Standalones are unique photos. They don't have duplicates and are not part of a group. See our guide for more information on understanding culling results and ratings.

If you want to export your ratings to Adobe editing software, you can import them back after review. Click Export <# of photos> photo ratings.

The ratings are exported in XMP format to the same folder where you uploaded the photos.

When you go back to your project in Imagen, it automatically detects changes in the culling results and prompts you to import these changes before you continue editing. For more information, see our guide on reviewing culling results in Adobe editing software.

Adjust your results and send your photos to edit

Tweak ratings in grid and loupe view

If needed, change ratings and filters until you are happy with your choice. Feel free to add stars, colors, or flags to help you filter the best photos.

Here is an example flow to review ratings:

1. Similar photos have a number next to the image, showing how many images are in the group. To review photos in a group, hover over a thumbnail image in the group or double-click it. Then, click it, and press the space bar.  
   
   
   A pop-up of the image opens. Use the mouse or arrow keys to navigate to the image you want. Pick your favorite shot by changing the ratings inside each image.
   
   
   
2. For loupe view, double-click an image, and press the spacebar to enter Loupe view.
   Use the keyboard arrow keys to browse images in Loupe view. For images in a group, click the up arrow to go into the group and browse the images. Use the keyboard shortcuts to change filters quickly.
   
   
   Press the F key to see the image in full screen.
   
   
   
3. Click the Culling overview button to review your culling results.
   

Send for editing

1. Finalize the filters to select the photos you want to edit. Imagen will charge you for editing these photos.
   
   
   
2. (Optional) To select from within this group, click the Select button and then select the photos to send to edit.
   
   
   
3. Click the Edit Photos button. The Send for edit dialog opens.
   
   
   
4. In the Photos to edit list, choose which photos to send to edit. You can send the selected photos, all the photos in the current filter view, or all the photos in the project.
   
   
5. In the Choose and AI Profile list, select the same AI Profile you used while culling.
   
   
6. In the Additional AI Tools area, select the AI tools.
   
   
7. Click Send to edit the images. After Imagen has edited the photos, you receive an email and a notification in the Imagen app. Continue to Review edited photos.

Review edited photos

When you review your edited photos, the process changes depending on where your source files are. 

• If you started culling from a Lightroom Classic catalog, see Download a project to review edits in Lightroom Classic. 
• If you started culling in Lightroom CC, Photoshop, or Bridge, you can either add your photos to a Lightroom Classic catalog or move or copy them to a new folder. This way, you only see the edited photos you need to review. 

Add photos to a Lightroom Classic catalog

1. When your edits are ready, click Download to review.
   
   The Download Edits window opens.
   
2. Click Download edits. After the download is complete, click Review options.
   
   The Choose how to review your photos dialog opens.
   
3. Select Add to a LrC catalog, and either click Recent catalogs and choose a catalog, or click browse to find one yourself.
4. Click Add to catalog. The photos open in Lightroom Classic for you to review.

Move or copy edited photos to a folder

1. When your edits are ready, click Download to review.
   
2. Click Download edits. After the download is complete, click Review options.
   
   The Choose how to review your photos dialog opens.
   
3. Select Move or copy photos. Depending on how you want to review your photos, select Move edited photos or Copy edited photos. In this procedure, we chose to move the photos. The process is the same for copying them.
   By default, the new folder created for the edited photos is a subfolder of the source location. You can change the subfolder's name or browse to a new path. 
4. Click Move. 
5. Select the editing software you use. If you use Photoshop or Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw opens when you edit. In this procedure, we are selecting Lightroom.
   
6. The review process changes depending on the editing software you choose. First, click Open folder, and then follow the steps in the Review editing results window.
   

When you finish reviewing the edits, go back to the Imagen app and click Upload final edits to keep your profile up-to-date.