Rating workflow

Rating workflow

You can use photo rating as part of your workflow to help reduce a large group of photos to a smaller group of preferred photos. Sometimes you can accomplish the selection process in one pass, especially if the group of photos is small. If the group is large, additional rating and culling passes may be necessary.

Rating photos with multiple passes can allow you to take a measured approach to the photo editing process. You can systematically rate photos and then remove levels of rated photos from view to work with your best photos.

Here is a suggested workflow for rating photos in multiple passes.

Rate photos in multiple passes

  1. Begin by assigning a Reject rating to all photos that are clearly unacceptable.

    If the Filter HUD is set to show unrated photos or better (the default setting), the rejected photos immediately disappear.

  2. In the next rating pass, assign positive ratings to any photos that deserve a rating of one star or better. Leave photos you’re uncertain about unrated.

  3. To hide all unrated photos, show the Filter HUD and specify a rating that is greater than or equal to one star as search criteria.

    Figure. Filter HUD showing Rating search criteria set to display images rated one star or better.

    Only photos with a rating of one star or better remain visible in the Browser.

  4. In the next rating pass, assign a rating of two stars to any photos that are better than one star.

  5. Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated two stars or better.

  6. In the next rating pass, assign a rating of three stars to your photos that are better than two stars.

  7. Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated three stars or better.

  8. In the next rating pass, assign a rating of four stars to your photos that are better than three stars.

  9. Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated four stars or better.

  10. In the next pass, assign a rating of five stars, or Select, to your best photos.

  11. Specify a rating that is equal to five stars in the Filter HUD.

    Figure. Filter HUD showing Rating search criteria set to display images rated five stars.

Only the photos rated Select remain visible in the Browser. Now you can focus on those photos that deserve your attention.

You can also set up a series of Smart Albums in a project, where each Smart Album represents a rating from Reject to Select. As you rate your photos in the project, the Smart Albums gather the photos with matching ratings. You can then review the photos in each Smart Album to verify they belong in the Smart Album’s rating category. As you progressively change the ratings on your photos, the contents within the Smart Albums you set up change dynamically to gather the photos that correspond to their rating setting.

For more information about working with Smart Albums, see Collect photos in a new Smart Album.