User Doc on RawCull

Security & Privacy

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RawCull is designed to keep your photos and culling data on your Mac.

Sandbox

RawCull runs in the macOS App Sandbox. The app entitlement file enables only the app sandbox entitlement.

This means RawCull can access folders only after you choose them through macOS file selection or through saved security-scoped access.

Offline Use

RawCull has no network entitlement. It does not use analytics, telemetry, cloud sync, update tracking, or third-party network SDKs.

Memory Cache

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RawCull uses memory and disk caches to keep browsing fast.

Cache Layers

When RawCull needs a thumbnail or preview, it tries these locations in order:

Memory cache
Disk cache
Original source file

If RawCull has to decode from the original file, it stores the result in cache so the next request is faster.

Grid Cache

Grid browsing uses a separate small-thumbnail memory cache. This keeps scrolling responsive without pushing larger preview images out of the main cache too quickly.

Culling Photos

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RawCull helps you review a temporary photo catalog, mark the frames you want to keep, and copy only selected RAW files to a final folder.

RawCull does not delete images from the source catalog.

Basic Workflow

Copy photos from your camera card to a temporary folder.
Open that folder in RawCull.
Wait for scanning and thumbnail generation to finish.
Review images in the grid, list, or zoom view.
Mark rejects, keepers, and final star ratings.
Copy rated images to your final editing folder.

Ratings and marks are saved automatically. Reopen the same folder later to continue where you stopped.

Sharpness Scoring

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RawCull can score a catalog by estimated sharpness and sort the grid with the sharpest images first.

Sharpness scores are automatic estimates. Always inspect important or borderline images yourself before rejecting them.

Run Scoring

Open a catalog and wait for thumbnails to finish.
Open the grid.
Select Score Sharpness.
Wait for scoring to finish.
Use the Sharpness sort toggle to show sharpest images first.

After scores exist, the button changes to Re-score. Use it after changing scoring parameters or focus mask settings.

Similarity

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Similarity helps you find images that look like a selected reference image. It is useful for bursts, near-duplicates, and sessions with many similar frames.

Similarity data is kept in memory for the current catalog session. If you close or reload the catalog, run indexing again.

Find Similar Images

Open a catalog.
Select Index Similarity.
Select an image to use as the reference.
Select Find Similar.
Turn on the Similarity sort to place the closest matches first.

RawCull uses Apple Vision feature prints to compare visual content. If sharpness scoring has already run, subject information can slightly improve the ranking.

Focus Peaking

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Focus Peaking highlights sharp edge detail in the current image. It is a visual aid for checking whether the important part of the photo is in focus.

How to Use It

Open an image in zoom view.
Turn on the focus mask or focus peaking overlay in the image controls.
Inspect the highlighted areas.
Adjust Focus settings if the overlay is too weak or too busy.

For best results, use extracted JPG previews or RAW-based zoom previews instead of small thumbnails.

Settings

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Open settings from RawCull -> Settings.

Cache

The Cache tab shows memory and disk cache usage and lets you clear caches.

Setting	Use
Memory cache	Keeps larger previews in memory
Grid cache	Keeps small grid thumbnails in memory
Clear Disk Cache	Removes cached thumbnails
Clear JPG Cache	Removes cached full-size JPG previews

Larger caches make browsing faster but use more memory.

Thumbnails

The Thumbnails tab controls preview sizes and zoom preview sharpening.

Focus Points

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Focus Points show the autofocus point information RawCull can read from supported RAW files.

How to Use It

Open an image and turn on the Focus Points overlay in the image controls. RawCull shows the focus point location when the metadata is available.

Focus point support depends on the camera and RAW metadata. Sony ARW support is the primary target. Nikon NEF focus point extraction is currently experimental and may not show focus points.

Memory Pressure

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RawCull watches memory use while you browse large catalogs.

What You See

The Memory tab shows:

Value	Meaning
Total memory	Installed unified memory on your Mac
Used memory	Estimated system memory currently in use
App memory usage	RawCull’s own memory footprint
System memory pressure	Current macOS memory pressure state

RawCull also uses an early warning line at about 85 percent of total memory.

Pressure Levels

macOS reports memory pressure as: