Select photographs for delivery

What you will do

When a shoot contains close alternatives, use ratings to narrow the gallery and then select the photographs you want to deliver. The result is a clearly marked set that is ready for your next step, such as retouching or export.

Inspect photographs, rate them, and filter the gallery to prepare a shortlist. English interface · No audio.

Before you start

Sign in and open a project containing the photographs you want to review. Wait until their thumbnails and filenames appear. Manual ratings are enough for this workflow; photo analysis is not required.

If your photographs are not in a project yet, import them first. For the detailed controls used below, see review groups of similar photographs, inspect a photograph, rate photographs, filter photographs, and select photographs.

Steps

Inspect and compare candidate photographs

1. If similar photographs are collapsed into a group, expand the group so that you can compare its members as separate cards.
2. Click each candidate in turn. Compare expression, pose, framing, focus, and the details that matter for this delivery. A blue outline marks the selected card, and its filename appears beside the photo counter.

Expand a group to compare each photograph as a separate card. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

The larger viewer is optional. Use it when the cards are not large enough to judge focus, expression, or another important detail:

1. Double-click a promising photograph to open the larger viewer.
2. Inspect the detail at the initial 100% scale. Use the filename and thumbnail strip to keep track of the photograph as you compare nearby frames.
3. Return to the four-square Gallery view when you are ready to record your choice.

Use the optional large viewer when you need to compare fine detail; the filename and thumbnails identify the current photograph. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

Judge the whole frame against the needs of the shoot, even when the larger view helps you decide between fine details.

Use ratings and filters to narrow the selection

1. Choose how you will use the rating scale before you begin. For example, reserve higher ratings for delivery candidates and lower ratings for alternatives.
2. Click one photograph without holding Ctrl, then press a number key to give it that rating. Rate the other candidates in the same way. In the compact card display, the rating appears as a number beside a gold star.

Ratings remain on the cards independently of the current selection. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

3. If the filter bar is hidden, click the funnel icon in the toolbar.
4. Choose the rating comparison and cutoff that match your goal. For example, ≥ with four stars shows photographs rated four stars or higher.
5. Review the photographs that remain. They are your shortlist. Filtering hides photographs that do not match; it does not remove them from the project.

Ratings are working marks, not an automatic delivery decision. Reset the filter or revise a rating whenever a lower-rated alternative deserves another look.

Optional: control selection when changing filters

Skip this section if you filter first and make the final selection afterward. The setting matters when photographs are already selected before you change a filter.

You can find Reset selected photos when switching filter in Settings on the project toolbar. Photographs excluded by a filter can lose their selection with the setting either on or off. Leaving it off does not guarantee that hidden photographs will be selected again when you reset the filter.

After changing or resetting a filter, check the blue outlines and selected counter. Reselect any missing photographs before exporting. You do not need to change this setting to complete the workflow.

Reset selected photos when switching filter is off. After changing or resetting a filter, check the selection and reselect any missing photographs. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

With the setting off, a photograph that still matches the filter can remain selected.

With the setting off, a matching photograph can remain selected; a hidden selection may still not return after the filter is reset. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

With the setting on, changing the filter removes selected photographs that no longer match.

Turn this setting on when filter changes should remove selected photographs that no longer match. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

Photographs that still match can remain selected; photographs excluded by the filter are removed from the selection.

The matching photograph can remain selected even when this setting is on; check the visible cards and the selected counter. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

After applying or resetting a rating filter, use the blue outlines and the selected counter to see the current selection. The counter reports the selection in the displayed result, so do not rely on an earlier count.

Check the final selected set

1. Click the first shortlisted photograph you intend to deliver. Hold Ctrl and click each additional photograph that belongs in the final set.
2. If a lower-rated alternative belongs in the delivery, reset the filter so that it is visible, then Ctrl-click it to add it. Resetting a filter does not erase ratings.
3. Check that the blue outlines, filenames, and selected counter match the set you intend to deliver.

Blue outlines and the selected counter identify the photographs ready for the next stage. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

4. Ctrl-click an individual card to add or remove it if the set needs adjusting. When the outlines and counter match your intended delivery, the selection is complete.

Check the result

The final blue outlines and selected counter identify the photographs chosen for delivery. Ratings remain available when you reset a filter. This workflow creates a selection inside the project; it does not retouch, export, publish, or delete photographs.

If it does not work

• Only one card is visible before you start: look for a numbered group badge and expand it, or turn grouping off to show the photographs separately.
• The wrong photograph remains after filtering: check both the ≥ symbol and the number of gold stars in the filter bar. Reset the filter with the circular-arrow button and try again.
• A filter change altered the selection unexpectedly: check Reset selected photos when switching filter, then reselect the intended cards after resetting the filter. Confirm the selected counter as well as the blue outlines.
• A rating shortcut changes more photographs than intended: check the selected counter before pressing a number. Click one card without Ctrl to select it alone.
• No photographs are visible: reset the filters. If the gallery is still empty, import photographs and wait for their thumbnails to load.

Related topics

• Review groups of similar photographs
• Inspect a photograph and zoom in
• Rate photographs for culling
• Filter photographs during culling
• Select and deselect photographs