Review groups of similar photographs

What you will do

Group similar photographs behind one cover card, expand the group to review and select individual photographs, then show all photographs separately again.

Before you start

These steps were verified on Windows in Arams 1.10.2, with the English interface and a signed-in account.

Create a project and import your photographs. The example uses maxine-01.jpg and maxine-02.jpg, two full-resolution 6064 × 4040 JPEG portraits showing different poses, plus richard-6433.jpg as a third photograph. Wait for all three filenames and thumbnails to appear. Richard remained outside the group at the tested setting; this was checked in the app, not assumed from the portraits’ appearance. Use the four-square gallery-view button in the top toolbar.

This workflow did not require pressing Analyze 3 or Retouch preview.

Steps

Enable grouping and choose the similarity level

1. Find the grouping control in the top toolbar: the stacked-rectangle icon with a small dropdown arrow, immediately before the sort control.
2. Open its dropdown. If Similar is disabled, close the dropdown and click the main grouping icon to enable grouping, then reopen the dropdown.
3. Click Similar.
4. Check Detected groups and Similarity Level:. In this example, the initial level was 90%, and the menu initially showed Detected groups: 0. This initial reading does not establish that waiting longer at 90% would never produce a group.
5. Lower the similarity slider to 50%. To reproduce the example with the keyboard, focus the slider and press PageDown four times from 90%; check that the displayed value is 50%.
6. Wait for Detected groups: 1. The gallery now shows two cards: maxine-01.jpg as the group cover with a 2 badge at the lower-left of its thumbnail, and richard-6433.jpg without a group badge.

The similarity level controls how similar photos must be to group together. 50% worked for this pair; it is an example setting, not a recommendation for every shoot. Check the actual group members when choosing a level for your photographs.

At 50%, the Maxine pair forms one group; Richard remains a separate card without a group badge. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

Expand the group and review its members

1. Click the grouping dropdown arrow again to close the menu.
2. Click the 2 badge with the small group icon on the cover thumbnail.
3. Check that both maxine-01.jpg and maxine-02.jpg appear as separate cards alongside richard-6433.jpg, which remains outside the group.
4. Click maxine-01.jpg once to select it.
5. Click maxine-02.jpg once to select the other member. Its card gains a blue outline, and the counter shows 3 photos / 1 selected with that filename.

Expanding a group exposes its members for review. The selected photograph is identified by its blue outline and the filename beside the counter; the cover is not a verified recommendation of the best photograph.

Expand the Maxine group to review both members alongside Richard. The counter shows 3 photos / 1 selected. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

Collapse the group or return to separate photographs

1. Click the group icon at the lower-left of the original cover thumbnail to collapse the group. The group returns to one cover card; richard-6433.jpg remains visible beside it.
2. To show the photographs separately again, click the main grouping icon in the top toolbar to turn grouping off.
3. Check that all three photographs appear separately and the group badge disappears. If you open the grouping dropdown, Similar is disabled while grouping is off.

Turning grouping off restores all three separate cards; the project still contains 3 photos. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

Expand and collapse groups in each layout

The three view buttons in the top toolbar show the same project in a gallery, a horizontal detailed view, or a vertical detailed view. The detailed views keep a large active photograph on screen and place the project filmstrip below it or beside it.

The following example adds monica-6301.jpg and monica-6302.jpg to the three photographs above. All five are full-resolution JPEGs. With Similar grouping enabled at 50%, Arams produced two two-photo groups and left richard-6433.jpg outside them. The memberships were checked in Arams; appearance alone was not used to predict them.

1. Choose the four-square gallery button.
2. Click the 2 badge on either group cover. The hidden member appears as another card. The other group remains collapsed, and the unrelated photograph remains visible.
3. Click the group control on the original cover again. The member is hidden and the gallery returns to three cards: two group covers and the unrelated photograph.

Expand one gallery group without opening the other: both Maxine members, the Monica group cover, and unrelated Richard remain visible. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

4. Choose the middle view button to open the horizontal detailed view.
5. Select a group cover in the lower project filmstrip, then click its 2 badge. A second filmstrip opens immediately above the project filmstrip and shows the two members of that group.
6. Click a member in the second filmstrip. It becomes the large photograph, receives the blue selection outline, and the counter identifies 5 photos / 1 selected and its filename.
7. Click the group control in the second filmstrip to collapse it. The second filmstrip closes; the project filmstrip and large photograph remain.

In the horizontal detailed view, the members of the active group appear in a second filmstrip above the project filmstrip. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

Switch the active group in the second filmstrip

1. In the horizontal detailed view, expand one group as described above.
2. Click the cover of the other group in the lower project filmstrip.
3. Check the second filmstrip. Its two thumbnails change to the members of the newly active group, the previous group’s hidden member is no longer there, and the large photograph and filename change to the selected member of the new group.

Selecting another cover in the project filmstrip replaces the second filmstrip with members of the newly active group. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

The blue outlines in the two filmstrips identify related but different things: the lower project filmstrip identifies the active group cover, while the upper second filmstrip identifies the active member. In the demonstrated switch, the counter remained 5 photos / 1 selected; opening a group did not add another selection.

Use the second filmstrip in the vertical detailed view

1. Choose the right view button to open the vertical detailed view.
2. Select a group cover in the project filmstrip on the left, then click its 2 badge.
3. Check that the two group members appear in the second filmstrip at the top of the left rail while the group covers and unrelated photograph remain available in the project filmstrip.
4. Click a group member to make it the large active photograph.
5. Click the group control in the second filmstrip to collapse the group. The second filmstrip closes without removing photographs from the project.

In the vertical detailed view, the second filmstrip opens at the top of the left rail without hiding the project filmstrip. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · English

Check the result

With grouping on at 50%, the three-photo example shows one collapsed group containing two photographs. Richard stays visible without a group badge. Expanding the group shows both Maxine filenames and lets you select either member. The visible card counts are 3 → 2 → 3 → 2 → 3: before grouping, collapsed, expanded, collapsed again, and grouping off. Turning grouping off restores three separate cards. The project counter remains 3 photos throughout; collapsing a group does not remove its members from the project.

In the five-photo example, the gallery shows three cards while both groups are collapsed and four when one group is expanded. In either detailed layout, expanding the active group opens a second filmstrip with its two members. Switching covers in the project filmstrip changes which group’s members the second filmstrip shows. The project counter remains 5 photos because expanding and collapsing change the layout, not the project contents.

If it does not work

• Similar is disabled: close the menu, enable grouping with the main grouping icon, then reopen the menu.
• Detected groups remains 0: check that the thumbnails have loaded and inspect the similarity level. The initial reading was 0 at 90%; setting 50% produced the demonstrated Maxine pair while Richard remained ungrouped. Other photographs may give different results.
• Only one photograph is visible: look for a numbered group badge on its thumbnail. Click it to expand the group, or turn grouping off to return to separate cards.
• You are unsure which member is selected: check the blue outline and the filename beside the photo counter before continuing.

Related topics

• Import photos
• Select and deselect photographs
• Inspect a photograph and zoom in
• Rate photographs for culling
• Filter photographs during culling