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How to Cull Photos at Lightning Speed Using Buckets in SnapCuller

Alzi•

the ultimate shortcut

What are Buckets and why do you need them?

If you shoot weddings, sports, portraits, or large events, you know the post-shoot pain: returning home with 1,000+ RAW files and spending 2+ tedious hours manually moving, dragging, and dropping files into different subfolders for picks, rejects, and edits.

Metadata tools like flags (Pick/Reject) and Star Ratings are great for tagging, but at the end of the day, you still need your physical files organized on your hard drive.

Buckets solve this instantly. A Bucket maps a target folder on your SSD directly to a single key on your keyboard (like 1, 2, or 3). The moment you press the key, SnapCuller physically moves or copies the photo—along with its RAW companion and XMP sidecar—directly to that folder.

The Move Buckets sidebar in SnapCuller showing hotkeys assigned to destination folders
The Move Buckets sidebar in SnapCuller showing hotkeys assigned to destination folders
1Picks Folder

Press 1 to instantly move keepers into /Selects.

2Trash Folder

Press 2 to send technical duds directly into /Trash.

3Review Copy

Press 3 to copy photos for a second pass into /Review.

⚡ Why Buckets Outperform Conventional Workflows

Traditional workflow: Browse → Flag → Filter → Open File Explorer → Drag & Drop → Wait for copy.
Bucket workflow: Press key → Done. File is physically in its destination folder while you auto-advance to the next frame.

setup guide

Configuring your Buckets step-by-step

Setting up Buckets takes less than 60 seconds. In the left sidebar under Move Buckets, click + NEW BUCKET to open the configuration modal. Each bucket has 5 configurable parameters:

Configuring a bucket: setting destination path, move/copy operation mode, and hotkey trigger
Configuring a bucket: setting destination path, move/copy operation mode, and hotkey trigger

1Hotkey (Keyboard Trigger)

Assign any single key to trigger the action. By default, number keys 1 through 9 are mapped. You can also assign letter keys like A, S, or D.

⚠️ Important Note: Because raw keys 1–5 trigger Buckets by default, Star Ratings require holding Alt / Option (e.g. Alt + 5 for 5 stars).

2Bucket Name

A human-readable label shown in your sidebar (e.g. Selects, Rejects, Hero Shots, Social Media).

3Destination Folder Path

Click Browse to select the target directory on your internal or external SSD. SnapCuller creates subfolders automatically if they don't exist yet.

4Format Preference (Both / JPG / RAW)

When working with RAW+JPG paired photos, choose how file pairs are handled:

  • Both (Default): Moves or copies both the RAW file and JPG preview seamlessly.
  • JPG Only: Leaves heavy RAWs behind and routes only lightweight JPEGs (ideal for fast preview folders).
  • RAW Only: Routes sensor data directly for high-end editing pipelines.

5Operation Mode: Move vs. Copy

Move: Transfers the file out of your source folder (cleans up your active library as you cull).
Copy: Duplicates the file into the bucket while preserving the original file in place.

Save your complete bucket configuration and hotkeys into reusable Workflow Presets for different shoot types
Save your complete bucket configuration and hotkeys into reusable Workflow Presets for different shoot types

practical usage

How to speed-cull with Buckets

Once your buckets are configured, culling becomes an effortless rhythm:

Single View viewport: inspect full-resolution images while executing instant bucket moves
Single View viewport: inspect full-resolution images while executing instant bucket moves
  1. Open your shoot folder in SnapCuller and hit Enter to start in Single View.
  2. Review the active photo (use E for Exposure Warnings or Shift + P for Focus Peaking).
  3. Press 1 to route the photo to /Selects, 2 for /Trash, or 3 for /Review.
  4. SnapCuller automatically routes the file and advances 150ms later to the next photo.

🛡️ Physical Rollback (Undo System)

Made a mistake? Press Cmd + Z (Mac) or Ctrl + Z (Windows). SnapCuller instantly performs a physical file rollback, returning the RAW, JPG, and XMP files to the exact source folder and restoring your index position.

pro workflows

Combining Buckets with Stars, Labels & AI

Buckets achieve maximum productivity when integrated with SnapCuller's other power features:

Advanced Filter panel: filter by ratings, flags, or color labels before executing bulk bucket moves
Advanced Filter panel: filter by ratings, flags, or color labels before executing bulk bucket moves

⭐ Selective RAW Keeping

Enable Selective RAW Keeping in Settings. Set a threshold like 4 Stars. When routing to a bucket, SnapCuller will move RAW+JPG for 4+ star photos, but only JPG for lower rated frames—saving gigabytes of SSD space.

🏷️ Status Labels + Bucket Handoff

Use Color Labels (Alt + 6–9) to mark status (Green = Done, Red = Retouch). Filter by Green label in Grid View, then batch-move everything into your /Final Delivery bucket in one click.

🤖 AI Batch Culling + Buckets

Run AI Smart Culling (GPT-4o / Gemini / Ollama). The AI evaluates your shoot and assigns scores. Review AI picks, then use Buckets to physically organize the winners in record time.

🎮 Gamepad Couch Culling

Connect an Xbox or PlayStation controller. Map Bucket 1 and 2 to Left & Right Triggers. Sit back on your couch and cull thousands of photos without touching a keyboard or mouse!

Batch Export dialog for routing filtered photo selections to dedicated project directories
Batch Export dialog for routing filtered photo selections to dedicated project directories

Ready to transform your post-shoot workflow?

Stop wasting hours on manual file sorting. Download SnapCuller today and experience lightning-fast physical bucket routing.

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