ClearCull
Photo culling for wedding and portrait photographers. ClearCull groups similar shots, checks every face for sharpness and closed eyes, suggests the keepers, learns what you like and hands your picks to Lightroom Classic. It all runs on your own PC: no uploads, no automatic billing.
For Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · Version 1.4.1 · 102 MB · What’s new
Buy a licence · By installing, you agree to the licence agreement.
From memory card to Lightroom, faster
Bring photos in safely
Drag and drop photos or folders, or copy straight from a memory card with every file checked. Nothing is ever deleted from the card.
Similar shots, grouped
Bursts and near-duplicates are grouped by time and look, even across two cameras whose clocks don’t quite match.
Every face checked
Each face gets a green, amber or red ring for sharpness (grey when it’s too small to judge), and closed eyes are flagged.
The best shot, suggested
ClearCull colours every photo: the best frame in each group green, other good frames blue, blurred or closed-eye shots red, and tells you why. Tell it who the bride and groom are and it judges every photo on them first. It learns which frames you prefer, on your own PC. You have the final say.
Fast, keyboard-first culling
Pick, add, swap, mark similar or reject with a single key. Everything can be undone, and you can stop and carry on later.
Straight into Lightroom Classic
Approve the shoot and ClearCull makes a new catalog. Its plug-in brings your picks in flagged as Pick, similar shots with a blue label, and applies your Develop and Metadata presets. Rejects are moved aside, never deleted.
Reads Canon CR3, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF and JPEG files, using the preview built into each RAW file, so it’s quick. On our test PC, a 3,000-photo wedding is ready to cull in about 4 minutes.
It learns what you like
Every shoot you approve teaches ClearCull which frames you prefer: the sharper face, the brighter frame, the moment just after the blink. Its first pass on the next wedding looks more like yours, so there’s less to change.
- Private. It learns on your PC. Nothing is uploaded, and there’s no AI subscription or credits to pay for.
- Per type of shoot. Weddings, portraits and headshots each learn on their own.
- Yours to control. See what it has learned, turn it off or start again in Settings.
Four steps
- Start a project. Choose Wedding, Portraits or Headshot and name the shoot. ClearCull sets up the folders.
- Bring the photos in. Drop them in or copy from the card. ClearCull groups them and checks every face.
- Cull. Work through the groups with the keyboard, taking ClearCull’s suggestions or making your own picks.
- Approve. Your picks go to a new Lightroom Classic catalog, flagged and ready to edit.
New to ClearCull? The step-by-step guide shows each screen, and how the Lightroom plug-in brings your picks in.
Your photos stay yours
ClearCull never uploads anything: every photo, face check and suggestion stays on your PC. It needs a licence key, linked to your email address, which works offline.
$149 for a year, NZ dollars. 10% off each when you buy 2 or more.
Need a hand with ClearCull?
Questions, problems or ideas for the next version: send a message below, or email [email protected] (screenshots welcome), and we’ll get back to you. Many answers are in the guide.
It helps to say which version you have and what you were doing when the problem happened.