Prune Guide

Section 1

Adding Your Library

Prune works with your photos where they already live. You register folders and drives with Prune — it never moves, renames, or copies anything just to add it to your library.

Adding a Local Folder

A local folder is any folder on your Mac's internal drive.

1. Click the + button at the top of the sidebar.
2. Choose Add Local Folder.
3. A file picker opens — navigate to the folder you want to add and click Open.
4. The Add Folder sheet appears with the folder name pre-filled. Edit the name if you want, then click Add Folder.
5. Prune registers the folder, adds it to the sidebar, and begins scanning for photos. You'll see an Importing progress indicator below the folder name while the scan runs.

Adding an External Drive Folder

An external folder is any folder on a connected external drive.

1. Connect your external drive.
2. Click + → Add External Folder.
3. A file picker opens. Navigate to the folder on your external drive and click Open.
4. The Add Folder appears. The folder name is pre-filled — edit if needed, then click Add Folder.
5. Prune registers the folder and begins scanning.

The process is identical to adding a local folder. The difference is how Prune tracks the drive — it uses the volume's unique ID, not its mount path, so if the drive mounts at a different path next time, Prune still recognises it.

Online and Offline Status

Each drive in the sidebar shows a coloured dot:

• Green dot — drive is connected and available
• Red dot — drive is offline or not mounted

When a drive is offline, its folders are still listed in the sidebar and you can still browse thumbnails. You just can't open full-resolution files or make changes until the drive is reconnected.

Creating a New Folder

You can create a new folder on disk directly from the sidebar without leaving Prune.

1. Right-click any existing folder row in the sidebar.
2. Choose New Folder.
3. Enter a name and press Return.

The folder is created on disk and registered in Prune immediately.

Removing a Folder

Right-click any folder in the sidebar to rename or remove it. Removing a folder from Prune removes it from your library only — your files on disk are not touched.

Section 2

Importing Photos

Use the import workflow when you want to copy photos from a source (a camera card, a folder, or another drive) into a folder already registered in your Prune library. Prune copies the files, verifies each one with a SHA256 checksum, and adds them to your library when the import is complete.

Your originals on the source are never deleted or modified.

Starting an Import

1. Click + in the sidebar → Import from Card or Folder…
2. The import sheet opens.
3. Under Source, click Choose Folder… and select the folder or card you want to import from. Prune shows you the file count and total size.
4. Under Destination, click Choose Destination… and select a folder already in your Prune library as the destination.
5. Click Start Import.

During Import

While the import runs, the destination folder in the sidebar shows a progress indicator. The grid for that folder updates as photos arrive — you don't have to wait for the import to finish to start browsing.

Duplicates

If a file already exists in the destination (matched by SHA256 checksum), Prune will prompt you to skip or replace it. You can apply your choice to all remaining duplicates in the same import.

Verification

Every file is verified after copying. If the checksum of the copy doesn't match the source, Prune reports the failure. Do not clear your card until the import completes without errors.

Section 3

Browsing & Filtering

Navigating Your Library

Click any folder in the sidebar to view its photos in the grid. Click a drive name to see all photos across all folders on that drive.

Use the disclosure triangles to expand and collapse folders. Folders show a photo count on the right.

Grid Zoom

Use the slider in the bottom bar to adjust thumbnail size. Drag left for smaller thumbnails (more photos visible), drag right for larger.

Filtering by Star Rating

The filter bar runs across the top of the window. Click one or more stars to filter the grid to photos with those ratings. Multiple stars are combined with OR — clicking 3 and 5 shows photos rated 3 or 5.

Click an active star again to deselect it. Click all stars off to clear the rating filter.

Filtering by Keyword

The keyword field in the filter bar lets you filter by one or more keywords. Type to search — matching keywords appear in a dropdown. Click one to add it as an active filter chip.

Multiple keyword chips are combined with AND — the grid shows only photos that have all selected keywords.

Click the × on a chip to remove it from the filter.

Selecting Photos

• Click — select a single photo
• ⌘+click — add to or remove from selection
• Shift+click — select a range
• ⌘A — select all photos in the current view

The bottom bar shows how many photos are selected.

Right-Click Actions

Right-click any photo in the grid for quick actions:

• Open in [preferred editor] — opens the file in your preferred external editor (set in Settings)
• Open With… — choose from installed editors
• Move to Trash — deletes the file and removes it from your library

Section 4

Smart Folders

Smart Folders are saved searches that live in the sidebar below your drives. Set up a filter once — by rating, keyword, flag, or drive — and Prune keeps it ready so you can jump back to that view any time.

Creating a Smart Folder

1. Click the + button next to Smart Folders in the sidebar.
2. The New Smart Folder sheet opens.
3. Give it a name.
4. Set any combination of filters: Rating (one or more stars, OR match), Keywords (AND match), Flag (Pick or Reject), and Drive scope.
5. Click Save. The Smart Folder appears in the sidebar immediately.

Using Smart Folders

Click any Smart Folder in the sidebar to load its results in the grid. The grid updates immediately — no manual refresh needed.

Right-click a Smart Folder to edit or delete it.

Filter Criteria

• Rating — match photos with any of the selected star ratings (OR). Leave empty to include all ratings.
• Keywords — match photos that have all selected keywords (AND). Leave empty to skip keyword filtering.
• Flag — filter to Picks, Rejects, or leave unselected to include all photos regardless of flag.
• Drive — scope the results to a specific drive or search across all drives.

Section 5

Picking & Flagging

Flags let you mark photos as Picks or Rejects during a cull — independently of star ratings. A gold rosette marks a Pick; a red flag marks a Reject. Use them to make a fast first pass before you start rating.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Select one or more photos and press:

• P — mark as Pick (gold rosette)
• X — mark as Reject (red flag)
• U — remove flag (unflag)

These shortcuts work in both the grid and the Loupe.

Filtering by Flag

The toolbar shows a rosette and a flag icon to the left of the star filters. Click either to filter the grid to Picks or Rejects only. Click again to clear the filter.

Flags in the Loupe

Flag indicators appear on each thumbnail in the Loupe filmstrip so you can see your picks and rejects at a glance while navigating. Press P, X, or U without leaving the Loupe.

Section 6

Rating & Keywording

Assigning Star Ratings

Select one or more photos and press a number key:

• 1–5 — assign that star rating
• 0 — clear the rating

This works in the grid and in the Loupe. You don't need to open the inspector. Ratings are shown as star badges on each thumbnail in the grid.

The Inspector Panel

Press ⌘I to toggle the inspector panel. The inspector shows:

• Star rating (clickable)
• EXIF data (date, dimensions, file size, camera, lens, ISO, aperture, shutter)
• Keywords

Adding Keywords Manually

1. Click inside the Add keyword… field in the inspector.
2. Type to search existing keywords — matching options appear in a dropdown.
3. Click a suggestion or press Return to add a new keyword.
4. Keywords appear as chips. Click the × on a chip to remove it.

AI Keywords

When photos are imported, Prune runs Apple Vision on each one in the background to suggest keywords. This processing is entirely on-device — no photos are sent anywhere.

AI-suggested keywords are marked with a small sparkle icon (✦) on the chip. You can accept them as-is, remove ones that don't fit, or add your own alongside them.

The AI runs asynchronously and doesn't block the UI. On a large import, suggestions may take a few minutes to appear.

Keywording Multiple Photos

Select multiple photos before opening the inspector. The keyword editor shows keywords common to all selected photos. Adding a keyword applies it to all selected photos. Removing a keyword removes it from all selected photos.

Section 7

The Loupe

The Loupe opens a single photo full-screen for close inspection. It loads your original file at full resolution — no transcoding, no proxy.

Opening the Loupe

Double-click any photo in the grid, or select a photo and press Enter.

Press Escape or click the × to close the Loupe and return to the grid.

Navigating Photos

• ← → arrow keys — move to the previous or next photo
• Filmstrip — the horizontal strip at the bottom shows nearby photos. Click any thumbnail to jump to it. Each thumbnail shows its star rating.

Zoom and Pan

• Z — toggle between fit-to-screen and 100% zoom. At 100%, the view centres on your cursor position.
• Scroll wheel — zoom in and out to any level
• Click and drag — pan when zoomed in

Inspector in the Loupe

Press ⌘I to toggle the inspector panel inside the Loupe. It works identically to the grid inspector — you can rate, view EXIF data, and add or remove keywords without leaving the Loupe.

Rating in the Loupe

Press 1–5 to assign a rating, 0 to clear. The rating updates immediately in the filmstrip below.

Section 8

Keyboard Shortcuts