Picture Ratings and Color Labels

Use ratings to store information on photographs’ quality. This information is stored in a photo’s metadata. Its purpose is to help you sort and manage your photos more easily. By default, the program lets you add ratings using the buttons, available in several places:

• in the Description section of the information panel on the right in the Manager,
• in the bottom right of files’ thumbnails in the Browser mode of the Manager and Develop,
• in the bottom right part of the thumbnails for files in the Filmstrip,
• in the bottom right part under the file in the Preview mode of the Manager, Develop, Print, and Video,
• in the window displayed by Information | File Information [Ctrl+Shift+Enter].

To relocate the rating buttons, use the Information Display Settings window.

You can assign ratings either by clicking their corresponding buttons or by pressing the 1–5 keys above the letter rows on a keyboard. A rating can be removed by pressing 0. The Rejected value does not have a keyboard shortcut by default. These keyboard shortcuts can be used in the Filmstrip, the Manager, Develop, and the Preview mode.

You can delete all files with the Rejected rating at once. To do this, use the Delete Rejected item under Information | Rating in the program’s top menu. This function is applied to the files in the current folder.

You can use ratings to sort and find photos using several functions:

• Quick Search [Ctrl+F]
• Filter and Search windows – use the tab named Notes
• Organize | Selection | Advanced Selection
• the Display and Sorting window.

Color Labels

Use the Labels feature to add colored labels to your pictures, to help sort them by a system of your own. Labels can be added to pictures in all the parts of the program where ratings can be added.

To add labels to pictures, use the Descriptions Panel, or use the Information | Image Information [Shift+Enter] window’s Descriptions tab. Alternatively, use the Browser’s Information | Label submenu or the [Shift+1] through [Shift+9] hotkeys. To remove any existing rating from the picture, click None or use the keyboard shortcut [Shift+0].

Keyboard shortcuts for labels can be customized. Open Settings [Ctrl+M] and click on General. There is a button Keyboard Shortcuts. It will open a new window where you can find the option Manager in the top left corner. Clicking on it will allow you to change the option to Labels and define your own shortcuts.

The label (if any) for a picture is indicated in its Browser thumbnail, by an icon at the bottom right. Right-clicking that icon calls up a menu where you can change the rating or remove it (the “-” item).

To set which colors are used for labels, use Settings | Preferences | Labels. Here you can define up to 9 custom labels or choose colors used in other programs. Label information is stored within a picture’s XMP-type picture information.