SpeedCull is keyboard-first. Most culling never needs the mouse. This page is the full
reference, grouped by mode. Press ⌘ ⇧ ? in the app at any time
to see the same list as a sheet.
Rating shortcuts work in Loupe, Grid (focused tile), Compare 4-up (active tile), and
Play Mode. They’re intentionally not bound in Keeper Mode — Keeper Mode uses
a parallel set of decision keys.
Key
Action
1 – 5
Set star rating
0
Clear rating
P
Pick flag
X
Reject flag (writes xmp:Rating="-1" on sync)
U
Clear flag
Auto-advance. By default, rating or flagging an image jumps to the next
one. Toggle the Auto-advance switch in the top bar if you’d rather stay put.
Play Mode disables auto-advance internally so the timer drives motion, not your rating
keystrokes.
Navigation
Key
Action
→ / ←
Next / previous image (Loupe, Grid, Play)
↑ / ↓
Jump backward / forward by 5 images
Compare and Keeper Mode bind arrow keys to mode-specific actions — see those sections below.
Mode switching
Key
Action
L
Loupe
G
Grid
C
Compare 4-up — or open Keeper Mode if 2+ are selected in Grid
Esc
Return to Loupe (from Grid / Compare); see mode-specific sections for Play and Keeper
Play Mode is reachable only via the segmented mode picker — there’s no letter shortcut for it.
Loupe
Key / Gesture
Action
F
Toggle Focus Monitor PiP
⇧F
Cycle Focus Monitor PiP corner
I
Toggle image info overlay (left edge)
Pinch
Zoom 1× → 8× (trackpad)
Drag
Pan when zoomed in
Double-click
Toggle 1× / 2× zoom
Grid
Selection
Action
Result
Click
Select one (anchor) — preserves multi-selection if the clicked tile is already in it
⌘-click
Toggle individual tile in / out of selection
Shift-click
Range select from anchor to clicked tile, in current sort order
Double-click
Open the clicked tile in Loupe
Right-click
Context menu: Open in Loupe · Open N Selected in Keeper Mode
Keys
Key
Action
L
Open the focused tile in Loupe
Enter
Open the focused tile in Loupe
C
Open Keeper Mode (with 2+ selected) — otherwise switches to Compare 4-up
Compare 4-up
Key
Action
Tab
Cycle the active tile forward (auto-advances the group of 4 when wrapping)
⇧Tab
Cycle the active tile backward
Enter
Advance to next group of 4
→ / ←
Cycle within current group of 4
↓
Advance to next group of 4
↑
Rewind to previous group of 4
Click a tile
Make it the active tile
Play Mode
Key
Action
Space (tap)
Toggle play / pause
Space (hold)
Pause while held; resume on release (threshold 0.2 s)
→
Advance one image (without unpausing)
←
Rewind one image and pause
R
Replay last 10 images and start playing
I
Toggle image info overlay
1 – 5 / 0 / P / X / U
Rate / flag the current image (no auto-advance — the timer drives motion)
Esc
Stop Play Mode and return to Loupe
Keeper Mode
Keeper Mode uses a parallel set of keys. Number keys are intentionally not
bound to ratings here — Keeper Mode promotes by +1 ★ on Apply, not by direct rating input.
Key
Action
A / ←
Keeper stays — advance contender
D / →
Contender becomes keeper
K
Save current keeper and continue (the multi-keeper key)
Enter
Finish and review keepers — and on the summary, Apply Promotions
Esc
Cancel session (with confirmation; no ratings have been changed)
⌘Z / ⌫
Undo last decision (also works from the completion summary, returning you to the active session)