Keyboard-first
Tag a frame in one keypress. Hold a key to fast-reject batches at ~120ms per photo. No mouse needed.
Free for now · No account required
Cull 3K+ photos
in 30 minutes.
Free photo culling software for Mac & Windows. Keyboard-driven, offline, originals untouched. Built for the moment after the shoot — when every minute matters.
macOS 12+ · Windows 10+ · v0.1.0 · ~113 MB · Mac Intel build
50msKeystroke to next photo
4096pxAdaptive preview, retina-ready
3,000+Photos per session, smooth
0¢Free for now. No subscription.
Built like an indie tool. Runs like a pro one.
Every detail tuned for photographers who shoot a lot, edit a lot, and don't have time to wait on slow software.
Instant previews
Right-sized 2K–4K previews are generated once and cached around your cursor. Decoded in under 50ms.
Originals untouched
m3cull never moves, renames, or modifies a single original file. It only tracks references and your bucket choices.
Photos & videos
JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV — all in one project. Sprite-sheet scrubbing on long clips.
Resume anywhere
Force-quit at frame 1,847? Open the project tomorrow and you're right back where you left off.
Clean export
Copy your selected files to any folder, flat or grouped by bucket. Or just export a CSV / JSON manifest.
Your whole shoot, on one calm screen.
Contact-sheet view of every photo and video in the project. Click any tile to drop into the keyboard-driven review.
Three steps. That's the whole app.
-
01
Import
Point m3cull at a folder. It scans recursively, generates thumbnails and adaptive previews in the background, and gets out of your way.
-
02
Cull
Press 1 for keep, 2 for reject, 3 for maybe. Auto-advance is on by default. Undo with ⌘Z.
-
03
Export
Pick a destination, pick a bucket, hit go. Four parallel workers copy your selects. Originals stay where they are.
Made for fingers that already know the keyboard.
→←Next / previous photo
123Assign to bucket 1, 2 or 3
0Unassign current photo
UJump to next unreviewed
SpacePlay / pause video
FFullscreen preview
ZToggle zoom (fit / 100%)
⌘ZUndo last assignment
If you've ever paid $150 just to sort photos faster.
m3cull was built for wedding and event photographers who shoot 1,000–5,000 frames a day, second shooters who pre-cull for clients, and hobbyists who refuse to pay a subscription to look at their own photos.
Common questions
Everything photographers ask before downloading m3cull.
macOS says m3cull is from an "unidentified developer". Is it safe?
Yes — m3cull is safe. The DMG is signed with a local certificate but isn't yet notarized by Apple, so macOS Sequoia (15+) Gatekeeper blocks the first launch. Notarization requires an Apple Developer Program account ($99/year), which m3cull will join as soon as it stops being a free side project. The app itself is exactly what you downloaded — no telemetry, no network calls beyond the weekly key check.
One-time fix — System Settings (no Terminal):
- Try to open m3cull → it shows the "can't be opened" dialog. Click Done.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down — you'll see "m3cull was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer."
- Click Open Anyway → enter your password.
- Try opening m3cull again — now you'll see a dialog with an Open button. Click it.
- Done. Every launch after that works normally.
Power-user alternative — one Terminal command:
xattr -cr /Applications/m3cull.app
If you haven't moved it to /Applications yet, run this on the DMG before opening:
xattr -cr ~/Downloads/m3cull-0.1.0-mac-apple-silicon.dmg open ~/Downloads/m3cull-0.1.0-mac-apple-silicon.dmg
Is m3cull really free?
Yes. m3cull is free for now — no subscription, no trial, no account required. The app verifies a free access key once a week to stay in sync with releases. A paid tier may arrive in the future, but anything you download today stays free to use.
How does m3cull compare to Photo Mechanic?
Photo Mechanic costs around $150 and is the gold standard for manual culling. m3cull aims for the same speed in a free, focused app — no metadata editing, no ingest, just culling. If you want the full pro toolkit, Photo Mechanic is still the answer. If you just want to cull fast, try m3cull.
Is m3cull an Aftershoot or Narrative Select alternative?
Yes — for the culling step. m3cull doesn't use AI to pick photos for you. It's manual-first, keyboard-driven culling. Many photographers prefer making their own selections; m3cull is built for them.
Does m3cull support RAW files?
Not in v1. The first release supports JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, and most common video formats. RAW (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG) is on the roadmap.
Can m3cull cull videos?
Yes. m3cull supports MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, and AVI with full playback, scrubbing via sprite-sheet preview, and the same bucket workflow as photos.
Will m3cull modify or move my original files?
Never. m3cull only stores references and your bucket choices. Originals are read-only until you trigger an export, and even then originals are copied — never moved or deleted.
How fast can I cull with m3cull?
A skilled user can cull 3,000 photos in about 30 minutes using only the keyboard. Hold-key fast-reject pushes that further for obvious culls.
Does m3cull work offline?
Yes. After the weekly access-key check, m3cull runs fully offline. No telemetry, no cloud sync, no calls home during normal use.
What hardware does m3cull need?
macOS 12+ on Apple Silicon or Intel, or Windows 10+ on x64. 8 GB RAM is comfortable. A small project takes around 80 MB of disk for the app plus cache for your previews.
Get back to the photos that matter.
m3cull is free, offline, and respects your originals. Pick your platform.