Start culling or upload photos to your photo shop directly from Lightroom Classic. SmartCull groups the selected photos by child and brings the results back into Lightroom as collections and keywords. Your star ratings, flags and colour labels stay unchanged.
Download the plug-in from your Profile (Download the plug-in) and unzip the file. Keep the unzipped SmartCull.lrplugin folder in a permanent location rather than your Downloads folder. Lightroom needs access to that folder whenever it runs the plug-in.
In Lightroom Classic, go to File › Plug-in Manager › Add, then select the SmartCull.lrplugin folder.
Click “Sign in to SmartCull”. In your browser, check that the same code is shown as in Lightroom, then click “Allow”. There’s no access key to copy.
2. Starting a sort
In the Library module, open the shoot’s folder and select the photos (Ctrl+A, or Cmd+A on a Mac). Videos are not uploaded.
In the dialog, set the session name (pre-filled from the folder name), the culling and grouping modes. The Fee line shows the price for your plan.
Click Start. The plug-in creates and uploads JPEG copies up to 2,048 pixels in size; it does not upload your original image files.
Grouping by face requires approval of the data protection impact assessment required by the service. If you don’t have one yet, use “Open on the website” in the dialog to complete it in your browser; once it’s approved, the dialog updates automatically and you can start. The service does not require this approval for grouping by separator card or clothing. Other data protection obligations may still apply.
3. While processing is under way
Progress is shown in the top-left corner of Lightroom: uploading, analysing photos, grouping, selecting. You can keep working in the meantime. Cancelling Lightroom’s progress indicator does not stop processing on the server. You can retrieve the results later using “SmartCull: update selection results”.
4. The results in Lightroom
In the Collections panel: SmartCull › session name, with one collection per child alongside “Group photos” and “Filtered out”. “Filtered out” contains the photos the software rated weaker (blinks, blur or near-duplicates).
In the Keyword List: one keyword per child, SmartCull › session name › child’s name. The plug-in sets up keywords for the children. Before exporting, check Lightroom’s keyword export settings to make sure children’s names are not included in image metadata unintentionally.
Children who haven’t been named yet appear as “Person 01”, “Person 02”…
Your star ratings, flags and colour labels stay unchanged.
5. Naming children and correcting albums
Name the children and correct the albums on the website, in the session gallery. Then choose Library › Plug-in Extras › “SmartCull: update selection results” in Lightroom: the collections and keywords are updated, and collection contents are synchronised with the albums on the website. If you moved photos between collections by hand in Lightroom, updating restores them to match the website.
6. Load ordered photos into Lightroom
The Lightroom Classic plug-in can organise photos ordered through the parent gallery or your photo shop into collections by order (order number · customer’s name) and by size (for example, “10×15 cm – 15 pcs”). The quantity is the number of copies ordered, not necessarily the number of different photos. This makes it easier to prepare orders for editing and printing.
In Lightroom Classic, choose Library › Plug-in Extras › “SmartCull: load ordered photos…” and select the session. The number of orders appears beside each session name.
For a session uploaded with the Lightroom plug-in, the plug-in uses the existing links between the uploaded and local photos to find the ordered images.
For a session uploaded on the website, first select all the photos from that shoot in the Library module. For example, open the relevant folder, then select the photos in Grid view (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A on a Mac). If you used more than one camera, include those photos too. The plug-in searches within this selection.
Run the command again after new or amended orders. The collections are updated; a deleted order’s collection is removed. For website uploads, you don’t normally need to select the photos again once the matching has been saved.
How does photo matching work?
The plug-in first tries to match photos by filename. File extensions may differ, such as DSC_4107.NEF and DSC_4107.jpg. This often works if you retained the original filenames when exporting. However, files from different shoots can share a name and must be distinguished.
If the filename doesn’t match, it uses the capture time, to the nearest second. Keep the relevant metadata (EXIF) when exporting and avoid changing capture times in Lightroom afterwards.
If a filename matches but the capture time differs beyond the matching rules, the plug-in won’t load the photo automatically and will flag it separately.
Where a RAW and a JPG share the same base filename, the RAW is selected; for virtual copies, the original photo is selected. Check this if an order relates to a separately edited virtual copy.
Burst shots taken within the same second, or missing or inconsistent EXIF data, can make a match uncertain. The plug-in lists the ordered photos it could not find; you can then look them up manually using the order PDF.
Collection names include the order number and customer’s name. Parents’ email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses are not transferred to Lightroom.
7. Uploading photos to a photo shop
Select the photos in the Library module, then choose Library › Plug-in Extras › “SmartCull: upload to a photo shop…”.
Choose whether to create a new photo shop (its name is taken from the folder name) or add the photos to one of your existing shops.
Every selected photo goes into the shop, without sorting. If the upload is chargeable, you’ll see the fee in the window before you click Upload; it’s only deducted once you confirm.
The plug-in uploads JPEG copies of up to 3500 px, without location or people data.
When it’s done, “Photo shop page” opens the shop, where you’ll find its link and QR code. You can later load the ordered photos into Lightroom as described in section 6 — for shops uploaded with the plug-in, no selection is needed.
8. If not all photos came across
The same access restrictions apply to the plug-in as to ZIP downloads. During a trial or on the “Pay as you sell” plan, some photos may remain locked until the relevant unlocking or payment requirements have been met. Check your session page for details. Once this is resolved, run “SmartCull: update selection results” again to retrieve the remaining photos.
9. Signing out and revoking access
Use “Sign out” in the Plug-in Manager to remove the plug-in’s access. You can revoke any connection at any time under “Authorised Lightroom connections” in your Profile.
10. Troubleshooting
“Access was revoked on the website”: sign in again in the Plug-in Manager.
“None of the photos could be uploaded”: check that the original files are available (for example, that your external drive is connected).
If Lightroom shows face detection in the top-left corner (“Finding faces…”), that is Lightroom’s own feature, not the plug-in; you can turn it off under Edit › Catalog Settings › Metadata, “Face Detection” (on a Mac: Lightroom Classic › Catalog Settings).
Plug-in log: Documents\LrClassicLogs\Fotovalogato.log (on a Mac: Documents/LrClassicLogs). If you need help, email hello@smartcull.uk. Only send the log file if support asks for it, and check it for personal information first.