Take, Hold, Reject
Culling is deciding, frame by frame, what stays. Every photograph in a Vixlo library is in exactly one of four states — Take, Hold, Reject or Undecided. A rating, a favourite and a colour label are separate from the decision: changing one never changes another.
The four states
| State | What it means | Its colour |
|---|---|---|
| Take | This one stays. Takes are what Edit takes opens and what Hand off takes… writes out | green |
| Hold | Not yet — come back to it. The Holds chip on the views line collects them | amber |
| Reject | Out of the queue, into the bin. The photograph stays exactly where it is in the library; nothing is deleted (Reject and the bin) | red |
| Undecided | No decision yet. The state every frame starts in | none |
The state pill at the left of the header shows which one the frame is in, in its own colour; an Undecided frame has an outline and no colour (The cull page).
Deciding a frame
With the Vixlo keys:
| Key | Decision |
|---|---|
T | Take |
H | Hold |
R | Reject |
U | Clear — back to Undecided |
The same three decisions are buttons at the right-hand end of the pass line, directly under the photograph: R ✕ Reject · H — Hold · T ✓ Take. Each wears its key from your own keyboard map, so a key you change in Vixlo ▸ Keyboard… shows there too. The decision this frame already carries is drawn on its own coloured ground. Take, Hold, Reject and Clear are also in the Edit menu.
A decision is written to the library the instant you make it, and it works wherever you are looking at a frame: in Single, in Compare (on the frame at the left), in Frames (on the ringed frame) and in full screen. The keys do nothing while you are typing in a field or while a sheet is open.
Each decision raises a message for a few seconds, with its own Undo and a ✕:
- DSCF7601.JPG marked Take, with Queue stays stable · advanced to next frame under it when the cursor moved on;
- DSCF7601.JPG moved to the bin — Out of the queue · restorable until the bin is emptied.
Auto-advance
With auto-advance on, every decision on the frame in front of you moves you to the next frame — the same frame → would reach. Press A to turn it off or on; a message says Auto-advance on or Auto-advance off, and the ⋯ menu's Auto-advance row carries a tick while it is on. With it off, nothing moves until you do.
In Frames with similar frames stacked, the next frame can be one hidden behind a stack's cover. A decision then moves the cursor onto it, no cell carries the ring, and the next decision key decides a frame the sheet is not drawing. Frames has the way around it.
Auto-advance is on every time a library opens and is not remembered: turning it off lasts until you next open a library — by quitting and reopening, switching libraries, or going to All libraries… and back.
Actions that decide many frames at once — accepting a group of proposals, Restore all — never move you.
Undo and redo
⌘Z undoes the most recent decision; ⇧⌘Z redoes it. There is one history for the whole library, not one per view, and every change of state, rating, favourite and colour label is a step in it, as is a restore from the bin. The message after an undo reads Last culling decision restored. The Undo on a decision's own message takes back exactly that decision on that frame.
Three things are not in it: a frame Empty bin… has deleted; a keyword, caption or note, which are words you typed, not decisions; and a change made in the Develop panel beside Single, which ⌘Z there leaves alone (The develop panel in Single).
A note on a decision
Press N on the frame in front of you to say why. A small card opens with a text field, Why this one?, already focused, and nine reasons as chips — Moment, Expression, Eyes, Focus, Light, Composition, Duplicate, Album, Client — each toggled by a click or by the ⌘1 to ⌘9 printed on it. ↩ saves; Esc throws the draft away; N again edits the note. The card is also Note… in the Edit menu and A note on this decision… in the ⋯ menu. Nothing ever asks you for a note.
The card's own footnote says what happens to it: Your reasons are counted — the note itself is yours and never leaves this Mac. Search finds notes: note:duplicate matches a Duplicate chip and a sentence that says so.
Rating, favourite and label
These are not decisions. Press 1 to 5 for that many stars, or 0 for none. Or click a star in the header to set the rating to that star; clicking the star the rating already reaches clears it. A message confirms: 3-star rating applied or Rating cleared. The heart in the header is a favourite, on or off, by click only. The colour label — Red, Yellow, Green, Blue or Purple — is set from the tag menu under the photograph or from ⋯ ▸ Colour label…; choosing the label already set clears it. Stars, favourites and colour labels covers narrowing the pass by them.
When Vixlo is read-only
When your trial or subscription has ended, or the complimentary access from an invite code has, the three buttons dim and a decision key answers Vixlo is read-only until you subscribe. The notice says which ended — Your trial or subscription has ended. or Your complimentary access has ended. — and that every library still opens and Export and Hand off still work. See What read-only means.