Both workflows start from the same import builder. Choose Copy & Cull when you want files you own; choose Manage when you want to make decisions inside the library and free up space without copying anything.
Choose Copy & Cull when
- You want ordinary files to hand off to Lightroom, Capture One, or Photoshop, or to keep as a backup.
- You want to cull photos from Photos together with cards, drives, or folders in one project.
- You want ratings, colour labels, and tag or reject decisions written to XMP so they travel with the files.
How Copy & Cull behaves
- Selected photos are copied to your destination folder. Anything stored only in iCloud downloads as it copies, and culling starts as photos arrive.
- The library is never changed by the copy. Rejecting an imported copy does not remove the source from Photos.
- Cullibrate remembers what it has already imported. Once a source has import history, its headers show how many photos are new, and the New only and All scopes let you bring in only what is new or everything again.
- The copies keep a link to their source, so Handoff can later offer Clean up in Apple Photos… to remove rejects from the library after you review them.
- On a Mac, tick Edited to copy the current Apple Photos edit of eligible non-RAW photos, or Ingest as archive to include every exportable resource. Leave both clear to copy unmodified originals. RAW photos always import as shot.
Choose Manage when
- You want to remove rejects from Photos and iCloud without making copies first.
- You want to review a large part of the library quickly using thumbnails, downloading originals only when you look closely.
- You plan to export only the keepers, or to offload photos to a folder before deleting them.
How Manage behaves
- No files are copied. The managed collection reads the photos straight from the library.
- Ratings, tags, rejects, and colour labels are stored in Cullibrate's catalog and are not written back to Photos. The one exception is on macOS, where the cleanup flow can mark your picks as Favorites.
- Photos stays exactly as it was until you run Delete, Offload, or Export from the Manage button, or remove photos with the Delete key.
- Manage works only on the Photos library. Cards, drives, and folders cannot be added to a managed collection; switch to Copy & Cull to combine sources.
Windows differences
- iCloud Photos support on Windows is a preview and is not available in every build.
- Manage works on the iCloud Photos folder that iCloud for Windows syncs to the PC. Removals move the local files to the Recycle Bin, and iCloud syncs the removal to your other devices.
- Albums, the Favorites filter, and Apple Photos edit variants are not available on Windows.
If something looks wrong
- If Photos is greyed out as a source, check the Plan: Manage accepts only the Photos library, and Open accepts only files and folders.
- If a range shows no photos right after connecting iCloud, wait a moment or widen the range; iCloud may still be listing the library.