Lightroom AI Culling Tutorial: How to Use Assisted Culling in Lightroom Classic

After I heard “AI culling”, I immediately thought “cool… another button that’s going to pick the wrong frame”.

But Lightroom’s new Assisted Culling isn’t trying to be your taste. It’s trying to be your time saver. Sharpness checks, misfires, exposure problems and grouping similar frames so you can get to the real decisions faster. 

Jump to Section

• Wondering what Lightroom’s new AI culling feature actually does?

• What “Assisted Culling” is best at (right now)

• Step 1: Turn Assisted Culling on (Lightroom Classic)

• Option A: Use Assisted Culling during import (fastest workflow)

• Option B: Cull a folder or collection that’s already in your catalog

• How to review results fast (without trusting AI blindly)

• Wildlife Starting Settings (and my bald eagle workflow)

Wondering what Lightroom’s new AI culling feature actually does?

Assisted Culling analyzes a folder/collection (or an import), then tags images as Selects or Rejects based on criteria you choose, like:

Select options

• Subject Focus (subject is in focus)

• Eye Focus (eyes in focus)

• Eyes Open (eyes open) 

Reject options

• Misfires (accidental shots)

• Exposure issues

• Documents and receipts 

It’s also Early Access, meaning Adobe is actively changing it based on feedback. 

What “Assisted Culling” is best at (right now)

Here’s the honest take:

What it’s great at

• Separating the obviously bad (misfires, exposure problems, soft frames) 

• Helping with high volume shoots where you’ve got a lot of near duplicates 

• Auto stacking by visual similarity (huge for bursts) 

What it’s not great at (yet)

A lot of the “eye” logic is clearly built around people (it even includes “reject photos without people’s eyes”). That’s why I treat it like a first pass filter, not a decision maker. 

Step 1: Turn Assisted Culling on (Lightroom Classic)

You’ve got two ways:

1. Catalog Settings → Metadata → Assisted Culling (enable it there) 

This is the switch that makes everything below possible.

2. Turn on Auto Analysis from the Identity Plate menu 

• Go to Library Mode → Identity Plate (Top-left above Navigator - Click Small Drop Down Arrow) → Choose Auto Analysis to On

This makes AI Culling possible during uploading images to Lightroom

Option A: Use Assisted Culling during import (fastest workflow)

1. Go to Import

2. Choose your Source folder

3. Turn on Assisted Culling in the Import dialog

4. Let Lightroom analyze in the background, then choose Select/Reject criteria 

Important note: Personally, I recommend being cautious using it during import (easy to move too fast and miss something). So if you’re the type who likes full control, like me, use Option B instead. 

Assisted Culling panel + Subject Focus slider. These are the settings I start with when culling bald eagle photos.

Option B: Cull a folder or collection that’s already in your catalog (my default)

1. In Library, click your Folder or Collection

2. Wait for the analysis to finish

3. In the Assisted Culling panel, pick your Select/Reject criteria 

This is where it feels the most controlled: the photos are already safely in the catalog and you’re just sorting.

The Assisted Culling panel on the right in Lightroom's Library mode.

How to review results fast (without trusting AI blindly)

This is the part that matters.

1) Flip between Selects / Rejects / All

Lightroom lets you view Selects, Rejects or All right inside the Assisted Culling panel. 

2) Hover the icons to see why it scored a photo that way

Each photo gets an icon. When you hover, Lightroom shows pass/fail criteria and a score. 

3) Override AI instantly

Right click the icon and you can Mark as Select or Mark as Reject to overrule it. 

4) Use keyboard shortcuts to fly

These are the three I live on:

• P = Pick

• X = Reject

• U = Unflag 

And if you want quick “buckets”:

• 1-5 = star ratings

• 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 = Red / Yellow / Green / Blue labels 

Wildlife Starting Settings (and my bald eagle workflow)

Bald eagle culling gets...painful.

You shoot bursts. Wing positions change by inches. Head angle changes everything. And the difference between “tack sharp eye” and “almost sharp eye” is the difference between a keeper and a hard delete.

Here’s my workflow that keeps me moving:

Step 0: Import with a culling mindset

• Import into a folder structure I can recognize instantly (Eagles → Location → Date)

• Build previews (whatever your machine can handle smoothly)

• Do not edit yet. First you earn the right to edit by picking winners.

Step 1: Run Assisted Culling with Subject Focus first

For wildlife, I start with:

• Subject Focus ON

• I usually ignore Eye Focus / Eyes Open (because it’s human focused and can be hit or miss on birds) 

Then I slide Subject Focus until it starts filtering out the obviously soft frames (you’ll feel the “sweet spot” quickly).

Step 2: Reject the junk automatically (then sanity-check it)

Turn on:

• Misfires

• Exposure issues 

Then I immediately flip to Rejects and do a quick scroll. If it’s throwing away frames that look good, I back off the strictness.

Step 3: Auto stack the burst sequences (this is the secret weapon)

Once Lightroom’s analysis is done, I use Auto Stacking / visual similarity stacking so each burst becomes a single “decision packet.” 

Now instead of comparing 200 frames in a row, I’m comparing the best 3-5 from each moment.

I like to start with 1 second between shots when Auto Stacking the AI Culling bald eagle photos

• Before: endless burst frames

• After: neat stacks with a top candidate

Step 4: Pick winners you want to edit

This is my “human taste” pass...AI can’t do this part.

I’m checking:

• Eye sharpness (not “kinda sharp”, but sharp)

• Head angle + beak profile

• Wing position (clean shape, no awkward angles)

• Background clutter (branches through wings, bright distractions)

• Catchlight / expression (when it happens, it matters)

My simple labeling system

• P (Pick): worth editing

• Green (8): portfolio potential

• Yellow (7): good, deliverable, not portfolio

• X (Reject): dead to me

  Shortcuts for labels are legit fast in Lightroom Classic. 

Step 5: Only now do I start editing

Because now I’m editing 10-40 images, not 600 maybes.

Final Thoughts

Assisted Culling is not here to replace you. It’s here to stop you from spending an hour zooming into 400 frames that never had a chance.

If you shoot bald eagles (or any wildlife bursts), the biggest win is this combo:

• Subject Focus to filter soft frames

• Reject Misfires/Exposure Issues to ditch the obvious trash

• Auto stacking/Visual similarity to turn chaos into clean decisions

Want better bald eagle photos?

If you’re tired of coming home with almost frames (soft eyes, weird wing positions, cluttered backgrounds), let’s fix it in the field.

My private 1:1 bald eagle workshop is where we work on the stuff YouTube can’t...where to stand, when to move and how to set up for consistent headshots.

See 1:1 dates + details →

F.A.Q.

What is Lightroom Assisted Culling and what does it actually do?

Assisted Culling is Lightroom’s AI-based helper for sorting large sets fast. You choose Select filters (like Subject Focus, Eye Focus, Eyes Open) and Reject filters (like Misfires and Exposure Issues). Lightroom then shows you Selects / Rejects / All, with icons you can hover to see pass/fail details and a score.  

Does Assisted Culling delete photos?

No. Assisted Culling is about classification and organizing—it marks results and lets you apply actions like flagging, rating, labeling, and adding Selects/Rejects to a collection/folder. 

During import, you can choose “Don’t Import Rejected Images” so rejects are excluded from import—but that’s not the same as deleting files off your card/hard drive.

Should I use Assisted Culling during import or after import?

Either works:

• During import: Lightroom can analyze in the background, and you can exclude rejects using Don’t Import Rejected Images. 

• After import: Assisted Culling options apply to an album, and many people prefer this because everything is already safely in the catalog before you start filtering. 

My general advice for most photographers: import first, then cull, unless you’re extremely confident in your settings.

What Select/Reject settings should I start with?

A safe starting setup:

• Select: Subject Focus (moderate, not max strict) 

• Reject: Misfires + Exposure Issues 

Then do a 60-second sanity check:

1. Switch to Rejects

2. If you see keepers getting tossed, loosen Subject Focus first.

How accurate is Subject Focus for wildlife?

Subject Focus is the most broadly useful option because it’s not “human-specific.” 

For wildlife, be cautious with Eye Focus and Eyes Open because Lightroom includes options like “Reject photos without people’s eyes,” which signals those tools are primarily built around human faces/eyes. 

How do I review Selects/Rejects fast without missing keepers?

Use Lightroom’s built-in review loop:

1. Flip All → Rejects and scan quickly

2. Hover the icons to see pass/fail criteria + score

3. Right-click the icon to override: Mark as Select or Mark as Reject 

This keeps you in control: AI does the first pass, you do the final decision.

How does Auto-Stacking help with burst sequences?

Auto Stack groups photos into stacks using:

• Time (captured within an interval)

• Visual similarity (images that look alike) 

Lightroom can then choose a top photo for the stack cover, which turns 200 burst frames into a handful of quick comparisons.