Photo Mechanic allows you to rate photos using a scale of 1-5 stars. Star ratings can be used in conjunction with tags and color classes. Star ratings are also compatible with many other photo editing tools, so you can rate photos in Photo Mechanic and retain those ratings in other products later.
As with tags and color classes, star ratings appear below thumbnails in contact sheets and preview windows.
Applying a Star Rating
You can give star ratings in multiple ways:
- Select the preferred number of stars below the photo thumbnail.
- Select one or more photos and use Image > Set Rating of Photos:
- Use the keyboard shortcut of control 1-5 and control-0 to remove a rating (or just 1-5 and 0 if set in preferences)
Note: By default, color class ratings are set to use a single key shortcut, but if you want to change this, you can go to Preferences: Accessibility and change it under Single key shortcut for Color Class or 5-Star Rating.
Filtering by Star Rating
You can filter your view in a contact sheet by start rating by using View > Ratings: and selecting the minimum rating that you want to see, for example, 3 or more stars. You can also use the star rating widget on the top of the contact sheet for more granular filtering. With the star rating widget, the star next to the number in the widget indicates that photos with that rating will be visible. In the following example, only photos with zero or two stars will appear in the contact sheet:
To actually select images on the contact sheet Star Ratings (Command - Option - 3)(Mac OS), for example, will select all images currently displayed in the contact sheet with a Star Rating of 3.
To use the mouse to display certain Ratings just click on the Star/Number you wish to show. You can have any, all or some Ratings displayed, shown by dark or light Star/Numbers. You can drag the mouse over the Stars to include more ratings.
To set a default, set the Widget to display the Rating that you want, and right-click on the Widget and select Set as Default. Later you can reset the Widget to the new default by right-clicking and choosing Restore to Default.
The check box to the left of each Widget disables the effects of that Widget, showing all images in the contact sheet.