Selekt vs Lightroom for culling
Lightroom is a powerful RAW editor, but it was never designed for fast culling. Importing 2,000 photos into a Lightroom catalog just to pick your selects adds hours to every shoot. Selekt handles the culling stage so Lightroom can do what it does best: editing.
Why cull before you edit
60-80%
of photos from a typical shoot are rejected. Culling first means Lightroom only imports your selects.
3-5x faster
Keyboard-driven culling in a dedicated app vs scrolling through Lightroom's grid view and waiting for previews to render.
Zero catalog bloat
Selekt uses a lightweight SQLite index. No preview cache, no catalog file, no Smart Previews eating disk space.
The short version
Use Selekt + Lightroom together:
- Cull in Selekt with keyboard shortcuts (P/M/X/U)
- AI auto-tag to find your best shots faster
- Export picks to Lightroom with XMP ratings and labels
- Edit only the images that matter
Use Lightroom alone if you:
- Shoot fewer than 200 photos per session
- Need cloud sync across Mac, iPad, and phone
- Want one app for everything (import to export)
Feature comparison
| Feature | Selekt | Lightroom |
|---|---|---|
| Photo culling workflow | ||
| Keyboard-driven culling (P/M/X/U) | ||
| Fast RAW previews (400+ cameras) | ||
| AI auto-tagging | ||
| AI face detection | ||
| AI smart crop for social | ||
| Social export presets (IG, TikTok, etc.) | ||
| Virtualized grid (50K+ images at 60fps) | ||
| Free tier with no image limits | ||
| Local-first (works fully offline) | ||
| Apple Silicon native | ||
| Lightweight (no catalog bloat) | ||
| RAW development / editing | ||
| Presets and filters | ||
| Cloud sync across devices | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| Windows support |
= Partial or coming soon
Pricing
Selekt
Free / $8/mo for AI features
Full culling, tagging, and export on the free plan. Works alongside Lightroom, not instead of it.
Adobe Lightroom Classic
$9.99/mo Photography Plan (20GB)
Includes Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop. Annual commitment required.
The ideal workflow
01
Shoot
Camera → Card
02
Cull in Selekt
Import → P/M/X → Tag → Export picks
03
Edit in Lightroom
Only selects → Develop → Export
04
Deliver
Gallery → Social → Client
Cull first, edit later
Selekt is free and works alongside Lightroom. Import your library and start culling in under a minute.
Download Selekt