One keystroke
Ctrl+R cycles the rating on the selected photo, so culling does not require a menu or a mouse trip.
Ratings that stay local
Five stars. One quick decision.
Rate a photo from one to five stars, use the keyboard when you are moving quickly, and filter the library down to the photographs that earned a rating.
- 1–5 stars
- Ctrl+R
- Local index
An illustrative rating card. The keyboard and the filter are the real surface.
A small decision, repeated
Rating should take a second, not a dialog.
Ratings are a culling tool, not a metadata project. Live Gallery keeps the action quick: press a key, see the stars, filter to the rated set and move on.
Import the old ratings
Where a file carries xmp:Rating, the value is read into the library instead of being thrown away.
A Rated filter
The Rated facet narrows the gallery to the photos you have marked, making a first pass through a large library practical.
Rate the frame
Select a photo and use Ctrl+R to move through the star values.
Keep the good ones
Use the Rated facet to see only the photos with a rating.
Return later
Ratings survive rescans and remain part of the local library.
The honest part
Ratings are local
- New ratings are stored in SQLite; they are not written back to xmp:Rating in the original.
- There is no “keeper” flag beyond the five-star rating.
- Ratings are not a substitute for a backup or a file-management policy.
Good questions
Star ratings, answered.
Does it import existing star ratings?
Yes. xmp:Rating is read where the file carries it, and user ratings survive later rescans.
Does it write ratings back to the file?
No. New ratings are stored in the local database, not written into the original file.
Can I filter to rated photos?
Yes. The Rated facet is part of the filter surface, alongside people, tags, folders and dates.
Keep exploring
Related features.
Tags
Tags that survive the app.
Read existing keywords, add your own tags, and filter with real counts.
Photo metadata
The story is already in the file.
Read keywords, ratings, dates, camera and GPS from the library you already have.
Browse the library
Browse by face, tag and location.
Dedicated people, tags and locations views, plus folder and date filters. Search and object recognition are coming.
See it on your own library
Bring the folder.
Keep the originals.
Download the free beta, point it at a folder and try this on your own photos. No account, no upload, no card.
Windows 11 · Free 5,000-photo beta · No account needed