Manual · Chapter 1
Getting Started
ViolaScope is a native macOS application for reviewing, rating and organizing photo collections. This chapter introduces the basic workflow and the main areas of the application.
What ViolaScope is designed for
ViolaScope is designed for photographers who want to review larger photo collections efficiently before continuing with editing, archiving or another stage of their workflow.
You can use ViolaScope to inspect photos, assign star ratings, mark favorites, apply color labels, make culling decisions, add tags, inspect metadata and work with geographic information.
Additional viewing modes such as the grid, full-screen view and comparison view help you evaluate individual photos or groups of similar images.
A local photo workflow
ViolaScope follows a local workflow on your Mac.
Your photo review does not depend on a ViolaScope cloud service or a ViolaScope user account.
Projects, managed photo resources and project information remain part of your local working environment.
This makes ViolaScope suitable for workflows in which the photographer wants to retain direct control over project files and backups.
A typical workflow
A typical ViolaScope workflow consists of several stages.
- Create or open a project.
- Load photos into the project.
- Review the photos in the main workspace.
- Assign ratings, favorites, color labels or culling states.
- Use tags and filters to organize the visible photo set.
- Compare photos or inspect them in grid or full-screen view.
- Review metadata and, when required, GPS or GPX information.
- Optionally use Vision Culling as an additional review aid.
- Export the selected or reviewed result.
- Keep the project folder and its image resources backed up.
You do not need to use every feature. ViolaScope is designed so that the individual tools can be combined according to your own workflow.
The three main areas
The main ViolaScope window is divided into three functional areas.
Left side: active project and filters
The left side shows the active project and the available filters.
Filters allow you to limit the visible photo set by criteria such as ratings, color labels, culling states or tags.
Filtering changes what is displayed in the workspace. It does not remove the underlying project information.
Center: workspace
The center area is the main workspace for reviewing your photos.
Depending on the selected viewing mode, it can show a single photo, a grid, a full-screen view, two photos in comparison or the map view.
The filmstrip provides direct access to the photos in the current working set.
Right side: metadata
The right side displays metadata and other information for the currently selected photo.
This can include general file information, media and capture data, GPS information, IPTC and XMP metadata, and information used to identify the photo within the project.
Reviewing does not mean deleting
Ratings and organizational decisions in ViolaScope are separate from destructive file operations.
Assigning a low rating or marking a photo as Reject does not by itself delete the photo.
These states are used to record your decisions and can later be used for filtering and export.
Ratings and organization
Several independent tools are available during review.
- star ratings from 1 to 5
- favorite marking
- color labels
- culling states
- tags
These tools can be used independently. A photo can, for example, have a star rating, a color label and a culling state at the same time.
Original photos and project data
ViolaScope distinguishes between the original source from which photos are loaded and the photo resources managed as part of the project workflow.
Ratings, favorites, color labels, culling decisions, tags and other project information are maintained as part of the ViolaScope project state.
The project folder therefore becomes an important part of your working data and should be included in your backup strategy.
The detailed relationship between source folders, managed project resources, catalog data and backups is explained later in this manual.
Privacy and network use
ViolaScope is designed around local photo management.
Your photo collection does not need to be uploaded to a ViolaScope cloud service for reviewing, rating or organizing photos.
This allows the main photo workflow to remain under your local control.
Next step
The next chapter explains how to create a ViolaScope project and load photos into it.