How to compare similar photos side by side on Mac

Open the folder in Flipic Lens, find the first frame you want to compare and press C. That puts two photos side by side. Press ⇧C to compare four at once. Zooming and dragging move every pane together by default, so you are looking at the same spot in each frame.

Two or four?

Two works well when you are deciding between the last two frames of a burst: one may have the sharper eye, the other a stronger expression. Four is useful earlier, when you have a short run of similar shots and want to see the whole run before narrowing down.

A useful habit is to compare first, then rate. If you rate one frame before looking at its neighbour, you may keep the first one out of habit rather than because you compared it.

The compare view is for judging, not for editing. It does not merge files or create a new copy. You are still looking at the originals in the folder, and you can rate or delete from the same window.

How to check focus across frames

Press 0 to zoom to 100% at the pointer. Because the panes stay in sync, the same area stays in view when you move between them. If one pane needs a small adjustment without moving the others, hold ⌥ while you drag it. Press ⇧L to turn syncing off, and press it again to turn it back on.

Use ← → to move through the folder and load another pair or set. When you have a keeper, press 1 to 5 to rate it or P to mark it. Press ⌘⌫ to move a reject to the Trash.

A simple compare routine

1. Open the folder and find the first frame of a short run.
2. Press C for two or ⇧C for four, then press 0 to check the eyes.
3. Rate the keeper, page on with →, and repeat for the next run.

When side by side helps most

It helps with bursts where the difference is a blink, a slight turn of the head, or focus that lands on the ear instead of the eye. Looking at one photo at a time makes those differences hard to hold in memory; two panes at the same zoom make them easier to see.

It also helps with a sequence of group photos, where you want the frame where everyone looks awake and nobody is half-turned. Four panes are enough for most short sequences; longer runs are easier to handle by paging and rating first.

Side-by-side comparison is free, along with viewing, ratings, marks, filtering, export and Cleanup Mode. If you want the culling routine around it, see how to cull hundreds of event photos on a Mac. For the RAW workflow, see how to quickly view RAW files on a Mac, and for the wider field, see open-source image viewers for Mac.