imagic: Complete User Guide for 2026
This guide covers everything you need to get up and running with imagic — from installation to a complete professional culling and export workflow. Whether you're a photographer looking to replace Lightroom or a developer building custom pipelines, this guide covers the full picture.
What Is imagic?
imagic is a free, open-source AI photo culling and editing tool. It supports 9+ RAW formats (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2, DNG, PEF), runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and uses AI to score photos on sharpness, exposure, noise, composition, and detail. An optional $10 one-time desktop app is available for users who prefer a native GUI over the Python-based interface.
Installation
imagic is distributed via Python's pip package manager. Installation requires Python 3.8 or later.
Step 1: Install Python from python.org if not already installed. Verify: python --version
Step 2: Install imagic: pip install imagic
Step 3: Launch: python -m imagic
For a cleaner installation, use a virtual environment:
- python -m venv imagic-env
- source imagic-env/bin/activate (Linux/Mac) or imagic-env\Scriptsctivate (Windows)
- pip install imagic
Step 1: Import
Launch imagic and click Import (or use File > Import). Navigate to your folder of RAW files. imagic detects all supported RAW formats automatically — no configuration needed for different camera brands. For mixed-format shoots (multiple camera bodies), import all files together into a single session.
imagic does not move or copy your files. It reads them in place, keeping your existing folder structure intact.
Step 2: Analyse
After import, click Analyse to run the AI scoring engine. imagic evaluates every file in the session and assigns scores (0.0 to 1.0) for:
- Sharpness: How well-defined are the edges and fine details?
- Exposure: How well-distributed is the tonal range? Is there clipping?
- Noise: How much random pixel noise is present?
- Composition: How well is the subject positioned within the frame?
- Detail: What is the overall recoverable detail level?
Analysis time depends on the number of files and your hardware. A 500-frame shoot on a modern laptop typically takes 3-8 minutes.
Step 3: Review
The Review stage presents your photos with their AI scores displayed. Use the filter panel to:
- Set minimum sharpness threshold (e.g., 0.6) to hide frames below that level
- Filter by exposure score range
- Enable duplicate/burst grouping to see related frames together
- Sort by any score dimension
Review the filtered set, zooming in where the sharpness score is borderline to make a human judgment call.
Step 4: Cull
Mark each frame as:
- Keeper (green/star): Final delivery candidate
- Reject (red/X): Technical failure or clear duplicate to discard
- Unrated: Reviewed but not yet decided
Use keyboard shortcuts for speed: arrow keys to navigate, P to pick, X to reject, U to unflag. imagic's keyboard shortcuts are configurable to match your muscle memory from other tools.
Step 5: Export
Select all keepers and click Export. Options:
- Export to folder: Copies keepers to a specified output folder (original files untouched)
- Export to RawTherapee: Opens keepers in RawTherapee (or passes to rawtherapee-cli for batch processing) with an optional processing profile
- Export with XMP: Writes your ratings and selections back to XMP sidecar files alongside the original RAW files
RawTherapee Integration Setup
Go to Settings > Integrations > RawTherapee. Specify the path to your RawTherapee or rawtherapee-cli installation. Optionally specify a default PP3 processing profile. Once configured, the Export to RawTherapee button passes your selected files and profile to RawTherapee for processing.
Getting Help
imagic is MIT-licensed open source. Full documentation is available on the imagic GitHub page. Bug reports and feature requests can be filed as GitHub issues. Community support is available on the imagic discussion forum. For developers, the Python API is documented in the package's README and can be accessed via help(imagic) in a Python shell.