Complete Guide to Stills for Mac

Stills is a professional-grade still image management and editing software designed exclusively for macOS. With its minimalist and elegant interface, powerful non-destructive editing workflow, and excellent color management capabilities, it has become a capable tool for photographers and visual professionals handling high-quality still images. This article provides a detailed operation manual, from core interface analysis to the complete workflow.

1. Core Interface and Workspace Overview

Stills’ interface design follows macOS design philosophy—clear, focused, and efficient. It is mainly divided into the following core areas:

1. Top Toolbar: Located at the very top of the window, it contains the most commonly used global action buttons, such as “Import,” “Edit Mode Toggle,” “Export,” “Filter & Sort,” and “Show/Hide Sidebar.”
2. Left Sidebar (Inspector Panel):
   • Metadata Panel: Displays EXIF information (camera model, aperture, shutter speed, etc.), IPTC information (copyright, keywords), and rating tags for the selected image.
   • Adjustments Panel: In Edit mode, this area becomes the core adjustment zone, containing modules such as “Basic” (exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows), “Color” (white balance, saturation, tone curve), “Detail” (sharpening, noise reduction), and “Effects” (vignette, grain).
3. Central Workspace (Browser/Viewer Area):
   • By default, all images in the library are displayed in a grid view, with support for thumbnail size scaling.
   • Double-click a single image to enter “Single Image View” mode, where the image fills the main workspace for detailed inspection and editing.
   • In “Single Image View,” a filmstrip navigation bar appears at the bottom for quick switching between images.
4. Bottom Toolbar/Status Bar: Displays information such as the current view mode, filtering status, and number of selected images, and allows you to directly rate images (1-5 stars) and apply tags (color labels).

II. Complete Workflow: From Import to Export

1. Creating a Library and Importing Images

Location: Menu bar “File” > “New Library” or “Import,” or use the “Import” button in the top toolbar directly.

Steps:

1. Launch Stills; the software will automatically open the last used library or prompt you to create a new one.
2. Click the Import button in the top toolbar, and in the pop-up window, select the source location (e.g., local Mac folders, external storage devices).
3. In the preview window, check the images you want to import. On the right side, you can set import options: Copy to Library (recommended, for unified management) or Keep Files in Place (create references).
4. Click the “Import” button, and the images will be added to the main workspace of the current library.

Shortcuts: New library Cmd + Shift + N; Import Cmd + I.

2. Image Management, Culling & Rating

Location: Main workspace, bottom toolbar, and the “Cull” button in the top toolbar.

Steps:

1. Browse & Select: Use the trackpad or mouse wheel to scroll and browse. Single-click to select one image, hold Cmd and click to select multiple, or press Cmd + A to select all.
2. Rate & Flag: After selecting one or more images, press number keys 1-5 directly to apply star ratings, or press number keys 6-9 to add color labels.
3. Cull View: Click the “Cull” button in the top toolbar to quickly filter images by rating (e.g., 3 stars and above), labels, file type, and other criteria.

3. Entering Edit Mode & Non-Destructive Adjustments

Location: Double-click an image to enter “Single Image View,” or select an image and click the “Edit” button (pencil icon) in the top toolbar.

Core Adjustment Workflow:

1. In “Single Image View,” the left sidebar automatically switches to the Adjustment Panel.
2. Basic Corrections: In the “Basic” module, typically start by adjusting “Exposure” to balance the overall brightness of the image, then use the “Highlights” and “Shadows” sliders to recover detail in overly bright or dark areas.
3. Color Correction: In the “Color” module, use the “White Balance Picker” (eyedropper tool) to click on an area in the image that should be neutral gray, quickly correcting the color temperature. Then you can fine-tune “Tint” and “Saturation.”
4. Local Adjustments (Advanced): Use the “Adjustment Brush” or “Graduated Filter” tools (located in the toolbar at the top of the adjustment panel) to paint masks on the image for local exposure, color, and other adjustments.
5. All adjustments are non-destructive, and you can return to modify or reset them at any time. The edit history is recorded at the bottom of the adjustment panel; you can click to view or revert to any step.

Shortcuts: Enter/exit editing mode E; reset the current adjustment module double-click the slider; toggle before/after view (backslash).

4. Export the Final Product

Location: Menu bar “File” > “Export,” or right-click the image and select “Export,” or use the keyboard shortcut.

Steps:

1. Select one or more images to export (either after editing or directly from the library).
2. Press Cmd + Shift + E to bring up the export settings window.
3. Configure in the export window:
   • Export Location: Select the destination folder.
   • File Naming: You can customize the prefix, sequence number, etc.
   • File Format: Typically choose JPEG (for web sharing), TIFF (for printing), or PNG (for images with transparent backgrounds).
   • Image Size: You can adjust the output dimensions and resolution (DPI).
   • Color Space: Typically choose sRGB (universal for web) or Adobe RGB (for print use).
4. Click the “Export” button to complete the operation.

III. Advanced Tips for Common Features

1. Batch Apply Edits: After completing color adjustments on one image, under “Single Image View,” press Cmd + C to copy the adjustment settings. Return to the library, select other images that need the same style applied, press Cmd + Shift + V, and in the pop-up dialog, choose the specific adjustment parameters you want to paste (e.g., color only, exposure only, etc.).
2. Use Smart Previews for Offline Editing: Enable “Generate Smart Previews” in the import settings. Even if the hard drive containing the original RAW files is not nearby, you can still perform all non-destructive edits on the lower-resolution proxy files, and they will automatically sync to the original files once the hard drive is reconnected.
3. Precise Color Sampling: When using the “White Balance Selector,” hold and drag the mouse to draw a sampling area. The software will calculate the average value of that area, which is more stable and accurate than single-point sampling.
4. Quick shortcut comparison: While editing, hold down the Option key, and the “Reset” button in the adjustment panel will change to “Compare.” Click it to quickly compare the current adjustments with the original state.

IV. Common Issues and Solutions

V. Stills for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts Summary