Compare

Press ⌘3 to compare up to six photographs side by side with linked zoom and panning.

With several photographs selected, Compare uses that selection. With one set member selected, it uses the set, limited to six: the cover, earliest members and always the starting photograph. Outside a set, it groups nearby capture times on both sides of the starting photograph.

One to three panes form a row. Four use a 2 × 2 layout; five and six use 3 × 2. Panes have equal dimensions. Filenames, verdicts and ratings appear in captions below the images. The primary caption is brighter.

Selection. Arrow keys change the active pane. Hold ⇧ with an arrow to extend the pane selection. Ratings and verdicts apply to selected panes and stay updated from the catalogue. If only one pane exists, arrows move through photographs instead. This can occur without nearby capture times, without a capture date or after restoring the view on launch.

Zoom and downloads. Compare starts with local proxies. Each pane’s caption reads PREVIEW while it rests on one. Rest on a comparison for about a second and every pane fetches its original; so does zooming above fit, clicking Load originals beside the status bar’s readout, or clicking Load original in the rendition panel. Arrowing through comparisons without pausing fetches nothing. Each pane shows progress, and the status bar counts completed downloads. Images sharpen at reduced and then full resolution without changing their framing, each step dissolving in.

Pinch to zoom all panes around the detail under your fingers. A two-finger double-tap acts as a double-click. At fit, proxies can look soft on a large display; the status bar identifies the rendition.

Panning. Drag a pane or use a two-finger drag to move all panes together. At fit, panning has no effect. Turn synchronisation off to align one pane, then on again to preserve that offset. Movement is limited by the space available in every linked pane, preserving alignment.

Focus. Press K to highlight sharp edges in every pane. Originals are fetched first if needed. Each pane’s progress ring turns green while its focus marks are calculated.

See Sets, Focus peaking.