To help you get the most out of your culling and editing experience, we’ve put together a few quick tips and solutions to common workflow questions.
1. System Requirements
To ensure optimal performance and a frictionless workflow, please verify that your computer is running one of our supported operating systems:
● Mac: macOS 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 26.
● Windows: Windows 10 and Windows 11.
2. Managing Your Image Files
● Drive Permissions: To work its magic, our app needs full permission to read and save to the folders where your original images live. This is especially important if you are working off your computer's main drive, an external hard drive, a USB drive, or a NAS setup.
● Keep Files in Place: While the app is open and working on your photos, please make sure your original image files stay put. Moving, renaming, or deleting files during this time can cause connection errors.
3. Training Your Personal AI Profile
● The 2,500 Image Rule: When uploading a Lightroom catalog to train your custom AI, you'll need a minimum of 2,500 pre-edited images. For the best results, make sure the editing style across these photos is highly consistent.
● Using Custom White Balance: If you used "Custom" white balance in Lightroom for your training images, please double-check that both the Temperature and Tint sliders were adjusted.
○ Why this matters: When you select "Custom," you are telling our AI to look for your specific color-grading instructions. If you change that setting but leave the sliders untouched, Lightroom Classic doesn't actually save the complete color data behind the scenes. The AI essentially receives a blank instruction manual for your colors, which often leads to unpredictable color casts (like green or magenta shifts) in your final edits. Even a tiny micro-adjustment to both sliders forces Lightroom Classic to save the data so the AI can learn your style perfectly! (Pro Tip: If you don't plan to adjust the white balance on a specific photo, simply leave the setting as "As Shot.")
● Checking Your Image Count: Before you hit training, keep an eye on the valid image count on the screen. It must show more than 2,500 images, or the training won't be able to start.
● Stalled Uploads: If your upload progress bar seems stuck or disappears, don't worry! Just head over to the Profiles tab to see the exact number of images that have successfully uploaded so far.
4. Importing Your Catalogs
● Folder Names: For now, please make sure the folders you are importing only use standard English characters. We are working to add support for other languages and characters very soon!
● Blank Images/Thumbnails: If your images look blank after importing, it usually means there is a format mismatch (like an unsupported DNG file from a third-party plugin). We'd love to fix this for you—please send those sample files to our support team at support@zno.com so we can take a closer look.
5. Culling Speeds
● First-Time Setup: The very first time you click Start Culling for each Project, the app might take a little extra time to read the background data of your photos. Don't worry—this is completely normal, and your re-culling for this Project will be noticeably faster!
6. Seeing Your Edits in Lightroom Classic
● Syncing Your Edits: Once you've exported your edits from our app, they won't automatically pop up in Lightroom Classic. You just need to tell Lightroom Classic to read the new changes:
○ If you haven't exported the photos to Lightroom Classic yet: Simply export them to Lightroom Classic as usual! Lightroom Classic will automatically grab our new edit files (XMP files) and show your beautifully edited photos.
○ If the photos are already in Lightroom Classic: Select the images in your Lightroom grid, go to the top menu, and click Metadata > Read Metadata from File. Your new edits will instantly appear.
7. Troubleshooting Edit Failures
If you try to apply your edits but the process fails, please check the following:
● Missing Original Images: Our software needs to reference your original files to edit them. If you moved your photos to a new folder after importing them, the app will lose the connection. Double-check that your images are still sitting in their exact original folder path.
● Missing Write Permissions: To save your new edits, the app needs permission to generate XMP files. If your hard drive or folder is locked or restricts "Write" access, the edits cannot be saved. Ensure your folder permissions are set to allow the app full read/write access.
● Non-English Characters in Folder Names: Currently, if your file path includes non-Latin characters, the underlying editing engine may fail to launch.
● Unexplained Edit Failure: If every single image fails to edit and the steps above don't solve the problem, we are here to help! Please reach out to our Customer Support so we can pull your app logs, find the exact cause, and get you back on track.
For more information, please email support@zno.com or call 1-888-966-9539.