Your Narrative questions, answered

Narrative is desktop software that helps professional photographers cull and edit shoots faster. It groups similar photos into Scenes and flags issues like closed eyes and missed focus, and you make the final decisions. Your selects go to Lightroom, with an AI Preset applied if you choose. It runs on Mac and Windows. See how AI-assisted culling and 1-click AI editing work.

Narrative is for professional photographers who shoot high-volume sessions: weddings, portraits, families and events. It speeds up post-production while leaving the creative decisions, and the storytelling, with you.

They're the same app. Narrative Select was the original name, which set the culling app apart from our earlier product, Narrative Publish. Today the app is simply called Narrative, and it covers culling and editing. You'll still see "Narrative Select" in some page titles and links.

No. Narrative is a standalone app, so you can cull and rate without Lightroom. You need Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC to apply AI Preset edits, and Lightroom Classic to train a Personal AI Preset.

You can also send your selects to Capture One or Photoshop on Mac, or move and copy them to any folder. Narrative doesn't export finished JPEGs; that happens in your editing software.

Narrative saves your star ratings, color labels, tags and rejects with your photos. For RAW, DNG and HEIC files they go in a small XMP sidecar file beside each photo, and for JPEGs they're saved inside the file. Any editor that reads XMP can see them, and Capture One reads stars and color labels. You can also move or copy your selects to a new folder from Narrative, and the XMP files go with them. Keep each XMP file in the same folder as its photo, or your ratings won't come along.

Publish is a separate Mac app for building blog posts. It has its own plans and billing, and isn't included in Narrative plans.

Narrative is made in Aotearoa New Zealand. It launched in 2018, and more than 150,000 photographers in more than 180 countries are part of the Narrative community.

Narrative checks faces and focus, groups similar photos into Scenes and ranks photos within each Scene. Filters and side-by-side comparison help you review, and you choose what to keep at every stage. Scenes, Scene rank and AI First Pass are on Standard, Premium and Ultra. See how AI-assisted culling works.

Each one suits a different stage of culling. Grid View (G) shows lots of thumbnails at once. Scenes View (S) groups similar photos so you can pick the best of each moment. Loupe View (E) shows one photo large with a filmstrip. Survey Mode (N) compares up to 12 photos side by side, or the faces in up to 6. The Close-Ups Panel shows faces and details beside the full photo, and Fullscreen (F) removes distractions. A simple way to start: open Scenes View, check the top-ranked photo in each Scene, use the Close-Ups Panel for faces, and switch to Survey Mode when a few frames are close. Scenes View and face compare are on Standard and above.

No. Narrative does the heavy lifting and you decide what to keep. Auto-rate is optional and runs only when you start it, using the ratings you choose for each AI First Pass category. It never deletes photos.

No. The Ruthless, Balanced and Cautious settings change how strict AI First Pass is, not how many photos it keeps. Use the assessments to find your strongest options, rate the ones you want, then check your count before delivery.

Yes. Each face gets an eye and expression indicator, for example for closed eyes or looking away, and a focus indicator with a score out of 10. Green means no issue found, yellow means worth checking, and orange or red means a possible issue. They're warnings, not verdicts. Background faces aren't assessed.

Yes, with limits. On a Mac running macOS 14 or later, photos without faces are ranked by sharpness within their Scene. They don't get a focus score, because that score is based on faces. Sharpness ranking isn't available on Windows. Motion blur and closed eyes can be intentional, so assessments are a guide, not a verdict.

Narrative doesn't publish an accuracy percentage, because it doesn't cull for you. It checks focus and closed eyes, finds the stronger frames in each Scene, and the Potential Picks filter narrows a shoot so you review roughly half the images. You make the final selection.

No. Assessments, AI First Pass categories and Auto-rate never delete photos, and a low assessment doesn't reject a photo.

Yes. Narrative can import from a memory card and copy your photos to your working folder and up to four backup folders at the same time. Photos are copied to folders you choose on your own drives, not uploaded.

Select your photos, click Ship + Edit, choose Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC and pick an AI Preset. Your photos open in Lightroom already edited, and you finish and export them there. See how 1-click AI editing works.

Core AI Presets are Narrative's ready-made looks, included on Standard and above. Artist AI Presets are looks by professional photographers, bought one at a time from the AI Preset Marketplace. Personal AI Presets are trained on your own edits, on Premium and Ultra.

Yes, with a Personal AI Preset on Premium or Ultra. Train it on at least 1,500 photos you've edited and exported from Lightroom Classic, ideally in a consistent style. It keeps learning from the corrections you export from Lightroom Classic, and retrains after every 1,000 corrections on Premium or every 250 on Ultra.

Premium includes 1 Color and 1 Black & White Personal AI Preset. Ultra includes 5 of each.

It depends on how many photos you train with. Keep Narrative open while it analyzes and uploads your photos. Once the status changes to Training, you can close it: training finishes in the cloud, and you'll get an email when your preset is ready.

Each Artist AI Preset is a one-time purchase, priced from $40 to $90, and 100% of every sale goes to the artist. Lovers Grain, created by Eilish Burt for Unscripted + Narrative, is included on Standard and above. See every preset and price in the AI Preset Marketplace.

Ultra includes early access to new features. Pre-Edit, which lets you preview and apply AI Presets while you cull, is in beta now. Contact our support team to try it.

Yes. Narrative runs on Mac and Windows, and one plan covers both. A few features differ: on Windows, sharpness ranking for photos without faces isn't available, and you drag photos into Photoshop or Capture One instead of shipping them. Narrative isn't available on iPad.

Mac: macOS 12 or later, an Apple silicon chip (M1 or later) or a dual-core Intel i5 processor, and 8 GB RAM. Windows: Windows 11, a quad-core 2 GHz processor, 8 GB RAM, and a graphics card with 2 GB of video memory and DirectX 12. Both need several gigabytes free on your internal drive and your photo drive, and an internet connection to install. See full system requirements.

RAW files from Canon (CR2, CR3, CRW), Nikon (NEF, NRW), Fujifilm (RAF), Sony (ARW), Panasonic (RW2), Olympus (ORF) and Pentax (PEF), plus DNG, JPEG, HEIC and HEIF. Lightroom Smart Previews alone aren't enough: Narrative needs the full image files.

Yes. Ship + Edit sends your photos to Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, Capture One or Photoshop (Camera Raw). Lightroom reads stars, color labels, tags and rejects. Capture One reads stars and color labels. AI Presets apply only in Lightroom.

Yes. Narrative culls and assesses photos on your computer, so it works without internet once it's set up.

Before you go offline, sign in, let Narrative download everything it needs to run offline, and download any AI Presets you want to use. You can then work offline for up to 30 days from your last sign-in. Training a Personal AI Preset needs a connection.

No. You can install Narrative on any number of computers, but projects don't sync. Ratings, labels, tags and crops travel with your photos in XMP sidecar files, and your AI Presets follow your account.

No. Culling and assessments run on your computer, and your photos stay in the folders they're already in. Photos are uploaded only if you turn on "Help improve Narrative", which is off by default, or train a Personal AI Preset.

Only if you choose to. "Help improve Narrative" is off by default. If you turn it on, image previews are uploaded to help improve Narrative, and they're never shared with other users. You can change this in Preferences → General.

Training a Personal AI Preset also uploads your edited images and edit data. That data may help improve how Narrative trains AI Presets in general, but never in a way that lets other users copy your style.

No. Your training images, edit data and Personal AI Presets are private to your account. Other users can't see, use or copy them, and Narrative won't sell or share them without your permission.

Read it at narrative.so/privacy-policy.

On the pricing page. It compares Lite, Standard, Premium and Ultra, shows monthly and yearly prices, and explains the free trial.

Yearly billing costs less per month: you pay for 12 months upfront and save $60 on Lite, $108 on Standard and $228 on Premium or Ultra, compared with paying monthly. Monthly costs more but renews one month at a time. Both renew automatically on your billing anniversary, and both have the same 14-day refund window. Compare plans and prices.

If you're new to Narrative, you get 30 days to try it free, with no payment card needed. The trial is of Ultra, our highest plan, so you can try every feature. You can check your trial's end date in your Narrative account.

Narrative shows a plan screen, and only the account and help menus work until you choose a plan. Your original photos stay on your computer or drive. The trial is tied to your account and your computer, so there's one trial per person.

By credit or debit card, in US dollars, billed monthly or yearly on the same date each period.

You can install Narrative on as many computers as you like. The number signed in at the same time depends on your plan: 1 on Lite and Standard, 2 on Premium, and 4 on Ultra.

Yes, with people who work with you, on Premium and Ultra. Your staff, second shooters and contractors can each use their own computer, up to your plan's device limit: 2 on Premium, 4 on Ultra. Everyone signs in with the account owner's email address.

Studio plans aren't sold online. If your studio needs more than Premium or Ultra allows, book a demo on our Studios page.

Yes, at any time from your Narrative account. Unused time on your current plan is credited toward the new one. If you move to Lite or Standard, your Personal AI Presets are locked straight away but not deleted.

Yes. Sign in to your Narrative account, open Subscriptions and choose Cancel Plan. Your plan won't renew, and you can keep using Narrative until the end of the period you've paid for. Narrative and Publish are cancelled separately.

Nothing happens to them. Your photos stay where they are on your computer or drive, with ratings saved in XMP sidecar files beside them. After your paid period ends you need a plan to keep using Narrative, and you can choose one in your Narrative account at any time. Cancelling doesn't delete your Narrative account either. Deleting your account is a separate request to our support team.

Yes, if you ask within 14 days of your purchase or renewal date. Cancelling doesn't request a refund by itself, so contact our support team and say which payment it's for. After 14 days you can still cancel, and you keep access until the end of the period you've paid for.

No, but you can cancel and choose a plan again later. Your photos stay on your computer or drive in the meantime.

They're built for different photographers. Narrative is for professionals who shoot high-volume weddings, portraits, families and events, especially those who care about the craft and human storytelling: Narrative does the heavy lifting, and you make the creative decisions. Aftershoot positions itself as an all-in-one platform for AI culling, editing, retouching and delivery. Imagen is mainly an AI editing tool, with culling as a paid add-on. Both can cull automatically to a set number of photos; Narrative doesn't, so you choose what to keep. Compare them side by side: Aftershoot vs Narrative and Imagen vs Narrative.

Check your computer meets the requirements, start your free trial, then download Narrative and sign in. Create a project from a folder or a memory card, let Narrative process Scenes and assessments, then review and rate. Click Ship + Edit to send your selects to your editing software.

In the app, choose Help → Contact Support, or use the chat bubble on any help centre page. An AI agent answers first, 24/7, and you can ask for a person at any time. The team aims to reply within 24 hours. More ways to contact support.