Community profile available
Lightroom setup ↗Lightroom Classic
Import the Lightroom Classic Culling profile for pick/reject-and-advance, star ratings, zoom and navigation. Adapt the buttons to your own review rhythm.
ControllerKeys / For photographersFind your keepers.
Find your keepers.
With a controller.
Pick, rate and browse photos on your Mac. Put your editor’s shortcuts on the controller you already own.
14-day trial$19.99 one-time purchasemacOS 14.6+
Under your thumbsLightroom layout
Button map from Lightroom Classic Culling
- Your familiar shortcutsFlag, rate, zoom and advance.
- A profile for each appKeep different workflows separate.
- Your controller, on MacCheck your model in the controller guides.
Choose your editing roomSame photographs.
Same photographs.
A different way to work.
ControllerKeys turns controller buttons into keyboard shortcuts on your Mac. Put the decisions you repeat most—pick, rate, inspect, next—under your thumbs.
Downloadable starter profile
Photo Mechanic setup ↗Photo Mechanic
Import eight bindings for Preview: navigate, toggle tags, zoom and set star ratings. Follow the guide to check the shortcuts against your own setup.
Start with one folderYour next session,
Your next session,
in four steps.
Use a few sample images for the first pass. Once the buttons feel familiar, move to your own selection workflow.
- Connect a supported controller.
Pair it with your Mac using the appropriate controller guide. Compatibility depends on the model and connection mode.
- Open ControllerKeys.
Complete onboarding and grant Accessibility access so button presses can send keyboard shortcuts.
- Download your editor’s profile.
Choose a guide above, download its profile, then use + → Import Profile… in ControllerKeys. Link the profile to your installed photo app.
- Make a short first pass.
Bring your editor forward. Check navigation, flagging or tagging, ratings and zoom on sample images. Change any button that does not suit your workflow.
Perfect forThe decisions
The decisions
between the edits.
Wedding and event selections. Portrait-session picks. Travel-photo ratings. ControllerKeys is useful when the same small set of shortcuts makes up much of your review pass.
- Put frequent actions first. Keep the most-used commands on the face buttons.
- Keep navigation close. Step backward to compare a frame without changing your grip.
- Inspect before selecting. Map your editor’s zoom or loupe command.
- Adapt each app separately. A tag in Photo Mechanic and a pick flag in Lightroom can have their own mappings.
Before you connect.
Which photo apps are covered here?
The Lightroom Classic guide includes the existing community profile. The Photo Mechanic guide includes a downloadable starter based on its documented Preview shortcuts. Both guides include an import walkthrough and button map; check the commands in your editor during the trial.
Which controllers can I use?
ControllerKeys supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers and many other models. Check the model-specific guides, particularly for connection modes and smaller controllers with fewer buttons. Use the trial to check your own setup.
Will ControllerKeys choose the photos for me?
You make the selections. ControllerKeys sends the keyboard shortcuts you assign; your photo app performs the flagging, tagging, rating or navigation action.
Does the price include Lightroom or Photo Mechanic?
The $19.99 purchase is for ControllerKeys. Your photo editor and controller are separate. ControllerKeys has a 14-day free trial.
Try your next cull
with a controller.
Use the 14-day trial to try your controller and editing workflow. Keep ControllerKeys for a one-time $19.99 purchase.