Will writing XMP sidecars overwrite my Lightroom edits?

Not if the tool merges instead of replacing, and not if your current edits were saved to the files first. Replacing an existing sidecar with a new one erases the develop settings stored in it, and reading metadata from files in Lightroom Classic replaces the catalog’s settings with what the files contain.

Why are there no sidecars for my JPEG or DNG files?

Lightroom Classic reads metadata for JPEG and DNG files from inside the file and ignores sidecars for them. Rate those photos in the catalog instead, for example by filtering on a list of file names.

Does PhotoMentor Bulk Culler change my photo files?

No. It never modifies, renames or deletes photos; it only creates or updates .xmp sidecars when you ask it to. In Chrome and Edge it can write into the shoot folder; other browsers download a ZIP.

Does this work with Capture One?

Yes. Choose the Capture One preset when exporting. Capture One reads the sidecars when it imports the folder; for images already in a catalog, use Image → Load Metadata.

How to Send AI Culling Ratings to Lightroom Classic with XMP Sidecars, Without Overwriting Edits

Know what a sidecar holds

For most camera RAW formats, Lightroom Classic and Capture One read metadata from an .xmp file with the same base name next to the RAW file, for example IMG_0412.CR3 and IMG_0412.xmp. The sidecar can hold star ratings, colour labels and keywords. When Lightroom Classic saves metadata to files, the same sidecar also holds its develop settings.

JPEG and DNG files work differently: they carry their metadata inside the file, so Lightroom Classic ignores an .xmp next to them. Plan another route for those, such as filtering the catalog by file name and rating them there.

Lightroom Classic keeps its working copy of your edits in the catalog. A sidecar only reflects those edits if they were saved to the files, either automatically (Catalog Settings → Metadata → Automatically write changes into XMP) or by hand.

Save your current edits to the files first

If the photos are already in a catalog, select them and choose Metadata → Save Metadata to Files before any other tool writes sidecars. Each existing sidecar then holds your latest settings, so reading it back later cannot restore an older state.

Make sure a backup of the shoot folder exists, and try the whole process on a copy of a few files the first time.

Merge decisions into sidecars; never replace them

The safe operation is a merge: read the existing sidecar, change only the rating, label and keyword fields, and leave every other property—including develop settings—untouched. Replacing an existing sidecar with a freshly generated one erases what it contained.

If a tool can only give you a ZIP of new sidecars, do not let your file manager replace existing ones. Copy only the sidecars for files that have none, or use a tool that reads the folder and merges.

Decide whether culling decisions may overwrite stars and labels you already set in the editor. A sensible default is no: keep your manual ratings and fill in only what is missing.

Map decisions to fields your editor understands

Write the mapping down before exporting—for example, finalists five stars and a green label, keepers three stars, review two stars and a yellow label, rejects one star and a red label—and use the same mapping on every shoot so filters and smart collections keep working.

Colour labels are matched by their text, not by the colour. If your Lightroom Classic label set is renamed or in another language, the label names in the sidecars must match it exactly (Metadata → Color Label Set → Edit shows them). Keywords give you one more field to filter on in either editor.

Load the decisions in the editor and spot-check

Lightroom Classic reads sidecars when you import a folder. For photos already in the catalog, select them and choose Metadata → Read Metadata from Files; this replaces the catalog’s metadata with what is in the files, which is why the save step above matters.

Capture One reads sidecars when it imports the folder; for images already in a catalog, select them and choose Image → Load Metadata.

Before trusting the whole shoot, check a handful of photos: one with edits, one without, and one rejected frame.

How PhotoMentor Bulk Culler does it

After the AI sort and your review, Bulk Culler exports statuses, stars, colour labels and keywords as XMP sidecars, with presets for Lightroom Classic and Capture One and a table showing how each decision will be written. In Chrome or Edge on a computer it writes them straight into the shoot folder and merges them with existing sidecars: develop settings are never touched, and stars and labels you set in the editor are kept unless you choose to overwrite them. Other browsers download a ZIP; if you let it read the shoot folder first, the ZIP merges existing sidecars too.

Your photo files are never modified. For JPEG, HEIC, PNG, TIFF and DNG files, where Lightroom reads the rating from the file itself, Bulk Culler gives you a list of file names to paste into the Library filter instead. CSV and HTML reports are available as well.

Bulk Culler runs in the browser and needs an internet connection. RAW files are read on your computer, and only reduced previews are uploaded for analysis.

Try the free Bulk Culler workflow