FirstPass

Core Features

• Checksum-verified copying — every file confirmed against the card before it is released

• Transfer reports as CSV, PDF and ASC MHL manifests — the film industry’s standard proof that every frame arrived intact

• Ratings and colour flags written as XMP, so Lightroom, Bridge and Photo Mechanic read them

• Fast card ingest that copies straight off a mounted card, with PTP for any camera

• Download from several cards or cameras to multiple destinations at once

• Files sorted into folders by capture date, camera make and model

• Fast, uncluttered “first pass” culling — rate, colour-flag and delete

• Compare similar frames with synchronised zoom and pan

• 0–5 star ratings, nine colour flags and instant rating filters

• Bulk renaming with date and auto-sequence tokens

• Native Apple silicon, works entirely offline, one-time purchase

What FirstPass Does

FirstPass provides a practical, no-clutter workflow for importing and organising photos straight off your camera or card. It keeps the interface clean while surfacing the information that matters: exposure data, histograms, ratings, colour flags, and folder structure.

Copy it safely:

• Checksum verification compares a content hash of the source against every copy written, per file, before the card is released — Finder copies and assumes success

• Transfer reports as CSV manifests, PDF summaries and ASC MHL sidecars, for jobs that need a paper trail. ASC MHL is the Media Hash List format the American Society of Cinematographers publishes for exactly this: handing footage to someone else with a verifiable record that every file arrived intact. If a production asks for a manifest with the cards, this is what they mean

• Two destinations in the same pass, so a backup exists before the card leaves the reader

• Files that fail verification are re-copied automatically, and anything still failing is reported rather than counted as a success

• Fast ingest reads a mounted card directly; cameras that speak PTP use the standard path automatically

Organise it as it lands:

• Folders built from each file’s own capture date, camera make and model

• Bulk renaming with date, sequence, camera and original-name tokens

• Automatic download from several cards or cameras at once

Cut it down to the keepers:

• 0–5 star ratings and nine colour flags, with instant rating filters

• Compare similar frames side-by-side with synchronised zoom and pan

• Histogram and image information inspector

• Browse a folder and its sub-folders together

• Keyboard and click multi-selection for fast culling

• Sort by capture date, name or rating

• Finder integration, drag-and-drop, and open-with an external editor

• Trackpad gesture navigation

For production and DIT work

If you are handing footage or stills on to someone else, the question is not whether the copy finished — it is whether you can prove it. FirstPass verifies every file against the card before the card is released, and writes the record to go with it.

• ASC MHL sidecars — the Media Hash List format published by the American Society of Cinematographers, and what a production means when it asks for a manifest with the cards

• CSV manifests with one row per copy: source, destination, size and verification result

• PDF reports of the same, for the paperwork that travels with a delivery

• Two destinations written in the same pass, so a backup exists before the card leaves the reader

• Failures re-copied automatically, and anything still failing reported rather than counted as a success

Release history

• 1.7.1 (2026) — verified copying with size or full-checksum comparison, CSV, PDF and ASC MHL transfer reports, Fast card ingest, and files sorted by their own capture date, camera make and model

• 1.7 (2026) — compare similar frames with synchronised zoom and pan, uniform landscape gallery grid, faster RAW loading through embedded previews

• 1.6.1 (2024) — image zoom and scrolling, gallery stability

• 1.6 (2024) — rebuilt on SwiftUI and Swift, native on Apple silicon

• 1.5.8 (2021) — the last release of the original version

Requirements & Availability

• Current release: version 1.7.1 on the Mac App Store

• Latest update: checksum-verified copying, transfer reports and Fast card ingest

• Requires macOS 14.6 or later

• Universal on Apple silicon and Intel Macs

• One-time purchase — no subscription

• Works entirely offline; your images are never uploaded and are never used to train anything