Batch edit photos on a Mac: edit multiple at once

To batch edit photos on a Mac, edit one photo in the Photos app, copy its edits and paste them onto the rest. That is the built-in way to edit multiple photos at once. A folder that only needs resizing is a job for Preview. When a whole shoot needs one colour look with a lighter touch on some frames, a batch LUT tool does what Photos cannot.

You come back from a trip with four hundred photos on your iPhone or camera. They all need the same thing: the warmer, punchier look you had in mind when you shot them. Editing them one by one is an evening gone, and by photo two hundred the edits start drifting.

A Mac can batch most of this without new software. Which tool to use depends on whether you are changing the files (size, format) or the look (colour, tone).

Which way to batch edit photos do you need?

How do you edit multiple photos at once in the Photos app?

Since macOS Ventura, Photos can copy one photo's edits onto as many others as you like.

1. Open a photo in Edit and adjust it until it looks right.
2. Click Done, then choose Image > Copy Edits (Shift-Command-C).
3. Select the other photos: Command-click each one, or Shift-click a range.
4. Choose Image > Paste Edits (Shift-Command-V).

To undo it on any photo, select it and choose Image > Revert to Original.

This works well for photos shot in the same light. Its limits show up fast on a real shoot:

• It pastes the same values everywhere. A frame shot into the sun gets the same push as one in shade, and there is no "same look, less of it" setting.
• No LUTs. Photos has its own filters, but it cannot load a .cube look you bought or made.
• The edits live in the library. To use the photos elsewhere you still export them, and video clips from the same day need separate treatment.

How do you resize or convert many photos at once?

When the job is housekeeping rather than a look, two built-in tools handle it.

Preview: select all the images in Finder, open them in Preview, select every thumbnail in the sidebar, then use Tools > Adjust Size. The new size applies to every selected image. File > Export Selected Images saves them in another format.

Finder: select the images, right-click them and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. Pick a format and size, and Finder writes converted copies next to the originals.

Neither changes colour or tone in any useful way. Bulk photo editor compares the tools that go further on housekeeping, such as watermarks and renaming.

How do you give a whole shoot one look on a Mac?

This is the part built-in tools cannot do: one consistent colour treatment across hundreds of photos, often with video clips from the same day, where a few frames need a gentler hand than the rest.

The standard way to carry a look between files and apps is a LUT, a .cube file that maps every colour to a new one. LUT vs preset explains the difference from a Lightroom preset. Colour grading photos covers how to build the look itself. Lightroom can sync settings across a shoot, but it stops at LUTs and wants everything imported into a catalogue first.

BatchTone is a Mac app made for this job:

1. Drop in the folder: JPEG, PNG, HEIC or TIFF photos, and MP4 or MOV clips in the same batch. iPhone HEIC photos go straight in.
2. Pick a look. Import a .cube pack once and every LUT is previewed on your own first frame.
3. Hold a key to see the original, and set a lower strength on any photo that needs less of the look.
4. Export JPEG or PNG for photos and H.264 MP4 for clips, to a folder you choose.

Originals are never modified. A JPEG's capture date, camera and GPS are carried across, and orientation is handled so nothing comes out rotated twice. Everything runs on your Mac: no upload, no account. It applies looks to developed photos and does not process RAW files, so develop those in your usual tool first.

Which way should you batch edit?

• A few dozen photos in your library, same light: Copy Edits and Paste Edits in Photos.
• A folder that needs to be smaller or a different format: Preview or Finder.
• A whole shoot that needs one look, photos and video together, with control per file: BatchTone.

How do you try a batch LUT tool on your own photos?

BatchTone is a free download on the Mac App Store. The seven-day trial has everything unlocked, including video and unlimited batches, with no watermark. After that it is one in-app purchase, no subscription, on every Mac signed in to your Apple ID. It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon. Batch apply a LUT to photos has the full list of formats.

Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store

Common questions

Can you batch edit photos in the Mac Photos app?

Yes, on macOS Ventura or later. Edit one photo, use Image > Copy Edits, select the others and use Image > Paste Edits. Every selected photo gets the same adjustments.

Can you edit multiple photos at once on an iPhone?

Yes, since iOS 16. In Photos, open an edited photo, tap the More button and choose Copy Edits, then select the other photos, tap More and choose Paste Edits. The same limits apply as on the Mac: the same values on every photo, and no LUTs.

How do I batch edit iPhone photos on a Mac?

If they sync through iCloud Photos, use Copy Edits and Paste Edits in Photos. If you want a LUT look, export or AirDrop the HEIC files to a folder and batch them in a tool that reads HEIC, such as BatchTone. Apple Log to Rec.709 covers Apple Log video from the same phone.

Does batch editing change my original photos?

In Photos, edits are non-destructive and you can revert any photo. Preview's Adjust Size changes the files it saves, so work on copies. BatchTone writes new files and never touches the originals.

Can I apply a Lightroom preset to many photos on a Mac?

In Lightroom, yes: apply it to one photo and sync the rest. Outside Lightroom, convert the preset into a LUT first, as covered in Lightroom preset to LUT, and apply that in any app that reads .cube files.