# Batch edit photos on a Mac: edit multiple at once > How to batch edit photos on a Mac: edit multiple photos at once in the Photos app, resize in Preview or Finder, or give a whole shoot one LUT look. Steps for each. Canonical: https://batchtone.com/blog/how-to-batch-edit-photos-on-mac 19 October 2026 · 6 min read · Updated 20 October 2026 To batch edit photos on a Mac, use the Photos app: edit one photo, choose Image > Copy Edits, select the rest and choose Image > Paste Edits (macOS Ventura or later). For resizing or converting a folder, use Preview or Finder's Convert Image quick action. For one colour look across hundreds of photos and clips, with a different strength on the frames that need it, use a batch LUT tool such as BatchTone. 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? | What you want | Tool already on your Mac | When to reach for something else | |---|---|---| | Same adjustments on many photos in your library | Photos: Copy Edits and Paste Edits | You want a LUT, or the photos are not in Photos | | Resize or change format for a folder | Preview, or Finder's Convert Image | Never, for simple jobs | | One colour look across a whole shoot | Nothing built in | A batch LUT tool | ## 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](https://batchtone.com/blog/best-batch-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](https://batchtone.com/blog/lut-vs-preset) explains the difference from a Lightroom preset. [Colour grading photos](https://batchtone.com/blog/color-grading-photos) covers how to build the look itself. Lightroom can sync settings across a shoot, but [it stops at LUTs](https://batchtone.com/blog/batch-edit-lightroom) 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](https://batchtone.com/download) 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](https://batchtone.com/batch-lut-photos) has the full list of formats. [Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store](https://batchtone.com/download) ## 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](https://batchtone.com/blog/iphone-luts) 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](https://batchtone.com/blog/lightroom-preset-to-lut), and apply that in any app that reads `.cube` files. **About this article.** Written by the team that builds BatchTone, a macOS app that applies .cube LUTs to whole folders of photos and video. Last checked 20 October 2026. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Write to [support@batchtone.com](mailto:support@batchtone.com). ## Read next Comparisons 21 September 2026 · 6 min read ## [Batch photo editor: the best bulk photo editors compared](https://batchtone.com/blog/best-batch-photo-editor) The best batch photo editor depends on which batch job you have. For resizing, renaming, converting and watermarking hundreds of files, use a utility such as XnConvert (free) or BatchPhoto. For one colour look across a shoot, use Lightroom Classic or Capture One if you catalogue, Photoshop actions if you already script, or a batch LUT tool such as BatchTone on a Mac when the look is a .cube file. [Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/best-batch-photo-editor) Workflow 18 September 2026 · 4 min read ## [Batch edit in Lightroom: what it does, and where it stops](https://batchtone.com/blog/batch-edit-lightroom) Lightroom batches well through Sync Settings and presets, and for most photo work that is enough. It stops being convenient when you want a .cube LUT, when the batch includes video, or when each photo needs a different amount of the same look. [Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/batch-edit-lightroom) How-to 21 September 2026 · 8 min read ## [Apple Log LUT: Apple Log to Rec.709 on iPhone 15, 16 and 17](https://batchtone.com/blog/iphone-luts) The Apple Log LUT to start with is Apple's own Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT. Apply it, or your editor's built-in Apple Log transform, before any creative look. iPhone 17 Pro footage in Apple Log 2 needs the Apple Log 2 LUT instead. Ordinary iPhone video is already Rec.709 and needs no conversion. For a whole shoot, apply the same conversion to every clip at once, then lower it on the clips that need less. [Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/iphone-luts) ## One look. A whole shoot. BatchTone applies your .cube LUTs across photos and video at once, with a strength dial on every file. Seven-day trial, everything unlocked. [Download for macOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/batchtone/id6821727167)