2 to 6 photos at once
Pick the grid size from the Compare menu, or grow and shrink it with ⌥⌘] and ⌥⌘[.
Photo comparison app for Mac
Compare photos side by side on your Mac
Put 2 to 6 similar shots in one window, zoom into the same detail on every frame, and keep the sharpest. Straight from the folder, with no import.
Free download. Side-by-side and overlay compare are part of the free version, with no account and no trial clock.
- Native Mac app
- macOS 12 or later
- RAW, HEIC, JPEG, and more
Compare Grid · Included free
Compare similar photos side by side and pick the best
Press G and Just Look! lays out 2 to 6 shots from the folder in one window. Every cell is decoded from the original file, so when you zoom in you judge real pixels, not thumbnails.
Zoom every photo together
Zoom and pan once and every cell follows, so you check the same eye, edge, or logo in each shot.
Pin the Best
Press B to mark your favorite. It stays in the first slot while the other cells change, so every alternative faces your current best.
Walk through the burst
The arrow keys slide the grid through the folder, or through your picks. No flipping back and forth between two files.
Nudge a cell into line
Hold ⌥ to move one cell on its own when the camera shifted between frames. The alignment is shared with overlay compare.
Decide without leaving the grid
Pick, reject, rate, or trash the focused cell with the same keys you use everywhere else in Just Look!
Overlay two photos, or flip between them with the zoom locked
Side by side is one way to compare. For near-identical frames, lay one shot on top of the other, or lock your zoom and flip.
Overlay two photos to compare them
Hold ⌥A to lay the previous shot on top of the current one, or ⌥S for the next. Release to flip back. Move, rotate, and zoom the overlay to line the two frames up, and Just Look! remembers the alignment for each image.
Flip between shots with the zoom locked
Zoom into an eye, a logo, or a blade of grass. Hold ⌥ and press ← →: the next photo opens at the same zoom and position, so differences in focus and motion blur jump out. ⌥⌘⌫ trashes a miss and keeps the view on the next frame.
How to compare photos on a Mac in four keystrokes
No import and no setup. Open the folder and the first comparison is one key away.
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Open the folder
Open any folder, external drive, or memory card. Photos appear right away. Nothing is copied or imported.
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Press G
Compare Grid opens with the current shot and its neighbors. Arrow keys slide the grid through the folder; ⌥⌘] adds a cell.
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Press B
Mark the strongest frame as Best. It stays in the first slot while every other shot takes a turn beside it.
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Pick or reject
Space picks a keeper, X rejects a miss, 1–5 rates. Press ▼ to see only your picks.
Try it on your last burst
Free on the Mac App Store. Open a folder, press G, and see the difference.
For every time two shots look the same
Compare Grid, overlay, and zoom lock are built for the decisions you make after every shoot.
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Bursts and sequences
Which of the twelve frames is actually sharp? Zoom every cell to the eyes or the ball and the answer is obvious.
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Portraits and groups
Pin the frame where everyone looks right, then check each alternative against it for blinks and expressions.
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Bracketed exposures
Lay the brackets side by side at the same zoom and keep the exposure that holds the highlights.
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Focus checks
Overlay two near-identical frames and flip between them to see which one nailed focus.
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Composition variants
Compare the wide and the tight version, or the horizontal and the vertical, in one window.
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Duplicates and near-duplicates
Spot the copies in a folder, keep one, and trash the rest without opening another app.
Why compare in Just Look!
Straight from the folder
No import, no catalog, no waiting for previews to build. Open the folder on your Mac, a drive, or a card and compare.
Every format you shoot
JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, PNG, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, and camera RAW from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, and more. RAW viewer details →
Native, fast, keyboard-first
A Mac app with Metal-accelerated zoom and one key for everything. Compare, decide, and move on in seconds per frame.
Comparing is free. Pro cleans up after you.
Every way to compare is in the free version. The 30-day Pro trial starts the first time you open the app, with no payment details required.
Free
- Compare Grid with 2 to 6 photos and a pinned Best
- Overlay compare with per-image alignment
- Option-key zoom lock while browsing
- Picks, reject flags, and 1–5 ratings
- Gallery view of the whole folder
- RAW+JPEG pairs and rotation
- Move single shots to the Trash
Pro 30 days free
- Batch cleanup: trash non-picks, rejects, or by rating
- XMP sidecars and embedded XMP
- Finder color tags and tag editing
- Crop and straighten
- Undo and redo
- Rename, sorting, and export presets
Pro is sold in the Mac App Store as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. When the trial ends, the free features keep working.
Comparing photos on a Mac: questions and answers
How do I compare two photos side by side on a Mac?
Open the folder in Just Look!, select one of the two shots, and press G. Compare Grid shows it next to its neighbor in the same window. Use the arrow keys to change which shots are in the grid, and zoom to check the same detail in both. Just Look! is a free download from the Mac App Store and needs no import.
Can I compare more than two photos at once?
Yes. Compare Grid shows 2 to 6 photos side by side. Choose the size from the Compare menu, or press ⌥⌘] and ⌥⌘[ to add or remove a cell. Zoom and pan apply to every cell at once.
Can I overlay two photos to compare them?
Yes. Hold ⌥A to lay the previous photo on top of the current one, or ⌥S for the next. While holding, you can move, rotate, and zoom the overlay to line the two frames up, and Just Look! remembers that alignment for each image. ⇧⌘0 resets it.
Can Preview on Mac compare photos side by side?
Preview shows one image at a time in a window. You can open two windows and arrange them by hand, but they do not zoom together, there is no way to pin a favorite, and you cannot step through a burst. Just Look! does all of that in one window, and it opens the whole folder instead of only the files you selected.
Does it work with RAW files?
Yes. Compare Grid works with camera RAW from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, and more, plus DNG, HEIC, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, WebP, AVIF, and JPEG XL. A RAW and a JPEG with the same name count as one image. See the RAW image viewer page for the full list.
Does comparing change my photos?
No. Comparing, picking, and rating never modify the image data. Stars and Finder color tags are written to the files as metadata, so they show up in Finder too, and every file stays in its folder until you move it to the Trash yourself.
Is Just Look! free?
Yes. The download is free, and Compare Grid, overlay compare, zoom lock, Picks, reject flags, and star ratings are all part of the free version. Just Look! Pro adds batch cleanup, XMP writing, tag editing, crop, undo, rename, sorting, and export presets. It comes with a 30-day free trial, then costs $1.99 a month, $9.99 a year, or $19.99 once for lifetime access (US prices).
Stop flipping back and forth. See them together.
Free download. Compare Grid, overlay, and zoom lock are included.
Requires macOS 12 or later. Also useful: photo culling on Mac and the fast image viewer behind it.