Sortwell™
Batch Card SorterEvery batch, in its own folder.
Scanning a collection a batch at a time, with a card at the start of each batch, keeps everything in order until the scans land in one big folder. Sortwell finds the cards, reads them, and puts every batch in its own folder named from its card.
What Sortwell does
Sortwell is made for the Easy Index Workflow: before each group of photos you scan or capture on a copy stand, you shoot a colored card that gives the batch's date, its number and its subject. Sortwell finds every card, reads what it says, makes a folder named from it (such as 1982-10-31-Halloween-0001), and moves the card and the photos after it into that folder.
Nothing moves until you have checked what each card says and clicked Sort into folders, and every run can be undone. When the batches are in order, Finish the batch folders writes each folder's date and event into its photos and numbers them.
It comes two ways, with one license for both: the Lightroom Classic plug-in, for photos already in your catalog such as tethered captures, and the Windows & Mac app, for scans that aren't in Lightroom or to sort a folder before you import it.
Features
Cards it can't miss
A card designator (a circle with two black quarters) in the middle of each card tells a batch card from a photo, whatever the card's color. You can use a mark of your own, or go by the card color instead.
Reads the card
Printed numbers very well and clear handwriting well, after labels such as Batch, Date and Subject. Dates can be 1982-10-31, 6/21/1987, June 1987, 1970s or circa 1962, with 00 for a part you don't know.
Review before anything moves
Every card is shown with what Sortwell read and the folder it will make. Fix a misread date or subject and the folder name changes as you type.
Your folder names
Folder names follow a pattern you choose, the batch numbers can have three or four digits so they sort in order, and the folders can go inside the scan folder, next to it or anywhere you choose.
Lightroom keeps everything
Photos keep their flags, stars, keywords, captions, edits, crops and collections when they move. Or tick Copy, rather than move to leave the originals where they are.
Finish the batch folders
Writes each folder's date as the photos' Date Taken and its event as a keyword, drops the batch number from the folder name, and numbers the photos in order.
Done with the cards?
Delete the batch cards sends only the cards to the Recycle Bin or Trash, so you can still get one back.
Hard handwriting online, if you like
For cards this computer can't read well, ask Claude, OpenAI or Gemini with your own API key. Only the batch cards are sent, never your photos.
How it works
Before you scan
- Use solid, colored card stock with the card designator in the middle.
- Write the batch number, date and subject along the top in dark pencil or marker, after a printed word for each.
- Scan or capture each card just before its batch of photos.
In Lightroom Classic or the app
- Lightroom: click the folder of scans, then Library > Plug-in Extras > Sort batch cards into folders. App: choose the folder of scans.
- Click Find the cards and check what each card says.
- Click Sort into folders. Later, Finish the batch folders writes the dates and event names and numbers the photos.
Requirements
- Windows
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). Nothing else to install: Python and the image libraries come with it.
- Mac
- A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 13 or later. An Intel Mac uses the Mac's own Python 3; the installer says so if it has none.
- Lightroom Classic
- For the plug-in only. Lightroom Classic 14.3 or later lets Sortwell tidy the old catalog entries itself; on older versions, Synchronize Folder clears them. The app needs no Lightroom.
- Files
- JPEG, TIFF, PNG and camera raw files (Sortwell reads the preview inside a raw file).
Price and free trial
- Every feature works free for 21 days on each computer, with no watermark and no account. After that, Sortwell keeps working for 7 more days with a reminder; then finding and reading the cards still works, and sorting needs a license key.
- One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, covers both the app and the Lightroom Classic plug-in, and includes complimentary updates within the major version (a version 1 key works for every 1.x release).
- Your key arrives by email. It is checked on your computer: no account or internet connection is needed to use Sortwell.
- Moving to a new computer? Click “Remove license from this computer” on the old one and enter your key on the new one.
- Sortwell is sold on its own and is not part of The Well Tools Bundle.
Windows may show “Windows protected your PC” the first time: click More info, then Run anyway. The Mac download is signed and checked by Apple: open it and double-click the Install app.
Lost your key? · License terms · Refund policy · Questions: info@thepictureorg.com
Questions
What is a batch card?
A sheet of colored card shot before each group of photos, giving the batch's number, date and subject. Sortwell uses it to make the folder and to know where each batch starts and ends.
What color should the cards be?
Any solid color: pink, yellow, blue, green, orange. Avoid white or grey cards, which look too much like the back of a print.
Can it read my handwriting?
Clear handwriting in dark pencil or marker reads well, and printed numbers very well. You can fix anything it misread on the review screen, or have the hard ones read online with your own API key.
Do I need the designator?
It's the usual way, but not the only one. Sortwell can also take the first photo as a card and find the others of its color, or treat any photo that is mostly one solid color as a card.
What can't move with a photo in Lightroom?
Lightroom doesn't let plug-ins set virtual copies, stacks, Develop snapshots and history, publish service links or other plug-ins' fields. Sortwell tells you before anything moves if any photos have them. Tethered captures and fresh scans usually have none.
Can I undo a sort?
Yes. Undo a Sortwell run moves every file back and puts its catalog data back, and deletes the batch folders the run made once they are empty.
Is anything sent from my computer?
Only a once-a-day check for a newer version, which fetches a small version list and sends nothing about your computer, your photos or your license key. You can turn it off. Online reading, if you turn it on, sends only what is described above, with your own API key.
How do updates work?
Sortwell tells you when a new version is out. Install now downloads it, checks that it carries The Picture Org's signature, and installs it, putting everything back if anything goes wrong. Updates within the major version are complimentary.
What's new
Version 0.9.8 24 October 2026
- Fixed: in Lightroom Classic, Finish the batch folders stopped at once with "An internal error has occurred".
- "Colour" is now spelled "Color".