Sortwell™
Batch 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 Scanning Workflow, created by Adam Pratt and Laura Woolsey: 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.
Sortwell in 73 seconds
On screen
Features
Cards it can't miss
A card designator (a circle with two black quarters) in the middle of each card tells a divider card from a photo, whatever the card's color. You can use a mark of your own, or go by the card color instead. Rather not make your own? Ready-made Sortwell Compatible Divider Cards are sold on the Easy Index Scanning Workflow page.
Reads the card
Write each item after a label such as Batch:, Date: or Subject:. Dates can be written as 1982-10-31, 6/21/1987, June 1987, 1970s or circa 1962. If you don't know part of a date, use 00, as in 1976-03-00 for March 1976.
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. For big folders, let Lightroom import the moved photos in one go. 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.
Keys and Stream Deck
Every action has a key: press ? to see them. A Stream Deck or other macro pad can run them too, including Sortwell's Lightroom commands. Ready-made buttons come with Sortwell, one profile for the app and one for Lightroom: press ? and click Add Stream Deck buttons.
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 divider 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 divider 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.
Step by step for every job: the Sortwell User Guide.
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. Intel Macs aren't supported.
- Lightroom Classic
- For the plug-in only. 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
My antivirus or Windows blocked the download. Is it safe, and what do I do?
Sortwell is signed by The Picture Org LLC and is safe. Some antivirus programs (Norton, for example) flag any new download that few people have run yet, even a signed one, and the block goes away as more people install it. Windows SmartScreen (“Windows protected your PC”): click More info, then Run anyway. Norton: open Norton, go to Security > History, choose the entry for the download, and click Restore & exclude this file, then run it again. Microsoft Defender: open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Protection history, choose the entry, and click Actions > Allow on device. Other antivirus programs have a similar Restore or Allow choice in their quarantine or history. If you would rather not change a setting, email info@thepictureorg.com and we will send you a zip you can install by hand. We report every false alarm to the antivirus maker so it is cleared for everyone.
What is a divider 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.
Does it work on a NAS or network drive?
Yes, including a NAS where each project folder is a separate drive on the server. Where a simple move isn't possible, Sortwell copies and checks each photo before removing the original, and it never makes, renames or removes the NAS's own project folders.
What do I do with the divider cards afterwards?
Delete the divider cards sends only the cards to the Recycle Bin or Trash, so you can still get one back.
Which Lightroom Classic do I need?
Lightroom Classic 14.3 or later lets Sortwell tidy the old catalog entries itself after a sort; on older versions, Synchronize Folder clears them.
Is anything sent from my computer?
Only a check for a newer version when Sortwell opens, which fetches a small version list and sends nothing about your computer, your photos or your license key. You can turn it off. If something goes wrong, Create an error log can send a report to us, but only after you have seen exactly what it holds and clicked Send. 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. Installing it in the app or in Lightroom updates both. Updates within the major version are complimentary.
Does it work with Lightroom (the cloud version)?
No. Adobe lets plug-ins run only in Lightroom Classic. If you use the Lightroom app, use the Sortwell app on your photo folders instead.
Does it run on an Intel Mac?
No. Sortwell needs a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later).
More answers in the Sortwell User Guide, or email info@thepictureorg.com.
What's new
Version 1.6.26 7 November 2026
- Faster in Lightroom on large runs: each photo is read once while Sortwell finds the cards, the divider-card marks are read in one go, and moved photos come back through Lightroom's own Synchronize Folder.
- The Keyboard shortcuts window in Lightroom can also give a key to another plug-in's menu item.
- In the Plug-in Manager, Reading hard handwriting online now comes after Check my setup, as in the other -well tools.
- The bundled ExifTool is updated to 13.61.