Narrative's AI assessments help you find your strongest options faster. They're a guide, not a verdict on whether a photo is good. You make the call.
That matters most for photos the AI can't fully read: details, landscapes, intentional blur, or a moment where someone's eyes are closed for a reason.
Photos without faces
On a Mac running macOS 14 or later, Narrative ranks photos without faces by how sharp they are compared with the other photos in their Scene.
These photos won't get a 1–10 focus score, because that score is based on faces. The sharpness ranking only tells you how a photo compares with the rest of its Scene.
Sharpness ranking for photos without faces isn't available on Windows or earlier versions of macOS.
Creative blur and closed eyes
Sharp isn't always the goal. Motion blur can carry the energy of a dance floor, and closed eyes can be exactly right for a quiet moment.
The eye and focus assessments also measure different things. A face can be perfectly sharp with its eyes closed, so you might see a closed-eyes warning next to a good focus result.
Make sure nothing gets missed
Look through the alternatives in each Scene, not just the top-ranked photo.
Clear your filters every so often, so photos without faces or assessments don't stay hidden.
If you filter by focus score, turn on Include Images without Image Focus scores to keep photos without faces in view.
Zoom in yourself when a detail or face matters. Background faces aren't assessed, and detection won't catch every subject.
Rate the photos you want to keep, even if they're ranked lower.
A low assessment never rejects or deletes a photo.