Fast Image Sorter

Kythia Convert includes a built-in Image Sorter tool that lets you organize hundreds of photos into folders in record time. It’s built on a highly optimized async Rust backend and a lightweight Preact UI, ensuring that even folders with thousands of images load instantly and never freeze your interface.

How it Works

The Sorter tool is designed around keyboard shortcuts for maximum efficiency. Instead of dragging and dropping files manually or right-clicking to move them, you simply assign folders to keyboard numbers and press them to sort images as they appear on screen.

1. Select a Folder

Click on the Sorter tab in the main application. Choose a folder containing the images you want to organize. The tool will instantly scan the directory and load previews.

2. Set Up Your Bins

You can create up to 9 virtual “bins”. Assign each bin to a specific output folder (e.g., Keep, Trash, Edits, Social Media). Each bin is automatically mapped to a number key on your keyboard (1 through 9).

3. Sort at the Speed of Light

• An image preview will appear in the center of the screen.
• Press a number key (1 - 9) on your keyboard.
• The image is instantly moved to the folder mapped to that key in the background.
• The next image appears immediately.

Performance Architecture

The Sorter tool is built with a completely asynchronous architecture to handle heavy file I/O operations without dropping frames.

• Async IPC: Communication between the UI and the Rust backend uses non-blocking Tauri commands.
• Dedicated Thread Pool: Heavy operations like moving large files across drives are delegated to a dedicated thread pool (tokio::task::spawn_blocking), ensuring the main UI and IPC pool remain perfectly responsive.
• Lazy Loading: Previews are generated asynchronously, so you can start sorting immediately while other images load in the background.