How Candidate Grouping Picks Photos—and Why It Does Not Decide Continuity
Continuity-photo organization has two paths. Photos that already carry a human-assigned element label enter the matching group by that label. Only photos with no element label can be placed into candidate groups for review. Candidate grouping does not declare that several photos show the same prop, and it does not decide which image is the correct continuity state; it only puts possibly related photos together so you have less to search through.
Candidate grouping answers “which images should I look at together?” It does not answer “have these photos been confirmed as the same subject?”
Element labels come before visual similarity
Once a photo is linked to an element name, it enters the matching group by that label and no longer takes part in the unlabeled candidate path. Photos with the same label land in the same group; other categories attached to the photo do not affect this grouping.
This keeps two kinds of evidence apart. A human label is an explicit record. Visual resemblance is only a way to arrange candidates. They are not equivalent automatic judgments.
Tagged groups are put through one explicit, stable ascending sort by element name (the same number-aware ordering the Finder and the Photos app use), so group order does not shift with the current collection or the process. Position in the list only reflects that name order — still do not read it as element priority.
Unlabeled photos are only arranged as candidates
A photo with no element label may be placed into a candidate group by overall visual resemblance. “Resemblance” here is relative to the candidates at hand; it does not mean the app has confirmed that they show the same subject.
A candidate group usually has a starting photo and later photos placed beside it. If the whole set is visually unlike one another, some photo can still end up grouped with another as the comparatively closer one. That does not change the fact that a person makes the decision.
If a photo cannot take part in the comparison, or the comparison yields no usable result, it may be absent from the candidate group. “Not grouped” should not be read directly as “not similar.”
Being comparatively closer is not confirmation; grouping itself does not carry the continuity decision.
A candidate group does not say “this is the same prop”
Candidate grouping looks at the whole image. It does not detect objects, and it does not let you select a region to compare on its own. Background, framing, people, and overall composition can all affect the result.
So candidate grouping should not be described as finding the same prop or understanding a scene change. Two photos with similar composition but different target objects can still land in one group; conversely, the same object photographed at very different angles or against very different backgrounds should not be assumed to group together.
Image alignment does not replace this judgment. Alignment handles the geometric changes it can accept; it does not add object meaning to a photo, and it cannot turn a camera-position change into the same viewpoint.
The final step is looking through the images yourself
A candidate group exists to put photos that deserve comparison into one workspace. During review you can switch between photos in the group or use flash-view to look back and forth, checking costume, prop position, action, or another continuity detail.
The question is not “did the software group these correctly?” Go back to the images: switch through one candidate group and check whether the detail you care about actually changes. When needed, correct the organization with a human element label.
The software provides candidates and a viewing order. Whether the continuity holds remains the judgment of the person who was there or the person reviewing the evidence. For how a continuity photo links to a shot and take, see “How Continuity Photos Should Link to Shots and Takes”.
FAQ
Do photos with an element label still enter candidate grouping?
They do not take the unlabeled path. Once an element name has been explicitly attached, the photo enters the matching group by that label.
What has to be true for candidate photos to form a group?
The app arranges possibly related photos into one group by overall visual resemblance for you to review. Whether they belong to the same continuity state is still for you to check against the images.
Does a candidate group mean the photos show the same prop?
No. The comparison looks at the whole image and has no object detection or region meaning. A group only says which photos were placed together for review.
What should I do with a candidate group?
Switch or flash through the images in the group and watch the specific continuity detail you need to check, then decide for yourself. Do not treat the group number as the decision.
Axiom One LLC — SlateX