Decide what a star means before applying it. One possible scheme uses a single star for a photograph worth revisiting, three for a project candidate and five for a final selection. This is only an example. Choose distinctions that match your work and write them down. A scale with five subtly different quality judgments can become slower than the selection itself.
Keep rejection, technical review and final approval separate when the software allows it. A blurred photograph may still have personal value, while a technically excellent frame may not belong in the current series. Ratings should not silently become deletion instructions unless that relationship is explicit and checked.
Rate in passes
On the first pass, mark only photographs that clearly deserve further attention. Leave uncertain frames alone rather than forcing a score. On a second pass, compare related images together and identify the strongest expression, arrangement or moment. A rating made in isolation can change when a better neighbouring frame becomes visible.
Use the project's purpose as the standard. The best image for a small family album may differ from the one selected for a large print or a colour-based series. If the same photograph serves several projects, a collection or project-specific selection may be clearer than constantly changing its global rating.
Avoid spending time distinguishing between photographs you have no intention of using. If thirty frames are all irrelevant to the present selection, rating them from one to two stars does not improve the result. Keep them available under your retention policy and focus on the decision that actually needs to be made.
After the edit, filter to the selected rating and check the set as a whole. Look for missing context and repeated roles, not just individually strong pictures. Document the rating scheme alongside the archive so another person, or your future self, understands it. The system is working when a rating retrieves a meaningful group quickly; it is failing when every photograph has a score but you still cannot identify the chosen set.
