Cards in, copied and verified. Photo Mechanic opens on the new folder.
ShotGrab copies each card, verifies every file with SHA-256, sorts it into your folders and ejects it. When the import finishes, it opens the folder it just filled in Photo Mechanic, so the contact sheet is waiting when you sit down to cull.
Your day with ShotGrab
A shoot with two camera bodies, shot in the morning and culled the same evening. Here is what you actually do.
Set it up once
In Settings › Automations you turn on Photo Mechanic. In your project you tick it, choose the destination drive, a folder layout by date and camera, and optionally a second drive for backup. Then you arm the project and leave it listening.
Cards go in, one after another
Each card is copied, with every file hashed while it is read, and ejected on its own when the copy is verified. If a second card sits in a different reader while the first is still copying, it gets its own lane and the two import together.
Photo Mechanic opens on the folder
When the import finishes, ShotGrab opens the folder it just copied into in Photo Mechanic. You cull, tag and caption there the way you always do, on files that are already verified.
The backup drive catches up
While you work, ShotGrab copies from the primary drive to the backup drive and checks every file against what it already wrote, so there are two verified copies before the card goes back in the camera bag.
What ShotGrab adds before you open the contact sheet
Photo Mechanic is where you look at the pictures. These are the steps ShotGrab takes off your hands before that.
Verified before you look at it
Every file is hashed with SHA-256 while it is read from the card, then checked again after it is written. A file only gets its final name once the check passes, so the folder you cull from does not contain half-copied files.
One hand-off, not one per card
With several readers or several cards in a row, the folder opens once, when the last card has finished, and only if something new was copied. You do not get a window per card.
The folder it opens is the level of your folder layout where you answer the first {INPUT} question, such as client or event, or the whole destination if your layout asks nothing.
The rest of the offload stays the same
Folders by date and camera, a cascade to extra drives, cards ejected by themselves, duplicates skipped. Nothing leaves your Mac and there is no account or cloud involved.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need a plugin or a script?
No. ShotGrab simply opens the folder in Photo Mechanic, like dragging it onto the app's icon. Nothing is installed in Photo Mechanic.
Where do I turn it on?
In ShotGrab's Settings under Automations, where you enable Photo Mechanic, and then in each project's automations card, where you tick it for that project. Both are off by default.
Does ShotGrab replace Photo Mechanic's ingest?
It can, if you want it to: ShotGrab does the copy, the verification, the folder structure and the backup, and Photo Mechanic takes over for culling and metadata. If you prefer to ingest inside Photo Mechanic, our Photo Mechanic ingest guide covers that route.
What if I import several cards in a row?
The automation runs once when the last import finishes, so Photo Mechanic does not open a new window for every card.
What does it need?
A Mac with macOS 13 or later and Photo Mechanic installed. ShotGrab runs locally: no account, no cloud, nothing uploaded. If Photo Mechanic is missing, the copy itself is not affected.
How much does it cost?
It is free to start: every feature is unlocked, limited to 128GB of copied files every 14 days, no account and no card. Beyond that: Pass €5 for 30 days, Yearly €29, or Lifetime €39 until 30 November 2026, then €69. All are one-time payments, not subscriptions. Details on the pricing page.
Let the cards copy themselves. Start from the contact sheet.
Free to start, every feature included. Lifetime is €39 until 30 November 2026, then €69.
Download for Mac Lifetime €39 until 30 November 2026, then €69 · Pass €5 / 30 days · Yearly €29 · macOS 13+
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