AI search tools for photo catalogues - Excire and others

[jaapv]

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On 4/15/2025 at 9:16 AM, PhotoCruiser said:

Jaapv, it is rather expensive and there are two versions
a) Lightroom plugin to use directly from Lightroom
b) a external software who catalog the photos and store the data, if one/more are selected then it opens them in Lightroom.
After some tests i bought the Photoshop Plugin but had after a short test that the external working version works a bit better, however both work well and are helpful if you need to find a photo with for example a bee, starfish, etc, etc
I think you can download either and conduct some tests before you buy it.
Chris

I went for the external version. The 2024 variant is reasonably priced. 

[LocalHero1953]

7 hours ago, jaapv said:

I went for the external version. The 2024 variant is reasonably priced. 

I look forward to hearing of your experience, and that of other users. Perhaps a new thread? It's a bit of a diversion from this one. 

Did you go for the external version because you use Photoshop rather than Lightroom?

Edited April 16 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

Yes I use Bridge.  
However it choked when processing my 5TB of photographs.(175.000)  I think I exceeded the maximum capacity of a single database and should have divided it up into two or three collections. Waiting on Customer Service. 

[BWColor]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

Yes I use Bridge.  
However it choked when processing my 5TB of photographs.(175.000)  I think I exceeded the maximum capacity of a single database and should have divided it up into two or three collections. Waiting on Customer Service. 

I use Lightroom Classic/Photoshop and had the same experience with my very large database.  I turned off all the peripheral processing, such as facial recognition and mapping..and I did what I could to make sure that the database was sound.  I thought that I needed a better computer, so I dropped $4-5K on a new MacBook Pro with the fastest Thunderbolt 4 drives..and no.. it was the software.  I now use smaller catalogs with sidecar files (just in case I leave Adobe) and everything is lightening fast, even with very large files.

Edited April 17 by BWColor
Added detail

[jaapv]

The computer should not be the problem; it is a M2Pro Mac with 32 GB and a 1TB SSD and 8TB data SSD on n Thunderbolt. I too think that the mistake was that I  happened to have LRC and PS2025 open when I attempted to build the Excire database. I need Customer Support to help me remove the corrupted Excire database as it is blocked presently. 

[LocalHero1953]

The editing software thread diverged into a few posts about Excire as an AI-powered image search and management tool. I think it would be good to learn from collective experience in a separate thread.

I see @PhotoCruiser already uses it. @jaapv is trying out the standalone version. I have downloaded the Lightroom Classic plugin (Excire Search 2024) as a free trial.

It installed just fine, automatically adding itself to Lightroom Classic when I opened it. When you give it a search to perform it asks to 'initialise' the range of photos to be searched. I started it off with just 50, and it took about half a minute to initialise. Next step was 2000+, and it took 6-8 minutes. I have nearly 120,000 images, so I shall run that overnight.

I know there are other AI applications that aim to do the same thing.

Looking forward to reading the experience of others.

Edited April 17 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

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Just a test run: I gave Excire my 875 images from Scotland and asked it to 'Search By Text Prompt' with the word 'chiaroscuro' (because there is a forum image thread with that title). It came up with 14 images, of which 10-12 were a good match, and only one was obviously incorrect. I can't tell whether it missed images that should have been included.

I was impressed.

I've set it to initialise the smaller half of my catalogue (50,000 images). It should take 7 hrs or so. 

Edited April 17 by LocalHero1953

[pmorelli]

On 4/14/2025 at 10:14 AM, jaapv said:

I did not know that software Thank you for the tip! Just what I needed for 175.000 photographs...

I use peakto for something similar. Love that it can pull in all sorts of catalogs. 

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 15 Stunden schrieb LocalHero1953:

I was impressed.

Yes, it works impressive well, but not perfect.
Not sure if it can be trained to work more accurate however i find it very useful for finding photos using a search, and there are many options to search with.
I did not used it in depth nor tested it throughly, but i guess doing so i could refine my search results.
Chris
 

BTW: There is a 30€ Discount on the standalone Excire Photo till Easter Monday 169€ instead of 199€

Edited April 18 by PhotoCruiser

[BWColor]

On 4/15/2025 at 5:35 AM, FlashGordonPhotography said:

It doesn't matter what, if any software you use. Only that you treat it like any other part of the process and learn it well. Shooting raw or jpegs, you need a decent way to find, grade and sort images and something to make them look like your vision.

I detest comments like *C1 is a better processor then LRC* or *you only need program X* etc. Mostly because they're complete BS. A few things I personally recommend as someone with over a million images in storage drives.

1. Use a catalogue. Tag, rate and keyword your images. No one remembers an image from a deade ago but software does. You need to use an advanced search exactly once to see how valuable it is. Photos of your kids birthdays. Easy. A nice pic of a loved one for their funeral. No problems. Recalling that holiday moment. Instant.

2. New software is better. Have a new look at old files. No, your old software isn't as good as it gets or more than enough. Reprocessing older files with improved algorithms can make older images sing like never before. Especially if it's something like DXO or Topaz. Remember that file that was too noisy to print? Maybe not now.

3. Subscriptions aren't more expensive, mostly. Upgrading DXO Photo Lab costs about the same as LRC, Photoshop, bridge and LR per year and you get new features every month or so. Affinity doesn't include a catalogue. Etc. Etc. Etc. New cameras and lenses arrive. Operating systems update with each new computer. You don't have to like the model but Adobe is constantly improving. So is C1. And they're a LOT quicker to add new gear than perpetual software. And new features. The worst I've seen is On1 who basically stop development immediaely each year the new vesion arrives. Never again.

4. The program you choose doen't matter but the time you invest does. In a digital world processing is almost required to make images sing if you shoot raw. A 14 bit file is flat as a tack until you play with it. If you're not keen on the nitty gritty then something like the Nik Suite might be worth a look. But mostly out of camera means unfinished. Except for Fuji jpegs and a few Leica looks the rest are just bad. But really. If you hate processing it's likely because it intimidates you rather than anything else. The same people who don't want to look at a computer after work spend the evening watching TV or looking at a phone screen. An iPad is an excellent image editir in 2025.

5. The brand of software matters. UI is important. So is workflow. It'll make you detest processing if it doesn't suit you. So try a few and pick one that you like the look of. You can argue that Adobe isn't as goof for Fuji XTrans files but this is a Leica forum. The best software is the stuff that works for you. LRC isn't better than Infinity or C1 or whatever. I know of exacly nobody who can identify software from a side by side comparison if the processing is done well. If photos floats your boat. Awesome. You're missing out but they're your photos so who cares, except you? If you use instagram, can you send directly from your chosen software? How about output to a printer etc?

6. Download and save you phone photos with yor camera photos. Sort and rate them. I know of someone who accidentally and permanantly deleted a decade's worth of iPhone photos. I can't think of much worse.

7. Minimum should be two copies of your photos. I have 5, with two offsite rotated and 3 local.

8. Consider making books of your favourites. I do a volume each year. Three copies. One for me and my kids.

9. If you really hate processing. Shoot jpegs. But even then they can be tweaked in a few seconds to be more.

Gordon

Gordon:

This might be the best photo editing & workflow advice that I have read.  Once I’m gone, nobody will bother with my digitally stored images.  Like you, I’ve found that printed books are a great way to pass on what is worth passing on.  I’ve got way more images than I can manage easily.  I’m willing to suffer bad AI decisions in order to benefit from the good.. I’ll be interested to find out how Excire handles your large database.

 

Edited April 18 by BWColor
Double post

[Derbyshire Man]

The only thing that puts me off is that their price in pounds is the same as euro, £169 is not the same as €169, it should be £145. That kind of casual rip off drives me crazy!

[LocalHero1953]

I have just paid up after the two weeks' trial of Excire Search 2024. I ended up paying £116, after their current discount and then another last minute 10% discount to encourage me to sign up.

I used it quite a bit in the last week or so: I had to give a talk on photography (to a gardening club!) and used Excire a lot to pull out photos not just of flowers, gardens and trees using its own keywords, but also freeform text - e.g. 'spiral staircases'. When I confused myself and deleted virtual copies of some of the images I wanted to use, it was effective in finding the original image again.

I need to do more work on finding duplicates. I want to find images that are all derivations of the same original image, whether crops or down-ressed. The default option didn't appear to work well - it produced far more variations than actual duplicates. There's quite a bit of tweaking that I have yet to try.

For the price it appears good value, as long as you recognise its limitations. My catalogue is 117,000 images across two drives.

Edited May 1 by LocalHero1953

[Robert Blanko]

I used Excire some years ago as.plug-in for LR and it was quite useful. Now the current version offers even more interesting functions and is looks more powerful. But as I switched to Capture One, no plug-in seems to be available and a standalone solution is IMHO pointless for my usage. Would love to use it in C1 though.

[Derbyshire Man]

One question, anyone else filed a an issue with the, and got a response? I’ve written a couple of times, once via email and once via support and been completely ignored.

There is scope I think for some serious streamlining. For example, sending an image to silver Efex from LR or C1 returns one, when finished, to the same place in the catalogue with an edited version of the duplicate. On Excire, I return to the top of the directory and the edited image is nowhere to be seen, even when I synchronise. There are quite a few workflow issues like this which would be simple to fix and then would allow Excire/Silver Efex and Excire/C1 to be the prefect catalogue. The additional thing which would really help would the ability to have a dual screen set up with thumbnails on one screen and full image on the second.

Anyway, on software issues and future developments not a peep. Always a bad sign I think in a developer. They manage to send me umpteen marketing materials by email every week and one of their employees is churning out you tube videos. Seems new customers may be more important than existing ones!

I’ll update in due course.

[Derbyshire Man]

Replying to turn on email notifications!

[LocalHero1953]

On 5/11/2025 at 9:38 AM, Derbyshire Man said:

One question, anyone else filed a an issue with the, and got a response? I’ve written a couple of times, once via email and once via support and been completely ignored.

There is scope I think for some serious streamlining. For example, sending an image to silver Efex from LR or C1 returns one, when finished, to the same place in the catalogue with an edited version of the duplicate. On Excire, I return to the top of the directory and the edited image is nowhere to be seen, even when I synchronise. There are quite a few workflow issues like this which would be simple to fix and then would allow Excire/Silver Efex and Excire/C1 to be the prefect catalogue. The additional thing which would really help would the ability to have a dual screen set up with thumbnails on one screen and full image on the second.

Anyway, on software issues and future developments not a peep. Always a bad sign I think in a developer. They manage to send me umpteen marketing materials by email every week and one of their employees is churning out you tube videos. Seems new customers may be more important than existing ones!

I’ll update in due course.

It sounds like you're using the stand alone version of Excire?
(I just use the LR plugin)

[LocalHero1953]

An excellent experience for one kind of application....

I tool photos of a musical theatre dance class, and used burst mode quite a bit. That meant that I ended up with a large number of shots, only a fraction of which I wanted. Excire's 'Find Duplicate' facility was excellent, not for finding duplicates, but near duplicates taken within a specified time of each other. One second was the minimum interval (I'd prefer half a second or less, but it worked anyway). It grouped them into a series of LR collections, one for each sequence. It was then a simple matter to go through each sequence picking the best shot. (Holding down the forward arrow key gives you a stop-motion video effect, making it easy to pick the hot shot.