3rd Party Plugin for Keywording

[Juliette]

Lightroom Version Number

15.1

Operating System

1. macOS 26 Tahoe

Hi, is there a LrC plugin you can recommend that will use AI to pull in relevant keywords? I have almost 200k photos and started so many years ago that I didn't do a consistent job with keywords. I know that AI is embedded into the LR cloud version but I didn't purchase much space there and want to maintain privacy. I heard Excire can be good for local, which is what I need. I just thought I'd check first to see if anyone has experience with it or other 3rd party plugins.

 

[UliP.]

I have been using Excire Search for years (version 1) and am completely satisfied. Since then, I have never had to assign keywords manually again. With the integrated search functions, I can find photos that I had long forgotten!
There are many good tutorials on the manufacturer's website:
https://excire.com/en/tutorials/excire-search/

And best of all: everything runs locally without having to upload images to any cloud!
Important to know: Excire Search is the plugin for Lightroom Classic!
Excire Foto is a stand-alone product and cannot be used as a plugin for LrC!

 

[John R Ellis]

Also see my Any Vision plugin, which uses Google Gemini AI. Different features, much different pricing.

Also see this list of similar services:
https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyvision.htm#similar

 

[Juliette]

Thank you both. I think given the sheer volume of the task, Excire might be the best way to go for me. Plus I like that it's one up front cost. Thank you @UliP. for clarifying the difference in the two products!

 

[PhilBurton]

Before you jump into Excire (or any similar tool) first decide which keywords you need. For me, and probably lots of other people in this wonderful forum, keywords are essential for setting up collections. If you are not familiar with collections, I suggest that you first do some experimentation and then n decide which collections would be useful to do. Then you can be more informed about using Excire.

Keywords can be about the photo subject, or they could also be about workflow, e.g. DEVELOP or BOOK.

 

[Califdan]

I know that AI is embedded into the LR cloud version but I didn't purchase much space there and want to maintain privacy.

1. Ig you import images into LR/Classic and let them sync to the cloud, then the storage they take in Lr/Cloud is not included in the storage limit in your Adoe Plan
   
   
2. Images found in LR/Cloud using Sensei (Adobe's AI Image search tool), are shown to you, but not marked in any permanent way that they are the result of siad search. if you want them all to have a certain KW (like "Waterfall") you'll need to manually add that keyword to the images
   
   
3. Keywords do not sync back and forth between LR/Cloud and LR/Classic

 

[jjlad]

I just wish LrC worked like Google Photos. There I don't even have to enter any keywords yet searching for something utilizes Ai and pulls up most of the relevant photos in no time. Just before Google capped the free photo storage I uploaded images into albums for each year, starting with digitized family and related images from the late 1800's all the way to 20210601. Google's Ai just takes the question and highlights the images that match, without any awareness of keywording ....its all on its own. That's really awesome. I wish, I wish.

 

[clee01l]

I just wish LrC worked like Google Photos. There I don't even have to enter any keywords yet searching for something utilizes Ai and pulls up most of the relevant photos in no time. Just before Google capped the free photo storage I uploaded images into albums for each year, starting with digitized family and related images from the late 1800's all the way to 20210601. Google's Ai just takes the question and highlights the images that match, without any awareness of keywording ....its all on its own. That's really awesome. I wish, I wish.

I think with the implementation of AI in Classic, it should not be difficult for Adobe to add Sensei to Classic. It does a reasonable job in Lightroom mobile/desktop finding images based upon content (no keywords needed).

Assisted Culling is a new AI process that searches the whole catalog for images that meet certain criteria for acceptability . Sensei search is not that far removed in being implemented similarly.

 

[John R Ellis]

I just wish LrC worked like Google Photos. There I don't even have to enter any keywords yet searching for something utilizes Ai and pulls up most of the relevant photos in no time.

Lightroom Cloud's search (Sensei) works that way. I don't think it has been updated in years, though I see there's a "technology preview" (beta) of "Improved Search" (also called "semantic search"):
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-c.../add-and-organize-photos/semantic-search.html

Years ago, for just a few months, sync from LR Cloud into LR Classic was storing all the keywords used internally by Sensei in the LR Classic sync database, but then it stopped. It would have been pretty easy for LR Classic to search those. But that would go against Adobe's public pledge not to provide any more improvements to sync between LR Classic and LR Cloud.

 

[John R Ellis]

I just wish LrC worked like Google Photos. There I don't even have to enter any keywords yet searching for something utilizes Ai and pulls up most of the relevant photos in no time.

I've been using the Any Vision plugin's Prompt command to generate Extended Descriptions (via Google AI), which I then search via the Library Filter bar with "Extended Description contains ...". Though I keyword carefully People / Places/ Events, I'm finding the Extended Description search is often more convenient. Here's a recent example:

The extended description generated by Google AI:

"A grand antebellum mansion with a white facade, a central portico supported by large columns, and a balcony adorned with red bows, suggesting a festive holiday decoration. The house is framed by two massive, ancient oak trees with sprawling branches covered in Spanish moss, creating a dramatic entrance. A brick pathway leads to the front door, and the lawn is bathed in dappled sunlight, casting shadows from the trees. The sky above is a clear blue."​

​

Using Any Vision / Google is cheap compared to Excire -- you can process hundreds of thousands of photos for the price of Excire.

 

[clee01l]

Lightroom Cloud's search (Sensei) works that way. I don't think it has been updated in years, though I see there's a "technology preview" (beta) of "Improved Search" (also called "semantic search"):
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-c.../add-and-organize-photos/semantic-search.html
...
But that would go against Adobe's public pledge not to provide any more improvements to sync between LR Classic and LR Cloud.

If I could sync fullsize images from Classic to the Cloud I would use more of the Cloud apps.

I can see where Adobe could combine the Desktop features and the Classic features into one desktop app using either a catalog as in Classic or Local as in Desktop. I think this would reduce the number of people now needed to support both products.

 

[jrobnz]

I just wish LrC worked like Google Photos. There I don't even have to enter any keywords yet searching for something utilizes Ai and pulls up most of the relevant photos in no time.

I agree that would be great and LrC's people module isn't in the same league either. Another option similar to Excire is Peakto. I haven't used it but Greg Benz gave it a good review: https://gregbenzphotography.com/pho...-anything-in-lightroom-with-peakto-ai-search/

https://cyme.io/en/peakto-search-plugin-lightroom/

 

[UliP.]

Please note that Peakto is only available as a subscription. In contrast, Excire Search only requires a one-time payment without a subscription.

 

[jrobnz]

Please note that Peakto is only available as a subscription. In contrast, Excire Search only requires a one-time payment without a subscription.

It's a bit confusing but they have two products... a media management app and a separate LrC search plug-in. They both have a one-time purchase option though.

This is the LrC plug-in: https://cyme.io/en/store-peakto-search-plugin/

 

[UliP.]

The one-time purchase option of Peakto is new for me.

 

[John R Ellis]

Cyme's older photo-migration product Avalanche has an excellent reputation based on posts here and in the Adobe forum.

 

[John R Ellis]

Here's Andy Hutchinson's review of Any Vision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaB97jIDZp8&t=114s

 

[PhilBurton]

PeakTo is a Mac only product.

 

[clee01l]

PeakTo is a Mac only product.

I am trialing it now. I tried Excire several years ago and was not impressed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Juliette]

Lots of information here.... so based on what @clee01l said, it may be possible that Adobe could bring this functionality into LrC. Did I understand that correctly? Even if this is a wild conjecture I'd rather wait before purchasing a 3rd party tool.

 

[johnbeardy]

Lots of information here.... so based on what @clee01l said, it may be possible that Adobe could bring this functionality into LrC. Did I understand that correctly? Even if this is a wild conjecture I'd rather wait before purchasing a 3rd party tool.

You understood, and I think Adobe could do it if they wanted, but I really wouldn't bet on it ever happening.

 

[Juliette]

You understood, and I think Adobe could do it if they wanted, but I really wouldn't bet on it ever happening.

Yeah, I suppose that would trample over the push to cloud versions. Thanks. Lots to think about. @clee01l let us know about your PeakTo results please.

 

[John R Ellis]

it may be possible that Adobe could bring this functionality into LrC.

I too think it's very unlikely. It would be a significant upgrade to Library. But when Adobe introduced Lightroom Cloud in 2017, they publicly stated that (in the words of Lightroom Queen), "Future development of Lightroom Classic is being refocused on improving performance and enhancing the editing tools." That was eight years ago, but Adobe has been true to their word so far, with only small, incremental changes to Library to accommodate changes to photo editing.

 

[clee01l]

I too think it's very unlikely. It would be a significant upgrade to Library. But when Adobe introduced Lightroom Cloud in 2017, they publicly stated that (in the words of Lightroom Queen), "Future development of Lightroom Classic is being refocused on improving performance and enhancing the editing tools." That was eight years ago, but Adobe has been true to their word so far, with only small, incremental changes to Library to accommodate changes to photo editing.

I don’t think Assisted culling qualifies as an incremental change and in terms of implementation not that different from sensei. I remain hopeful.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[PhilBurton]

You understood, and I think Adobe could do it if they wanted, but I really wouldn't bet on it ever happening.

And even if Adobe implements this feature eventually, what about now? I'm going to hazard the guess that a third-party solution would be subscription-based, so when and if Adobe has this feature, you just cancel your subscription to the other solution.