Do you occasionally feel fed up with the tedious process of searching for, tagging, sifting through, and organizing your photos? I can understand.
For me, dealing with images has always been a burden. Although I recognize the importance of keywording, sorting, and culling, these tasks demand time and effort that I simply do not possess, particularly when I’d prefer to spend my limited free time capturing images rather than sitting at my desk, painstakingly tagging my files.
I dedicated years to trying to keep up with my ever-expanding photo library, yet I was never genuinely organized and certainly never felt like I was in charge. This led to three major issues:
- I struggled to locate specific photos when I required them. I’d waste an excessive amount of time scrolling through my Lightroom catalog, often resulting in no productive outcomes, which was extremely frustrating.
- I was unable to showcase my finest images to the public. Image management and culling were too time-consuming, so I frequently gave up midway or bypassed entire folders; consequently, I was continuously missing chances to review, edit, and share worthy images.
- Each new photo session felt less significant. I realized that most of my images would become lost in the metaphorical pile, leading me to question the value of taking new photographs in the first place. This diminished my motivation to continue, which also inhibited my growth as a photographer; since I was not consistently reviewing my new images, I was unable to learn from my errors and improve.
Then I stumbled upon Excire, and everything transformed.
You see, Excire’s AI-powered photo management tool eradicates traditional workflow impediments, allowing me to devote less time to file management and more to pursuing my passion. It has enabled me (at last) to get a handle on my image catalog, and I can now locate specific files in mere seconds (largely due to the prompt-search feature, which I elaborate on below!).
In recent years, Excire has been continually rising in popularity, yet many people remain unfamiliar with the software. Therefore, in this article, I want to present five reasons why Excire is a must-try image-management tool for every photographer.
Let’s jump right in!
Among Excire’s myriad AI-powered features, Find By Text Prompt is possibly my favorite. It’s not only exceptionally effective at retrieving particular images hiding deep within your catalog, but it’s also an enjoyable method to explore your existing photos and uncover images you never realized were there.
Additionally, the feature is extremely user-friendly. You simply open the prompt-search dialog box:
Next, you type a brief description of the image (or images) you are searching for:
Excire then almost instantly retrieves the relevant images from your catalog.
This process involves no manual labor on your part. During the setup phase—when you initially load your images into Excire—the AI of the program analyzes each file. Then, upon receiving your prompt, the AI fetches the images that best correspond to your query.
I must highlight that the prompt-search feature has virtually no learning curve. You simply summarize the files you are searching for in your own terms, and Excire locates them, regardless of their position in your catalog.
Moreover, prompt search not only grasps concrete descriptions such as “beach at sunset” or “golden retriever by a tree.” It also comprehends abstract concepts like “love,” “joy,” and “serenity”—allowing you to craft intricate queries to find the ideal photos for social media sharing, adding to your website, printing, and much more.
Secondly, the prompt-search tool cannot recognize specific individuals. If you’re on the hunt for a photo of your brother, Brad, you can describe his appearance, and Excire will examine your catalog for the corresponding image—but you cannot simply type “Brad” and expect Excire to identify him.
Luckily, the software encompasses another batch of functionalities that excel at locating (and managing) photos featuring individuals, as I shall explain in the subsequent section:
2. Excire’s Facial-Recognition Features Simplify Organizing Your People & Portrait Photos
Organizing images of family, friends, or clients can be challenging, particularly if you’re continuously adding to your collection. Categorizing photos of the same person, manually tagging names, and scrolling through vacation albums in search of specific relatives can be frustrating and time-consuming, and with…
Excire, it belongs to a bygone era.
Excire’s image-management software provides two distinct functions for locating pictures of individuals within your collection: Find Faces and Find People.
The Find Faces feature allows you to search your library for photographs based on the count of faces, the age range of the subjects, their gender, and whether or not they are smiling:
On the other hand, the Find People tool allows you to locate all images of a particular individual in your library using a reference photograph:
This means that with just one reference photograph, you can utilize Find People to identify all other images in your collection featuring the same person—making it effortless to assemble people-centric albums on the spot.
Furthermore, to enhance convenience, the latest edition of Excire—Excire Foto 2025—introduces new functionalities for managing portraits and individuals. You can attach name tags to faces, and Excire automatically generates corresponding People collections, which keep updating as youmore faces:
Moreover, you have the option to zoom in on faces in thumbnails and full-sized images for simpler identification. Excire also shows the sharpness of each face using various color labels:
Individually, each of these tools is excellent for accessing and organizing pictures of people in your library. However, when combined, they empower you to swiftly find, assess, and categorize thousands of images, which can greatly benefit any photographer—from hobbyists to portrait experts—helping them save considerable time.
And speaking of time-saving resources:
3. Excire’s Culling Module Assists You in Choosing Your Top Shots Instantly
Though I cherish photography, I am not fond of culling. Reviewing similar pictures one after another consumes excessive time, and after scrutinizing a few hundred shots, I become aesthetically numb—where every image seems equally pleasing (or unpleasing), making it challenging to make sound culling judgments.
I suspect that other photographers share this sentiment, or at least feel somewhat similarly. (And if you genuinely enjoy a prolonged photo culling session, I’d be curious to hear your insights in the comments!)
However, I’m pleased to announce that Excire Foto 2025 features a brand-new culling module that employs AI to expedite the review of batches of images at a rapid pace. Essentially, you instruct Excire to evaluate a group of images; it then assesses the photos and sorts them based on various attributes (visual similarity, content, specific individuals, sequences/bursts, etc.), which can be tailored to fit your workflow.
After that, you’re able to access the groups that meet your criteria, and you can sort images within those groups by a variety of beneficial traits: aesthetics, face sharpness, eye sharpness, whether subjects have their eyes open, whether they are smiling, and additional features.
Utilizing Excire in this manner transforms it into a versatile culling aid. Instead of dedicating time to manually scrutinizing numerous similar images, you can allow Excire to group and arrange the photos as needed. You can then effortlessly mark your favorites, which will automatically show up in the Selection bin.
If you aim to optimize your time even further while culling, you can instruct Excire to automatically select images from the outset. The software features a built-in smart selection option, allowing you to enter your criteria for selection, after which it utilizes AI to identify the top images from the batch.
Whether you choose to utilize Excire’s sorting features as a helper or as your main method for photo selection is entirely your decision. This is contingent on your inclinations—but what is particularly advantageous about Excire’s sorting module is its adaptability. You can begin by using the application as a culling assistant and gradually evolve to a more AI-centered workflow over time. Alternatively, you might adjust your workflow based on the type of shoot you’re organizing, relying on Excire’s intelligent selection for your more informal photos while dedicating additional time to manual choices for clients. Ultimately, you maintain authority, and you can tailor Excire’s features to meet your needs. For me, that’s AI-driven image management at its finest.
4. Excire Operates Locally on Your Computer to Guarantee Total Privacy
With all this discussion about AI, you may be (rightfully) concerned regarding privacy. After all, certain AI-concentrated photography applications do indeed upload user files to cloud storage, making you susceptible to data misuse and privacy violations.
Fortunately, with Excire, this is not a worry. Excire’s AI algorithms are created internally and function locally on the user’s computer. Consequently, none of your information is ever shared with third parties or accessed by external servers, and your images remain securely stored on your individual hard drives.
If you do wish to link your Excire catalog to the cloud, that option also exists. The standalone software provides integration with Google Drive and Dropbox, making it convenient to share photos online. (Excire is fully compatible with NAS systems as well.)
These integrations can definitely prove beneficial when managing your photos, but I would like to stress: Excire places a significant emphasis on user privacy. When utilizing Excire software, you can rest assured that your files are protected.
5. Excire Seamlessly Integrates Into Current Workflows
If you already have a type of image-management process established, don’t fret: Excire will not compel you to start anew. Once more, Excire software is crafted to be versatile, allowing you to incorporate its AI-driven toolkit into your existing workflow as necessary.
How is this achievable? Excire is available in two distinct formats: as a standalone application, Excire Foto 2025, and a Lightroom Classic plugin, Excire Search 2024.
Excire Foto 2025 serves as a comprehensive image-management application that offers both Excire’s cutting-edge AI tools and typical photo-organizing functionalities (e.g., image ratings, metadata filtering, collections, etc.).
Excire Search 2024, on the flip side, is a plugin that integrates Excire’s tools directly into the Lightroom Classic interface—allowing users to manage their Lightroom catalog with the assistance of Excire’s AI.
If you are very engaged in a Lightroom-centric workflow, then Excire Search 2024 is probably your best option. It includes most of the same features as Excire Foto 2025 (though a few of the newest features in the standalone program, such as AI-driven culling and face-tagging, have not yet been introduced to the plugin).
If you lack a comprehensive photo management solution, or if you predominantly work with applications like Luminar, Capture One, or Photoshop, then Excire Foto 2025 is likely the more suitable option. It can function alongside any of these applications—allowing you to search for and organize photos with Excire, then open the pertinent files for editing and/or printing in your chosen software.
Go Experience Excire’s Photo-Management Software for Yourself!
I’ve highlighted several of Excire’s most potent features, but there remains a wealth of functionalities that I didn’t include: AI keywording, intelligent aesthetic assessments, GPS searches, duplicate detection, and more. These are tools that can operate independently or in unison to ensure that your cherished images are always within reach while you maintain control over your catalog.
And you can give them a try yourself! You can download a complimentary 14-day trial of Excire Foto 2025 or Excire Search 2024. This way, you’ll know precisely what you’re getting, and you can see firsthand how Excire’s features can optimize your workflow.
With the groundbreaking features offered in Excire’s image-management programs, you can finally keep your image organization and culling in check, and truly enjoy the process of going through your image catalog. You can appreciate (and learn from!) your finest files, dedicating substantially more time to your photographic passion.
So visit the Excire website and download your complimentary trial—or take the plunge with a lifetime license for Excire Foto 2025 or Excire Search 2024!