Organizing photos can be a daunting task. Thankfully, there is plenty of great software that can help you with the process. If you find yourself with thousands of digital photos you’ll need to find the best photo organizing software for your needs. This post will recommend some of the best free and paid photo organizing software out there.
Photo organizing software is a great way for you to organize all the photos that are just sitting on your computer. These are just random photos that you have taken or that people have sent to you, or that you have downloaded from the internet. This photo organizing software lets you find the photos, store them in an easy manner, tag them so your search can be easier, and it even has a built-in slideshow feature so you can enjoy the photos at any time.
Adobe Lightroom CC
First launched in 2006, Adobe Lightroom today remains the industry standard for photo organization amongst professional photographers. It’s also popular amongst amateurs and semi-pros, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Lightroom CC is cloud-based, so you can organize and edit your images using whatever laptop, phones or tablet you have to hand, wherever you are. If you like the idea of keeping on top of your image organization while you’re out on a shoot, rather than waiting to get home when you’re too tired, then that is a big plus. (Note: there is a separate version called Lightroom Classic which is desktop only, so don’t confuse the two).
Secondly, Lightroom offers multiple ways to organize your photos. You can manage them as albums or stacks; and further organize them using keywords, metadata, flags, and ratings. Whatever you choose, you’ll find it easy to find and filter your photos thanks Adobe’s smart AI technology, Sensei, which is constantly being developed and improved. Face recognition was one recent addition to Lightroom, and because this is subscription software, you get the latest updates automatically.
Lightroom isn’t quite as powerful as Photoshop when it comes to image editing, but it’s still pretty capable. Edits are non-destructive, which means you can go back to previous versions of your images at will, and some photographers find they can do all their editing in Lightroom without ever having to bother with Photoshop.
One thing worth noting is that you have to import your images into Lightroom before you can start editing and managing them, which is not the case with some other photo organizer software.
Adobe Bridge
Lightroom is not the only tool Adobe provides for organizing your photos. There’s also Adobe Bridge, a creative asset manager that lets you preview, organize, edit and publish multiple creative assets quickly and easily.
The interface looks very similar to Lightroom’s. And if you subscribe to the Creative Cloud, the Creative Cloud Photography Plan, or just Lightroom, you’ll have access to both of them. So what’s the difference, and which should you use for your photo organization?
Essentially, Lightroom is more of a standalone, self-contained editing and organization suite for photos; while Adobe Bridge is more of a file finder and organizational tool that works across all Adobe apps and file types. Both work on Windows and Mac, but only Lightroom works on mobile devices.
The main things a photographer will use Adobe Bridge for in practice are adding and editing keywords, labels, ratings etc to your images, organizing them into collections, and finding specific images by using its powerful filters and advanced metadata search features.
Overall, Adobe Bridge is more limited than Lightroom in terms of image editing and photo organization: it lacks facial recognition. It’s also worth remembering that Bridge is not just about images but all kinds of assets. So it also supports document formats such as doc, Docx, odt, and ott, as well as HTML, PDF, INDD (InDesign), and AI (Adobe Illustrator) files.
Many people don’t realize that Adobe Bridge is free to use if you set up an Adobe ID: you don’t actually need a Creative Cloud subscription. As its clever integrations with Adobe software are its main selling point, that might seem pointless. But if you have zero cash, it still has a lot to offer.
Meanwhile, if you already have a Creative Cloud subscription, it’s worth seeing what Adobe Bridge can do, even if you’re already using Lightroom. The two tools do work in very different ways, and when it comes to photo organization, there may be some workflows that you find easier and smoother in Adobe Bridge.
ACDSee Photo Studio Professional
Don’t want to take out a subscription and prefer to pay a one-off fee? Then we recommend ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2021, which is available for a one-purchase that gets you a lifetime license and one year of free updates. That said, you also have the option of taking out a subscription, which includes 50GB of cloud storage.
This digital asset management and photo editing software let you organize your images by keyword, date, categories (such as People, Places, etc), location, color labels, camera used, and ratings.
You can import directly from your camera and other devices, and unlike Lightroom, you can access all the images on your computer, even if you haven’t imported them into the software. Flagship features include facial recognition and face detection, the ability to rename images in batches, the option to import established keyword lists, and customizable keyboard shortcuts.
A total of 86 file formats are supported, from the obvious ones such as RAW, TIFF, JPG, and PSD, to more specialist types like the media container format HEIF, used by newer iPhones. The interface is fully customizable. And the makers boast significant speed improvements in the latest (2021) version. Note, however, that ACDSee Photo Studio Professional is available for Windows only, and the image editing tools are fairly basic.
Magix Photo Manager
Magix Photo Manager is a free photo organization app that helps you edit, sort, and organize your photos and videos. Its optimized user interface helps you make quick edits, develop easily shareable slideshows, and directly import pictures from the camera.
You can also leverage its adjustable view modes and custom albums to find videos and photos from your library. Plus, you can rate and categorize images for better management.
To highlight your photos correctly, it offers a dark-colored background. Finally, share your photos and videos directly from Magix’s dashboard to several social media channels like YouTube.
All in all, Magix lets you manage, present, and share your photos and videos from a single dashboard.
Key Features:
- Cloud Import – Import images directly from multiple cloud storage services. This can help you merge your local photo libraries with the pictures already stored in the cloud.
- Wireless Import – You can use WiFi to upload your videos and photos directly from your smartphone.
- Facial Recognition – Magix photo manager can detect faces to help you find photos of a particular person easily. You can save up to 10 faces with its free version.
Pros
- You can optimize color, sharpness, contrast, and brightness of images in just a few clicks.
- Easily back-up your media to DVD, CD, and hard drive.
- Burn your slideshows straight to a DVD or CD.
- Describe images with memories, locations, and names.
- You can also add music, commentary, and sound to your slideshows.
- It provides 600 MB free disk space for program installation.
Google Photos
Google Photos is a free photo management software that lets you backup and accesses your videos and photos from any device.
You can either drag and drop your photos directly from your system to Google Photos or click on the “upload” button.
Once uploaded in cloud storage, Google Photos automatically organizes all your photos and makes them searchable. You just have to enter relevant keywords in the search bar to find the picture you are looking for. It also allows you to search for images based on various factors like events, people, and locations.
You can also easily share your picture or albums with friends and family. You just have to select the media you want to share or create a link to post it on any social media channel.
Google Photos also offers editing tools and various filters to help you edit and save your images.
Besides, it lets you sync your files to all your devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and computers.
Key Features:
- Photo Prints – You can get your photos and libraries printed in an album, photo books, and canvas prints. It also offers a same-day pickup at your local CVS or Walmart. The prices for photo prints start from $0.25.
- Suggested Sharing – Google Photos’ ‘Suggested Sharing’ feature shows photo groups at the top and reflects events along with face bubbles.
- Albums Page – Its AI engine automatically shows pages with the photo along with the albums you create.
Pros:
- You can adjust the exposure, color, and brightness of images.
- It creates metadata and processes photos in bulk.
- AI-based assistant creates animation and slide-shows using similar images.
- It automatically captures geolocation and image information from digital cameras and smartphones.
- You can use an object-based search to find files whose names you don’t remember.
- You can upload images in multiple resolutions according to your storage availability.
Piktures
Piktures uses a slick three-pane interface to help you navigate your photo collection. The main center panel displays the currently selected album; swiping right brings up a tiled list of your albums that you can sort as you see fit while swiping to the left shows you geotagged labels for sorting your images by location. An optional Calendar view also places your photos on a calendar for sorting images by date taken. Additional tools include a slideshow mode, resizing tools, a video or GIF player, and a photo vault for hiding images.
Slidebox
Photo organizer app Slidebox takes a Tinder-like approach to sort through your picture reel: there’s a quick, swipe-driven interface for sifting through your locally stored photos, screenshots, and other assorted images. When you enter the app, all of your unsorted photos are presented to you in a queue. Swiping left or right moves through your queue, swiping up tosses a photo into a trash bin, and tapping on a series of labels at the bottom of the screen allows you to save photos into albums or create new ones.
In addition, there are tools for comparing similar photos and sharing entire albums over email or text. The iOS version also offers a subscription-based cloud backup option for up to 10,000 images at $4.99 per month. Otherwise, Slidebox is a compact tool that’s all about getting your photos right into the albums you want them in.
Flickr
Flickr still offers a good deal in the online photo storage business, although it’s not as good as it once was. Where it used to offer 1TB of free cloud storage, the photo management app now limits free users to 1,000 photos stored online for free. If that’s not enough for you, you can upgrade to the paid Pro package for perks such as unlimited storage at full resolution, and support for videos at up to 10 minutes in length; that costs $6.99 / month on a month-by-month basis, or $59.99 for a year.
Flickr includes automatic uploading, as well as smart search features. That means that organization isn’t as dependent on users manually tagging each photo. The default Camera Roll groups your photos by date, and social features let you share your photos as well as keep track of images shared by your friends and other users.
Conclusion: Organizing photos gives you the ability to keep your photos in one place. Whether you’re organizing them by a family member, event, or another classification, photo organizing software helps you do the job quickly and easily.