I've been a fan of Peakto image management software since it first launched. I find it indispensable for locating photos, and it offers advanced features that are missing from the "big boys" like Adobe Lightroom. It's Mac only, which will displease some photographers, but it's been that way since the first release.
Basically, you point Peakto to a folder, folders, or volumes, and it will find all the images, categorize them by the usual metadata, and add a layer of AI allowing you to search by more intangible terms, like "sunset" or "smiling people."
Version 2.0, released today by France based software company CYME, adds to the feature set in some significant ways.
- Face Recognition boosted with AI: instantly tags people in batches, saving tons of time, using a private AI that analyzes content privately. Peakto can retrieve faces already annotated in Apple Photos and Lightroom.
- Unique Timeline View: Peakto leads innovation with AI-powered image categorization, now enhanced with a dynamic interactive timeline in V2.
- Comprehensive Global Search: Effortlessly locate photos and videos across all catalogs and files.
- Video Frame Search: Quickly find specific moments within videos.
- Offline Video Browsing: Browse videos without needing an internet connection.
- Enhanced Media Annotations: Create detailed annotations for photos and videos from one interface.
Another change people will be enthusiastic about touched on above is that Peakto will see your face recognition annotations in your Lightroom or Apple Photo catalogs. This is going to be very welcome to photographers, who otherwise would have to enter that data in again. And of course, you can now search on those names to locate the images in Peakto.
Other enhancements to this latest version include:
- Streamlined User Interface: A refined design ensures seamless navigation and intuitive operation. And it's now possible to detach the photo preview and the EXIF information panel from the Peakto Sidebar.
- Batch Catalog Addition: Effortlessly integrate multiple catalogs to streamline content organization.
- Advanced Filtering Capabilities: New tools enable precise content sorting and management.
- Background Menu Bar Mode: Stay connected with Peakto while it discreetly operates in the background.
Peakto can regroup catalogs from Apple Photos, Aperture, Lightroom & Lightroom Classic, Luminar Neo, Capture One, ON1 Photo RAW, Pixelmator Pro, DxO PhotoLab/PureRAW, FotoMagico, iView Media, and folders and hard drives. It supports all video formats natively supported by macOS (mov, mog4…).
With a click, you can open any image file and edit it in the software of your choice.
Setting the software up is quite easy. Tell Peakto where your images are and leave it alone. If you have thousands of photos, it may take a few hours. From then on, it will incrementally and automatically add new images as they arrive.
Happily, the AI feature is local to your computer. It's not going off to a server somewhere else. If you are focused on security and privacy, you'll appreciate that.
Using Peakto
I had a late beta and found Peakto well-behaved. I applaud the updates, love the face search recognizing faces from Lightroom and Apple Photos, and the conversational search feature has been a lifesaver.
For me, the AI-based conversational search is the standout feature. For example, I was looking for some drone photos of churches from the air. By simply typing my keywords, they were on my screen.
I started with a loose search, and it got some close hits, but not exact ones. Tightening up the AI got it exactly. So, two clicks for perfect matches. And the AI took care of everything. I did not have to manually add any keywords or annotations when adding images to the database.
Cactus photos at sunset were easy and would otherwise have taken me hours.
Another feature I like is the "find similar" button. I had an image from an Arizona ghost town and wanted to see what else I had. One click and I had 472 similar images. If I wanted the exact same building, I could request a tighter search, and I got 14 of the exact same building. For a photographer, this kind of power is life-changing.
In this example, typing the word "fences" brought up images I wouldn't have thought of, but that were useful.
One can go quite deep in searching, including looking for similar metadata.
All is not perfect with any software, and that's true of Peakto. The conversational search feature, while moved to the main screen in the latest version, is still a separate control, while I consider that AI search probably the most important search method. If I was designing the interface, it would be part of the main search box. Now, if you use the main search, it offers the option to do a conversational search, but that's another click. It might be better to let the user choose how he or she wants to interact with such an important function.
Pricing
Peakto is available from CYME as a subscription or as an unlimited license:
- Monthly subscription: $9.99
- 12-month subscription: $89 (-25%)
- 24-month subscription: $129 (-45%) - introductory offer $99 until Sunday, June 30th
- Unlimited license: $189 (free updates for 12 months)
Peakto subscription includes a 7-day free trial.
Configuration
Peakto is optimized for Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3…) but runs on Mac Intel with a powerful GPU too. Peakto requires macOS 12 (Monterey) or later.
What I Liked
- It's fast and stable.
- It provides a unique and powerful way to find images and doesn't require adding keywords.
- Searches are local and do not require an external server.
- Saves me hours of searching for images.
What Could Be Improved
- The GUI can be confusing to a new user.
- Most used features need to be displayed more boldly.
- Would really like to see a global search that includes the conversational search feature, not a separate tool.
Summing Up
This is very powerful software. It has a few design quirks as mentioned, but I would not want to do my photographic work without it. It's frequently updated, and the team at CYME seems very dedicated to making Peakto more and more powerful, and this latest update shows that dedication.
There are some other AI-based image management tools out there, but none with the depth and power of Peakto. Now that Peakto can search video frames, I can see videographers getting very excited about this software.
Pricing is a bit higher than I'd like, and the "unlimited license" doesn't seem all that unlimited since it only gives you a year of updates.
Highly recommended for its power and elegance.
I use NeoFnder for the same tasks. Quick and easy. No subscriptions. I think I paid $35 for the program.
Completely different apps. Neofinder has no machine learning tools and therefore no conversational search - it is only as good as your keywording, ratings or metadata and no more sophisticated than the Spotlight search built into all Macs.
Funny, Mylio Photos has had AI search for a year now. Everything written in this review Mylio Photos is also capable of except search within video files. Mylio also had the advantage of syncing across unlimited devices. I currently have 8 devices including iPhone, iPad and the rest Mac computers that all have access to my 1.6 Million image library. All in one catalog that moves like lightning on all my devices. I’m pumping Mylio a bit here due to so few publications taking it seriously. It’s an absolutely amazing program and really worth a look. These guys should look into it as well.
We have a review coming up.
Let me know if I can be of any help Mel. I'm currently shooting in South Africa and have been for the past three weeks. Many of my images have already been sent back to Montana where I'm based.