The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/asheritess on 2024-06-04 18:04:28.
TLDR: Is there any program that will analyze my images for text and attach what it finds to its metadata or create an external index, such that I can search by text in finder/file explorer?
I'm currently using Apple's Photos to store nearly all my photos, in conjunction with periodically exporting my images from iCloud to hard drives.
I have a good degree of organization of my exported files, able to export them with dates attached. This is useful for finding photos from trips I know the dates of or walking down memory lane. I also backed up the actual Photo Libraries that the app loads back when they were manageable sizes that could be stored on my computer.
When I did work for distance learning, downloaded images, etc, the amount of images I generated skyrocketed. Since then iCloud's image recognition and character recognition abilities have become exceptional in my opinion, even processing frames of videos. However, this is not available on the desktop app.
My efficiency has increased, as on my phone I can search my indexed library going back years by date, location, subject, and text. As of late I have been delighted to see that I can also search by text for images in folders on my Mac. I want to reap these benefits on an external storage drive.
I've seen multiple image library applications with OCR capabilities. I understand that they are not able to handle such a large volume of images. I do like the convenience of scrolling through a library and am interested in hearing suggestions for these, although I have done some research myself. An issue that it poses is (in my experience) libraries doubling the amount of space my images take up by making their own copies for the library, and if I attempted to put all my photos into libraries that would take up so much space.
I wonder if an idea I have has been executed by anyone other than Apple: is there any program that will alter the metadata, or create an index independent of a library app, such that I could search by text within Finder(/file explorer)? I want to use this feature on my backup drives and have all my images processed like what my laptop is currently doing locally. Or alternatively, is there a way to use Apple's feature on an external drive?