If you’re serious about keeping your image database both organized and searchable, then I highly recommend you incorporate tagging into your workflow.
As a photographer myself, I can understand why image tagging is generally viewed as tedious, time-consuming, and downright unpleasant; after all, who wants to spend hours each week carefully applying tags to images when they could be out photographing?
Fortunately, recent AI-powered technology has made tagging much, much easier. In fact, with powerful tagging software combined with an efficient workflow, you can keep your photos organized and searchable by spending just a few minutes per week (or even per month) managing your database. That’s what I do, and in this article, I explain my step-by-step process so you can do the same.
So if you’re ready to learn how to save time and tag your files effectively, let’s get started!
What Is Photo Tagging?
Photo tagging refers to the process of labeling your image files so they can be organized and/or located later on. In general, photographers (and image archivists) tag their files with keywords – that is, words or phrases that describe the photos – though you can always choose to tag your photos with non-descriptive labels (such as numbers or alphanumeric strings).
Tagging is generally done by an image-management program, such as Excire Foto 2024, Adobe Lightroom Classic, or Capture One Pro. Of course, these programs aren’t designed only for tagging and image retrieval; in addition to tagging/keywording, you can use a photo manager to group photos into albums and collections, to add ratings and color labels, and (in some cases) to edit files.
It’s important to note that image-tagging methods vary depending on the program you use to manage your files and the type of file you’re attempting to tag. If you’re working with RAW files, some programs – such as Excire Foto and Adobe Lightroom Classic – can be set to automatically save new keywords to XMP (sidecar) files, though you also have the option to store these tags in a separate database. With certain file formats (JPEG, TIFF), you can even embed your tags directly into the files.
Why Is It So Important to Tag Your Photos?
For a long time, I did absolutely zero image tagging; instead, when I filled up a memory card, I transferred the files to my hard drive, and then I added them to Lightroom Collections. (For non-Lightroom users, Collections are essentially just virtual folders that exist inside Lightroom.)
This approach worked for a while, but as the number of photos in my Lightroom catalog grew, it became more and more difficult to find the images that I needed despite my Collection-based workflow. I realized that consistent image tagging was essential, and I ultimately turned to Excire Foto 2024 (a program with automatic keywording capabilities) for my image-tagging needs.
While I’ll talk more about Excire Foto 2024 and other image-organization programs in a minute, I want to emphasize: Unless you have a very small number of photos, it’s important to develop a regular tagging workflow. Without descriptive tags, you’ll waste more and more time trying to find specific images that are buried deep in your image catalog, and you’ll find yourself overwhelmed by thousands of photos with no real way to appreciate them. Once descriptive tags have been applied to your images, however, you’ll be able to use keyword-search functions and keyword hierarchies to quickly retrieve and categorize your shots.
Fortunately, applying tags to your photos doesn’t have to be hard. You can get in the habit of doing it regularly so that you spend a few minutes each day or week keeping your tags up to date, or you can rely on an AI-powered program (or plugin) to do the heavy lifting for you!
Tagging for Yourself vs Tagging for Others
So far, I’ve talked about tagging in the context of locating and organizing photos in your own image databases and on your own hard drives.
For most photographers, myself included, that’s all that matters: being able to organize and then find images as needed. That might be because you need to deliver files to a client, because you want to add files to your online portfolio, or because you’d like to share files on social media. Regardless, the tags are for you, so you can choose tags that you’ll remember later on and that’ll allow you to retrieve your images as needed.
However, a small subset of photographers tag not so that they can find their images, but so that others can find the images. Here I’m referring primarily to photographers who publish work on stock sites.
If you’re a stock photographer, it’s important that you take a different approach to tagging – at least for choosing the tags to use when uploading images to stock sites. Instead of creating tags based on what you’ll remember and how you like to search for files, you must create tags based on what potential customers will remember and how potential customers search for files.
To get a feel for how stock photographers tag their photos, you can always check out a popular stock website such as Getty Images. Browse through photos that are similar to your own, and make mental (or physical) notes of the tagging strategies you see.
Some stock photography websites have specific tagging requirements – for instance, a minimum and maximum number of keywords that you should apply – so always keep this in mind as you go about your tagging workflow. When in doubt, however, tag more, not less. The more tags you apply to a file, the more likely it is that the image will be found by a customer!
Note: The “tag more” rule does not apply to personal tagging. When you’re tagging for your own catalog, choose labels that you’ll remember. You don’t need to be restrained in your tagging, but you shouldn’t waste time applying keywords that won’t be helpful down the line.
Manual vs Automatic Tagging
Up until recently, tagging was entirely manual. You reviewed each image, and you applied your own descriptive keywords. Sure, you could streamline the process by bulk-adding keywords to certain photoshoots or by maintaining a list of your core keywords for reference, but at the end of the day, it was all done by you, the photographer.
Now, however, some cutting-edge programs offer AI-powered tagging to help you save time. The specifics depend on the software in question, but here’s the basic approach:
- Step 1: You upload or import your photos into the program.
- Step 2: The program’s AI model analyzes your images.
- Step 3: Based on the analysis in Step 2, the program’s AI model applies relevant tags to each file, which you can then view and modify as needed.
Theoretically, an auto-tagging tool should prevent you from ever tagging your photos again; you could just sit back and let the AI take care of the entire workflow. In practice, of course, things aren’t so simple. AI models can apply keywords incorrectly, and they also tend to pull from a limited database of tags that may not be specific enough for your purposes.
Fortunately, I’ve used a few AI keywording tools – including those offered by Excire Foto 2024 and the Excire Search 2024 Lightroom plugin – that do a very nice job of applying a high volume of accurate keywords. Excire’s X-tags AI is so good that you may be able to completely eliminate tagging from your workflow and simply search for images using the Find By Keyword tool (as well as the Find By Text Prompt tool, discussed below).
Bottom line: I personally use Excire’s auto-tagging features, and I definitely recommend them. I also think it’s important to recognize that AI-based tagging can be used to speed things along, but that you can always include a manual-tagging phase of your workflow to supplement the initial AI-applied sets of keywords. (Excire Foto 2024 makes it easy to identify and remove inaccurate keywords and to bulk-apply additional manual keywords if needed!)
My Recommended Tagging Workflow
The ideal tagging workflow will depend on your personal preferences, not to mention the photo-organization software you use. Briefly, however, I want to walk you through my own tagging workflow in Excire Foto 2024.
Since Excire Foto 2024 includes an effective AI-tagging tool, I like to start by letting the software take a first crack at my images. When I import a new batch of photos, I make sure that Analyze photos is selected:
I wait for the program to do its thing, then I take a look at the tags that Excire’s AI has added. I often just click on the first image in the set of new images, then use the arrow keys to scroll through the rest while keeping an eye on the keywords visible on the right-hand side:
Sometimes, I find that Excire’s AI has done such a good job that I don’t need to do much – or any – adjusting. But most of the time, as I scroll through, I’ll delete any keywords that aren’t quite right, and I’ll also add isolated keywords that I feel should be included for categorization and search purposes.
Once I’m done with my initial pass, I like to consider broader keywords that I can apply to a series of images, or even the entire set. For a beach portrait photoshoot, for instance, I might want to tag the files with the beach location as well as the names of the subjects.
That’s when Excire’s manual keywording tools come in handy! I’ll simply select the entire set of files (or the relevant subset of files), and I’ll type the new keywords in the Keywords panel on the right-hand side.
Then – voila! – my custom keywords will be applied!
Tagging vs Prompt Search
As I explained earlier in this article, image tagging is essential for both categorizing and retrieving files from your catalog.
But there’s also a second tool that I use to quickly find photos: Excire’s Find By Text Prompt. It doesn’t rely on tagging or keywording; instead, once the AI has analyzed your image database, you can simply type a description of the image you’re looking for, and the relevant file will appear!
It’s ridiculously fast, and it’s ridiculously accurate, too. In fact, I now use it far more than I use keyword-based search tools – it’s that good.
I do want to emphasize: While prompt search is great, I can’t guarantee that it’ll completely replace your tagging workflow. There are times when I prefer to use keyword-based searches to find images, so if you do have Excire Foto 2024 (or Excire’s Lightroom plugin, Search 2024, which also offers the prompt-search feature), it’s important to think about the value of keywording before giving it up entirely.
Keep Your Photos Tagged and Your Catalog Organized!
Well, there you have it: An in-depth guide to tagging your images.
Photo tagging might sound tedious, but it’s an important part of image organization. Plus, thanks to advances in AI technology, you can now spend less time tagging your photos and more time photographing!
Hopefully, you now have a better grasp of the tagging options available to you, and you understand how to develop an efficient yet effective approach to tagging and organizing your photos.
Good luck, and happy tagging!
