Full-text search
The SQLite FTS5 engine searches names and metadata, tolerant of punctuation.
Photo catalog
Photo cataloging software that finds the image and its context.
Collections, keywords, a thesaurus, full-text search, and structured metadata: enough to find one precise image inside a corpus of tens of thousands of files.
In short
A photo catalog is a database describing your images without moving them. Obscura Flow indexes metadata, keywords, and descriptions in a local SQLite catalog, with full-text search, smart collections, and persistent inventory numbers.
- Local SQLite catalog, usable offline
- FTS5 full-text search and saved searches
- Manual, smart, and nested collections
- Thesaurus and controlled vocabulary
- RAW+JPEG pairing and version management
- Virtualized gallery for large corpora
Evidence
Pairing
Pairs are recognized automatically and handled as one asset, not two competing entries.
Standard output
Keywords and descriptions are written to XMP sidecars other software can read.
Organize without moving
A file can only live in one folder, but an image often belongs to several sets. Collections resolve that contradiction without touching the folder tree.
- Manual collections
- A hand-built selection, for an exhibition, an assignment, or a print run.
- Smart collections
- A rule instead of a list: contents update as the catalog evolves.
- Nested collections
- A hierarchy of series and sub-series matching how the work is actually structured.
- Untouched originals
- None of these operations moves or renames a file on disk.
Keywords that stay coherent
A corpus tagged as you go accumulates synonyms, plurals, and typos. Controlled vocabulary is what keeps a catalog from dissolving as it grows.
- Thesaurus
- A validated, hierarchical term list that free keywords can be promoted into.
- Counters
- Usage counts per keyword expose stray terms and vocabulary duplicates.
- People
- Grouped faces become named people, and then search criteria.
- Sidecar writes
- Keywords are written to an XMP sidecar readable by other software.
Retrieval, not just storage
A catalog is worth what it saves in time when answering a precise request, years after the shoot.
- Full-text search
- Across file names and metadata, tolerant of punctuation.
- Advanced search
- Rating, color label, flag, capture period, and scope combined into one query.
- Saved searches
- A useful query is recalled rather than rebuilt every time.
- Inventory numbers
- A stable identifier in PREFIX_YEAR_sequence form, independent of the file name.
Questions
Can it handle large archives?
Yes. SQLite cataloging, virtualized galleries, and parallel processing remain usable on tens of thousands of images.
Are EXIF/IPTC/XMP metadata supported?
Yes. They are read through ImageIO, and ExifTool when available, and underpin cataloging, search, migration, and preservation.
Are my original files modified?
No. The app is non-destructive: enriched metadata is written to XMP sidecars, never into the original files.
Can I import a Lightroom catalog?
Yes. Lightroom Classic catalog import (.lrcat) preserves originals, ratings, captions, color labels, keywords, collections, virtual copies, and stacks without changing your Lightroom catalog.
Does AI analysis upload my images?
No. Captions, objects, OCR, faces, and near-duplicate detection run on your Mac through Apple Vision and are disabled by default.
Decision
Build an archive that stays understandable.
Tell us about your context before the public opening of downloads and commercial offers.