The idea for this article came about from a lot of frustration. Frustration that in 2023, we can generate a lifelike image from words, but the reverse seems nearly impossible. The results from companies that say they have the ultimate solution for keywording your images are far from the claims. Many of those keywords that were generated are laughable. Until you get tired of laughing and get irritated at what they churn out after analyzing your images. All the four keywording plugins tested here were narrowed down to after a few weeks of research. And at least three of them will do an exceptional job of keywording your images in Adobe Lightroom Classic.
“But what compels companies to release software that gives such embarrassing results?”
Table of Contents
The Conundrum
AI is all across the photography software industry now. Skylum may have been one of the first to significantly showcase it. Adobe has wholeheartedly embraced it of late. Every now and then, a few companies launch software that claims they are the one-stop AI-imbibed solution for your editing and workflow needs. Many of these claims simply don’t hold up. Especially when it comes to analyzing your photographs and generating keywords and/or categories for them. I nearly tore my hair out trying to understand the AI logic behind the keywording in Peakto from CYME.
Mylio wasn’t much better at keywording either. Or smart tagging, as they prefer to call it.
Both these software I had high hopes for. This ultimately led to crushing disappointment. Seeing the kind of tags/keywords they both kept coming up with was disheartening. These weren’t even for images that could be assumed as ambiguous. For some of those photos, even a preschooler would have been more accurate with giving keywords. I am absolutely understanding of the fact that AI isn’t perfect and gets better with time. I clearly noted this in my Mylio review. But what compels companies to release software that gives such embarrassing results? I concluded that the standalone software that does keywording isn’t quite up to the mark yet after filing that last article. That’s when I remembered I had read of some AI keywording plugins for Adobe Lightroom Classic.
The Solution(s)?
This article focuses on 4 AI keywording plugins available for Adobe Lightroom Classic. Unfortunately, none of these, or any others, seem to be currently available for keywording in Capture One Pro. That’s a real shame, as I know Capture One users like myself would greatly appreciate such solutions.
None of these four plugins are entirely free. Some allow you to generate keywords for a certain number of images before a payment or donation is required. Others are available to try out for free for a certain number of days before you need to sign up for a plan. Otherwise, you need to buy credits to keyword a certain number of images. The four tested here are:
The Images
I tested the same 26 images across all four plugins
The Results
The table below shows the comparison of the keywords generated by the respective AI keywording plugins I tested against the above photographs. No spelling or grammar correction has been done to any of the keywords listed in the table below:
Excire | MyKeyworder | Wordroom | LrTag |
---|---|---|---|
Architecture, Car, Door, Unsaturated, Vehicle < Content | alloy wheel, Asphalt, Automotive design, automotive exterior, automotive lighting, automotive parking light, Automotive tire, Automotive wheel system, Building, bumper, car, fender, hood, landscape, Motor vehicle, performance car, personal luxury car, Rim, Rolling, Sky, Tire, tread, Vehicle, vehicle door, Wheel | Asphalt, auto, automobile, cab, car, city, Drive, driving, fast, Garage, Light, luxury, modern, motion, motor, Motor vehicle, Race, racer, Road, speed, sport, sports car, Street, traffic, transport, transportation, urban, Vehicle, Wheel, wheeled vehicle | alloy wheel, Automotive design, automotive exterior, automotive lighting, Automotive tire, Building, car, fender, hood, Land vehicle, Motor vehicle, personal luxury car, Rim, Rolling, Sky, Tire, Vehicle, vehicle door, Wheel |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, Door | ancient history, arch, Art, brick, brickwork, brown, carving, city, classical architecture, evening, facade, historic site, history, holy places, landscape, medieval architecture, molding, monument, place of worship, Red Fort, Roof, Sky, symmetry, temple, tourism, wood | ancient, architecture, brick, Building, cathedral, church, city, dome, facade, famous, historic, historical, history, Landmark, minaret, monastery, monument, Mosque, old, palace, religion, religious, religious residence, residence, Roof, Sky, tourism, Tower, travel, University | brown, city, facade, Sky, symmetry |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, Nature, Romantic, Sepia Tones, Silhouette, Sky < Nature, Sunset < Nature, Tower < Building | Afterglow, Astronomical object, Atmospheric phenomenon, backlighting, Bird, Calm, city, dawn, Dusk, finial, heat, horizon, landscape, Morning, palm tree, Plant, Red sky at morning, Sky, Sun, Sunlight, Sunrise, Sunset, Tints and shades, tree, vertebrate | ancient, architecture, Building, cathedral, church, city, Cloud, cross, culture, dome, exterior, faith, famous, historic, historical, history, Landmark, minaret, monument, Mosque, old, pray, prayer, religion, religious, Sky, structure, tourism, Tower, travel | Afterglow, Astronomical object, Atmospheric phenomenon, Bird, Calm, city, Dusk, horizon, Morning, Plant, Red sky at morning, Sky, Sunlight, Sunrise, Sunset, Tints and shades, tree, vertebrate |
Airplane < Vehicle, Low Contrast, Travel, Vehicle < Content | aerobatics, aerospace engineering, aerospace manufacturer, air racing, air show, air sports, air travel, aircraft, airline, Airplane, Aviation, balance, bird migration, electric blue, Event, fighter aircraft, flight, general aviation, jet aircraft, military aircraft, monoplane, public event, Sky, Vehicle, wing | air, aircraft, airfoil, Airplane, Aviation, birds, conveyance, craft, device, fighter, flight, fly, flying, formation, high, jet, military, military vehicle, Plane, show, Sky, smoke, speed, transport, transportation, travel, Vehicle, warplane, wing, wings | aerobatics, aerospace manufacturer, air travel, aircraft, Airplane, Aviation, electric blue, military aircraft, Sky, Vehicle |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, Tower < Building | Art, Atmospheric phenomenon, Building, city, Cityscape, Cloud, commercial building, composite material, condominium, Downtown, engineering, horizon, landscape, Metropolis, Metropolitan area, mixed-use, Morning, Plant, Sky, Skyline, Skyscraper, spire, Tower, Tower block, urban design | architecture, Building, chimney, city, electricity, energy, environment, factory, flagpole, generator, industrial, industry, Landmark, landscape, memorial, monument, pollution, power, Sky, Skyline, staff, station, structure, Tower, travel, turbine, urban, urban area, wind, windmill | Atmospheric phenomenon, Building, city, Cityscape, Cloud, horizon, Metropolis, Metropolitan area, Morning, Plant, Sky, Skyscraper, Tower, Tower block |
Colorful, Food < Content | arm, Art, bangle, bracelet, close-up, Event, fashion accessory, finger, flesh, gesture, hand, henna, human leg, Jewellery, magenta, Mehndi, nail, pattern, peach, ritual, sari, thumb, tradition, visual arts, wrist | Art, bakery, bangle, Breakfast, bright, brown, celebrate, celebration, close, color, colorful, culture, decoration, decorative, delicious, design, festive, Food, glass, gold, golden, Holiday, new, object, ribbon, seasonal, sweet, tradition, Traditional, winter | arm, bangle, Event, finger, gesture, hand, henna, Jewellery, Mehndi, nail, pattern, sari, wrist |
Adult, Animal, Beard, Face, Frontal Face, Herbivore, Horse < Mammal, Male, Mammal, Person, Sport, Sunglasses, Two Faces | animal sports, bit, bridle, competition event, equestrian helmet, equestrian sport, equestrianism, flat racing, helmet, Horse, horse racing, horse supplies, horse tack, jockey, mane, race track, Racing, Recreation, rein, saddle, sorrel, Sports, sports equipment, sports gear, sports uniform | action, animal, animals, bridle, Competition, equestrian, equine, farm, grass, harness, Horse, horseback, horses, jockey, mallet, mammal, mare, outdoors, polo mallet, Race, Racing, ride, rider, riding, saddle, speed, sport, stallion, support, thoroughbred | animal sports, bit, bridle, equestrian sport, equestrianism, Face, flat racing, helmet, Horse, horse supplies, horse tack, jockey, mane, Outdoor recreation, race track, Racing, Recreation, rein, saddle, Sports, sports equipment, sports gear, sports uniform |
Animal, Bird < Animal, Bright, Flamingo < Bird, Low Contrast, Unsaturated | Art, beak, Bird, ciconiiformes, Event, feather, Flamingo, freshwater marsh, greater flamingo, lacustrine plain, Lake, landscape, natural landscape, neck, pelecaniformes, pond, reflection, reservoir, seabird, Water, water bird, waterfowl, wetland, Wildlife, wing | animals, aquatic bird, beak, Bird, birds, feather, feathers, Flamingo, flock, fly, grace, heron, Lake, long, neck, outdoors, Pink, pond, reflection, river, standing, stork, tropical, wading bird, Water, wild, Wildlife, wing, wings, zoo | beak, Bird, feather, Flamingo, greater flamingo, Lake, neck, seabird, Water, waterfowl |
Animal, Colorful, Fish < Marine Animal, Group, Marine Animal, Person | Aquarium, blue, electric blue, entertainment, Event, fin, Fish, fun, leisure, marine biology, ocean, organism, performing arts, Recreation, science, suit, tourism, underwater, vertebrate, Water, world | animal, aqualung, Aquarium, aquatic, Athlete, coral, deep, dive, diver, diving, exotic, explorer, Fish, life, marine, ocean, person, reef, saltwater, scuba, scuba diver, sea, Sun, sunbeam, Sunlight, swimmer, travel, tropical, underwater, Water | blue, electric blue, fin, Fish, leisure, marine biology, organism, underwater, vertebrate, Water, world |
Coffee < Drink, Dish, Drink, Food < Content, Unsaturated | Coffee, coffee cup, cuisine, Cup, cutlery, deep frying, dish, dishware, drinkware, fast food, finger food, Food, fork, french fries, fried food, ingredient, kitchen utensil, plate, produce, recipe, serveware, staple food, table, tableware, Tea | cooked, cooking, cuisine, delicious, diet, dinner, dish, eat, eating, fresh, fried, gourmet, healthy, Lunch, meal, meat, noodles, nutrition, Pasta, plate, potato, Restaurant, root vegetable, sauce, spaghetti, starches, tasty, tomato, vegetable, vegetables | coffee cup, Cup, deep frying, dish, dishware, drinkware, fast food, Food, fork, french fries, fried food, ingredient, kitchen utensil, plate, recipe, serveware, staple food, table, tableware |
Adult, Eyes Open, Face, Frontal Face, Male, One Face, Person, Portrait < Person, Unsaturated | beard, black-and-white, collar, dress shirt, facial hair, flash photography, forehead, formal wear, happy, Monochrome, monochrome photography, moustache, Portrait, portrait photography, sitting, sleeve, smile, Street, style, white-collar worker | adult, attractive, beard, business, businessman, casual, confident, Corporate, executive, Face, guy, handsome, happy, indoors, lifestyle, looking, male, man, mature, men, office, people, person, Portrait, professional, shirt, sitting, smile, smiling, work | beard, black, black-and-white, collar, dress shirt, Eyebrow, facial hair, flash photography, forehead, Monochrome, monochrome photography, style, white |
Colorful, Dark, Nature, Palm Tree, Plant < Nature, Travel, Wood | darkness, diwali, entertainment, Event, Festival, Fire, Fireworks, flash photography, fun, grass, heat, Holiday, landscape, midnight, nature, New Year, new year’s eve, Night, Plant, public event, Recreation, Sky, space, stock photography, tree | Beach, cabbage tree, coast, coconut, Holiday, island, landscape, Light, Night, ocean, palm, paradise, relax, resort, sand, sea, seascape, shore, Sky, summer, Sun, Sunset, tourism, travel, tree, tropical, vacation, vascular plant, Water, woody plant | darkness, entertainment, Event, Fireworks, flash photography, grass, happy, Holiday, midnight, Recreation, Sky, tree |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, City, Skyscraper < Building, Unsaturated | Asphalt, Building, city, Cityscape, commercial building, concrete, condominium, Daytime, facade, human leg, landscape, Metropolis, Metropolitan area, mixed-use, pedestrian, Road, Road surface, Rolling, Roof, Sky, Skyscraper, Tower, Tower block, urban design, walkway | architecture, Building, Buildings, business, city, Cityscape, construction, Corporate, district, Downtown, exterior, finance, financial, glass, high, modern, new, office, offices, outdoor, reflection, Sky, Skyline, Skyscraper, skyscrapers, Street, structure, tall, Tower, urban | Asphalt, Building, city, Cityscape, condominium, Daytime, Landmark, Metropolis, Metropolitan area, Road, Road surface, Roof, Sky, Skyscraper, Tower, Tower block, urban design |
Adult, Beard, Eyes Open, Face, Frontal Face, Male, One Face, Person, Smile | Automotive wheel system, Bag, city, fun, human leg, Road, Rolling, Sidewalk, sitting, Street, street performance, Tire, travel, Wheel, Yellow | adult, attractive, Bag, brass, casual, child, clothes, crutch, fashion, happiness, happy, lifestyle, male, man, men, musical instrument, one, people, person, Portrait, pretty, smile, smiling, staff, standing, stick, trombone, urban, walking, wind instrument | Rolling, Snapshot, Tire, Wheel, Yellow |
Boat < Vehicle, City, Harbor, Nature, Unsaturated, Vehicle < Content, Water < Other, Waters | atmosphere, Atmospheric phenomenon, Bird, Boat, Body of water, Calm, city, Cityscape, Cloud, Daytime, Dock, Dusk, horizon, Lake, landscape, Morning, reflection, ship, Sky, Sunset, Tower, Vehicle, Water, Watercraft, Waterway | Boat, boats, Calm, Canal, city, coast, Dock, Fishing, gondola, harbor, landscape, Marina, nautical, ocean, pier, port, river, sail, sea, ship, Sky, summer, tourism, transport, travel, vacation, vessel, Water, waterfront, Yacht | Atmospheric phenomenon, Bird, Boat, Body of water, Calm, city, Cityscape, Cloud, Daytime, Dock, Dusk, horizon, Lake, Landmark, Morning, Naval architecture, ship, Sky, urban area, Vehicle, Water, Watercraft, Waterway |
Adult, Camera < Technology, Eyes Open, Face, Female, Frontal Face, One Face, Person, Technology | advertising, Audio equipment, brand, Camera, Camera lens, Cameras & optics, cd, Circle, collection, Data storage device, electric blue, Electronic device, Electronic instrument, electronics, Eyewear, Font, Gadget, games, graphic design, illustration, logo, microphone, personal protective equipment, Publication, technology | appliance, banking, black, business, cash, cellular telephone, communication, computer, Currency, data, device, digital, electronic, electronic equipment, electronics, equipment, finance, investment, keyboard, metal, mobile, Money, phone, radiotelephone, Silver, sound, stereo, technology, telephone, wealth | Audio equipment, Cameras & optics, Data storage device, Electronic device, Electronic instrument, Eyewear, Font, Gadget, Publication, technology |
Bright, Low Contrast, Plastic Texture, Sepia Tones, Texture | abdomen, aeolian landform, Art, arthropod, chest, close-up, finger, flesh, human leg, Insect, invertebrate, landscape, macro photography, nail, navel, parasite, peach, Plant, rock, sand, shadow, soil, Wildlife | aged, ancient, antique, Art, backgrounds, Beach, brown, dirty, earth, grunge, material, ocean, old, Orange, paper, Retro, rough, sand, sea, soil, stain, surface, texture, textured, travel, Vintage, Wall, wallpaper, Water, weathered | finger, Insect, landscape |
Dark, Fireworks < Event, Nature, Night Sky, Unsaturated | chinese new year, city, Cityscape, darkness, diwali, electric blue, entertainment, Event, Festival, Fireworks, Holiday, horizon, Light, midnight, New Year, new year’s eve, new years day, Night, Pink, public event, Recreation, reflection, spectacle, Water, world | anniversary, black, bright, burst, celebrate, celebration, colorful, dark, display, eve, Event, explode, explosion, explosive, Festival, festive, Fire, firework, Fireworks, Flash, Holiday, independence, Light, new, Night, Party, pyrotechnics, Sky, sparks, year | darkness, electric blue, entertainment, Event, Fireworks, Landmark, Light, midnight, nature, Pink, Recreation, Water, world |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, City, City Street, House, Sign, Unsaturated, Window | Building, car, city, Downtown, facade, gas, Human settlement, Infrastructure, mixed-use, Neighbourhood, pedestrian, post box, Road, Road surface, shirt, shorts, Sidewalk, Street, t-shirt, Tire, town, travel, urban area, Wheel, Window | ancient, architectural, architecture, box, brick, Building, Buildings, call, city, door, England, exterior, historic, history, House, mercantile establishment, old, public house, shop, Sidewalk, stone, Street, telephone, tourism, tourist, town, travel, urban, Wall, Window | Building, car, city, Human settlement, Infrastructure, Metropolitan area, Neighbourhood, Road, Sidewalk, Tire, travel, urban area, Wheel, Window |
Bedroom, Unsaturated | Bed, Bed frame, Bed sheet, Bedding, Bedroom, Building, Comfort, Curtain, Fixture, Floor, Flooring, furniture, Hardwood, House, Interior design, Lamp, Linens, Pillow, Property, Shade, Tints and shades, Wall, Window, Window treatment, wood | Apartment, architecture, Bed, Bedroom, carpet, comfortable, decor, decoration, design, Floor, furniture, Home, Hotel, House, indoors, interior, Lamp, Light, living, luxury, modern, panel, Pillow, relax, residential, Room, sofa, table, Window, wood | Bed, Bed frame, Bed sheet, Bedding, Bedroom, Building, Comfort, Curtain, Fixture, Floor, Flooring, furniture, Hardwood, House, Interior design, Lamp, Linens, Pillow, Property, Shade, Tints and shades, Wall, Window, Window covering, Window treatment, wood |
Adult, Eyes Open, Face, Frontal Face, Person, Profile Face, Two Faces, Unsaturated | Art, Automotive design, cocktail dress, drawing, Event, exhibition, Eyewear, Fashion design, fashion model, haute couture, high heels, human leg, illustration, Knee, painting, sandal, shorts, t-shirt, Thigh, visual arts, Waist | adult, attractive, body, clothing, covering, cute, dancer, dress, elegance, Face, fashion, hair, happy, lady, lifestyle, mask, Model, modern, people, performer, person, Portrait, pose, posing, pretty, sexy, smile, studio, style, women | Art, Automotive design, Fashion design, flash photography, Knee, Thigh, Waist |
Architecture, Building < Architecture, Car, High Contrast, Unsaturated, Vehicle < Content | Asphalt, Automotive design, automotive exterior, automotive parking light, Building, car, city, family car, Land vehicle, luxury vehicle, mid-size car, mixed-use, Mode of transport, Motor vehicle, Parking, Parking lot, personal luxury car, Road, Sky, Street, Tire, tree, Vehicle, Wheel, Window | architecture, Building, Buildings, car, cars, city, Cityscape, intersection, Landmark, minibus, minivan, monument, Motor vehicle, old, police van, Road, scene, Sky, Skyline, Street, tourism, tourist, Tower, town, traffic, travel, truck, urban, van, Water | Asphalt, Automotive design, automotive exterior, automotive parking light, Building, car, city, Land vehicle, Mode of transport, Motor vehicle, Parking, Parking lot, personal luxury car, Road, Sky, Tints and shades, Tire, Vehicle, Wheel, Window |
Camera < Technology, High Contrast, Technology | Audio equipment, Camera, Camera accessory, Camera lens, Cameras & optics, close-up, Digital camera, Digital SLR, Eyewear, fashion accessory, Film camera, Flash, flash photography, Font, Gadget, Lens, Material property, Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, optical instrument, Point-and-shoot camera, reflex camera, Room, Single-lens reflex camera, Strap, teleconverter | aperture, black, Camera, control, device, digital, display, electronic equipment, equipment, Film, focus, Lens, light meter, mechanism, media, old, optical, photograph, photographer, photographic, photographic equipment, photography, professional, reflex camera, regulator, Retro, shoot, shutter, technology, zoom | Camera, Camera accessory, Camera lens, Cameras & optics, Digital camera, Digital SLR, Electronic device, Eyewear, Film camera, flash photography, Font, Gadget, Lens, Material property, Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, Point-and-shoot camera, reflex camera, Single-lens reflex camera |
Food < Content, Nature, Plant < Nature | bazaar, city, Confectionery, cuisine, electric blue, Food, food additive, ingredient, local food, magenta, Market, marketplace, Natural foods, Plant, produce, snack, staple food, Superfood, Sweetness, whole food | Baked, bakery, Breakfast, cake, candy, Chocolate, close, colorful, Confectionery, delicious, dessert, floral, Flower, flowers, Food, fresh, friedcake, healthy, homemade, mercantile establishment, pastry, Pink, place of business, purple, shop, snack, sugar, sweet, tasty, treat | Confectionery, cuisine, Food, ingredient, Natural foods, staple food, Sweetness |
Bright, High Contrast | ancient history, Art, Artifact, brass, bronze, cash, Circle, Coin, Currency, emblem, fashion accessory, Font, history, macro photography, metal, Money, Money handling, Nickel, Silver, still life photography, symbol, titanium | bank, banking, business, cash, change, close, Coin, coins, collection, Currency, device, dollar, economy, exchange, finance, financial, gold, investment, metal, Money, object, old, one, pay, payment, pick, rich, savings, Silver, wealth | Artifact, Circle, Coin, Currency, Font, Money, Money handling, Nickel, Silver |
Food < Content, Fruit, Strawberry | berry, bowl, cuisine, cutlery, dish, dishware, Food, fork, Fruit, ingredient, kitchen utensil, Liquid, Natural foods, plate, produce, recipe, Rectangle, serveware, serving tray, staple food, Strawberries, Strawberry, Superfood, tableware, Virginia strawberry | berries, berry, Breakfast, close, delicious, dessert, diet, edible fruit, Food, fresh, freshness, Fruit, fruits, gourmet, health, healthy, juicy, nutrition, organic, plate, produce, rampart, ripe, snack, Strawberries, Strawberry, summer, sweet, tasty, vitamin | cuisine, cutlery, dish, dishware, Food, fork, Fruit, ingredient, kitchen utensil, Liquid, Natural foods, plate, produce, recipe, Rectangle, serveware, staple food, Strawberries, Strawberry, Superfood, tableware, Virginia strawberry |
The Analysis
Here’s what we found with AI plugins for Lightroom.
Excire
Right off the block, I could tell that Excire was falling short when generating keywords. It wasn’t that it kept getting keywords wrong; there didn’t seem to be enough tags for each photograph it analyzed. What it did get right was the categorization of these keywords.
The AI keywording part is only one of many things Excire Search does for Adobe Lightroom. We had reviewed the same in 2018, but as part of this review, only the AI keywording feature of Excire was tested. There’s a one-time payment of USD $103.95, but there is a trial period for you to test out the waters.
I never got as many keywords in Excire as the other three plugins (correctly) did. Excire’s categories were always correct, but you barely got enough keywords for each category. Excire just wasn’t creative enough when it came to adding more keywords for the images I scanned. It also kept adding the keyword Unsaturated to several images, which I found rather strange. You do have batch processing of images available as an option in Excire.
MyKeyworder
Regarding the comprehensiveness of keyword generation, MyKeyworder was often closely competing with the next plugin in the series here. You also get a batch keywording feature, but it doesn’t come as part of MyKeyworder’s trial. Donate at least USD $10 to be able to unlock batch keywording. Otherwise, be prepared to be redirected to the donation page every time you try to do this. I’m stumped about how the plugin knows your image analysis status. There is no option to enter login credentials or payment transaction ID details in Lightroom’s plugin manager under the MyKeyworder plugin.
I enjoyed that MyKeyworder allows you to alphabetically sort keywords before you add them to Lightroom. You also have the option to add extra keywords manually inside the MyKeyworder window. You can then add these to Lightroom along with the auto-generated keywords from the plugin. There’s a search option where you can type in a keyword, and MyKeyworder will generate (mainly) related keywords that you can also select to add to Lightroom. It seems like it does this search without analyzing the image. Click on Auto Identify to begin AI keywording. “Look up words” allows you to click on a keyword, which it then looks up on dictionary.com.
Inexpensive and Efficient
This plugin costs a nominal fee of 1 cent per photo to use. You get to Auto Identify keywords for 20 photos before the plugin begins redirecting you to the donation page.
The Preferences only unlock after you’ve made a donation (read payment). This allows for some personalization, such as increasing the size of the thumbnails in the image analysis window. If the image you want to analyze has the Title and Caption metadata fields populated, the plugin will also use that info to identify relevant keywords.
When processing images as a batch, if the images are all similar (from the same photoshoot, for example), use Tag Images As Batch. This way, all the selected images will be assigned the exact keywords. Of course, you could just analyze one image and then sync the keywords to the rest. If you want to analyze multiple different images as a batch, select all the images for analysis and then choose Tag Image(s) Individually. This way, you get the option to Auto Keyword, one by one, the various images. This saves you the time of having to go into the menu each time to analyze the different images individually. You need to click on Auto Keyword for each image, as this can’t be done for all images at once.
Wordroom
Wordroom generates about as many keywords per photograph as MyKeyworder did, but it wasn’t without its limitations. It offers only up to 30 keywords per image. Some might find this quite sufficient, but that depends on how many of those 30 are accurate.
Wordroom doesn’t save your images on their servers but sends them to their cloud for image analysis. For this reason, you’ll need a working internet connection while using the plugin for keyword generation. As stated on the Imagga website:
“In order to analyze your photos, Wordroom transfers them to the cloud. This means that you need a working internet connection while using it. However, your photos’ safety is guaranteed, as they are not stored locally for the image recognition process.If you want to contribute to the plugin’s improvement, you can click the option Agree to allow the tool to use your visual data. That’s how it can improve its image recognition technology.”
Imagga
It’s free within limitations. You can use their plugin right away for up to 100 photos without any registration hassle. Simply sign up for their free plan to take your photo keywording to the next level. This allows you to auto-tag up to 2000 photos per month for free. For professional photographers needing to do more, their next-tier plan is just USD 14. In this tier, you can automatically tag up to 12000 photos per month. You can agree to submit thumbnails of your analyzed images for Wordroom to improve their AI keywording technology.
My biggest issue with Wordroom is the bug I faced with batch processing. Each time I selected a few images and launched the plugin, if I clicked on Next Image to see what keywords it would bring up, Wordroom would deselect all the images and then give a “You haven’t selected an image: error.
LrTag
In terms of user experience, LrTag was the weakest of the four. Simply because there is no interaction possible whatsoever with the plugin. And that’s because no window pops up while the plugin is analyzing your images. Whether you’re trying to keyword one image at a time or a batch, you don’t get to do anything except wait for the plugin to complete its task. Once the progress bar at the top left of the Lightroom window is done, you see the AI-analyzed keywords pasted in the Keyword Tags of your image(s). There is no way to select from the analyzed keywords to choose which ones you want Lightroom to receive.
You can get a 30 day trial for LrTag, which allows you to automatically keyword up to 1000 images. Once this expires, they have four subscription tiers to suit your needs. Like Wordroom, this plugin also needs an active internet connection to perform keywording.
The Verdict
Excire falls short compared to the other three if you look at it purely from a keywording perspective. It’s the most expensive one up front, and even if you end up keywording thousands of images, the keywords it generates just aren’t enough. It missed the mark often too. Take the example of the horse racing photograph. While other plugins came up with words like equestrianism, horseback, and racing, Excire analyzed the image to have Two Faces (when there were clearly 3 human faces visible) and Beard when all the jockeys were clean-shaven. I hope they can improve their AI algorithm as it needs to generate more keywords that photographers can use.
From a user experience perspective, I would avoid LrTag, even though it does a decent job with keywording. But by throwing all the keywords it generates directly into the image XMP file leaves me with extra work to do in manually removing the keywords I don’t want from Lightroom. I would prefer to do this within a keyword results window like the other three plugins allow. Sometimes, it generated the exact unique keywords as MyKeyworder did (serveware), leading me to wonder if these two were using the same AI algorithms.
Keywording Results Are Quite Similar
MyKeyworder, Wordroom, and LrTag are neck and neck when it comes to the number, quality, and accuracy of the keywords being generated. As far as pricing goes, Wordroom is the clear winner, allowing you a monthly free keywording quota of 2000 images. Providing related keywords is something that Wordroom does really well, such as when it suggested celebration and anniversary as keywords for a fireworks photograph. It does sometimes get its keywords overlapped, such as identifying a building as both a mosque and a cathedral. It doesn’t get the top spot for me because I can’t batch-process images with it. I had to manually run this plugin 26 times because of the bug this plugin had when I selected more than one image at any time.
The Winner: MyKeyworder
It not only gives you the best pricing per image, but MyKeyworder also generates some amazing keywords. Take the flamingo photograph, for instance. It didn’t just give the expected bird, wetland, feather, and wildlife keywords. It correctly identified the species as Greater Flamingo and the Order as Ciconiiformes. I’ve never seen any keywording software manage to do that to date. MyKeyworder also has more personalization features than others and offers a more user-friendly way of selecting, searching for, looking up, and adding keywords to your photographs. It offers the best overall experience and value for money for anyone looking for keywording images in Adobe Lightroom. Now, if only they could also get this over to Capture One Pro.
No software is perfect, and certainly no AI algorithm is either. But these four plugins were far superior to any other AI tagging and/or keywording software I had tested in the past year. These four certainly have their foundation firmly set to upscale and improve.
All software evaluated here were either trial editions or paid for by ourselves. The Phoblographer did not receive any license codes for any of the plugins used in this article.