SeekframeHow to search photos by description on a Mac
On a Mac, the Photos app can search its own library for things it recognizes in a picture, such as a dog, a beach or a word on a sign. To find a photo stored anywhere else, such as a folder, Downloads or an external drive, by a description like “red car at night”, you need an app that looks at the pictures themselves. Seekframe does that on your Mac, and nothing is uploaded.
Updated
Search the Photos library
- Open Photos and click the search field at the top of the window.
- Type what is in the picture: an object (“dog”), a place (“beach”), a word that appears in the photo, or the name of someone you've named in People & Pets.
- Choose one of the suggestions, or press Return to see everything that matches.
With Apple Intelligence turned on (a Mac with M1 or later and macOS 15.1 or later, in a supported language and region), Photos also understands longer descriptions, like “kids building a sandcastle at sunset”.
Photos only searches the photos you imported into it. A picture saved in a folder, on the desktop or on a drive isn't in the Photos library, so Photos can't find it. Finder and Spotlight can find the file, but mostly by its name, kind, date or size, not by what it shows.
Search any folder or drive with Seekframe
- Open Seekframe and click Choose Folder… or drop a folder on its window. Every folder inside it is included.
- Seekframe analyses each photo once, on your Mac, at about 113 photos a second on an M1 Pro. You can search right away; more results appear as it works.
- Type what you remember:
birthday cake with candles
,snowy mountain road
,receipt on a wooden table
. Results appear as you type, the best match first. - Select a result and press Space to see it larger, Return to open it, or ⌘R to show it in Finder.
The same search finds videos too, and takes you to the moment the scene appears (see how to find a scene in a video).
How to describe a photo so it's found
- Say what you would see.
A red car parked at night
works better thanmy old car
: Seekframe knows what is in the picture, not what it means to you. - Add a colour, a place or the light.
Yellow raincoat
,kitchen
,at sunset
andin the snow
all narrow the results. - Use your own language. English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and many other languages work.
- Show it a picture instead. If words don't help, drop a similar photo on the window to find the ones that look like it (see how to find similar photos).
| Photos | Seekframe | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it searches | The Photos library | The folders and drives you add |
| What you can type | Things it recognizes; longer phrases with Apple Intelligence | A description of what's in the picture, in many languages |
| Inside videos | Key moments, with Apple Intelligence | The moment of the scene, opened right there |
Questions
Can I search photos by colour?
Yes. Put the colour in the description: “red car”, “yellow door”, “blue sky over the sea”. Seekframe matches the colours it sees in the picture.
Can it find photos of a specific person?
No. Seekframe doesn't recognize who someone is. Describe what you see instead: “a man in a red jacket on a bike”, “a girl with a balloon”. To find a person by name, use People & Pets in the Photos app.
Does Seekframe search my Photos library?
No. Seekframe searches the folders and drives you add and leaves the Photos library alone. Search those pictures in Photos, or export the ones you want into a folder with File › Export and add that folder.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. Nothing of yours leaves your Mac: not your photos, your videos or your searches.
Is it free?
Yes, for one folder on your Mac, with all the folders inside it: all its photos and up to 10 hours of video. Seekframe Pro, a one-time purchase of $19.99, adds more folders, external and network drives, and video without a limit.