Seekframe

How to search photos and videos on an external drive

Finder can search a connected drive by file name, kind and date: click the drive in the sidebar, press ⌘F and choose the drive's name instead of This Mac. To find a photo or a scene on the drive by describing it, add the drive to Seekframe Pro. It indexes every photo and video on the drive once and keeps a thumbnail of each photo and moment, so you can still see what's on the drive after you unplug it.

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Search a drive in Finder

  1. Connect the drive and click it in the Finder sidebar.
  2. Press ⌘F, then click the drive's name next to Search.
  3. Set Kind to Image or Movie, or type part of a file name.

This finds files by their names and dates. It can't tell you which of 3,000 clips has the sunset over the harbour, and it shows nothing once the drive is put away in a drawer.

Search a drive by what's in the pictures

  1. Connect the drive and drop it, or a folder on it, onto Seekframe's window. External drives and network drives (NAS) are part of Seekframe Pro.
  2. Seekframe indexes it on your Mac. The bottom of the sidebar shows how much is done and about how long is left, and you can search right away.
  3. Type what you're looking for: sunset over the harbour, drone shot of a forest, team photo on the stairs. Results from the drive appear alongside those from your other folders.
  4. When you're done, eject the drive and unplug it. Its results still show, with their thumbnails, marked as not connected. Plug it back in to open them.

Search a drive that's in a drawer

Because the thumbnails stay on your Mac, you can search a drive that isn't plugged in, see what you're looking for and which drive it's on, and only then go looking for the cable. When you reconnect it, its results open as usual and Seekframe picks up anything new.

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Questions

Does Seekframe copy my files from the drive?

No. Your files stay on the drive. Seekframe keeps only what it learned about each photo and moment, with a thumbnail, in its library on your Mac, about 10 KB each.

Does it work with network drives?

Yes, with Seekframe Pro. Connect the share in Finder as usual, then add it, or a folder on it, to Seekframe.

What happens if I add or rename files on the drive?

While the drive is connected, Seekframe notices new, changed, moved and deleted files by itself. If you changed files on the drive while it was connected to another computer, Seekframe catches up when you plug it back in.

Can the free version search an external drive?

No. The free version searches one folder on your Mac's own disk. External and network drives, more folders and all your video come with Seekframe Pro, $19.99 one-time.

Is anything uploaded?

No. Everything on the drive is analysed on your Mac.

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