Getting Started
Go from download to organized photo library in five simple steps. The entire setup takes about two minutes.
Download & Install
Head over to the downloads page and grab the installer for your operating system. CullVue is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
On macOS, open the .dmg file
and drag CullVue into your Applications folder. On
Windows, run the installer and follow the
prompts. On Linux, use the
.AppImage or install via the .deb package.
Launch the app once installation is complete. You will be greeted by a short onboarding wizard that walks you through the initial configuration.
Add Your Photo Folders
CullVue works with watch folders. A watch folder is any directory on your computer that contains photos. When you add a watch folder, the app automatically indexes every image inside it and keeps the library up to date as files are added, moved, or removed.
Open Settings → Library → Watch Folders and click Add Folder. Select one or more directories from your file system. Common choices include your Pictures folder, an external drive, or a cloud-synced directory.
The initial scan runs in the background. You can continue using the app while it processes your photos. A progress indicator in the status bar shows how many files have been indexed.
Browse Your Library
The main library view displays your photos in a responsive grid sorted by date. Use the toolbar to switch between grid, list, and detail views, or adjust the thumbnail size.
The sidebar gives you quick access to folders, albums, tags, and smart filters. Click any photo to open the detail view, which shows EXIF metadata, a histogram, and a larger preview.
You can filter by date range, camera model, lens, or file type using the filter bar at the top of the grid. Combine filters to narrow down exactly the photos you need.
Search with AI
CullVue includes a built-in AI search engine that runs entirely on your device. Instead of relying on filenames or manual tags, you can describe what you are looking for in plain language.
Press Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K on Windows/Linux) to open the search bar. Type a natural-language query like "sunset at the beach" or "birthday party with cake" and the AI model will return the most relevant matches ranked by similarity.
Semantic search is powered by a lightweight vision model that generates embeddings for each photo during the initial scan. All processing happens locally, so your images never leave your machine. See the AI Search guide for a deeper look at how it works.
Organize with Tags & Albums
Beyond AI search, CullVue supports traditional organization methods. You can create tags and albums to group photos manually, or let the app suggest tags based on image content.
To tag a photo, select it and press T to open the tag editor. Start typing to search existing tags or create a new one. Tags are stored in the local database and are never written to your image files unless you explicitly choose to sync them to EXIF/XMP metadata.
Albums work like virtual folders. A single photo can belong to multiple albums without being duplicated on disk. Create an album from the sidebar and drag photos into it, or use the right-click context menu to add selected photos to an existing album.
You can also create smart albums that automatically populate based on rules you define, such as "all photos from 2024 tagged with vacation."