This is The Digital Story Podcast 1,043, March 17, 2026. Today's theme is, "No Matter Where Your Photos Are, This App Can Display Them." I'm Derrick Story.
On my MacBook, I have Aperture libraries, Capture One catalogs, Lightroom collections, thousands of images in Photos for macOS, and a bunch of file folders. I can search across all of those proprietary catalogs, find what I want, and export to my desktop. How? Using a magical application called Peakto. I'll explain how, and its latest updates, on today's TDS Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoy the show.
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No Matter Where Your Photos Are, This App Can Display Them
I've talked about Peakto on this show before, but it has evolved tremendously since my last discussion.
Just to refresh: Peakto is an AI-powered, Mac-only software by CYME that centralizes, organizes, and searches photos and videos scattered across multiple drives and editing apps like Lightroom, Capture One, and Apple Photos. It provides a unified view, automatically analyzes media for content-based searching, identifies duplicates, and supports cloud-free collaboration.
For someone like me, who has everything from old Aperture libraries, to Capture One Catalogs, to Nitro, Luminar, and Photomator, Peakto is a godsend because I can see all of those photos, regardless of where they reside, in one place.
New Features That I Love
Plus now, there are new features that further increase its value to me. Those include:
- Workspaces for Apps that interact with images edited in DxO PhotoLab, Luminar Neo, Nitro, and ON1 Photo RAW.
- Peakto Connect is a service built-in to the app that enables me to share my content within my local network or externally, via a web application.
- Albums and Smart Albums that span my entire catalog of images, regardless of the app, and allow me to create albums across all of that content.
A note about Aperture Libraries, Peakto supports libraries from Aperture version 3.4.2 or later. Libraries older that will need to be updated with Aperture. If a library is compatible with Peakto, you don't need Aperture on your hard drive to access those images.
AI Search
I'm terrible at keywording. It's boring and I rarely apply them to my shots. Fortunately, AI search using object recognition, gives me a second chance to find images I'm looking for.
When you point Peakto to any set of images, it goes through a multi-step process to ingest that information. One of those steps uses AI Object Recognition. As a result, you can search for broad categories, such as "birds," or get more specific such as "red birds."
As with most AI-powered searches, it's not perfect. But I've found that the tool gets me close enough to what I'm looking for within a short period of time.
Of course, if you do use keywords, text descriptions, etc., this feature gets turbo-powered. Plus, all of the other markers are available too, such as EXIF data and star ratings.
Bringing It All Together
There are tons of other features with Peakto. Things like Aesthetic Rating where the AI scores an image based on technical and aesthetic aspects.
The bottom line is that for many photographers, the notion of being tied to just one photo management app for the duration of your career isn't practical. Things change. Apps come and go. Our personal preferences evolve.
Peakto helps us manage that evolution over the years. It allows us to experiment and change our minds. We don't have to be tied to a single photo management app if we don't want to. And for folks like me who like to experiment with workflows, it's a blessing.
PS: If you want to know more about how I use Peakto, plus screenshots of what I discussed in the podcast, check out my article, How to Bring Multiple Photo Libraries Together in One Place on Live View.
This Week in the News
'Sinners' DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes Oscar History as First Woman to Win Best Cinematography as featured on Variety.com
I'm Back Teases APS-C Digital 'Film' Roll That Entirely Fits in a 35mm Camera as featured on PetaPixel.com
Peak Design Slide Lite review - still one of the very best camera straps you can buy as featured on AmateurPhotographer.com
Virtual Camera Club News
Workshops!
The 2026 TDS Photography Workshop Season. We are featuring webinars, online workshops, and in-person events focused on creating impactful images in the company of those who love photography as much as you. Our workshops are like no others, and we think you will throughly enjoy the camaraderie and the tips and techniques.
Stop by The Nimble Photographer Workshop Page and reserve your spot today.
Inner Circle Bold. Sign up for the Annual Membership that's only $75.60 a year, you will receive all of the regular Inner Circle benefits, plus a coupon for your choice of a 2026 Online workshop hosted by me.
Great Photography Articles on Live View - If you check out our publication and appreciate what you see, be sure to follow us and clap for those authors. You can find us at medium.com/live-view.
If you're interested in writing for Live View, drop me a line at dstory@gmail.com.
The Nimble Photographer Newsletter is now publishing every Thursday. Readers will enjoy a variety of content spanning from short photo essays, to commentary on weekly events, to reviews of the latest and coolest photo gear.
Inner Circle Members: A big thanks to those who support our podcast and our efforts! We are having a blast at our new Inner Circle hangout, the private group I've set up at DerrickStoryOnline. We'd love it if you join us. You can become an Inner Circle Member by signing up at our Patreon site. You will automatically be added to the new hangout.
The New Donation Kit for Carefree Shipping of Found Film Cameras - If you've discovered a film camera that's no longer being used, our new Donation Kit makes it easy to pack and ship. Just visit the Contact Form on thenimblephotographer.com, click the box next to Donating a Film Camera, and let me know what you have. In your note, be sure to include your shipping address.
Affiliate Links - The links to some products in this podcast contain an affiliate code that credits The Digital Story for any purchases made from B&H Photo and Amazon via that click-through. Depending on the purchase, we may receive some financial compensation.
Red River Paper - And finally, be sure to visit our friends at Red River Paper for all of your inkjet supply needs.
See you next week!
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