Add Folders to the Database

Adding folders is the first step before search. The app scans files in the selected folders, records them in the database, extracts thumbnails and metadata, and optionally generates data for image search, semantic search, pose search, OCR, and face search.

Indexing records source paths and stores previews and search data in the database directory. It does not move the original files.

Steps

1. Enter the search workspace.
2. Select the File tab on the left and click the plus beside Folders.
3. Select one or more folders that contain your material.
4. Confirm whether to include subfolders, then choose the features you want to build. If image search is selected, choose at least one strategy.
5. Click Start Adding and watch the task progress.

The folder tree on the left will show the indexed folders after the task completes.

Choosing Features

The feature choices control what data is generated during indexing:

• Image search: builds visual features for reverse image search.
• Semantic search: lets you search images with natural-language descriptions.
• Pose search: extracts human skeleton and body-pose features for finding similar standing, sitting, or action poses.
• OCR search: recognizes text inside images, useful for IDs, certificates, screenshots, invoices, and documents.
• Face search: detects and indexes faces for searching people.

If you only want to try the product quickly, start with image search and the global strategy. You can add more strategies later.

Choosing Image Search Strategies

• Global: a general-purpose strategy for most images.
• Global subject: detects and normalizes on a clear subject such as a product, person, or object. It can optionally split multiple subjects or remove the background while indexing.
• Global color: emphasizes color similarity and color composition.
• Local keypoints: useful when you only have a crop or a local pattern and need to find the full image.

Color is an image-search strategy, not a separate feature. Duplicate detection is controlled by the independent Find duplicates setting; when that setting is enabled, the app prepares duplicate data during indexing.

Where to Watch Progress

After starting, watch the task progress area at the top. Large folders, videos, PDFs, Excel files, and face recognition tasks may take longer.

If a running task offers Cancel, canceling stops subsequent work; completed items can remain indexed. You can later re-add the folder or refresh it. When processing ends, review the task report for successful items, failures and elapsed time, and inspect any listed failure paths.

Common Cases

• If results are missing after indexing, check whether the needed strategy was selected.
• If expected file types are absent, check Tools → Settings → Add Files → File Extensions to Read.
• Image search requires at least one strategy. Subject parsing may offer multiple-subject and background-removal options; these affect indexing and do not automatically remove the background of a later search reference. Use the search dialog’s Remove Background button when needed.
• If Excel files were not parsed, confirm the spreadsheet environment and refresh the folder.
• If a folder contains many nested folders, indexing can take more time on the first run.
• If you add new files later, use refresh database instead of adding the same folder again.

Before Selecting a Folder

The example dialog has no folder selected, so Start Adding is disabled. Add a material folder before starting. The displayed time multipliers compare the relative cost of selected parsing options; they do not guarantee a duration on your computer. Existing images can be added again with additional features to fill in missing data. Do not use the database folder itself or a folder containing it as your material folder.