Search a scene, then narrow the results
Filenames help when you already know a file's name. Semantic photo search helps when you remember what was in the picture: a red dress on a beach, a black car in a studio, or a backlit surfer. Nevervault compares your description with a local index of the images' visual content.
This is a similarity search, not a guarantee that every detail in a sentence will match. Start with the main subject and setting. Try a simpler description if a long query returns unrelated images. Use the camera, lens and format filters in Pro for factual constraints rather than expecting a visual query to enforce them.
Index your first RAW folder
- Download Nevervault on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.
- Add a folder containing photos. It can be on your Mac, an external drive or a mounted NAS share.
- Let Nevervault create previews and its search index. Originals stay where they are and are read without modification.
- Type a visual description. Search can begin while indexing continues, but files that have not finished processing may not appear yet.
- Open a result or reveal the original in Finder to continue your editing workflow.
Find photos using a reference image
Use Find Similar in the toolbar to choose a photo from your Mac, or drop one image into Nevervault. The reference is analyzed locally without being added to your library. Nevervault searches your indexed photos for visual matches.
You can also use a photo already in your library as the reference. Compare the returned previews for subject, color, and composition; a similar image is not necessarily an exact duplicate or a match for every detail in your brief.
RAW support and preview appearance
Recognized RAW extensions include Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF and DNG. Extension recognition does not guarantee that every camera variant will decode. Check the supported formats guide and try representative files from your camera.
A search preview is for finding the photograph. It is not a promise to reproduce your editor's developed rendering or color profile. Open the original in your preferred editor for the final image.
Where the index lives
Image indexing and semantic search run on your Mac. Nevervault stores its own previews and index locally; it does not upload the archive for AI processing. Licensing, updates and optional iCloud downloads have separate network needs, explained in the privacy policy.
You can search indexed material across multiple sources. For the distinction between an offline preview and an available original, read searching external drives and NAS.
Use Nevervault alongside your editor
Nevervault is a tool for finding existing work, not a RAW development application. You do not need to move your archive into a new managed photo library. Find the file, reconnect its drive if necessary, and open it in the editor you already use.