Desktop vs online keywording tools
Most online keywording tools work the same way: upload your originals, wait, generate, then download everything back. Lemika is a desktop app – it describes your files right on your computer, sends only small previews to the AI, and writes titles, descriptions and keywords straight into each file. Here's how the two approaches compare in day-to-day work.
Side by side
| What matters | Typical online keywording | Lemika (desktop) |
|---|---|---|
| What gets uploaded | Your full-size originals. | A small preview of each file. Your originals stay on your drive. |
| A folder of 100 files | About 2 GB of upload. | About 15 MB. |
| Video | The whole video is uploaded. | Up to three frames from across the video, combined into one small preview – the file itself never leaves your computer. |
| Price of a video | Some tools charge two or three times as much for a video. | The same as a photo – one generation. |
| File size and storage | Often capped per file and per account. | No upload caps or storage quota – your files never leave your disk. |
| Getting the result | Download the files again (often zipped) or a CSV, then swap them in. | Written straight into your files, in place. |
| How long results are kept | Often days or weeks, then deleted. | On your computer, for as long as you keep them. |
| Regenerating one file | Sometimes means uploading it again and starting over. | Any time, with no re-upload. Each AI run is one generation. |
| CSV export | Built once per batch; the download may expire. | Built on demand from your local data, for any supported agency, as often as you like. |
| Editing by hand | Varies by service. | Always free – title, description and keywords, with or without a plan. You only pay for AI generations. |
| Pixta video CSV | Match PIXTA’s pre-filled CSV to your files by hand. | A built-in matcher fills Pixta's CSV from your local metadata by filename, keeping Pixta's IDs. |
| Interface language | Often English only. | English, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and German. Metadata stays in English, as agencies expect. |
Online tools vary. This table describes common patterns, not any specific service – check the current limits of the tool you use.
The same folder, two workflows
Typical online keywording
- Upload your originals. Full-size files, one batch at a time – and wait for every one to finish.
- Generate in the browser. Watch for file-size and storage caps along the way.
- Download everything again. Get the files back with metadata embedded, often as a ZIP – or grab a CSV.
- Replace your originals. Unpack, then swap the new copies in for the files in your folder.
- Need a change later? If the batch has expired, upload again and start from the beginning.
Desktop app (Lemika)
- Select your folder Pick a folder of your work (up to 1,000 files). Lemika handles JPEG, PNG, SVG, MP4, and MOV.
- Tune the settings – or keep defaults Set title and description length and the number of keywords – or keep the defaults and start right away. Shooting editorial? Add date, country, and city.
- Press Describe AI describes each file and writes the metadata straight into it. Watch the queue move — each file is ready to read the moment it’s done.
- Ready to upload The metadata is already in your files. Prefer your own wording? Tweak any title or keyword by hand. Export a stock-ready CSV if you need one – then upload anywhere.
Send thumbnails – not your originals.
Instead of uploading heavy originals, Lemika shrinks each file to a lightweight preview first. A folder of 100 files is about 15 MB instead of 2 GB – so you can work smoothly while traveling, on slow café Wi-Fi, or a limited phone hotspot.
What else you get with Lemika
Who a desktop app is for
Lemika is built for contributors who:
- Work through whole folders at a time – up to 1,000 files in one pass.
- Shoot video – no multi-gigabyte uploads, and a video costs the same as a photo.
- Travel or work on a slow connection – a 100-file folder is about 15 MB of upload, not 2 GB.
- Upload to Pixta – the matcher fills Pixta's video CSV for you.
- Come back to old folders – the metadata and settings are still there months later.
FAQ
Time and limits. A folder of 100 full-size files is about 2 GB, and video can be far more. Many web tools also cap the file size, your total storage, or how long they keep a batch. Lemika skips that upload: only a small preview of each file is sent to be described.
No. Your originals stay on your computer. Lemika sends only a compressed preview of each file, and never stores your originals or uses them for training.
On your computer – in Lemika's local database and inside the files themselves. Nothing expires: come back to a folder months later and everything you generated is still there.
Yes, any time – pick the file and run it again, with no re-upload. Each AI run counts as one generation; editing the text by hand is always free.
Yes. Lemika builds the CSV at the moment you ask for it, from the metadata on your computer, shaped for the agency you pick – Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Getty Images and iStock, Pixta and more. Export it again whenever you like; there's no download link to expire. No subscription needed either: once a file is described – by the AI or by hand – its CSV is available any time.
Yes – MP4 and MOV, alongside JPEG, PNG and SVG. Lemika never uploads the video itself: it takes up to three frames spread across it – skipping the very start and end, where fades and black frames usually sit – and sends them as one small preview.
No. In Lemika a video costs one generation – the same as a photo or a vector. Some online tools charge two or three times as much for a video.
No. Editing titles, descriptions and keywords by hand is free, with or without a plan – you only spend generations when the AI runs. The manual EXIF editor works even without an account.
No – Lemika is a desktop app for macOS and Windows. That's what lets it keep your originals on your computer and write metadata straight into your files. It doesn't run on a Chromebook, tablet or phone.
Yes – 20 free generations once you confirm your email, no card required. The manual EXIF editor is free forever, with no account at all.