Archyv

Archyv is a native macOS application built for the bulk administration of large photo and media collections. The tool performs twelve specialized processes on a selected directory, including batch renaming derived from each file's internal metadata, image conversion to six distinct formats, and exact and near-duplicate detection. It provides a full IPTC, EXIF, and XMP metadata editor, alongside the ability to embed photographer and copyright attribution, manage species tagging according to Darwin Core taxonomy, and generate organized folder structures. The system operates entirely locally, requiring no accounts or cloud processing, and maintains a change history that allows modifications to be undone within a configurable retention period.

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• Batch renaming from metadata. Composes new file names using internal metadata values such as capture date, camera model, ISO speed, or GPS coordinates. The user builds templates by combining multiple tags, inserting fixed text, sequential counters, and modifying capitalization. The function scans the entire set before execution to flag potential naming collisions, allowing conflicts to be corrected before applying the final changes.
• Manual pattern renaming. Defines an arbitrary naming structure based on text strings and numeric sequences without relying on existing metadata. A prefix, a suffix, and a starting number are configured, along with the digit count of the counter. This process is oriented toward projects that require a uniform naming convention imposed by the user, ignoring the technical information contained within the original files.
• Multi-format image conversion. Transforms image files into six output formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC, WebP, and AVIF. The process never overwrites the originals; it writes new files to the specified location. Adjustable parameters include compression quality, color depth, and the inclusion or exclusion of metadata in the generated files, suitable for creating low-resolution derivatives or migrating collections to modern formats.
• Exact and near-duplicate detection. Scans the collection for identical files using cryptographic checksum comparison and locates visually similar images through perceptual analysis. Detected duplicates are moved to the Trash rather than being permanently deleted, while near-duplicates are flagged for manual review. The process allows adjustable similarity thresholds to control the sensitivity of the algorithm.
• Full IPTC, EXIF, and XMP metadata editor. Provides a writing module covering the three main metadata standards in digital photography. It enables modification of fields such as title, description, keywords, creator contact information, geographic location, license data, and star ratings. Changes are applied to multiple files simultaneously and recorded in the program's alteration history, reversible within the configured retention period.
• Photographer and copyright attribution. Bulk-embeds authorship data into the corresponding IPTC and XMP fields, including photographer name, rights holder, copyright notice, and information URL. Designed for photographers and agencies needing to embed this legal and credit information across hundreds or thousands of images in a single operation, ensuring intellectual property metadata always accompanies the files.
• Read-only metadata inspector. Displays the full metadata contents of any file without modification capability, functioning as a technical diagnostic viewer. It lists all tags recognized by ExifTool for that specific file, including camera manufacturer-specific MakerNotes blocks and derived composite data. Its purpose is forensic consultation of information contained in images and videos before performing bulk editing operations.
• Species tagging with Darwin Core taxonomy. Applies standardized biodiversity tags following the Darwin Core schema, suitable for nature photographers, biologists, and scientific collection curators. It records the kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species of the photographed subject. Metadata is written into extended IPTC and XMP fields, ensuring compatibility with repositories such as GBIF and other natural history databases.
• Folder generation. Automatically creates a directory hierarchy from file metadata or a manually defined pattern. For instance, images can be grouped into subfolders by capture year, month, and day, or by camera model and location. This function physically organizes files on disk by moving or copying them into the new structure, maintaining an operation log for potential reversions.
• Templated file transfer with checksum verification. Copies or moves files to a destination path dynamically constructed using metadata variables. Upon completion of the transfer, it verifies the integrity of each copied file via checksum, confirming that the bits of the source and destination are identical before deleting the originals. This workflow ensures the total fidelity of the migrated collection and is oriented toward the secure consolidation of storage volumes.
• Sequence renumbering. Reorders the numbering of a group of files within a folder, reassigning consecutive numbers from a defined starting value. Designed for time-lapse series, burst sequences, or any set where the numerical order of file names must be continuous and free of gaps after deleting discarded images or reorganizing the temporal sequence.
• Metadata-based selection filters. Narrows the set of files on which any operation is applied to those meeting specific conditions. Criteria can combine the presence or absence of certain metadata, date ranges, camera parameter values, file type, or geographic location. The selection is evaluated before executing the main process, preventing modifications to files that fall outside the intended workflow scope.

Development of Archyv began in 2023 as a project focused exclusively on the macOS platform, leveraging Apple's native frameworks. The application is written in the Swift programming language and uses SwiftUI for interface construction. The team responsible for the product is led by an independent developer with experience in professional photographic workflow tools. Archyv integrates an internal copy of the ExifTool library, which acts as the metadata reading and writing engine, ensuring support for 40 file formats across 44 distinct extensions, including RAW files from major camera manufacturers and video formats.

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