Pitara

1. Getting Started

Installation

1. Download Pitara from the download page
2. Choose between Setup (installer) or Portable (no installation)
3. Run the installer or extract the portable version
4. Launch Pitara on Windows

First Launch: Adding Your Photos

On first launch, Pitara needs to know where your photos are stored:

1. Click Settings in the menu bar
2. In the Settings dialog, click Add Folder
3. Browse to your photo folders (e.g., Pictures, Desktop, external drives)
4. Add as many folders as you need
5. Click OK to save and start indexing

What happens during indexing? Pitara scans your photos and reads embedded metadata like location, date, camera info, tags, and file details without moving your originals. It also prepares thumbnails and builds a local search index on your computer.

• First-time indexing runs once for your library.
• Pitara can index around 100,000 photos in about 4 hours.
• After that, indexing is incremental and focuses on new or changed photos.

2. Basic Search & Tabs

Available Tabs

Pitara provides multiple browsing interfaces to find your photos fast:

• 🔍 Search Tab - Natural language photo search with back/forward navigation and favorites
• 🏖️ Places Tab - Browse by location names extracted from GPS data
• ⏰ Times Tab - Browse by year, month, day, time of day, and season
• 🏷️ My TAGs Tab - Browse by custom tags you've added
• 📁 Folders Tab - Browse by folder structure
• 📷 Cameras Tab - Browse by camera or device used
• 🥾 Hikes Tab - Browse photos by elevation/altitude data

Natural Language Search

Pitara understands natural language queries. Simply type what you're looking for:

Search by Location

Search photos by city, state, country, or custom location names. Pitara uses GPS metadata embedded in your photos.

• Seattle - All Seattle photos
• Washington state - Photos from Washington
• California beach - Beach photos in California

Search by Time & Date

Powerful time-based search with natural expressions:

• from 3 years - Last 3 years
• Saturday 7PM - Saturdays at 7 PM
• May 31st 2015 - Specific date
• weekend nights - Weekend evening photos
• morning from 10 years - Morning photos from last decade

3. Advanced Search

Combining Search Terms

Mix location, time, tags, and subject hints for precise results:

Search by Custom Tags

Add your own keywords to photos, then search by those tags (see Tagging section below).

• birthday - All photos tagged "birthday"
• family reunion - Photos tagged "family reunion"
• wedding Hawaii - Wedding photos from Hawaii

4. Tagging Photos

Adding Tags

To add tags to one or more photos:

1. Select one or multiple photos from your search results
2. Click the Add button from the right side widget, or right-click and select Add Tag, or use File menu → Add Tags
3. An Add Tag dialog will appear showing existing tags from the selected photos
4. Enter new tags in the provided field
5. Click OK to save the tags

How Tags are Stored

Tags are written directly into photo file headers using industry-standard IPTC/EXIF protocols. This means:

• ✅ Tags travel with your photos if you move them
• ✅ Other photo software can read Pitara tags
• ✅ Tags are preserved even if you reinstall Pitara
• ✅ No proprietary database lock-in

Supported formats for custom tags: JPEG/JPG and HEIC/HEIF are supported.

Removing Tags

To remove tags from one or more photos:

1. Select one or multiple photos
2. Click the Remove Tag button from the side widget, or right-click and select Remove Tag, or use File menu → Remove Tags
3. A Remove Tag dialog will appear showing existing tags from the selected photos
4. Select tags you want to remove
5. Click OK to confirm

Viewing and Browsing Tags

• Open Tag Catalogs to see all tags in your collection
• Click any tag to instantly see all photos with that tag

5. Exporting Photos

Export Methods

After searching, export photos for sharing, printing, or backup:

Method 1: Selected Photos

1. Select one or more photos from search results
2. Press Ctrl + E OR right-click → Export Selected
3. Photos are copied to your export folder

Method 2: Quick Export (No Selection)

• Right-click anywhere → Export Top 50
• Right-click anywhere → Export Top 100

Changing Export Location

1. Go to Settings
2. Find Export Folder setting
3. Click Change and select new location

The default export location is usually your Pictures folder under PitaraExports.

6. Managing Photos

Navigation & Browsing

• Use the Back and Forward buttons to move through recent searches, just like a browser.
• Single-click selects a photo.
• Double-click opens it in your default viewer.
• Use Ctrl + click for multi-select and Shift + click to select a range.

Right-Click Menu

Right-click selected photos for common actions like opening, exporting, copying the file path, tagging, deleting, or locating the original file in Explorer.

Deleting Photos

1. Select photos to delete
2. Press Del OR right-click → Delete Selected
3. Photos move to Windows Recycle Bin (recoverable)

Opening Photos in External Editor

• Double-click a photo to open in Windows default viewer
• Right-click → Open With for other applications
• Right-click → Show in Folder to locate original file

Excluding Folders from Search

Hide certain folders from search results (e.g., screenshots, thumbnails):

1. Go to Settings
2. Click Exclude Folders tab
3. Click Add and select folders to exclude
4. Click OK - excluded folders won't appear in searches

7. External & Network Drives

Indexing External Drives

Pitara works with USB drives, external HDDs, and any connected storage:

1. Connect your external drive
2. Go to Settings → Add Folder
3. Browse to the external drive and select photo folders
4. Pitara will index those photos

Network Drive Setup

Index photos stored on NAS, network shares, or mapped drives:

1. Map your network drive in Windows first
2. If network drives don't appear in Pitara's folder picker, enable linked connections:
   • Run regedit
   • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
   • Create DWORD EnableLinkedConnections = 1
   • Restart computer
3. Add network folders via Settings

8. Detailed Tab Descriptions

1. 🔍 Search Tab (Default)

• Primary function: Natural language photo search
• Features:
  • Search box with auto-complete
  • Chrome-style back/forward navigation
  • Add to Favorites button
  • Thumbnail grid view
  • Tag management panel (right sidebar)
  • "On this Day" / "On this Hour" quick links

2. 🏖️ Places Tab

• Primary function: Browse by location
• Features:
  • List of all locations (extracted from GPS data)
  • Click a location to see all photos from that place
  • Uses reverse geocoding (coordinates → place names)
  • Groups nearby locations (100m radius clustering)

3. ⏰ Times Tab

• Primary function: Browse chronological albums
• Features:
  • Browse by Year (2023, 2022, 2021...)
  • Browse by Month (January, February...)
  • Chronological albums are divided by year and month

4. 🏷️ My TAGs Tab

• Primary function: Browse by custom tags
• Features:
  • Lists all custom tags you've added
  • Shows photo count per tag
  • Click a tag to see all photos with that tag
  • Organized alphabetically

5. 📁 Folders Tab

• Primary function: Browse by folder structure
• Features:
  • Shows all indexed photo folders
  • Mirrors your computer's folder organization
  • Click a folder to see photos in that folder
  • Shows photo count per folder

6. 📷 Cameras Tab

• Primary function: Browse by camera/device
• Features:
  • Lists all cameras/devices used
  • Groups by manufacturer (Apple, Canon, Nikon, Samsung, etc.)
  • Shows iPhone models (iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 13, etc.)
  • Click a camera to see all photos from that device

7. 🥾 Hikes Tab (Altitude/Height)

• Primary function: Browse by elevation
• Features:
  • Lists photos with altitude data
  • Organized by elevation ranges
  • Useful for hiking, mountain, and travel photos
  • Shows altitude in meters

9. Keyboard Shortcuts

File Operations

Editing & Selection

Search

Help

Context Menu Actions

Photo Viewing

10. Troubleshooting

Photos Not Appearing in Search

• ✓ Check if the folder is added in Settings
• ✓ Check if the folder is excluded (Settings → Exclude Folders)
• ✓ Wait for indexing to complete (status shown in bottom bar)
• ✓ Some photos lack GPS metadata - search by date/time instead

Slow Performance

• Move index to internal SSD (Settings → Index Location)
• Reduce indexed folders (only include essential photo locations)
• Exclude unnecessary folders (Settings → Exclude Folders)

Resetting the Index

If the index becomes corrupted (rare), reset it:

1. Close Pitara completely
2. Press Win + R
3. Type %localappdata%\Pitara and press Enter
4. Delete the Index folder
5. Restart Pitara - it will rebuild the index

Viewing Logs

For troubleshooting or support requests:

1. Click Help menu
2. Select Logs
3. Log file opens in your text editor

Enabling Debug Logs

For detailed diagnostics (if requested by support):

1. Open the Option menu
2. Launch Pitara Options
3. Enable the Debug Log checkbox
4. Save the settings

11. Tips & Best Practices

Organizing Strategy

• 📁 Don't reorganize folders - Pitara works with your existing structure
• 📍 Trust GPS metadata - Modern phones embed accurate location data
• 🔍 Use natural language - Pitara understands "last Christmas" better than complex syntax

Search Pro Tips

• Start broad, then narrow: Hawaii → Hawaii sunset → Hawaii sunset 2019
• Combine tags with metadata: birthday weekend from 10 years
• Use simple outdoor terms for mountain trips: Colorado hike or trail weekend
• Find date night photos: Saturday 7PM restaurant (if you tagged restaurants)

12. Additional Resources

• Sample Searches - More query examples
• FAQ - Common questions answered
• Contact Support - Get help from the team
• How It Works - Understanding Pitara's technology