PhotoGlobe Sorter Full Frequently Asked Questions

Most free software is limited or uploads your photos to the cloud. PhotoGlobe Sorter offers a full free trial for up to 500 photos. You can test all its power (PDF reports, maps) and see that it works 100% on your computer, without sending anything over the internet.

It's simple! The best method is to gather everything into one large folder on your computer, for example, "Photos to Sort". Then, point PhotoGlobe Sorter to this folder. It will take care of untangling and organizing all this happy mess for you.

Absolutely not! That's PhotoGlobe Sorter's golden rule: it NEVER modifies or deletes your original photos. It creates perfectly organized copies in a new folder. So you can work completely stress-free.

Yes, a thousand times yes! PhotoGlobe Sorter was created for you. The interface was designed to be as simple as possible: one big button to choose your photos, another to start sorting. That's it. The software is your assistant; it does the complex work for you.

Less than 5 minutes! The process is so guided that your first sort can be launched immediately after installation. Simplicity is at the heart of PhotoGlobe Sorter.

That's the core function of PhotoGlobe Sorter. It reads the hidden capture date in each photo and automatically creates "Year" then "Month" folders. You don't have to do anything; it's 100% automatic.

Yes, and that's where its power shines! If your photos (taken with a smartphone, for example) contain GPS coordinates, PhotoGlobe Sorter creates folders by "Country" then by "City". Your photos from Rome will go into the "Italy" → "Rome" folder, without you lifting a finger.

No problem! PhotoGlobe Sorter includes a very simple "Geotagging" tool. You select a group of photos (for example, all those from your beach vacation) and click on a point on the world map. The software adds this information to all selected photos.

It's ideal with PhotoGlobe Sorter. Put all the photos from your trip on a USB drive, plug it in, and start the sort. The software will automatically separate the photos taken in Lisbon from those taken in Porto, and provide you with a PDF report including a map of your trip!

Many AI software programs are complicated or cloud-based. PhotoGlobe Sorter uses "pragmatic" intelligence: it doesn't try to guess what's in the photo, but it intelligently reads the 127 hidden technical details (date, location, camera, settings...). It's a more reliable, faster approach that fully respects your privacy.

It's a beautiful document that PhotoGlobe Sorter generates at the end of each sort. It contains statistics (your favorite cameras, most active months), a heat map of your travels, and a list of your organized photos. It's the "logbook" of your memories.

Absolutely. By default, PhotoGlobe Sorter suggests sorting by Year / Month / Country / City, but you can create your own structure with simple drag-and-drop. For example: Country / Year / Event. You have over 1,600 possible combinations!

Yes. During sorting, PhotoGlobe Sorter identifies duplicates and asks you what you want to do with them, to avoid unnecessarily cluttering your hard drive.

This is a unique feature of PhotoGlobe Sorter. If you took one photo in "Roma" and another in "Rome," most software creates two folders. Ours understands it's the same city and unifies everything into a single "Rome" folder, in your language!

Of course! Just copy the photos from your phone to your computer (into the "Photos to Sort" folder, for example), and PhotoGlobe Sorter will handle the rest.

Yes, that's a promise. PhotoGlobe Sorter is 100% local software. None of your photos are sent over the internet or to a "cloud." Your privacy is fully protected.

Yes. We use SumUp, a globally recognized payment platform known for its reliability and security. Your banking details are fully protected.

The UUID is like your computer's "serial number." It allows us to create a license key that will only work for you, on your machine. It's a security measure that ensures your license is truly personal.

Don't worry! A backup copy is made on your computer during activation. And if needed, just send us a quick email and we'll resend your personal license file.

Because we are a small, independent, and passionate team. Our goal isn't to collect your data, but to offer you a simple and honest tool that provides real value. The Solidarity License (1 purchased = 1 donated) is proof of our human commitment.

Yes, PhotoGlobe Sorter is designed to work perfectly on both Windows and macOS.

The software itself is very lightweight. Then, it only creates copies of your photos, so the space used will depend on the number of photos you sort.

Yes. If sorting thousands of photos takes time, you can click "Pause" at any moment, and resume later. PhotoGlobe Sorter is flexible.

The software notifies you and offers a button to directly open the new folder where your photos are perfectly arranged. You can admire the result immediately!

Yes! That's a very important point. If you choose Japanese, for example, not only will the interface be in Japanese, but the generated PDF report (titles, statistics, captions) will be too.

In the software, go to the "History" screen. Every sort you've done is listed there. There's a button for each entry that lets you directly open the corresponding destination folder!

Currently, PhotoGlobe Sorter specializes in and is optimized for photos (JPEG, PNG, TIFF files). This allows it to be faster and more expert in its field.

This is a choice to ensure a smooth experience for you. Sorting 50,000 photos would be very long and the report unreadable. By processing in "collections" (a trip, a year...), you get faster results and much more enjoyable albums to browse.

Of course, and it's even much simpler! Your photos are in clear folders (e.g., "2023" → "Italy" → "Rome"). You just need to copy this folder onto a USB drive or zip it to send to your loved ones.

We think it's the most human. It doesn't try to be the most complex, but the simplest, the most respectful of your privacy, and the most magical in its results. For someone who just wants to bring order to their memories without becoming an expert, yes, we believe PhotoGlobe Sorter is the best companion.

With PhotoGlobe Sorter, just select a photo folder, then click "Start Sort". The software automatically classifies your images by date, country, and city, without any complicated settings.

Yes. PhotoGlobe Sorter automatically creates year → month → day folders, and can even add cities and countries based on EXIF metadata.

PhotoGlobe reads the GPS data from your images and organizes your photos into folders like USA / Austin / 2024. No manual effort required.

For personal or family use, PhotoGlobe Sorter is one of the simplest: no cloud, no sign-up, and sorting in 3 clicks.

Create a dedicated "collection" (e.g., Italy Vacation 2025) and let PhotoGlobe automatically sort your shots by locations and dates.

Yes, you can choose your structure: by year, by month, or even combine with location (e.g., 2023 / Spain / Barcelona).

PhotoGlobe Sorter automates everything: it creates the folders and places the correct photos in them without you having to move a single file.

The free version of PhotoGlobe allows sorting up to 500 photos. Perfect for testing the software before buying the full license.

Choose the folder where your photos are stored, and PhotoGlobe automatically arranges them into a clear and clean structure.

PhotoGlobe is designed for exactly that. It detects photos wherever they are, sorts them, and gives you back an organized collection in minutes.

PhotoGlobe reads the GPS coordinates embedded in your photos and displays all the shooting locations on a world map.

Yes! PhotoGlobe Sorter displays your photos on an interactive world map, with zoom and filters by country or city.

If your photos don't contain GPS data, you can add it manually using the built-in Geotagging feature.

Yes. PhotoGlobe automatically creates a map of your travels and even a heatmap (heat map) if you have a MapTiler key.

Some cameras don't record GPS coordinates. PhotoGlobe can enrich them manually, or use the address from a neighboring file.

Yes. The map displays country, city, and village names in your language, based on your selection in PhotoGlobe.

Click on the corresponding marker: PhotoGlobe shows you the thumbnail and the folder where the photo is located.

Yes. Only mapping requires an occasional connection; the sorting itself is 100% offline.

Yes. Each collection can be dedicated to a trip, and the map will only display the shots related to that journey.

Yes, all modern smartphones (Android / iPhone) record GPS coordinates that PhotoGlobe knows how to use perfectly.

PhotoGlobe sorts your photos into an organized folder. You can then copy it to an external drive or USB stick for backup.

Yes. Copy them to your computer and let PhotoGlobe handle the sorting automatically.

Create a "Family" collection, and PhotoGlobe groups the images by year, event, or location (e.g., Birthdays / 2022 / Austin).

No. PhotoGlobe never touches the originals. It creates a sorted copy, leaving your source files intact.

Yes, unlimited. Each collection is independent and can contain up to 10,000 photos.

It's a deliberate choice to ensure the stability and smoothness of the software, even on modest computers.

Yes. PhotoGlobe analyzes EXIF dates to reconstruct the years automatically, even if the photos are mixed up.

Yes, it detects identical photos and warns you before copying them.

All processing is copy-only, so there's no risk of accidental deletion.

Yes, you can choose an external drive as the sorting destination.

Yes. It was designed to be used without a technical manual, even by senior users.

Choose the folder → click "Start Sort" → that's it. The rest happens automatically.

Absolutely. Clear interface, readable text, simple explanations—everything is designed to be reassuring.

Yes, it's a one-time lifetime purchase, no surprises, no monthly fees.

No. No sign-up, no password, nothing to remember.

Yes, all sorting happens locally. You can even use it without an internet connection.

At the bottom left of the dashboard, choose your language (50 available). Everything adapts automatically.

Yes, the interface automatically adapts to standard Windows resolutions.

Yes, the engine is optimized to run even on modest processors.

Yes, PhotoGlobe is compatible with both Windows and macOS.

Yes, PhotoGlobe sorts about 1,000 photos in 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the PC's power.

Yes, the software works quietly without freezing your computer.

Never. Everything happens on your hard drive.

Yes, 100% local, no data collection.

Yes, using the Pause and Cancel buttons.

No. It's lightweight and designed not to slow down your system.

No. Up to 10,000 photos per collection, it remains stable.

A few minutes to several hours depending on the volume. PhotoGlobe displays an estimated time before each process.

Yes, it reads them to sort your photos by date, camera, and location.

No. You can create as many collections as you want.

Out of respect for privacy. Your memories should remain yours, not on remote servers.

Yes 🇫🇷 — designed and developed in France, translated into 50 languages.

Because AlbumForge wants to make digital photography accessible to everyone, without subscriptions.

It's a free license given to a person or organization in need for every license sold.

From the "License" menu → Request a solidarity license → fill out the short form → you receive your key by email.

None. It's a 100% clean tool with no tracking.

Yes, for life. Every license includes updates.

Yes, human, via email, in French or English.

Yes, by sending your new identifier (UUID) to AlbumForge.

Because it's simpler, safer, more human, and doesn't depend on any connection.

Yes, it can be seen as a personal DAM, simplified and accessible. It focuses on the physical organization of files (sorting) based on metadata, which is the core of a good Digital Asset Management system.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is much simpler. Its goal is to automate the physical arrangement of photos. DAMs like Bridge are more complex, offering advanced tools for editing IPTC metadata and searching, but require more manual work for organization.

It reads EXIF metadata (date, time, camera model, GPS) to decide where to classify each photo. It does not modify the original metadata but uses it as instructions to create a perfect folder structure.

Indirectly, yes. By sorting your photos into a logical folder structure (e.g., Year/Month/Country), it effectively creates a physical catalog on your hard drive, which you can then easily browse or import into other software.

The best approach is to process in batches. Create "collections" in PhotoGlobe, for example, one per year or per major trip. This way, you achieve progressive, fast, and controlled organization of your entire photo library.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is not a keyword search engine. It relies on factual metadata (date, location). However, by creating folders named by event or location, it greatly facilitates manual searching or using your computer's search tool.

It's an ideal solution to start with. Even before thinking about complex keywords, the first step is to have a clean folder structure based on date and location. PhotoGlobe Sorter perfectly automates this essential foundation.

No, PhotoGlobe Sorter specializes in reading metadata for sorting. It is not an IPTC metadata editor. For that, tools like Adobe Bridge or XnView MP are complementary.

By creating a standard and universally readable folder structure, it ensures your classification doesn't depend on proprietary software. Your photos are organized logically and will remain accessible and understandable in 10, 20, or 50 years.

It's a major advantage for security and privacy. Your photos, often personal, never leave your computer. You are not dependent on an internet connection or the privacy policy of a third-party company.

Very easily. After sorting, you just need to go to the folder for the relevant year (e.g., "2020"), then look for the subfolder of the country and city. For example: `Photos/2020/Italy/Florence/`.

PhotoGlobe Sorter focuses on folder organization and does not rename files to ensure the integrity of the original. The filename becomes secondary when photos are perfectly classified in explicit folders.

It's an alternative for the "file organization" part. Unlike Lightroom, which creates a complex virtual catalog, PhotoGlobe Sorter organizes your actual files into real folders, which is simpler and more transparent for many users.

Yes. The drag-and-drop system allows you to create a custom folder structure (Country/Year, Event/Date, etc.) to exactly match your workflow and classification method.

To ensure speed and simplicity, PhotoGlobe Sorter is optimized for the most common formats (JPEG, PNG, TIFF) and does not process RAW files, which are usually managed in dedicated development software.

The PDF report acts as an inventory or "logbook" of your sort. It gives you a summary view (statistics, location map) of the collection you just organized, which is valuable for archiving.

The "best" DAM is one that is simple to use and meets your needs. If your main goal is to automatically and securely bring order to the chaos of your photos, PhotoGlobe Sorter is an excellent candidate.

The software displays the essential information it uses for sorting (date, location, camera). It doesn't present itself as a full EXIF viewer, to stay focused on its mission: fast and efficient sorting.

Yes, metadata analysis (indexing) is very fast. The software reads information from several thousand photos in just a few minutes before starting the copying and sorting process.

That's one of PhotoGlobe Sorter's strengths. Regardless of the source, it reads the date and location of capture for each photo. Thus, a photo taken at 2:05 PM with an iPhone in Rome will be classified in the same folder as a photo taken at 2:06 PM with a DSLR camera at the same location.

No. Out of respect for privacy and to remain a simple, local tool, PhotoGlobe Sorter does not include facial recognition or AI-based image content analysis. Its intelligence is based on technical data (EXIF).

The software does not maintain a database of your files once sorting is complete. The folder organization is the final result. You are then free to move or back up this folder wherever you wish; the organization is established and independent of the software.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is designed for families, individuals, travelers, and seniors. Unlike Lightroom, aimed at professional photographers, and Bynder, for large enterprises, our software focuses on simplicity and accessibility for everyone.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is the ideal alternative. While Google Photos analyzes your data in its cloud, PhotoGlobe Sorter operates 100% locally on your computer. No photos are sent online, ensuring total respect for your privacy.

Google's "free" service comes at a cost: your personal data. PhotoGlobe Sorter offers a single lifetime license for $39. It's an investment in software you truly own, with no hidden subscriptions and without using your memories for commercial purposes.

Absolutely. PhotoGlobe Sorter was created precisely for this. Its learning curve is almost non-existent compared to Lightroom's complex one. If your only need is to automatically organize your photos by date and location, it's the perfect tool.

The difference is huge in the long run. PhotoGlobe Sorter costs $39 as a one-time payment, for life. The Lightroom subscription is about $12/month, or $144 per year. In less than 4 months, PhotoGlobe Sorter is already more cost-effective.

PhotoGlobe Sorter offers superior simplicity and automation. Where ACDSee presents a sometimes dense interface for advanced users, PhotoGlobe focuses on a single task, automatic sorting, which it performs in 2 clicks. Its interactive world map and translated PDF reports are also unique assets.

No, and that's intentional. Bynder is an ultra-comprehensive collaborative solution for large companies, costing over $300/month. PhotoGlobe Sorter is a "personal DAM" designed for individuals, focusing on simplicity and a price accessible to all.

It's different and more structured. Google Photos organizes by date and faces in a virtual interface. PhotoGlobe Sorter physically creates folders on your hard drive (Year / Country / City), giving you full control over your file structure.

Yes, and in a more advanced way. PhotoGlobe Sorter offers not only an interactive world map but also a "heatmap" of your travels and, importantly, translates place names into your language, which not all competitors do.

It's the best choice. It is one of the few software programs on the market that is 100% local, with no mandatory cloud option. Your photos stay with you, period. You have complete control, unlike with Google Photos, Lightroom, or Bynder.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is by far the simplest. Its process boils down to "install, choose, sort." Google Photos requires online setup, while Lightroom and ACDSee have much more advanced installations and settings.

It leads the pack. With 50+ languages available, it's far more international than Lightroom (26 languages), Bynder (~20), or ACDSee (12). The interface, maps, and even PDF reports adapt to your language.

No, and this is a deliberate choice to ensure simplicity and speed. The software focuses on the most common formats: JPEG, PNG, and TIFF. It's designed for everyday memories, not the workflow of a professional photographer using RAW.

This feature is exclusive to PhotoGlobe Sorter. None of the other competitors mentioned (Bynder, Google Photos, Lightroom, ACDSee) offer the creation of a detailed, translated PDF report summarizing your sort with statistics and a map.

Only PhotoGlobe Sorter (AlbumForge) offers a "Solidarity License." It's a core value of our project: for every license purchased, we donate one to an organization or person in need.

PhotoGlobe Sorter wins with a score of total control. Then comes ACDSee, which is also local software. Lightroom offers partial control due to cloud synchronization, and Google Photos and Bynder offer the least local control as they are web-based.

Our software targets families, travelers, non-profits, seniors, and anyone wanting to simply organize their memories without becoming a computer expert. It's a tool for the general public, not niche software for professionals.

Because we believe a tool should do one thing, but do it perfectly. PhotoGlobe Sorter focuses on sorting and organization. For editing, there are already excellent (often free) software options. We prefer to be the best in our field rather than average in several.

If you prefer content-based organization (object recognition, facial recognition), Google's AI is powerful. If you prefer factual, private, and structured folder organization (based on date and location), PhotoGlobe Sorter's EXIF metadata sorting is more reliable and transparent.

Your best options are PhotoGlobe Sorter ($39) and ACDSee Home (around $60). Both offer a lifetime license. However, PhotoGlobe Sorter stands out for its greater ease of use and more accessible price.

PhotoGlobe Sorter is the most digitally "eco-friendly." By processing everything locally, it doesn't use energy from remote servers to store or analyze your photos, unlike cloud-based solutions like Google Photos, Lightroom (with sync), and Bynder.

Without hesitation, PhotoGlobe Sorter. It was specifically designed for an audience including seniors, with an ultra-simple interface, immediate learning curve, and a clear goal: organize photos without stress or complication.

Yes, that's an excellent idea. You can use PhotoGlobe Sorter to do the initial major sort and create a clean folder structure on your hard drive. Then, you can import this perfectly organized folder into Lightroom to do your professional edits.

The "human value" reflects the company's ethics. AlbumForge stands out with its Solidarity License, personalized customer support, and mission to make technology accessible and non-intrusive, earning it the top score in this category.

Not at all. PhotoGlobe Sorter has a very simple manual "Geotagging" tool. You can select all photos from one location and place them on the map with one click. Plus, it will still sort them perfectly by date, which remains the primary organization criterion.

Because specialization ensures efficiency. "All-in-one" software is often overly complex ("bloatware"). PhotoGlobe Sorter does one thing—automatic sorting—but does it more simply, quickly, and transparently than the sorting features built into more complex software.

It's different. PhotoGlobe Sorter doesn't let you search for "cat" or "beach." It allows powerful, factual search by folder name, date, country, or city. Once sorted, searching via your computer's file explorer becomes incredibly effective.

Its main weakness is that it offers neither photo editing nor RAW file management. This is a deliberate choice to prioritize simplicity and speed for the general public. It is an organizer, not an editor.

PhotoGlobe Sorter's niche is "simple and private photo organization for everyone." It targets the vast majority of people who simply want to bring order to their memories without subscriptions, cloud storage, or stress.

It achieves a score of 9.5/10 because it excels at its core mission for its target audience. It combines maximum simplicity (10/10), total privacy respect, a fair business model (lifetime license), unique features (reports, map), and strong human value.

This slogan summarizes our philosophy. Subscription solutions make you captive. If you stop paying, you risk losing access or features. With PhotoGlobe Sorter, you buy a tool that is yours forever. The organization of your memories belongs to you, unconditionally.