Adobe is launching Technology Previews, a series of publicly open tests of features that will eventually become default functions in its popular suite of applications.
Lightroom is the first application for users to test out a new feature that very much resembles what Google has achieved in its Google Photos app.
Available only online, Lightroom's new Search feature allows photographers to log into their account and search through their entire libraries for any image even if their photos were never tagged or renamed.
Typing in "duck," for example, in Lightroom's Search function on the web, will uncover all the duck photos in a user's library. This is accomplished with what Adobe calls its "new image analysis technology" that makes use of machine learning algorithms to differentiate, say, a duck from a dog, and then delivers those photos to the user.
"The functionality will also grow and improve before we release it, adding in the ability to search through an image's metadata and more, making the search even more powerful and able to find a specific image precisely. Try searching your library for things like food, temples, flowers, animals, and more," Adobe shares in its blog post.
To start using Lightroom's new Search function, a user must login in online to their account. Once in, click on Lightroom's Lr menu on the top left to access the menu and select the "Technology Preview" option.
From there, Adobe's Search function will begin to index a photo library as its machine learning-based technology scrapes a user's content that can come from Lightroom Mobile, Lightroom desktop and photos uploaded to Lightroom online through a hard drive via Creative Cloud.
At the moment, the Search feature is limited to the English language only but Adobe promises that other major languages will be supported once the feature is officially launched. For users who are concerned about the privacy of their photos, Adobe assures that only users themselves can access Search.
"Don't worry, at no time will anyone else be able to search through or find your photos," Adobe states.
Beyond Search, Adobe's announcement implies that other features are also in the works, but the company has yet to disclose additional details or a timetable for their release.
