PiGallery2

PiGallery2 is a self-hosted web photo gallery focused on browsing existing photo/video folders without importing them into a separate library. It indexes your directory structure, extracts common metadata, and provides a modern, responsive UI with fast thumbnail generation and search.

Key Features

• Directory-based albums (mirrors your existing folder structure)
• Automatic media indexing with configurable scanner/database
• EXIF/IPTC metadata reading (camera data, dates, keywords where available)
• Map view for GPS-tagged photos
• Full-text style search/filtering across metadata
• On-the-fly thumbnail generation and image resizing for fast browsing
• Video support (with metadata and preview handling depending on setup)
• Multi-user support with authentication and permission concepts
• Sharing options (public links/albums depending on configuration)

Use Cases

• Host a private family photo website from an existing NAS folder tree
• Browse and search a large archive (events/trips) using metadata and map view
• Lightweight gallery for photographers who want folder-based organization

Limitations and Considerations

• Features depend heavily on extracted metadata; inconsistent EXIF/IPTC can reduce search/map usefulness
• Not intended as a full “DAM” with heavy editing workflows; it focuses on browsing and viewing

PiGallery2 is a good fit when you want a fast, web-based viewer on top of a directory tree, with metadata-driven search and a clean UI. It works especially well for large collections where automatic thumbnails and responsive browsing matter more than complex asset-management workflows.