hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix Pixshelf: local-first stock photo workflow command center

Feature Description

Pixshelf should be positioned as a local-first stock photo command center that combines:

• Photo Mechanic-style ingest and culling
• Excire Foto-style local AI discovery/search/keywording
• IMstocker Studio-style stock metadata preparation and validation

It should not handle direct stock agency submission or uploads. Upload/submission automation is out of scope because agency integrations are brittle, complicated, and easy to get wrong.

Product Positioning

Pixshelf = local-first stock photo workflow app: fast culling + AI discovery + stock-ready metadata.

Not an uploader. Not an agency submission bot. Not a full Lightroom replacement.

Core Workflow

1. Inbox

• Open or watch a folder/card/export folder
• Detect new shoot/folder
• Generate previews/index
• Show counts for RAW/JPEG, duplicates, obvious rejects, unreviewed files

2. Cull

Photo Mechanic-inspired speed layer:

• Fast grid/contact sheet
• Large preview
• Keyboard-first next/previous/rate/reject flow
• Star ratings
• Color labels
• Pick/reject flags
• Compare similar frames
• Batch rename
• Move/copy selected files into workflow folders
• Filter by rating, label, flag, file type, date, camera, lens

Goal: reduce a shoot to stock-worthy candidates quickly.

3. Analyze

Excire-inspired local AI layer:

• Local image analysis
• AI subject/object/scene/concept tags
• Natural-language search
• Similar image search / “find photos like this”
• Duplicate and near-duplicate detection
• Blur/technical quality scoring
• Commercial usefulness signals
• Person/release-risk detection
• Logo/trademark/text/signage risk detection

Goal: use AI to support both discovery and stock-prep decisions.

4. Stock Prep

IMstocker-inspired metadata workbench, without uploads:

• Title generator
• Description generator
• Keyword generator
• Keyword cleanup and ranking
  • remove duplicates
  • reorder strongest keywords first
  • cap keyword count appropriately
  • flag weak/generic/hallucinated terms
• Category suggestions
• Editorial vs commercial flag/recommendation
• Model/property release reminders
• Agency-specific metadata validation for common agencies such as Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Alamy, etc.
• Per-image stock readiness checklist

Example warnings:

• Possible logo/trademark detected
• Recognizable person: model release likely required
• Keyword count outside agency limits
• First 10 keywords are weak or misordered
• Title too generic
• Description missing or too thin

5. Export

No uploads. Export prepared assets and metadata only:

• Write XMP/IPTC metadata
• Export CSV/JSON metadata
• Copy final files to output folders
• Optional agency-ready folder structure:
  • ready/adobe-stock
  • ready/shutterstock
  • ready/editorial
  • needs-release
  • rejects

MVP Scope

Build the first version around Stock Prep from Folder:

• Open folder
• Grid + preview
• Rate/pick/reject
• Local AI keyword suggestions
• Title/description generation
• Manual metadata editing
• Keyword ranking/cleanup
• Stock readiness checklist
• XMP/IPTC/CSV export
• No uploads
• No agency submissions
• No complex DAM/catalog requirement for v1

Killer Feature

A button/action like:

Prepare selected images for stock

For selected images, Pixshelf should produce:

• suggested title
• suggested description
• 30–50 cleaned/ranked keywords
• release/trademark warnings
• stock-readiness checklist/score
• exportable metadata

Non-Goals

Do not build these for this feature:

• Direct uploads to stock agencies
• Submission automation
• Agency login/session management
• Submission status tracking
• Full Lightroom replacement
• Full cloud DAM
• Client galleries
• Mobile app
• Accounting/invoicing

Acceptance Criteria

• User can open a folder of images and cull/select stock candidates.
• User can generate and edit stock-oriented titles, descriptions, and keywords.
• User can run stock-readiness validation before export.
• User can export metadata to portable formats such as XMP/IPTC/CSV.
• The app makes clear that uploads/submissions are intentionally out of scope.