Cambridge, U.K.-based technology company Imense has launched Annotator, which it says is the first semi-automatic tool that can reduce keywording time by a factor of 4, while providing more commercially relevant keywords.
Geared at individual image producers, Annotator is a Web-based subscription product offered at annual prices of $75 to $155 for lite and pro levels, respectively. The service asks photographers to upload images and, using imense’s image-recognition technology, detects content and applies basic metadata without photographer input. Such information includes the number of people in the photo, their age range and ethnicity, as well as image orientation and the presence of copy space.
Annotator also suggests keywords using data gathered from previous image sales and search queries. The company says its keyword suggestions were designed to include the most commercially important keywords to use.
The service also has a Hotlist vocabulary feature that allows applying lists of keywords to images with one click. Photographers can share their own and view others’ Hotlists. Imense’s director of sales Tony Rowland says such efficiency improvements and commercially optimized keywords will improve a traditionally slow and often ineffective process.