Take control of your research photos with Tropy, a tool that shortens the path from finding archival sources to writing about them. Spend more time using your research photos, and less time hunting for them.
Tropy saves your research data using SQLite, the storage format recommended by the Library of Congress for preservation.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Turn photos into items – say goodbye to IMG_5261.JPG and IMG_5262.JPG, and say hello to your sources.
- Describe your sources – contextualize artifacts and their photos by capturing your own subject expertise. A friendly editing interface allows customized templates that fit your research like a glove.
- Organize your research – break free from the logic of the physical archive and use tags and lists to organize your research items according to your needs.
- Export your research projects as JSON‑LD, CSV, and even directly to Omeka. Create your own export plugin.
- Plugins to extend functionality. Core plugins:
- IIIF – import IIIF manifests.
- Omeka – export your items to Omeka S.
- CSL – export your Tropy items to Zotero.
- CSV – import and export CSV files.
- Archive – export your items as a ZIP archive.
- Annotation tools allow you to transcribe documents, select image details, and manipulate photographs to get the clearest view of your sources.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: tropy.org
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: RRCHNM, the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), and Digital Scholar
License: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
Tropy is written in JavaScript. Learn JavaScript with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Photo Management Software | |
|---|---|
| digiKam | Image organiser and editor using KDE |
| darktable | Photography workflow application and raw developer |
| TagStudio | Tag-based photo and file organization program |
| gThumb | Image viewer and organizer for the GNOME desktop environment |
| Shotwell | Personal photo management |
| KPhotoAlbum | Tool for indexing, searching and viewing images for KDE |
| Pix | Image viewer and browser utility which is based on gThumb |
| Tropy | Explore your research photos |
| Rapid Photo Downloader | Photo and video downloader |
| Allusion-rafauc | Fork of Allusion |
| Allusion | Organize your visual library |
| GNOME Photos | Access, organize and share your photos on GNOME |
| Snu Photo Manager | Feature-rich photo manager |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |