How to find a photo by describing it

You’re sure there’s a photo of the whiteboard from the planning workshop, with the three columns and the sticky notes down the side. It could be on your phone, in a WhatsApp chat, in the shared Drive folder from the workshop, or in a downloads folder from when a colleague sent it. You remember what it looks like and roughly what was written on it. You have no idea when it was taken or what it’s called.

This page covers how people usually hunt for a photo they can picture but can’t locate, and how to find one in Fabric by describing what’s in it, what’s written in it, or its colors.

How people usually look for a photo

Phone photo apps are the strongest tool most people have. Apple Photos and Google Photos recognize people, places and many objects, so searching “beach” or “dog” in the camera roll works well. They cover the photos inside that app’s library. A photo received by email, saved to a laptop, or sitting in a work drive is outside it.

On a computer, the usual method is folders named by event or date and a lot of scrolling through thumbnails. Filenames from cameras and phones (IMG_2291.HEIC, DSC04518.JPG) carry no information about the content, so the folder name is the only clue.

Designers and creative teams who collect reference images often use Pinterest boards or a mood board tool. These are good for browsing a collection by eye. Finding one image again among hundreds tends to come down to scrolling, and the images there are separate from the photos and files kept elsewhere.

Step 1: Bring your photos into one library

The Fabric mobile app can back up your camera roll automatically. You choose whether to sync all photos or only specific folders from the device’s photos, and it can also sync the device’s Files section. How to back up your camera roll automatically goes through the options.

For photos on a computer, drag them into Fabric or click Upload a file, which handles large batches at once. With the desktop app installed, Fabric appears as a drive on Mac, Windows and Linux, so moving a folder of old photos in works like any other copy, and they stream from the cloud without using local disk space.

Photos that arrive in messages or email can be sent from the share sheet on your phone, or forwarded to your Fabric email address. If the workshop photos live in Google Drive, a connection brings them across with two-way sync. Connections need a paid plan.

Step 2: Let Fabric look at each photo

When a photo arrives, Fabric creates embeddings so search can match it by meaning, writes a summary, and extracts attributes including content type, concepts and colors. Text in the image is read and made searchable as well. It also suggests tags. This is smart organization, and it runs without you sorting anything.

Smart collections build on it. A collection for receipts, for architecture references or for photos of the kids’ artwork can fill itself as matching images arrive, without you dragging each one into a folder.

Step 3: Describe the photo in search

Click Search or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows) and describe what you see in your memory. Fabric search covers what’s visually in images, so “whiteboard with sticky notes in three columns”, “red front door with a brass knocker” and “dog running on a beach at sunset” are all valid queries.

Words in the photo count too. If you remember “Q3 priorities” written across the top of the whiteboard, search for that. Put it in quotes if you want a strict match. This is useful for photos of signs, menus, labels, slides taken from the back of a room, and pages of a book. A description and a remembered word can go in the same query, such as “menu board outside a cafe” with “oat flat white” in quotes.

To narrow results, filter by kind of item to show only images, by location (such as your camera roll backup or a project folder), or by tag. How to search photos by what’s in them has more example queries.

Step 4: Search by color or by a similar photo

When color is what you remember, search by it. Paste a HEX code or pick one with the color picker, and Fabric returns images that match it. It helps with brand assets, product shots and mood references. How to search images by color covers it in detail.

If you’ve found a photo from the right day or shoot, select it and run similarity search. For images, similarity covers composition, color and subject, so it can bring up other shots from the same session and pictures with a similar look, even when they’re stored in different places.

You can also ask the AI assistant to find a photo in a conversation (“the photo of the whiteboard from the planning workshop”) and refine with follow-ups. It answers with clickable references to the images it found.

Frequently asked questions

Can I search my photos by what’s in them?

Yes. Fabric search covers the visual content of images, so you can type a description such as “bicycle leaning on a blue wall” and find matching photos.

Can Fabric find text written in a photo?

Yes. Text inside images and photographed text are searchable, which covers signs, whiteboards, labels and documents you’ve photographed.

How do I search photos by color?

Open search and either paste a HEX code or choose a color with the color picker.

Can I find photos that look like one I already have?

Yes. Select the photo and run similarity search. For images it compares composition, color and subject.

Does Fabric search photos from my phone?

Yes, once they’re in Fabric. The mobile app can back up your camera roll automatically, either all photos or folders you choose.

Can I search photos stored in Google Drive?

Yes, if you connect Google Drive through connections. Files are created in Fabric and kept in sync in both directions. Connections need a paid plan.

What if I don’t remember when a photo was taken?

Describe what’s in it instead. How to find old photos without remembering when they were taken covers this situation.

Can I search my photos from my phone?

Yes. Search works in the iOS and Android apps, and the knowledge search panel opens from the bottom drawer on mobile, so you can find a photo from your laptop’s library while you’re out.

Do I need to tag my photos for search to work?

No. Fabric analyzes each photo as it arrives and suggests tags, and search works on the content without any tagging.