Your photos are your asset. And, just like other assets, you also need to manage your photos. In the context of photography, a photo management software often comes as the option. In Windows, you have multiple options of photo management software instead of one.

Generally, most photo management software have one thing in common. They commonly have a capability to download photos directly from camera. Most photo management software also feature basic editing tools to enable you apply basic editing to your photos like adjusting the saturation and brightness.

If you are a photographer who use Windows on your daily basis, here are several options of photo management software you can consider.

1. Adobe Bridge

As you probably can guess, Adobe Bridge is a product from the famous creative company Adobe. And just like most Adobe’s products, Bridge is a paid software. You can use this software as a management tool not only for photos but also other images. Including PSD files you created with Photoshop. Adobe Bridge allows you to perform such things as renaming a group of files at once, assigning colored labels or star ratings assigned to files from the respective Adobe software suite, edit embedded or associated XMP and IPTC Information Interchange Model metadata, or sort or categorize files based on their metadata.

2. JetPhoto Studio

If you prefer to use a simpler photo management to merely manage your photos, JetPhoto Studio is probably a good option. As long as you use this tool for personal use you don’t have to pay the license. The key features of this tool include geotagging, web publishing and web gallery. Of course, you can also use this tool for importing photos from camera as well as other devices. If you enjoy using this tool and need additional features, you can upgrade to the paid version anytime you want.

3. StudioLine Basic

Same as JetPhoto Studio, StudioLine Basic is also the kind of freemium software. If you want to continue using this photo management tool at no cost (personal use only),  you can request the complimentary activation code. This photo management also comes with standard features and capabilities of a photo management. You can make use of this tool to import photos from various mediums including camera, external hard drive, USB flash drive and so on.

The batch processing capability makes it easy if you need to work with multiple files at once. Finding photos in StudioLine Basic is also quite easy since the tool can sort your photos based on certain criterias. There is also a quick search feature you can use.

4. Phototheca

Phototheca is a freemium photo management software which comes with a number of useful features. This tool was built specifically for Windows with no other platforms are supported. Same as three tools mentioned above, you can also use Phototheca to import photos from camera as well as other devices. Phototheca allows you to performs some photo management-related things such as adding keyword, correcting wrong time stamp, creating photo libraries and so son.

One of the appeal things about Phototheca is the capability to filter photos by camera model. To see all of the features offered by this tool you can refer to this page. While you can use Phototheca for free, pro version is also available with unlimited size of a library as well as unlimited amount of web albums.

5. PicaJet

PicaJet is another freemium photo management software for Windows. Generally, the features offered by this tool are not far different to other tools on this list. One of the things you can do in PicaJet that can’t be done in other tools is hiding your private photos. PicaJet also supports batch processing for quicker work. PicaJet allows you to copy image captions, categories and ratings to IPTC or XMP metadata within the images. It also has a powerful built-in Metadata Editor for batch metadata editing.

The Powerful search feature makes it easy for you finding the photos you want. PicaJet allows you to search photos by EXIF fields like camera model, ISO, F-number, Shutter Speed, etc. Furthermore, this photo management software also supports nearly all RAW format including CR2 (Canon) and NEF (Nikon). One of the features of PicaJet that I love the most is the capability to display images as timeline which is very useful to find photos based on the date the photos were taken. However, you will probably be asked to pay the license to enjoy all of those feature.

6. Zoner Photo Studio

Zoner Photo Studio is a cool photo management software that comes with a dominant dark interface similar to most Adobe’s products. This tool is superb in cataloging your photo collections. In addition to basic photo management features like offered by the tools above, Zoner Photo Studio also comes with advanced editing tools that support layers. Zoner Photo Studio is also a freemium software. While you can use this tool for free, paid version is also available for more advanced features.

7. XnView MP

Unlike six tools mentioned above, XnView MP is cross-platform photo management tool that is available for major platforms, including macOS, Linux and of course, Windows. This tool is also useful enough to manage your  photo collections. You can also use XnView to brows and organize your photos. You can also perform basic editing like resizing, rotating, cropping, adjusting brightness and contrast and so on. Furthermore, the photo management software also supports batch processing, metadata editing and so on.