Cloudinary Logo Cloudinary Docs | Docs
  • Programmable Media
    • Get Started
    • Guides
    • References
    • SDKs
    • Release Notes
    • Home
  • Digital Asset Management
    • Get Started
    • User Guides
    • Admin Guides
    • Release Notes
  • More Products
    • Integrations Add Cloudinary capabilities to your tech stack apps and platforms
    • MediaFlows Low-code workflow automation for image and video
    • Media Optimizer Low-code media optimization for targeted Enterprise organizations
    • FinalTouch (Early Access) AI-powered virtual photoshoot and image creation for eCommerce
    • Cloudinary Labs Leading-edge tools and apps in active development
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Training
    • Support
    • Community
    • Podcasts
    • Demos
    • Roadmap
    • Cookbook
    • Additional Resources
  • Pricing
cloudinary_web_login_icon Login
sign up for free
  • Get Started
    • DAM products overview
    • Get started with Nexus
    • Get started with Assets
    • Video tutorial library
      • DAM administration
      • Using DAM features
  • User Guides
    • DAM Overview
    • Managing individual media assets
      • Editing and transformations
      • Collaboration tools
      • Custom metadata
      • Analysis and insights
      • Asset protection
    • Uploading and storing assets
    • Folders and collections
    • Media asset search
      • Global Search
      • Advanced Search
      • Query Builder
      • Visual Search (Beta)
  • Admin Guides
    • User and group management
      • Users and groups overview
      • SAML SSO
    • Settings and preferences
      • Settings and preferences overview
      • Dynamic folders
    • Upload presets
    • Structured metadata
    • Asset management
    • Usage data
  • Release Notes
    • Latest: September 28, 2023
    • Aug 22, 2023
    • Mar 22, 2023
    • Previous releases
      • Feb 22, 2023
      • Nov 21, 2022
  • Get Started
    • DAM products overview
    • Get started with Nexus
    • Get started with Assets
    • Video tutorial library
      • DAM administration
        • Folder sharing
        • Collection management
        • Collection sharing
        • Transformation presets
      • Using DAM features
        • Media Library upload
        • Video management intro
        • Advanced Search
  • User Guides
    • DAM Overview
    • Managing individual media assets
      • Editing and transformations
      • Collaboration tools
      • Custom metadata
      • Analysis and insights
      • Asset protection
    • Uploading and storing assets
    • Folders and collections
    • Media asset search
      • Global Search
      • Advanced Search
      • Query Builder
      • Visual Search (Beta)
  • Admin Guides
    • User and group management
      • Users and groups overview
      • SAML SSO
    • Settings and preferences
      • Settings and preferences overview
      • Dynamic folders
    • Upload presets
    • Structured metadata
    • Asset management
    • Usage data
  • Release Notes
    • Latest: September 28, 2023
    • Aug 22, 2023
    • Mar 22, 2023
    • Previous releases
      • Feb 22, 2023
      • Nov 21, 2022
Programmable Media
  • Get Started
  • Guides
  • References
  • SDKs
  • Release Notes
  • Home
Digital Asset Management
  • Get Started
  • User Guides
  • Admin Guides
  • Release Notes
  • More Products
      More Products
      Integrations
      Add Cloudinary capabilities to your tech stack apps and platforms
      MediaFlows
      Low-code workflow automation for image and video
      Media Optimizer
      Low-code media optimization for targeted Enterprise organizations
      FinalTouch (Early Access)
      AI-powered virtual photoshoot and image creation for eCommerce
      Cloudinary Labs
      Leading-edge tools and apps in active development
  • Resources
      Resources
      Blog
      Training
      Support
      Community
      Podcasts
      Demos
      Roadmap
      Cookbook
      Additional Resources
  • Pricing
    Digital Asset Management
    Menu
    • Get Started
      • DAM products overview
      • Get started with Nexus
      • Get started with Assets
      • Video tutorial library
        • DAM administration
          • Folder sharing
          • Collection management
          • Collection sharing
          • Transformation presets
        • Using DAM features
          • Media Library upload
          • Video management intro
          • Advanced Search
    • User Guides
      • DAM Overview
      • Managing individual media assets
        • Editing and transformations
        • Collaboration tools
        • Custom metadata
        • Analysis and insights
        • Asset protection
      • Uploading and storing assets
      • Folders and collections
      • Media asset search
        • Global Search
        • Advanced Search
        • Query Builder
        • Visual Search (Beta)
    • Admin Guides
      • User and group management
        • Users and groups overview
        • SAML SSO
      • Settings and preferences
        • Settings and preferences overview
        • Dynamic folders
      • Upload presets
      • Structured metadata
      • Asset management
      • Usage data
    • Release Notes
      • Latest: September 28, 2023
      • Aug 22, 2023
      • Mar 22, 2023
      • Previous releases
        • Feb 22, 2023
        • Nov 21, 2022
    • User guide
    • Media asset search
    • Visual Search (Beta)

    Visual Search (Beta)

    Last updated: Sep-26-2023

    Cloudinary Visual Search is a DAM feature that provides another way to search your Media Library. Find images based on their visual content, as opposed to their name or metadata, to increase image discoverability.

    Important
    The Visual Search currently in Beta, which means there may be minor changes in functionality or appearance before its general access release. We value your feedback, so please feel free to share any thoughts with us.

    For Assets users
    The Visual Search feature is a premium feature for our Assets product, and its availability depends on your account setup. If Visual Search is not yet enabled for your account and you'd like to enable it, please contact your Customer Support Manager.

    Visual search

    On this page:

    • Overview
    • Searching by image
    • Searching by text
    • Indexing images using an upload preset

    Overview

    You can search visually, either by image or by text:

    • Visual search by image: Allows you to find matches for a certain image in your Media Library. For example, you can select an image of a woman at the top of a purple mountain, and images with similar characteristics will be returned.

    • Visual search by text: Allows you to type in a word or phrase to find images that visually match the concept you described. For example, if you type the phrase cold night, images that visually represent that concept will be displayed.

    Important
    The visual search returns all images, including those with special access control restrictions.

    When you run a visual search, the images in the Media Library are scored based on how similar they are to the image you selected or the concept you typed. Matching images are then returned by score, from most to least similar.

    Searching for images based on visual similarity rather than by metadata allows you to:

    • Find images even if they aren't tagged or named descriptively.
    • Find duplicates.
    • Find images by visual characteristics that might not be included in a description.
    • Gather images that are similar in appearance.
    • Increase the discoverability of your images.

    Notes
    • If you want to add the Visual Search feature to your Cloudinary account, contact support. They'll enable the feature for your account and index all your existing images.
    • To index new images uploaded to your account after the initial setup, create an upload preset that indexes, and apply it every time you upload an image.

    Searching by image

    You can select any image in the Media Library and find other images that are similar to it.

    To search by matching image:

    • From the Media Library, right-click or click the (3-dots) options menu of an asset and select Find Similar Image.

    Select image to match

    Searching by text

    You can type in a search text to find images that are visual similar to the concept you enter.

    To search by text:

    1. Click the Assets tab from the Media Library Tabs. Then from the dropdown menu on the top-left, select Visual Search. Search by text from the Advanced Search

    2. Enter your search word or phrase and see the matching results:

      Visual search by text

    Indexing images using an upload preset

    There is no way to configure an upload preset that indexes images using the UI. Coordinate with a developer on your team to configure an upload preset programmatically.

    Once an upload preset that indexes new assets is configured, your Media Library administrator can set that upload preset as your Media Library upload preset defaults so that it will be applied to all the assets you upload.

    Creating an upload preset for indexing

    You can use the upload_preset method of the Admin API to create upload presets, either via a REST API call, or by using any of our backend SDKs. If you don't have a server-side application, you can create upload presets programmatically using the Cloudinary CLI.

    To index an image via an upload preset, add the similarity_search="clip" parameter when you create your upload preset. For example, the following code creates a new unsigned upload preset called visual_search, that indexes uploaded images:

    ✔️ Feedback sent!

    ✖️  
    How helpful was this doc page?

    Thanks for submitting your rating. We got it!
    We'd love to hear more. Tell us what you liked and how we can make this page even better:

    *


    Cloudinary is committed to protecting your information security. For details, see our privacy policy.

    For additional assistance, open a support request.

    Error

    Unfortunately there's been an error sending your feedback.

    Rate this page:

    • Query Builder
    Cloudinary Logo - White
    Products
    • Programmable Media
    • DAM
    • Demos
    • Pricing
    • Roadmap
    • FAQ
    Solutions
      • Why Cloudinary
      • Video API
      • E-commerce
      • Retail
      • Media & Entertainment
      • Travel & Hospitality
      • Non-Profits
      • Our Customers
      • Resource Library
      Developers
      • Getting Started
      • Documentation
      • Community
      • SDKs
      • Add-ons
      • Podcasts
      • Cookbook
      Company
      • About Us
      • Customers
      • Partners
      • Events
      • Careers
      • Newsroom
      • Blog
      • Brand Assets
      • Trust
      Contact Us
      • Technical Support
      • Contact Sales
      • Education & Training
      • Institute of Quality & Control
      • GDPR
      • SOC
      • Forbes Best Startup Employers 2020
      • MarTech Breakthrough Awards
      • Best Places to Work SVBJ 2018
      • 2020 The World's Best Cloud Companies
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • DMCA Notice

      © 2023 Cloudinary. All rights reserved.