Photoweb

Photoweb creates HTML galleries based on in-photo metadata, using flexible templates. What's different about it?

• It's easy to add new photos; just drop them in the folder and re-run.
• You don't have to track metadata; it comes from the photos themselves, using standard embedded metadata (EXIF, IPTC, XMP).
• Automatic Optimization: It can optimize your images for the web, stripping unnecessary metadata and using perceptual quality search to minimize file size.
• Smart Orientation: Automatically handles photo orientation (fixing rotated images from phones/cameras).
• It includes specialized support for titles and descriptions from Apple Photos.
• It's easy to modify the templates to make your photos look great.
• It supports modern web features like dark mode, keyboard navigation, and responsive side-by-side layouts out of the box.

Installation

Photoweb needs Python.

It's easiest with pipx:

pipx install photoweb

Usage

To generate the HTML for a gallery, call it from the command line:

photoweb .

You can generate multiple galleries at once:

photoweb beach hawaii snow

When you first generate a gallery, you can specify the page title and description, which will be used in the template:

photoweb -p "At the Beach" -d "We went to the beach for a weekend. Fun!" .

The page metadata will be saved in a file (md.json) for use next time you run photoweb.

Optimizing Images

You can optimize your original images in place and strip their metadata, which is recommended if you are going to host the files on a server:

photoweb -o .

By default, this uses a perceptual algorithm to find the best quality setting for each image. This can be slow; to optimize more quickly without perceptual search:

photoweb -o -f .

Optimization will also strip all metadata from the images for privacy and file size reduction.

Creating and Using Templates

By default, the bundled default template will be used. You can edit this, or create new templates, using them with the -t option:

photoweb -t "my template" .

To bootstrap your own template, you can copy the default one:

photoweb --copy-templates ./my-custom-design

Templates are directories with the following files in them:

• md.json - a configuration file
• gallery.html - the overview page
• detail.html - a single photo page
• style.css - visual styling
• photoweb.js - interactive logic (for keyboard navigation and zoom)

Take a look at the default template to get an idea of how to create your own.

Navigation and Shortcuts

When viewing a photo in the generated gallery:

• Left/Right Arrow keys: Previous/Next photo.
• Escape: Return to the gallery index.
• Click/Tap: Toggle between fit-to-screen and full-size view.