Searching by Keyword

Keyword search is the quickest way to find assets. Type a word or two into the search bar at the top of the Gallery, press Enter, and the page updates to show every asset that matches.

Freedam looks across a wide range of text attached to each asset - not just the filename - so you rarely need to remember exactly how a file was named.

What Gets Searched

When you type a keyword, the Gallery looks inside every text field attached to each asset at once.

In detail, your keyword is matched against all of the following on every asset:

Title and filename
Description and any custom text fields
Tags and keywords
Collection names the asset belongs to
Captions written by the AI (a short sentence describing what's in the image)
Text found inside images and documents - for example, a slogan on a poster, a product name on packaging, or the body of a PDF brochure
Metadata values such as campaign names, brand names, or locations

You don't need to tell the system which field to look in - it searches them all at once and shows the most relevant assets first.

How to Use It

Click into the Search assets… field at the top of the Gallery.
Type one or more words. You do not need to capitalise them or match the exact spelling used on the file.
Press Enter, or click a suggestion from the dropdown.
The Gallery filters to only assets matching your words.
To go back to the full library, click the × on the right side of the search bar.

Searching for an Exact Phrase

If you want results that contain your words in the exact order you typed them, wrap the phrase in quotes. Double quotes and single quotes both work.

sunset beach finds assets that mention both words anywhere.
"golden hour" finds only assets that contain that precise phrase.

Use quotes for product names, slogans, or any expression where word order matters. Use one pair of quotes around the whole phrase - a query with an unclosed quote, empty quotes, or several quoted fragments is not run; instead you'll see a short message asking you to check your quotation marks.

Combining Keywords

Type multiple words to narrow results - every word you add makes the search stricter:

dog - every photo that mentions a dog.
dog beach - photos that mention both a dog and a beach.
dog beach sunset - photos that mention all three.

Finding Either of Two Words (OR)

To widen a search instead of narrowing it, put OR between the alternatives:

sunset OR beach - assets that mention a sunset, a beach, or both.
spring OR summer OR autumn - assets matching any of the three.

A few rules keep OR searches predictable:

OR needs a word on both sides - a query starting or ending with OR is rejected with a hint.
Each side must be plain words. You can't mix an OR with a date, an asset ID, or a field search (described below) in the same query.
You can chain up to 16 alternatives.

Excluding Words

Typing NOT, -word or similar exclusion syntax into the search bar is not supported - the search won't run, and a message explains why. To hide results containing a word, use the Advanced Filters panel and choose the does not contain option.

Searching by Date

Type a date - or just a year or a month - to find assets from that time:

2024 - assets dated anywhere in 2024.
2024-06 - assets dated in June 2024.
2024-06-15 - assets dated on that exact day. The formats 06/15/2024, 15.06.2024 and 15-06-2024 work too.

The date is matched against the asset's date fields (such as when it was created), and results come back newest first rather than ranked by relevance.

Searching a Single Field

You can point your search at one specific field by typing the field name, an operator, and a value:

title: spring campaign - only assets whose title contains "spring campaign".
size > 10MB - files larger than 10 megabytes (KB, MB, GB and TB all work).
width >= 1920 - images at least 1920 pixels wide.

The supported operators are : (contains), =, !=, >, <, >= and <=. Everything after the operator counts as the value, so title: spring campaign searches for the whole phrase in the title. The suggestions dropdown proposes valid field names as you type (see Suggestions as You Type); a field name Freedam doesn't recognise is rejected with a message rather than searched as text. Field searches return results newest first.

Jumping Straight to an Asset by ID

Paste an asset ID (the reference shown on the asset detail page, such as IM-20260815-…) into the search bar to jump straight to that asset. You can paste several IDs at once, separated by spaces, commas or new lines. Don't mix IDs with ordinary words in the same query - Freedam asks you to search for one or the other.

When a Search Can't Run

If Freedam can't make sense of a query, it doesn't guess. Your current results stay exactly as they are, the text stays in the search bar, and a short message explains what to fix - for example:

"Excluding terms (NOT, -term) is not supported in search yet."
"Check your quotation marks: use one matched pair around an exact phrase."
"Check your OR search: every OR needs a word on both sides."
"This search is too long. Shorten it and try again."

This is deliberate: a search bar that silently ignores part of what you typed - or falls back to showing the whole library - is worse than one that asks you to rephrase. Practical limits: a query can be up to 500 characters and 64 words; anything longer is rejected with the "too long" message.

How Results Are Ranked

The most relevant assets appear first. The Gallery considers things like:

Whether the word appears in a title (stronger match) versus deep in a description (weaker match).
How complete the match is - a file titled exactly "Sunset" ranks above one that mentions "sunset" in passing.
Whether the word appears in tags or collections you typically use, which often means stronger relevance.

Relevance ranking applies to word and phrase searches. Date, field and asset-ID searches have no meaningful "relevance", so their results come back newest first - the sort control in the top bar reflects whichever ordering is in effect.

You can re-sort results at any time using the sort controls in the top bar - for example, to show the newest matches first instead of the most relevant.

Tips

Don't worry about capitalisation - "SUNSET", "Sunset" and "sunset" all return the same results.
A single word often beats three - start broad, then narrow down with filters.
Try synonyms if nothing comes up. If keyword search isn't finding what you need, the meaning-based search described in Searching by Meaning often picks up on concepts instead of exact words.
Use the suggestions dropdown - as you type, Freedam often proposes tags, collections, or specific assets that match. Clicking one is faster than finishing your query.

Troubleshooting

I know the asset exists but my keyword returns nothing

Check that no filters are active above the results - the filter chips near the search bar show everything currently applied. Click Clear filters to start fresh.
Try a shorter or more general word. "Campaign-Q3-hero-final.jpg" might not match hero final but it will match campaign.
The word you're searching may only exist inside a document or image that was uploaded recently and hasn't finished processing yet. Give it a few minutes and try again.

My search shows the wrong asset at the top

Relevance ranking is automatic, but you can sort by Newest, Oldest, Title A–Z or other criteria using the sort dropdown in the top bar. This overrides relevance ordering.