Photoview — Self-Hosted Photo Gallery for Your NAS

Introduction

Photoview is a lightweight self-hosted photo gallery built for users who store their photos on a NAS or server filesystem. Rather than importing or duplicating files, it reads directly from your existing directory structure and presents photos through a fast, responsive web interface with support for RAW formats, video, and EXIF metadata display.

What Photoview Does

• Serves photos directly from your existing filesystem without importing or duplicating files
• Generates responsive thumbnails and optimized preview images in the background
• Displays EXIF metadata and plots photos on an interactive map using GPS coordinates
• Supports RAW photo formats from major camera manufacturers via LibRaw
• Allows multi-user access with per-user media directories and sharing links

Architecture Overview

Photoview has a Go backend that scans configured media directories, processes images to generate thumbnails, and extracts EXIF metadata. It stores metadata and user information in either MySQL or PostgreSQL. The frontend is a React application using Apollo Client for GraphQL communication with the backend. Media files remain in place on the filesystem and are never moved or copied, making it safe to use alongside existing backup workflows.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with Docker Compose mapping your photo directories as read-only volumes
• Choose MySQL or PostgreSQL as the metadata database via environment variables
• Configure media cache location for generated thumbnails and optimized previews
• Set up the initial admin account through the web-based setup wizard on first launch
• Add additional users with their own media paths through the admin panel

Key Features

• Non-destructive approach that reads photos in-place without moving or copying files
• RAW format support for Canon CR2, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, and other camera formats
• Video playback with transcoding support for web-compatible formats
• Interactive map view plotting photos by GPS coordinates from EXIF data
• Shareable album links with optional password protection

Comparison with Similar Tools

• PhotoPrism — Heavier with AI classification; Photoview is lighter and reads files in-place without importing
• Immich — Mobile-first with upload workflow; Photoview serves existing filesystem photos without duplication
• LibrePhotos — ML-focused with face recognition; Photoview prioritizes simplicity and performance
• Piwigo — Traditional gallery with upload model; Photoview integrates with existing directory structures
• Lychee — Upload-based gallery; Photoview directly serves your NAS photo directories

FAQ

Q: Does Photoview modify or move my original photos? A: No. Photoview only reads from your photo directories and writes thumbnails to a separate cache folder.

Q: Which RAW formats are supported? A: Most major camera RAW formats including CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, and ORF via the LibRaw library.

Q: How much disk space do thumbnails use? A: The thumbnail cache typically uses 10-20% of your original photo library size depending on resolution settings.

Q: Can I use Photoview with Synology or QNAP NAS devices? A: Yes, run the Docker container on your NAS and mount the photo shared folder as a volume.

Sources

• https://github.com/photoview/photoview
• https://photoview.github.io