Pattern Recognition Company’s next-gen Lightroom plugin sets a new standard in photo and video management.

Pattern Recognition Company (PRC), the AI company behind the award-winning Excire software, recently launched Excire Search 2026, the most comprehensive version yet of its Lightroom Classic plugin.

Excire Search 2026 introduces a slew of time-saving media-management features for Lightroom Classic users, including AI-powered culling tools; an all-new Excire Search panel for a vastly improved user experience; intelligent focus detection; and AI-powered video organization.

In addition to the new features and upgrades, Excire Search 2026 plugin contains the full set of AI search and organization tools included in previous versions: natural-language (prompt) search, similarity search, face & people search, and duplicate search, as well as automatic keywording and intelligent aesthetic ratings.

A new level of intelligent photo and video management in Lightroom Classic

Lightroom Classic users looking for faster, smarter ways to find, select, and organize their images will find Excire Search 2026 indispensable. Highlights of the latest version include:

• Configurable AI-powered culling tools. Excire Search 2026’s dedicated culling tools can group photos by scene, people, content, and more; sort by eye sharpness, face sharpness, global sharpness, aesthetics, and facial characteristics; and even apply selection and rejection flags automatically using adjustable selection criteria.
• An intuitive Excire Search panel. The all-new Search panel ensures Excire’s most powerful tools are always within reach. Practical and user-friendly, the panel integrates seamlessly into Lightroom Classic and can be displayed as an unobtrusive quick-access toolbar or a full-sized window with image-preview capabilities.
• Face sharpness evaluations. The Excire Search panel automatically indicates whether faces are sharp or blurry; users can also preview faces close-up and confirm facial sharpness and subject ID at a glance.
• Support for AI-powered video organization. Lightroom Classic users can now use Excire’s tools to manage their photo and video collections side by side. Excire Search 2026 analyzes a representative frame from each video file and automatically applies keywords for easy search, organization, and retrieval.
• Unparalleled image search. Excire leverages cutting-edge AI to provide photographers with an unbeatable toolkit for photo retrieval. Thanks to prompt search, similarity search, and people & face search, users can instantly find any image, no matter how deep it’s hidden in their Lightroom Classic catalog.
• Automatic keywording and duplicate search. Excire’s AI automatically analyzes each photo and video on import and applies relevant keywords to aid in search and categorization. Thanks to the plugin’s unique capabilities, users can skip the tedium of manual keywording and can instead let Excire do the heavy lifting, making it easier than
  ever to tag media files based on their content. Additionally, a duplicate search tool helps users clean up unwanted files and save storage space.
• 100% local AI analysis. Excire Search 2026 runs locally on users’ computers. Data is never accessed by a third party, nor are files exported for analysis in the cloud; instead, privacy is maintained and the user remains in complete control of their data.

Additional upgrades include:

• Expansion of data storage to include a second database
• Improved processing of panoramic photos
• Direct support for HEIC and PSD files to speed up initialization of those formats
• Various minor bug fixes and optimizations

Price & Availability

Excire Search 2026 is available for both Windows and macOS beginning September 17, 2025. The program can be downloaded directly from the Excire website.

The plugin is offered for a one-time licensing fee (no subscription) of $199, but a limited-time launch discount reduces the price to $179. Additionally, existing Excire Search 2022 and Search 2024 users can upgrade to Excire Search 2026 for $99 and $69, respectively. A 14-day trial version is also available for download.

To learn more about Excire Search 2026, please visit www.excire.com/en/excire-search.