Nomen is in closed beta for macOS and Windows.
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Documentation

Everything you need to install, configure, and use Nomen with Adobe Lightroom Classic. This page mirrors the in-app Help documentation.

System requirements

  • Adobe Lightroom Classic 12.0 or later
  • macOS (Apple Silicon recommended) or Windows 10/11
  • Internet connection for the one-time model and species pack downloads, and for license activation. Not required for matching.
  • A valid Nomen license key (purchased at nomenapp.com)

Installation

Step 1: Download the plug-in

Download the latest release from the Downloads page. The download is a .zip file containing the Lightroom plug-in bundle.

Step 2: Extract and place the plug-in

Unzip the download and place the Nomen.lrplugin folder in a permanent location. A dedicated Lightroom Plug-ins folder in your home directory works well.

Step 3: Add to Lightroom

In Lightroom Classic, go to File > Plug-in Manager > Add, navigate to the Nomen.lrplugin folder, and select it. If the plug-in shows a non-running status, try removing and re-adding it. Restart Lightroom after making changes.

Step 4: Activate your license

In the Plug-in Manager, select Nomen and enter your license key in the activation field. Click Activate. Once verified, the Nomen commands appear in the Library module.

Step 5: Download species packs

Open File > Plug-in Manager > Nomen > Step 2: Species Packs. Choose and download the packs you need for the taxa you photograph. This is a one-time download. Once complete, all matching runs locally on your machine.

Quick start

  1. Select one or more photos in the Library module.
  2. Open Library > Plug-in Extras > Nomen > Run Nomen on Selected Photos. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut (see below).
  3. Choose a detection mode, review mode, and any geographic filters.
  4. Click Run Nomen. Results are written to the catalog when matching completes.

Detection modes

  • Main subject (recommended). Matches the most prominent subject in the frame. Fast and accurate for a single animal.
  • Every subject. Finds and matches every detected subject separately. Useful when multiple species share the frame.
  • Fast survey. Counts and classifies every individual at standard resolution. 10 to 30 seconds per photo. Produces a species count summary.
  • Deep survey. Full sensor-resolution scan for distant or small subjects. Maximum detection accuracy. 1 to 3 minutes per photo.

Review modes

  • Don’t review, apply all matches. Results are written to the catalog immediately with no dialogs. Best for batch runs where you trust the model.
  • Quick review (grid). After a batch in Main subject mode, a three-column grid shows every single-match photo with a thumbnail and a checkbox. Uncheck to skip; checked photos have matches applied. Only available in Main subject mode.
  • Full review (one photo at a time). A dialog appears for each match showing the top species suggestions with confidence and rarity labels (very common, common, uncommon, rare, not recorded). Confirm the top match or pick from the ranked alternatives.

Keyword output

Every matched photo receives keywords in up to three branches under the Nomen root.

Taxonomy tree (always written)

Nomen > <Class> > <Family> > <Genus> > <Species>

Region branch (optional)

Toggle Region keyword in Advanced Settings. One tag per country in your run filter.

Nomen > Region > <Country>

Common Names tree (optional)

Toggle Common Names tree in Advanced Settings. One entry per language checked in Keyword languages. Groups include Birds, Mammals, Fish, Reptiles, and others.

Nomen > Common Names > <Group> > <Language> > <Common Name>

Species groups and packs

The Species group dropdown in the Run Nomen dialog lets you narrow matching to a specific pack (for example, Birds of North America or a Marine Regional pack) or leave it on All installed species to search every pack you have downloaded.

Species packs are downloaded and managed in File > Plug-in Manager > Nomen > Step 2: Species Packs.

Geographic filters

Filtering by location narrows results to species that actually occur where you shoot, which reduces false matches.

  • Auto-detect from photo GPS data. Reads the GPS coordinates embedded in each photo and selects the appropriate countries automatically.
  • Quick select a region. Choose a continent, ocean region, or dive region from the dropdown to enable all countries in that area at once.
  • Add a country. Pick any country from the world list to include it individually.

Languages

Keyword languages (Plugin Manager > Nomen > Step 5 Advanced Settings). A 12-language checkbox grid: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese. Each checked language adds a branch under Nomen > Common Names.

Display language. A separate popup that controls which common name Nomen displays in the review dialogs and writes to photo metadata. Defaults to the first checked keyword language.

Other commands

All commands are under Library > Plug-in Extras > Nomen.

  • Native Undo. Cmd-Z on macOS or Ctrl-Z on Windows reverts the most recent Nomen batch as a single catalog edit, including keywords, captions, ratings, and color labels. Works with the rest of Lightroom’s undo history.
  • Generate Nomen Caption. Builds a caption and hashtag block from the species keywords already matched on the selected photos.
  • Generate ID Cut Sheet. Exports a reference image grid of matched species for use in reports or presentations.
  • Help > Nomen Documentation. Opens the in-app help dialog.
  • Help > Check for Updates. Checks for a newer version of the plug-in.

Keyboard shortcuts

macOS

Open System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > App Shortcuts. Click + and set:

  • Application: Adobe Lightroom Classic
  • Menu Title: Run Nomen on Selected Photos (must match exactly)
  • Keyboard Shortcut: your preferred key combination

Recommended: Ctrl+Option+N (hold Control, Option/Alt, and N).

Windows

Lightroom Classic does not support custom app shortcuts natively on Windows. Use a third-party tool such as AutoHotkey to map a key to the menu item.

Settings reference

Settings live in the Plug-in Manager: File > Plug-in Manager > Nomen.

  • Confidence threshold. Minimum score (default 0.5) for a photo to be considered matched. Range: 0.00 to 1.00.
  • Timeout. Maximum time in seconds per photo (default 300).
  • Keyword prefix. Root keyword for the hierarchy (default Nomen).
  • Species group. Narrow matching to a specific pack, or leave on All installed species.
  • Close-match gap threshold. When the gap between the top two suggestions is smaller than this percentage (default 1%), a review dialog appears.
  • Write stars and pick flags. Toggle star ratings from image quality scores.
  • Write color labels. Toggle confidence-based color labels.
  • Skip already-matched photos. When enabled, photos that already have Nomen metadata are skipped during batch runs.
  • Region keyword and Common Names tree. Toggle the optional keyword branches described above.

Workflow guides

Step-by-step tutorials for getting the most out of Nomen, from your first match to working through a large backlog.

View workflow guides →

Troubleshooting

Daemon not starting

Open File > Plug-in Manager > Nomen and check the readiness status. If it shows an error, close Lightroom, reopen, and try again.

License activation fails

Verify your license key with no leading or trailing spaces. Check your internet connection. If the issue persists, check that you have not exceeded the activation limit for your tier at nomenapp.com/account, or contact support.

Matching is slow

Deep survey is the slowest mode. Try Fast survey or Main subject for faster runs. Narrowing the Species group also speeds up matching.

Keywords land under a wrong parent (the sticky-parent footgun)

Lightroom has a Put New Keywords Inside This Keyword option that many catalogs set accidentally. If any keyword in your catalog has this enabled, the Nomen root will nest under it instead of sitting at the top level. Fix: right-click every keyword in the Keyword List panel and make sure Put New Keywords Inside This Keyword is off, then re-run Nomen.

Missing common names

Make sure at least one language is checked under Plugin Manager > Nomen > Step 5 Advanced Settings > Keyword languages, and that the Common Names tree toggle is enabled.

Photos are coming back as unmatched

Photos that fall below your confidence threshold are silently marked as unmatched. Try a photo with a clearer view of the subject, or crop to the subject before matching. You can also lower the confidence threshold in settings.

Support

When reporting a bug, include your Lightroom Classic version, your macOS or Windows version, and the diagnostic report from File > Plug-in Manager > Nomen > Generate Report.

Contact support →

Acknowledgments

Nomen uses open-source AI models for species matching and subject detection. All models run locally on your machine. The models are licensed under MIT and Apache 2.0. Full license texts are included in the THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt file distributed with the plug-in.