How it was built
A whole photo library, and not a single upload.
The tricky part of an inspiration board is usually storage and logins. The interesting bit here was sidestepping both, by keeping everything on your own device. Here are the sorts of things I asked for.
Step 1 · Keep it on the device
A board full of images normally means a server and a login, which means cost and, honestly, a copyright headache. So I asked for the opposite: a board that lives entirely in your own browser, exactly like the folder of screenshots on my phone.
Build an inspiration board that keeps images in the browser on my own device, no login, no server. I can upload, paste (Ctrl-V) or drag images in. Show them in a nice grid that doesn't jump about as they load.
Built a board that stores your images in the browser's own database (IndexedDB), so nothing is uploaded. Upload, paste and drag-drop all work, each image is thumbnailed for a fast grid, and the layout reserves each image's shape so it never reflows.
Step 2 · Tag it, then find it fast
A pile of images is no use if you can't find the right one in ten seconds. I wanted proper tags, with suggestions from my own most- used ones, and the ability to filter by several at once.
Let me tag each image and filter by several tags at once (show only images with all of them). Suggest my most-used tags first, plus some presets for wedding work. Add a search box and a favourites toggle, and a full-screen swipe mode for flicking through on the day.
Added free-form tags with tidy normalisation, a filter bar with live counts, text search and a favourites view. Tags filter with AND logic, so picking two shows only images carrying both. Swipe mode is a full-screen flick: drag up to favourite, sideways to skip.
Step 3 · Honest limits, and the Pro line
On-device storage is private and free, but it's per-device and finite. So the free beta holds fifty images to test the idea, with a one-tap back up so nothing is ever lost, and the things that need a server become Pro.
Cap the free beta at 50 images and add a one-tap back up and restore so a cleared browser doesn't lose everything. Free tagging should be from a curated set by shoot type, most-used first; making your own tags is a Pro thing. Add a clear copyright note (personal reference, not commercial). Then tease Pro: custom tags, saving from a link, an unlimited board, and syncing across devices.
Capped it at 50 with a gentle nudge at the limit, and added back up and restore to a file. Tagging is one-tap from a curated set with your most-used first; custom tags are held for Pro. Put a plain-English copyright note in the app and on the page, and added a Pro teaser for custom tags, location and venue tags, link-import, unlimited storage and cross-device sync.
The build log
And it keeps evolving.
Every change since launch, newest first. Tap any entry to read the thinking behind it.
UpdateAn explorable demo, pose notes, and a bolder swipeThe app page now opens on a live demo board built from real weddings, each image carries a title and a pose note, the Swipe button is far more obvious, and location and venue tags joined the Pro plans.
A blank board is a poor welcome, so the tool now opens on a 'See the demo' tab: a real, fully interactive board of my own work you can filter and swipe before adding a thing, with a 'Try it yourself' tab alongside and a Pro call to action. Every image now has a title (with its location) and a note, the exact pose or prompt, which also shows as you swipe. The Swipe button got bolder so it's not missed. And the big new Pro idea is location and venue tags: tag references by where they were shot, then pull up every idea for the venue you're about to shoot at.
LaunchThe first betaA private, taggable inspiration board that lives on your own device. Add images by upload, paste or drag, tag them from a curated set, search and filter, and flick through in a full-screen swipe mode. Free, no account, up to 50 images to test the idea.
Inspo started as the folder of screenshots on my phone: poses I love, shots I want to remember, so that on a nervous morning in the car I can flick through my tried-and-tested ideas. This is that folder, but organised. The clever bit is that the images live in your browser on your device, so there's no login, no storage bill, and no copyright headache, exactly like your camera roll, just taggable. The free beta holds 50 images and tags them from a curated set by shoot type (couples shoot, wedding prep, dancefloor, families, newborns), with your most-used first. Your own custom tags, saving links so they never disappear, an unlimited board, and syncing across devices are the Pro ideas.
Fancy building your own?
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