Introduction
Tropy is a free, open-source tool designed to help researchers organize and annotate photographs of archival materials. Instead of keeping hundreds of image files across folders, Tropy lets us add metadata and categorize items. This is especially useful in Digital Arts & Humanities projects that rely on digitized primary sources, such as photographs, manuscripts, maps, or scanned documents. In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to use Tropy to organize images from Haldore Hanson’s China Collection (1937–1938) as an example.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Step 1: Download and Install Tropy
Visit https://tropy.org and download the version for your operating system (Mac, Windows, or Linux).
Step 2: Create a New Project
Open Tropy and select File -> New Project.
Give your project a meaningful name, such as Haldore Hanson China Photos. This project file holds all metadata and tagging.
Step 3: Import Images
Drag and drop photographs into the Tropy window, or use File -> Import.
Tropy will automatically generate items for each photo.
Step 4: Add Metadata
Click on an item to open the Item Pane, where you can add metadata such as:
- Title
- Creator
- Date
- Type
- Archive
- Collection
- Identifier
- Rights
Step 5: Organize Items with Lists and Tags
Use Lists to group items by broader themes or categories, and use Tags for smaller descriptive labels.
Step 6: Export Items or Metadata
If you want to use your photos or metadata outside of Tropy, you can export them in formats like PDF or JSON-LD.
Resources
Here are two further sources to learn more about Tropy:
- Tropy Documentation: https://docs.tropy.org/
- Tropy Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqTkI49JUDA
3 thoughts on “Tutorial on Tropy”
Leave a Reply to Angelina Kong Cancel reply
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This guide is incredibly clear and practical! I really like how you’ve broken down Tropy’s features using a real historical collection. The step-by-step approach makes it feel accessible even for beginners. The specific examples of metadata fields and export options are particularly helpful.
I like the idea of this software and how it makes it easier and more efficient to store photographs. I also had an easy time following your tutorial. I would absolutely revisit this tutorial if I ever had a reason to use this software. Thanks for this well curated resource, and good job!
Hi Evelyn,
This was such a nice way to introduce a new thing. I think this software is a very neat and useful way to work with photographs. Thinking about your tutorial, I thought it was very effective and easy to follow. Your use of short descriptions with your pictures was well-balanced. I felt like I was not overwhelmed with too much information since you were clear on your steps and had interactive pictures right after. Great work.