ChronoFrame

ChronoFrame is an open-source, self-hosted web application designed for the management and display of personal photo collections. It provides a centralized web interface for browsing images, organizing albums, and visualizing photo locations on an interactive map. The software is typically deployed as a server application using Docker or Docker Compose, allowing users to maintain full control over their media assets on their own hardware.

The application handles the ingestion of images via a dedicated administrative dashboard that supports batch uploads and drag-and-drop functionality. Upon upload, the system processes image metadata to organize content chronologically and geographically. It can be configured to use various storage backends and content delivery networks to ensure efficient asset distribution and faster photo delivery across different network conditions.

Key features

• Automatic EXIF parsing for capture time, geolocation, and camera parameters
• Map-based browsing of photo locations
• Reverse geocoding to identify specific shooting locations
• Support for JPEG, PNG, and HEIC/HEIF formats
• Live Photo support by pairing HEIC images with MOV files
• Thumbnail generation using ThumbHash for efficient loading
• Support for local filesystem and S3-compatible storage backends
• Integration with MapLibre and Mapbox for map rendering

Built with Nuxt 4, TypeScript, and TailwindCSS, the application uses Drizzle ORM for type-safe database management. It includes a specialized WebGL image viewer specifically designed for rendering large-size images without compromising browser performance. Users can manage access through an admin account, with authentication options including standard email and password login or GitHub OAuth integration. The architecture separates the Nuxt frontend from the server-side API and business logic services, ensuring a modular structure for development and maintenance.

ChronoFrame serves as a personal media server focused on metadata extraction and geographic visualization for photography enthusiasts.