Offline Face Forensics for Mac and Windows.
Extract faces from large image and video collections, group them into “people,” and search your dataset — entirely
offline. No cloud, no telemetry, no accounts.
Offline
No cloud
No telemetry
No accounts
Post-capture only
Why DawaImg
“Organizing millions of faces across images and video is slow, opaque, cloud-dependent, and risky.”
DawaImg keeps analysis local and transparent: import a dataset, extract faces, cluster into “people,” search, and
export results — without uploading anything.
⏱️ 60-Second Overview
What it is
- Desktop face forensics and organization tool
- Runs entirely on your machine
- Designed for large image, video and document collections
What you do
- Import folders, images, video, or PDFs
- Extract and cluster faces into “people”
- Search, label, blur, or export results
- Run face recognition on local data
- Trace faces back to original frames
Evidence Model
- Non-destructive processing
- Immutable source records
- Frame-level provenance tracking
- Parent-child artifact linkage
What it is not
- No cloud processing or uploads
- No live surveillance or monitoring
- No preloaded databases or identities
In short: you bring the data, DawaIMG processes it locally using a structured, non-destructive
record model, and every derived artifact can be traced back to its original source.
Screenshots
DawaImg has over 100 powerful features, here are just a few screenshots.
🔌❌ Offline by design
No cloud services, no telemetry, no network dependency.
🧱 Built for scale
Import entire folders and work with very large image and video datasets, scales to 4 million images.
🔍 Forensic workflows
Post-capture analysis for research, documentation, and privacy-preserving work.
🔗 Evidence Integrity & Chain of Custody
DawaIMG uses a non-destructive processing model designed to preserve original data
and document every transformation step. All analysis occurs on derived copies,
while original source material remains unchanged.
Structured Record Model
- SourceRecord – Created at ingestion to document the origin of imported data.
- ResourceRecord – Generated per file to record file-level metadata and processing events.
- FrameRecord – Created for each image, video frame, or PDF page extracted during review.
- FaceRecord – Generated when a face is detected, linking directly back to its parent FrameRecord.
Each record maintains parent-child relationships, forming a traceable chain from
derived artifacts (faces) back to original source material.
Original files are never modified. All analytical outputs are stored separately
as derived data.
Non-Destructive Workflow
• Original media remains untouched
• All processing occurs on copies or derived artifacts
• Parent-child record linkage is preserved
• Results are reproducible within the same project environment
• Original media remains untouched
• All processing occurs on copies or derived artifacts
• Parent-child record linkage is preserved
• Results are reproducible within the same project environment
DawaIMG provides structured provenance tracking for analytical workflows.
It does not certify legal admissibility or replace formal forensic validation procedures.
🗂️ Files that can be searched
DawaIMG can scan local and connected storage for supported file types and build a searchable index. All processing is post-capture and runs on your machine.
🖼️ Images
Supported image formats:
.webp
.bmp
.png
.jpg
.jpeg
.pbm
.pgm
.ppm
.tif
.tiff
Note: webcam captures are supported (post-capture).
🎞️ Videos
Supported video formats:
.mov
.mp4
.avi
.wmv
.ts
Videos are processed via frame extraction during post-capture review.
📄 Documents
Supported document formats:
.pdf
PDFs are supported for embedded-image review and extraction.
Storage locations
Import and scan from:
- Folders and nested directories
- USB keys and external drives
- Internal hard drives / SSDs
Also works with:
- Mounted network shares
- Remote connections (mapped/mounted storage)
👥 Is DawaIMG a good fit for you?
✅ Good fit if you:
- Work with large collections of images or video
- Need automated face extraction and organization
- Require 100% offline, local-only analysis
- Conduct research, journalism, archiving, or forensic analysis
- Experiment with computer vision or privacy-preserving techniques
❌ Probably not a fit if you:
- Need real-time monitoring, alerts, or live feeds
- Expect cloud-based processing or SaaS workflows
- Want preloaded face databases or identity lookups
- Need the software to identify people by name
- Are looking for a consumer photo editor
DawaIMG is designed for deliberate, post-capture analysis where transparency, control, and scale matter more than automation or convenience.
✨ DawaIMG Features
🗂️ Extraction & Organization
- Extract faces from still images
- Extract faces from video, including frame analysis and grouping faces into individual people
- Automatically group faces into distinct people identities
- Organize people consistently across images, videos, and other media sources
- Import and process entire folders and large datasets efficiently
- Extract faces from non-traditional sources such as webcams (post-capture)
🔍📊 Search, Analysis & Reporting
- Face and person search engine with flexible querying capabilities
- Face recognition search with configurable similarity thresholds
- Generate reports from video content, including counting people in crowds
- Group people by gender and perform gender-based searches
- Gender detection queries
- Age detection queries, including filtering for children, adults, and other age ranges
🕶️ Privacy Tools
- Face blurring for privacy and anonymization use cases
🧪🛡️ Labs & Defensive Research
- Face recognition labs for developing and testing techniques that block face extraction and face recognition
- Design Face Masks to Block Face Detection
- Design Face Masks to Block Face Recognition
💬 DawaIMG – Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is DawaIMG?
DawaIMG is a free, offline face forensics organizer for macOS and Windows designed to extract, organize,
and analyze faces from large image and video datasets.
2. Is DawaIMG really free?
Yes. DawaIMG is free to use and does not require subscriptions, accounts, or online activation.
3. Does DawaIMG include any face databases or sample data?
No. DawaIMG ships completely empty. Users must supply all images and videos themselves.
4. Does DawaIMG require an internet connection?
No. DawaIMG operates 100% offline and has no cloud services, network dependencies, or telemetry.
5. Does DawaIMG collect or transmit any data?
No. DawaIMG collects no user data, no analytics, and no behavioral or usage metrics.
6. Can DawaIMG be used anonymously?
Yes. There are no accounts, logins, licenses, or identifiers required to use the software.
7. Is DawaIMG a surveillance or monitoring tool?
No. DawaIMG does not support live feeds, continuous monitoring, alerts, or real-time tracking.
8. Does DawaIMG support real-time face recognition?
No. All processing is post-capture only. Real-time or live face recognition is not supported.
9. Is DawaIMG a government or law-enforcement tool?
DawaImg is an independent desktop application designed for researchers, journalists, and analysts working with their own datasets
10. Can DawaIMG be used for doxing or harassment?
No. DawaIMG is not designed to enable doxing, targeting, or harassment workflows.
11. What types of data can I import?
You can import entire folders of images and videos, including very large datasets containing millions of
files.
12. How does DawaIMG define a “person”?
A “person” is a software-generated grouping of similar faces. It does not represent a verified real-world
identity.
13. Does DawaIMG identify real people by name?
No. DawaIMG does not know who anyone is and makes no identity claims.
14. How accurate is face recognition in DawaIMG?
Results are probabilistic and configurable via similarity thresholds. Outputs are analytical, not
authoritative.
15. Does DawaIMG detect race or ethnicity?
No. DawaIMG does not identify, infer, or categorize race, ethnicity, or protected characteristics.
16. What does gender and age detection mean in DawaIMG?
Gender and age features are visual attribute estimates only and do not infer identity, orientation, or
personal traits.
17. Can I blur faces for privacy?
Yes. DawaIMG includes face blurring tools for anonymization and privacy-preserving workflows.
18. Who owns the data processed by DawaIMG?
You do. All data remains local, and users retain full ownership and responsibility for imported content.
19. Does DawaIMG verify legality or consent of media?
No. DawaIMG does not verify legality or consent. Users are responsible for complying with applicable laws.
20. Who is DawaIMG best suited for?
DawaIMG is intended for researchers, analysts, and organizations working with large datasets who require
offline, privacy-first face forensics and experimentation tools.
21. Is DawaIMG Open Source?
DawaIMG is intentionally not open source. Releasing the code without constraints would make it easy for
the software to be modified or repurposed in ways that enable harm or misuse beyond its intended scope.
The current distribution model allows DawaIMG to maintain clear technical and ethical boundaries, enforce
safeguards, and limit dual-use risks while still providing powerful, offline capabilities for legitimate
research and forensic work.
📚 Research Datasets Processed with DawaIMG
Download project bundles and open them in DawaIMG to explore reproducible, post-capture workflows.
All datasets listed below originate from publicly released sources. Extracted faces are unlabeled and
carry no identity claims.
How to import projects
- Download the zip file.
- Unzip the file into a folder.
- Place the folder inside /home/DawaIMG/projects/<Project Name>.
- Launch DawaIMG; the new project will appear automatically.
- You can modify or export the project as needed.
🏆 Noteable Uses
DawaIMG has noteable contributions
-
Missing persons investigations (Florida and New York) — Used by licensed private investigators to organize and compare faces within user-supplied datasets during post-capture investigations.
All analysis was conducted locally, with findings provided to appropriate authorities for follow-up. - Online image trace in a missing person case — Used to identify publicly available images associated with an active investigation. Analysis supported licensed investigators in connecting visual evidence to contact information for law enforcement follow-up.
- High-profile missing person research (media use case) — Used by a newspaper reporter to compare source images against a large corpus of publicly available material during post-capture review.
- Large-scale public event media archiving — Used to organize and catalog post-capture images and video from a publicly documented event for structured review and documentation.
- Public archive documentation project (Minnesota) — Used to organize and structure large volumes of publicly available image and video content for journalistic review and documentation.
📨 Contact Us
For support, issues, and feature requests, use email or GitHub.