Categorizing Portfolio

I am trying to find a way to categorize portfolio items. I realize that I can do this with blogs, events, etc. but those pages don't allow me to do other things I need to do, and therefore I need to be using Portfolio. Does anyone have any thoughts? Is there custom code that can help here? Ultimately, I need to categorize items by regions, but would love the opportunity to make these searchable, categorize by subregions, utilize tags (though that seems like a long shot). Any thoughts appreciated!

You can use Squarewebsites Universal Filter for this:

https://www.squarewebsites.org/squarespace-plugins/universal-filter?peachs_apc=zygmunt-spray

The setup isn't the easiest for portfolio pages, but it does work.

What is the setup process like? I'd like to get an understanding before I purchase this to make sure it would work.

It's installed via copy/pasting code into the header code injection (so Squarespace business plan is required), you can adjust the look within the code, it's not too difficult. For setting up on a portfolio page you'll need to go through and add the tags/categories via the SEO description. 

This link I shared had lots of details as well as FAQs that should answer more questions.

You can pay for installation via Squarewebsites but I don't know what they charge, alternatively you can find someone who can help with the installation.