Grumpy4u

Q: Is there a way to do batch changes in Photos (like we could in iPhoto)?

I made heavy use of the Batch change command in iPhoto.

Now that I'm in Photos, how can I get the same results?

Specifically the Batch change of title....

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 11, 2015 9:47 PM

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Q: Is there a way to do batch changes in Photos (like we could in iPhoto)?

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  • by YahMonMan,

    YahMonMan YahMonMan Apr 25, 2015 5:03 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 25, 2015 5:03 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Quite true, Devlin!  Thank you.

     

    Your OLD iPhoto Library IS still there too but the update seriously messed up my iPhoto library. Thankfully I am a religious TimeMachine user and I simply restored my iPhoto Library to the latest backup prior to the update. So all is good for me now.

     

    I am still looking for ANY reason to ever use or even keep the Photos app on my Mac, it is (kind of) the same thing as iPhoto (and yes it is directly analogous to the iOS Photos) but Photos is a whole LOT less capable. Why Apple would think Pro users would want and to try to force Pro users to use a Tin hammer rather than the Steel one we already have, to me, seems kind of stupid.

     

    There is a good reason I have one iPhone but several Macs. I LIKE my iPhone and appreciate they are trying to make them better- more like Macs are. But I am worried that Apple, in this post-Jobs era, will continue to make my Mac(s) worse so they can be more like my iPhone. I don't WANT my OS X and iOS devices to be the same thing.

  • by safari2006,

    safari2006 safari2006 May 4, 2015 3:55 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2015 3:55 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks sorted

  • by Fofer,

    Fofer Fofer Jun 4, 2015 10:57 PM in response to Jay Deitch
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Jun 4, 2015 10:57 PM in response to Jay Deitch

    Same here.  I have successfully used many AppleScripts (in iTunes and Finder) and as an IT Consultant I am generally a good troubleshooter. But none of the shared batch scripts for Photos are working for me.  Sometimes one photo gets the desired change (but that's rare) and every time, the script then fails with this error:

     

    Monosnap 2015-06-04 22-51-56.png

     

    I have run the database repair on my Photos library, and every other suggestion in this thread. My Photos library is working fine with everything else.  It's just thatI have tried these scripts as Automator Services, Scripts and applications, and none of them work.  Has anyone else solved this issue?  Is there any more information I can provide?

     

    I am running OS X 10.10.3 on a brand new MacBook Pro.  What else can I try?

     

    Thanks....

  • by vbs3,

    vbs3 vbs3 Jun 5, 2015 2:12 AM in response to Jay Deitch
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 2:12 AM in response to Jay Deitch

    I noticed some problems with the script.

    - Selecting pictures in an album directly -> run script --> won't work

    - Selecting pictures in album "all photo's" --> script works

    - Selecting pictures in "Photos" (the one on the top of the list) just after I clicked on an album --> wont't work

    - Select pictures in "Photos" afther clicking on album "all photo's" and then on "Photos" --> script will work.

     

    I think there is a bug in the album section.

     

    The script works with this workaround fine for me

  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Jun 5, 2015 3:49 AM in response to Fofer
    Level 6 (17,660 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 3:49 AM in response to Fofer

    Fofer wrote:

    Is there any more information I can provide?

    Is your Photos Library in the default location in your Pictures folder or somewhere else? Is it the designated System Photo Library? Do you have more than one Photos Library? What if any iCloud services are you using?

     

    I have no idea if any of these things are relevant but maybe one of them is, or will provide some clue about what is.

     

    FWIW, all the scripts & Automator services I have tried in the User Tips work for me.

  • by Fofer,

    Fofer Fofer Jun 5, 2015 6:08 AM in response to R C-R
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 6:08 AM in response to R C-R

    Is your Photos Library in the default location in your Pictures folder or somewhere else?

    Yes.  It is in the default location (in ~/Pictures.)

     

    Is it the designated System Photo Library?

    Yes.

     

    Do you have more than one Photos Library?

    No.

     

    What if any iCloud services are you using?

    I have iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Sharing enabled.

  • by Fofer,

    Fofer Fofer Jun 5, 2015 7:47 AM in response to vbs3
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 7:47 AM in response to vbs3

    "Selecting pictures in album "all photo's" --> script works"


    Same here!  Thanks so much, vbs3.  Phew, finally, I'm now getting consistent results, and the scripts are working. 


    Can this workaround be coded into the script?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 5, 2015 8:28 AM in response to Fofer
    Level 10 (106,855 points)
    iLife
    Jun 5, 2015 8:28 AM in response to Fofer

    The problem with all the scripts is, that the line "set imageSel to (get selection)" in the Apple Scripts does not work reliably in Photos.  It will give random timeouts and works best in the "All Photos" album. Apple needs to fix this to make scripting more reliable.  The errors are more frequently with iCloud Photo Library enabled. When I first posted the scripts I did not use iCloud Photo Library.

     

    There is a work-around proposed by NicFletcher:  Don't ask for the current selection, but add the photos you want to process to an album with a fixed name.

    • Create an album with a fixed name - mycurrentselection or similar - and add all photos you want to process to this album.
    • Instead of the "get current selection" process the photos in this album.

     

    Here is a sample Apple Script by NicFletcher that uses this method:

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/28087786#28087786

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jun 5, 2015 9:40 AM in response to vbs3
    Level 10 (141,090 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 5, 2015 9:40 AM in response to vbs3
    I noticed some problems with the script.

    Which script(s) are you experiencing this with?  All of them?

     

    As a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists. Does it?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jun 5, 2015 9:57 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 10 (141,090 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 5, 2015 9:57 AM in response to Old Toad

    Update:  just ran a test on another library and had some photos that would not work with the scripts and some in the same batch that would.  Repair the library and that fixed those problem photos so they would work with the scripts in whatever window I was in.

  • by Fofer,

    Fofer Fofer Jun 5, 2015 10:55 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 10:55 AM in response to léonie

    léonie wrote:

     

    The problem with all the scripts is, that the line "set imageSel to (get selection)" in the Apple Scripts does not work reliably in Photos.  It will give random timeouts and works best in the "All Photos" album. Apple needs to fix this to make scripting more reliable.  The errors are more frequently with iCloud Photo Library enabled. When I first posted the scripts I did not use iCloud Photo Library.

     

    There is a work-around proposed by NicFletcher:  Don't ask for the current selection, but add the photos you want to process to an album with a fixed name.

    • Create an album with a fixed name - mycurrentselection or similar - and add all photos you want to process to this album.
    • Instead of the "get current selection" process the photos in this album.

     

    Here is a sample Apple Script by NicFletcher that uses this method:

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/28087786#28087786

     

     

    Many thanks for this explanation -- it helps a lot!

  • by Grumpy4u,

    Grumpy4u Grumpy4u Jun 5, 2015 11:16 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Jun 5, 2015 11:16 AM in response to léonie

    Finally, it becomes clear.  Photo is messed up.  The script does work on selected pics in the "All Photos" album. I will try the fixed album name next.

    I had been trying on selections in the Last Import album. Because the photos were together. They sometimes scatter (by time) when in All Photos. 

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jun 5, 2015 11:19 AM in response to Grumpy4u
    Level 10 (84,595 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jun 5, 2015 11:19 AM in response to Grumpy4u
  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Jun 5, 2015 12:55 PM in response to léonie
    Level 6 (17,660 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 12:55 PM in response to léonie

    léonie wrote:

    The problem with all the scripts is, that the line "set imageSel to (get selection)" in the Apple Scripts does not work reliably in Photos.  It will give random timeouts and works best in the "All Photos" album. Apple needs to fix this to make scripting more reliable.  The errors are more frequently with iCloud Photo Library enabled. When I first posted the scripts I did not use iCloud Photo Library.

     

    Do you (or the others having problems with these batch change scripts) have iCloud Photo Library set to Optimize Mac Storage? I'm wondering if the timeouts in that case might have something to do with selecting items when their originals have not been stored locally & for some reason Photos is connecting to the iCloud Photo Library unnecessarily before adding them to the selection. In that case, the variable time it takes for the network connection to that item might be a factor.

     

    Regarding timeouts in Photos Applescripts in general, someone in the Applescript forum reported that adding a longer than the default 2 minute timeout to repeat loops in Photos improved their reliability. In some of my own Photos scripts experiments (which did not involve getting a selection but looped through every media item), I found it necessary to include a short delay in the loop to get them to work.

     

    I wonder if either of those things would improve the reliability of the User Tip batch scripts.

  • by Fofer,

    Fofer Fofer Jun 5, 2015 1:07 PM in response to R C-R
    Level 1 (144 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 1:07 PM in response to R C-R

    R C-R wrote:

    Do you (or the others having problems with these batch change scripts) have iCloud Photo Library set to Optimize Mac Storage?

     

    As mentioned, I have iCloud Photo Library enabled, but the setting is for "Download Originals to this Mac."  My local Photos library file is ~80 GB.  I was trying to use the batch scripts in photos I had just imported.  I'm fairly certain this means the originals were/are, in fact, local on my Mac.

     

    That I am having success using the scripts when in Albums -> "All Photos" but not the first "Photos" tab tells me it's something else at the root here.  Probably a bug with Photos 1.0's AppleScriptability...

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