jofromwakken

Q: Can I recover the previews or thumbnails from Photos?

Hi,

 

I accidentally deleted some master pictures (referenced) from Photos. But the previews are still there. Anyway to export them? Many thanks for any help.

 

Jo

Posted on Sep 10, 2015 2:05 PM

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Q: Can I recover the previews or thumbnails from Photos?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 10, 2015 2:28 PM in response to jofromwakken
    Level 10 (84,185 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 10, 2015 2:28 PM in response to jofromwakken

    1 - prime rule of Photos (and iPhoto) - NEVER go into the library - there are no user serviceable parts in it and NEVER delete photos from the all files or all images list in the finder - The Curse of All Files and All Images and False Duplicates

     

    2 - easiest thing to do is restore them from the system trash

     

    3 - next easiest thing to do is to restore your backup from just before you made this error

     

    4 - the hardest and least successful thing to do is to remove the previews - to do that right click on your Photo library and show package contents and copy the previews folder to the desktop - import the photos you want from there knowing that these are greatly reduced quality images

     

    5 - in the future always remember rule #1 - if you stay out of the library and the all images list you can not possible ever make this mistake again

     

    LN

  • by jofromwakken,

    jofromwakken jofromwakken Sep 11, 2015 1:00 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 11, 2015 1:00 PM in response to LarryHN

    Hi Larry,

     

    thanks for the feedback but perhaps my question wasn't quite clear. I don't want to mess with library. As I've lost the master files but can still see the previews, I hope to export the previews. This way I can still have a - although lower quality - copy of those pictures.

    And yes it's a pity I can't restore the maser files from a backup. It's the only set of +/- 100 pictures of a +12000 pictures library I didn't import correctly in Aperture 5 years ago.

     

    Regards,

     

    Jo

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 11, 2015 2:25 PM in response to jofromwakken
    Level 10 (84,185 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 11, 2015 2:25 PM in response to jofromwakken

    see the last item in my post

     

    4 - the hardest and least successful thing to do is to import the previews - to do that right click on your Photo library and show package contents and copy the previews folder to the desktop - import the photos you want from there knowing that these are greatly reduced quality images

    and be careful not to make any changes of any sort to the contents of the library

     

    LN