Q: Where are photo file names?

So now I'm facing this issue too - I only updated to Yosemite last week (I mainly held off because of the initial issues people had with Photos), El Capitan a few days ago, and Photos today. And I've just discovered most of my what-I-used-to-call titles have disappeared in Photos. I think they were all filenames-as-titles in iPhoto although I haven't carefully checked that yet.

Is the advice given earlier in this thread, about using léonie's script, still considered the best way forward for fixing this? I haven't spent the time puzzling together how to use it yet, but before I start examining AppleScript I want to make sure there hasn't been an easier or more appropriate way developed since then. Remember I only just started using Photos today so it's still pretty easy for me to change something in iPhoto and, er, re-do an import or whatever that was.

Thanks!

feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about the difference between filenames and titles.

Titles are not just limited to Apple's products.  There's a whole set of IPTC metadata that are used with image files that are standard throughout the photography industry.  It was developer for pro photographers to catalog their files. This webpage describes the IPTC standard: IPTC Standard - IPTC

Photos and iPhoto only uses a few of these fields, Title, Description and Keyword but many DAM (digital asset management) apps can use all of them.

Using the Applescripts in the Photos for Mac User Tips you can add the full file name, file name without extension or any customized title to that field.

Hello Léonie,

Sorry to bother you, i have been reading all this link and i´m having the same problem you are talking about. But my problem is that i´m not familiar with any applescript and English is not my mothertongue, it´s spanish...so i´m having problems to follow your script...i don´t know if i should copy and paste everything or try to understand each step. Could you put me all this in more simple words?

Thank you for reading, i would understand if you wouldn´t answer me, thank you anyway, at least i understand what is wrong with the issue of my photos without titles

I tested the script on my iMac yesterday and also nothing happened, but was able to debug a little using display dialogue to see why.  It seemed that "if not (exists (title)) then" was not executing properly.  I think this was because an apple support guy had me mass change the titles in all my photos to "test".  I later mass changed the titles back to nothing.  But I think the mere act of mass changing them to "test" created the title attribute.  When I mass changed the titles to nothing, the title attribute remained.  In other words  - not (exists (title)) - was false, even though title was empty, so that line of code didn't allow the title to be set to the filename.

I then created the script again exactly from leonie's directions on an older MacBookPro at home, and it worked perfectly.  I think this is because the titles on these photos truly did not exist.  Could it be that your titles look empty, but the title attribute exists?

You could change the script the way leonie shows to force the filename into the title regardless of if a title is there or not. 

Or you could change "if not (exists (title)) then" to something that also checks if the title is empty rather than just checking if it exists.  I don't know apple script syntax so I can't say how to do this.  We run into this issue at work on different programming platforms and databases - An attribute may appear to be empty, but it still exists.

Dear Leonie,

i have found another post you wrote with the script you made for the Automator, even another guy improved it without the extension...and it worked!

Thanks once more for your help!!!!

Sorry, I missed your question here. It is not a good idea to add to a long discussion. I usually only look for posts that do not yet have an answer. But I am glad you found a working version of the script.

Did you ever figure out a solution to this problem? i am a new Mac Photos user and this is SOOOO frustrating. i'm thinking of returning my mac and going back to pc...

exactly what problem are you referring to?

the titles to my photos that i imported in to "photos" are not showing up and i have the meta data 'title" checked. they are showing in the info. i also tried to do the service Automator apple script that was in an older post about this. it does not work.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

marianfromsugar land - I can totally understand the frustration.  You can get the file names to show up under the image using the automator script that Leonie posted.  If you accidentally batch changed the titles (like I did), the script will have to be tweaked a little, and that tweak is also documented in Leonie's post.  If you have problems post again with specifics and I'm sure people will help.  Or you could start another topic.

I think the new Photos app and what Apple is trying to do with family sharing and syncing across iCloud is really cool and kind of ground breaking.  It has become a new Photo Distribution platform for sharing. 

That being said, in my opinion, it just doesn't have the horse power right now to be a serious alternative to a DAM like Aperture.  Hopefully over time it will.  Remember - this app is not even a year old - it is very young in it's development.  I am going back to Aperture and will wait another year or so to see if Photos gets better.  If not I'll move to another DAM.  In the mean time I'm going to explore using Photos for finished projects only to share with my family over iCloud.  That's the real strength of Photos.

what do you mean by "batch changed" when using the script? could you actually post the script i need to use in your reply? here is the one i have been trying to use and i get and error. also when i go to photos, services, the only choice is "service preferences". the script in there is already "checked". so not sure what i am doing wrong!!

on run {input, parameters}

tell application "Photos"

     activate

     set imageSel to (get selection)

     if imageSel is {} then

          error "Please select an image."

     else

     repeat with im in imageSel

          set title to the name of im

          if not (exists (title)) then

               set the name of im to the filename of im

          end if

     end repeat

     end if

end tell

end run

could you please share a link to the script that you said worked for your photos titles? i tried Leoni's and it does not work.

thanks! i copy and pasted your script and it worked...FINALLY! thanks again!

This problem has been an issue for many users, and is the topic of several long threads, like this one.  Apple had many useful features in iPhoto (such as copy file names to photo titles, which it did automatically).  Most of those features were removed from Photos, and replaced with less useful ones.  For example, I want to sort by photo title, which is the same as the file name.  Photo does not allow me to copy file names to titles, and only sorts by file date or the date the picture was taken.  I have 14,000 photos from film cameras; the photo date does not exist, so Photos sorts by scan date -- less than useless.  Users have created scripts, such as the one a few messages ago, that does this job -- it takes about ten lines of code.  It would seem an easy feature to add to Photos, but there is no evidence that it has any priority at all.  The main reason why I upgraded to El Capitan, is that these discussion threads suggested that Apple would upgrade Photos to include sort options.  Well, I upgraded, and no sort options exist.

Copying file names to title names, and providing sort options is not "professional" use, it's basic use.  I am grateful to Apple for providing this for free, and would be willing to pay for sorting options, which were included in iPhoto for free.  Charge money if you have to, but we really do need a suite of sort options.

This is why this thread is 13 pages long!  With all due respect to Apple, sometimes it seems like valid and widespread user needs and suggestions receive no attention for months, years, or perhaps ever.  It would not seem difficult to include a 10-20 line script to end these discussions.  It's a low-hanging fruit....

Personally, if Photos included a set of sort options, including a "light table" that allows a matrix of photos to be dragged to better locations, and that sort list be used for future "slide shows", Photos would receive 5+++ stars from me.  Without it, it's much less.  The best option is for anyone interested in this problem to send a feedback note to Apple requesting these sort options.  The more feedback, the better -- and maybe, maybe we'll get what iPhoto had.

alaz0 wrote:

Apple had many useful features in iPhoto (such as copy file names to photo titles, which it did automatically).

That isn't quite correct. iPhoto does not automatically copy file names to photo titles. It just automatically displays the file name (less its extension) if the photo's title field is missing. This has caused a lot of confusion over the years, leading many iPhoto users to believe they are the same thing.