import folders in photos as albums

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import folders in photos as albums

Hello, I have trouble importing photo folders as albums, I tried to recommendation from apple and leonie, but instead of getting 1 folder with albums for the subfolders (for an example of 1 folder in finder with 10 subfolders with photos), I am getting 1 folder, with 10 subfolders, and in each subfolder one album; what am I doing wrong, can anyone help please?

Below the guidance from Leonie that I tried to follow:

You mean "Keep folder organization"? This checkmark in the Import panel will import the photos into albums, wehen you import photos from several folders at once. Photos will create an album for each folder you import, and if the folders are nested, it will create containing folders for the albums.

This way the folder structure on your disk will be reflected by the albums and folders in your Photos Library.

Posted on Feb 16, 2018 9:20 AM

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iMac 27", macOS 10.14

Posted on Jul 15, 2019 6:23 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

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Jul 15, 2019 2:13 PM in response to budadirk

Where are these image files located? If on an external HD how is that drive formatted and connected to your Mac?

Select one of the problem files and use the key combination of Command + i to bring up it's Info pane. Then check the permissions.

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Answer 2

budadirk Author

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Jul 15, 2019 10:47 AM in response to Old Toad

thank you OT, this is what I was afraid of, I really don't understand the reason it was built like this though

I also tried the applescripts that you referred to in earlier posts to create albums from folders: initially it looked super, but after around 20 folders or so suddenly I only got error messages and there were only empty folders created; I tried to several times but always more or less same result; is there some kind of capacity problem?

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Answer 3

Old Toad

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Jul 15, 2019 10:59 AM in response to budadirk

There is a solution to your problem. If you use this AppleScript you'll get what you want: Import Folders of Image Files into Library as Albums.

It gave me this in Photos

for this

The script compiled as an application can be downloaded from this tutorial site: P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications

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Answer 4

budadirk Author

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Jul 15, 2019 2:03 PM in response to Old Toad

thanks for asking, I checked and it seems to be a permission issue?? But where does the issue com from? If I split up the imports then the issue sometimes does not appear, so I do think it is rather some kind of capacity constraint issue?

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Answer 5

budadirk Author

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Jul 16, 2019 9:37 AM in response to Old Toad

it is on an external HD; the permissions are fine, I checked; also, as I mentioned earlier, when I try to upload the same files in another sequence (one of the later folder that went wrong in te first attempt, put first) then they go through; it must be something to do with a max nr of pictures in 1 go, is that possible? anyway I think I will just have to drop the idea...

thank you anyway!

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Answer 6

Old Toad

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Jul 15, 2019 12:04 PM in response to budadirk

Were you running many folders on a single launch of the script? You might have timed out. Do you get this message when starting up an import?

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Answer 7

budadirk Author

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Jul 15, 2019 12:32 PM in response to Old Toad

yes I was running more than 50 folders, after around 20 the problem starts, but this is the error, note however that there is nothing really wrong with the format:

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Answer 8

budadirk Author

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Jul 15, 2019 12:33 PM in response to budadirk

sorry forgot to add: and then the script just creates an empty album and moves on, each time generating the error and the empty album

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Answer 9

Old Toad

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Jul 15, 2019 1:40 PM in response to budadirk

What's the end of the reason? The file "xxxx"....

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Answer 10

Old Toad

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Jul 15, 2019 10:32 AM in response to budadirk

That's how the import is designed. For each folder of photos a folder and album is created with the same name. So for these folders of image files inside a folder titled "1999":

I get the following:

If I want to get rid of the sub folders I'll have to move the various albums to the 1999 folder and delete the sub folders. Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via Feedback - Photos - Apple

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Answer 11

budadirk Author

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Jul 15, 2019 11:56 AM in response to Old Toad

thank you OT, I tried the applescripts, it worked initially fine, but after around 20 folders or so suddenly I only got error messages and there were only empty folders created; I tried this several times but always more or less same result; is there some kind of capacity problem with the script? or with photos import ?

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import folders in photos as albums

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