How can I get my photos off of my iPhone as files??

Question

How can I get my photos off of my iPhone as files??

I want to move my photos from my iPhone to folders on an external hard drive, which holds years and years of all of my photos, from many different sources, in neatly organized files of JPEGs. I'm tearing my hair out because I CANNOT figure out how to make this happen. Yes, I know how to import my iPhone photos to the Photos app on my Mac. However, that doesn't help me, because the Photos app won't let me access my photos as files - I'm required to simply view them through the Photos app. I often need access to my photos as files (to view on a PC, edit in Photoshop, etc) and so I need to be able to access my iPhone photos as JPEG files.

I cannot figure out, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, how to make this happen. I've found a bunch of articles that tell me to download and install shady 3rd party apps, but is there really not a way to do this within the Apple ecosystem? Basically, Apple is requiring me to use Photos and will not allow me access to my photos as files? I find this really hard to believe, but I'm out of ideas here.

I have an iPhone XS and a Macbook Pro running Catalina.

Please halp!

iPhone XS

Posted on Apr 25, 2020 7:49 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,092 points

Apr 26, 2020 12:12 AM in response to newanddifferent

You're not required to use Photos for any reason.

You can get images directly from your camera/phone/device with Image Capture (in the Applications Folder). This totally bypasses Photos or any other app.

As an FYI: In Photos you can send any photo to Photoshop just by right-clicking on the thumbnail and choosing Edit With

As Rich 89 points out you cn export a copy of the Original file or a version in various sizes, formats and qualities using the export command. There are other ways to share images as well.

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

48,168 points

Apr 25, 2020 9:08 PM in response to newanddifferent

Do a File/Export/as Original of the photos from your Photos library to a folder on the external drive, or on your desktop.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

Apr 26, 2020 8:14 AM in response to Yer_Man

Oh my goodness. Terence. You are amazing. Image Capture was exactly what I needed. I wasn't able to find a reference to this utility anywhere on the web and was losing my mind that Apple didn't supply something like this. I suppose it's difficult to search for application solutions that just have common noun names, so I'm extremely grateful that you simply knew the answer. THANK YOU!

tl;dr for people looking for the solution:

Use Image Capture to move photos directly from your iPhone to a hard drive, without using Photos or iCloud.

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How can I get my photos off of my iPhone as files??

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