how to find filename of a picture as stored locally in the library by Photos? (I am not using iCloud).
I like to find for a limited nor of pictures stored in Photos, their given name in the photos library folder.
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.2
You can't. And you shouldn't try. No part of the library package is designed for user access. Files are renamed on import, so knowing the filename is useless. If you want access to the original file simply export it:
File -> Export -> Unmodified Original
You can't. And you shouldn't try. No part of the library package is designed for user access. Files are renamed on import, so knowing the filename is useless. If you want access to the original file simply export it:
File -> Export -> Unmodified Original
Yer_Man is right that you should avoid poking around in the library package.
However, if you do want to find the location of your file directly the only tool I know that can do this is Power Photos (free version is fine for this). Open your library in Power Photos and browse to the photo you are interested in. If you right click it allows you to jump to the Finder location containing the original and edited file. If the option is greyed out it means the link has been lost.
Hi Leonie,
So interestingly I checked this on my Bir Sur laptop and Catalina desktop and updated to the latest version of Power Photos in both cases.
On the Big Sur machine when I right click it only allows me to find the original file, but on the Catalina machine it shows me both the original and edited location.
In both cases the files are renamed obviously, the only way I can see to get the original filename is to use Get Info in Photos.app.
Thanks
The handling of photos on Mac is quite proprietary, which is ok as long as it works fine. But the sneaky iCloud messed up a number of things, without endusers necessarily being aware.
This used not to be the case. The imported file was simply left untouched, so there possibility of disaster recovery - of actually recovering the file from the package was a viable option. However, to facilitate iCloud these files are renamed. Frankly, it's one of the reasons I do not use Photos.
That said, a back up solves this problem for you. Do you have a back up?
I have 2 backups. One TM is on network share. I have used that one to restore system from slow start up issues. But after the reload some the reference links were not there, neither were they present before the backup.
Photos is only renaming the manger files, not referenced files. If referenced files are missing, the Info in photos will show you the original filename of the referenced file.
You can use any tool you have to search for the filename, for example "Find Any File", if you have it installed.
But frankly, I cannot recommend to use a referenced library with Photos, as the bugs that first occurred in Photos 5 have not yet been fixed in Photos 6. Currently it is a lot safer to use Photos only with a manger library and to import all originals.
Which system version are you using, Russ? When I am trying to reveal originals with PowerPhotos, the menu item for "Show in Finder" are dimmed, for my iCloud Photo Library (where I am using "Download Originals"), as well as for the small local test libraries - Photos 6 on macOS 11.2. It used to work well, but currently I can only see the path to the originals in the Info panel in the lower left corner, when I select a photo in Power Photos:
For example:
The Info is still showing the path, and it is correct - but it is showing the renamed filename:
Thanks, you seem to confirm my worry. The reason I was looking for this is that - due to all changes w iCloud storage - i seem to have lost some originals, and they have 'missing references'. The only way I can try to find them - they must be on the mac as they are iPhone pictures that were once imported - is to do a search on the mac through dates of pictures that were imported around the same time from the same device, in same album. Including searches in the backups on USB-disk. The handling of photos on Mac is quite proprietary, which is ok as long as it works fine. But the sneaky iCloud messed up a number of things, without endusers necessarily being aware. So looks like I need to give up my search for the originals. Thanks anyway.
I have 2 backups. One TM is on network share. I have used that one to restore system from slow start up issues. But after the reload some the reference links were not there, neither were they present before the backup. You cannot look into the library folder on a network backup. So I cannot check an older version of that backup to see it if was there, unless I completely import the library, 100 G!. My second backup is on a use drive, but the iMac did not want to restore from there, and now the disk is locked for writing. I can still read. I checked a couple of earlier versions, but without knowing the right file name it is hard to find of course...So next to issue created w Photos, I sufferend from some weird effects through the recent MAS OS updated over the last months, and TM recovery. Result : cannot use USB drive for restoring....but system was restored through network share.
I thought a bit about using photos or not. The advantage is that the system and backups (should) track them and where they are. And also other tools, f.i. if you want to make use imovie for example, does not double copy the source files when they were imported by iPhotos. So what was you choice? I am just an amateur with 20 K pictures or so...with some cleaning-up to do...
Thank you.
Personally I use Lightroom Classic for photo management, and shoot raw. I process the Raws in DxO Photlab, which operates as a plug-in to Lightroom Classic.
From what you describe as your usage I would check out Mylio
which I would call a souped-up iPhoto. It's free for less than 25k images, and works for Jpegs very well.
Thanks for your good tips Yer_Man, very kind of you. I sense you are quite knowledgeable, so I value your feedback. It is the first time I called on 'community support' for my initial problem, so apologies for my ignorance on the people and structure behind the community and this discussions forum. At times i saw not so relevant answers to some known issues, but this experience is different for me, thanks again. I don't want to take more of your time, but I guess I will want to explore Mylio through some examples and reading, to understand if it operates in parallel with Fotos, meaning the same folder structure is used or yet another, how the sharing with mobile devices works (hopefully not yet another cloud), how the import from different camera sources works etc, and if it is a locked-in solution (like Fotos is becoming...).
But still a question for you, wrt shooting RAW. File sizes become really big. So unless you have a very big drive, or a limited number of pictures, where do you store them? Many thanks, and good day.
I guess I will want to explore Mylio through some examples and reading, to understand if it operates in parallel with Fotos,
It's quite independent of Photos. The files are stored in folders in the Finder. There is no workflow that uses both apps that makes any sense.
how the sharing with mobile devices works (hopefully not yet another cloud)
Mylio is quite unique in that it's just about the only app I've found that shares the images across devices via your own wi-fi network rather than the Cloud. It is quite clever in that respect.
how the import from different camera sources works etc, and if it is a locked-in solution (like Fotos is becoming...).
Importing from cameras or other sources is simple. You won't have an issue there. Lock-in is an interesting question, however. Bear with me:
All of these apps are parametric editors. They preserve your original files and record the parameters of your choices when you edit in a database. In that respect they are all a form of lock-in, as each one has a unique way of recording your choices. However, I think the best way to consider the issue of lock-in is more simple: Can I get out whatever I put into the application.
IN the case of Photos you put in
a: your original file
b: your editing choices
c: metadata - that can be location information, faces, keywords, descriptions
All of these can be recovered from the application using the File -> Export command. What that means is that if you leave Photos you can get your original, your edited version, your metadata out and pass it over to a new application. There is one exception: faces, as there really is no agreed method for sharing this data. But Photos is no different than any other application in that respect. So as with Photos, so with pro apps like Lightroom and consumer apps like Mylio. In other words, there is no lock-in.
I have in the region of 80k images from various cameras. Approx 30k are Raw files. They are stored on external drives. If you are happy with the images you get shooting Jpeg then shoot Jpeg. If you're not happy, then explore other options. Disk space is cheap.
Thanks Yer_man, good stuff to consider and think about. Let me digest that and try a couple of things. Wrt you comment 'disk space is cheap' : yes, relatively. The cost of good manageable storage systems (raid etc) is not marginal, and it needs additional management and time, and will need a backup. But probably cheaper than buying MACs with large storage, mine has 1 Tb but prefer not to load more than 50%. I understand your point about locked-in. So it is more a question of a future-proof choice, as changing from one product to another is feasible, but you want to avoid that for x0K files...even if organized. And although it feels more 'scaleable' to store pictures on an external medium (like a network drive in my case even though it is not to advisable in case of Mac Photos) the network and server delays make the process less agile, I guess. I'll need to find out with a few trials.
Not loading your Mac more than 50% is, well, odd. If you're only using 50% then save money and buy a 500gig one. There is nothing saved or gained by not utilising the space you have paid for. Yes, the OS uses some of that disk space for cache and temporary files, but not 500 gigs of it. The rule of thumb is to keep approx 10% of the disk space clear.
You don't need raids and you don't need networked storage. Simplicity is best. Dumb SSD or HD work just fine. 2 disks, one backing up the other. Then there is zero network or server delays. With USB 3 there is zero performance hit, and USB 2 is pretty good for still images too. I also use an online back up as well, which doubles for sharing.
As for cost in general: how much did you spend on your camera? Did you buy extra lenses? I can understand someone using a point and shoot or a phone not wanting to invest in powerful post production set ups. But if you're spending $1000+ on a camera it's seems odd to me to not want to get the best from it because it might take up disk space...
Hello again Yer-Man, we may have slightly different viewpoint, i am generally speaking quite cautious (or too?), but also driven by some annoying issues i had to deal with in the past, for which a good amount of space on the MAC was quite helpful. Probably also the reason why I am more in favor of network drives rather than USB. Recently I had to restore my Mac. I had copies on a usb drive and on the network drive. Ultimately, the USD drive gave up on me, seemed like it didn't like the constant sollicitation and plug-in/plug-out (yes the restore was NOT plug and play). And the network drive slowly but surely restored the mac. I do use USB as secondary backup, normally not as primary, it can get dropped/broken/stolen etc, and just seems less reliable than a steady NAS. And unless video, it is workable over a 100Mbps LAN, not everything is 1 Gbps at home.
I did a good amount of photo cleaning, and some quick trials w Mylio. Slightly under 20K photos now. I think the edit options in Mylio are a tad less then Photos, (no rotation, no image blurring/fill-in, didn't see red-eye correction at first glance). I guess I would first need need to export my 20K pictures Photo Library first anyway to import them in Mylio afterwards. My understanding is also that Mylio will not use the NAS as a source folder, though it can import from it. And this is a tough one for me. Either I would like to use the NAS as the source folder or else I can indeed better further use the space on the MAC. Minding these extra pieces of info, would you still advise me to go to Mylio, export the Photo library? I am OK to pay for a license, when it brings value. I am not into raw shooting, i am not a professional and happy with what jpeg brings, but portability accross device, and transparent handling of picture files, and editing functions especially for the one i like to print are welcome. Thanks again.
Remember a NAS is not just storage. it's a headless computer with its own operating system, usually a version of Linux. So any time you use a NAS for anything you're into the complexities of cross-platform computing. It's just inherently more complex.
I would still recommend Mylio. It's a while since I used it so I won't comment on the specifics of editing, but any tools that are not to your liking, well you can use an external editor with them. I will strongly urge you to talk to the support personnel there. I found them to be very willing and very helpful.
how to find filename of a picture as stored locally in the library by Photos? (I am not using iCloud)
