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I’ve downloaded my iPhone pix to the Photos app for years, then "Added" them to LrC via importing them directly out of the Masters folder in Photos. After upgrading my Mac, that folder is now named “Masters.legacy” & the HEIC files replaced with .xmp files. How can I re-access the original HEIC files and link them back up?
Please advise
Thank you
Mac Pro, macOS 10.14
Hi
Unfortunately you can't. The reason the library package contents are hidden by default is it is not a structure intended for user access. Since catalina the library structure has been completely changed. You can only access the pictures via the user interface of the app. If you want to make them available to lightroom, file>export or file>export unmodified original are your friends.
But lightroom does everything the photos app does and more. It makes little sense to use both apps together. You'd be better off either not using photos, or just using it as a way to transfer photos from your phone to lightroom.
Hi
Unfortunately you can't. The reason the library package contents are hidden by default is it is not a structure intended for user access. Since catalina the library structure has been completely changed. You can only access the pictures via the user interface of the app. If you want to make them available to lightroom, file>export or file>export unmodified original are your friends.
But lightroom does everything the photos app does and more. It makes little sense to use both apps together. You'd be better off either not using photos, or just using it as a way to transfer photos from your phone to lightroom.
Hi
1 - yes. Export unmodified exports the jpg and accompanying short video file in Mov format. The normal export converts to jpg (or png or tiff if you choose those formats instead)
2 - Yes - you should be able to get the masters out of the Mojave version of the library, copy the masters folder to a new location (eg your ssd) (I would NOT try to access them from inside the library package from lightroom), then you should be able to relink this folder to lightroom via the locate file or image (can't remember what it is called) feature in lightroom.
Photos won't care about any folder called masters that are not in a photos library. However you should be able to rename that folder (if you wish) to something that makes more sense, and if you tell Lightroom that is where the images are located it will still be able to join up. Or after Lightroom has re-linked all the images, it should be possible to rename that folder from within Lightroom.
Then for the future export new images from Photos, before importing them into lightroom. Tell lightroomto copy the imported images into the new folder (When I used lighroom, I also set it to import new pictures into year/month dated subfolders - eg /2022/05 )
Tony,
I thank you for your response. I was afraid that what you wrote, might well be the case, but that leaves me with another couple of questions insofar as the 2 options you listed, "file>export or file>export unmodified original," and a variation on my original mistake, i.e., Adding the iPhone images to my LrC catalog via importing them directly out of the Masters folder in the Photos.app.
Firstly, when it comes to the 2 export functions the Photos .app has to offer, "file>export or file>export unmodified original." In doing some experimenting, I have discovered the when using the first alternative "file>export" all the images have been converted to jpg, and the total number of exported files is about half the number I come up with when I export using the "file>export unmodified original" choice. Is that due to the fact that the Photos.app in the case of "file>export" treats all "LIVE" images as only the one image that the iPhone landed on when it offered a preview of the shot just taken, where as in the case of
"file>export unmodified original" the Photos.app exports all of the images taken in each individual "LIVE" mode shot, as individual images, and on top of there being other miscellaneous files included in that export option.
Secondly, I have experimented with a third option, that of going back to a CLONE of the Mojave Startup disk that I created on January 15th and saved to an external HDD. It of course includes the entire content of the Photos.app from the macOS Mojave version. If I recreate my original mistake, i.e., and just go into the Photos.app Masters file and pull all of the images out that way and save them to an external SSD, would that save time and headaches? I experimented and did that by pulling all images by the years they were created, so then I still have all of the other FILE FOLDERS that the Photo.app stashes them in as well as the ACTUAL HEIC and or (in the case of the earlier images) JPG files that LrC is interested in. If I transfer the files that way, and save them in a folder entitled MASTERS on an external SSD, I believe that LrC will link up to all of them without a problem. My only concern is, since the SSD will be attached to my new computer, will the new "PHOTOS.app 16" see that folder entitled "MASTERS" out there on the external SSD, that folder with all of the other PHOTOS.app sub-folders in it, and automatically "upgrade" it to the new PHOTOS.app? If so this "work around" will be, as they say, " all for naught".
Anyway, I have 54,000 files here and the task ahead seems daunting.
Any thoughts?
Thanks again, really helpful information.
At the end of your reply you said, " when I used Lightroom..." What are you using now?
I've been toying with the idea of using Canon DPP 4 more extensively for all of my R5 CR3 RAW images. The only thing I use it for now is focus stacking. But I've been tempted to experiment with that Dual Pixel RAW format that (I believe) only the Canon software is able to deal with properly.
Help! Links between Photos.app & Lightroom Classic broken
