My external photos not importing on Mac Pro

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skillet Author

Level 1

31 points

My external photos not importing on Mac Pro

I have done everything listed in this thread and nothing seems to work.

External photos not importing on Mac - Apple Community

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac Pro, macOS 12.6

Posted on Apr 6, 2024 2:10 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 7, 2024 7:26 AM in response to skillet

Hey, skillet,

Good information! I have more questions, though: Is your system, in fact, macOS 12.6 Big Sur? (That one is three systems old.) And how did you import the pictures? You mention "dragging;" did you mean dragging pictures from a Finder window to the Photos app? Did you also use File>Import? Generally, either works, unless something is odd. Do you use iCloud to synchronize your Photos libraries?

The best place to have the Photos Library when you're researching problems is in the Pictures folder on the internal drive. But Apple recommends that at least 10% of the hard drive storage remains free.

One thing that stands out is that your pictures are HEIC format (except for one jpeg.) Older versions of Photos were unable to deal with HEIC format. You say that Preview will display these pictures-- can you open some pictures in Preview and then choose File>Export and specify the format JPEG? Then see if that picture opens in Photos.

By the way, importing more than 1000 pictures at a time may also cause problems.

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Answer 2

skillet Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 16, 2024 11:35 AM in response to skillet

I just restarted my mac again and the file now imports. This is going to be a long and slow process getting 70,000 photos in there but it will be nice when it's done.

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Answer 3

Apr 6, 2024 2:18 PM in response to skillet

Could you tell us exactly what is happening when Photos is not importing? What do you mean by "importing," and what do you mean by "nothing?" Tell us what you are trying to import, where it's from, where it's to, and how you are doing it. More detail is important. And while you're at it, you should tell us what you mean by "everything." I was in on that conversation and lots of different things were going on.

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Answer 4

Apr 16, 2024 10:32 AM in response to skillet

NEF is a Nikon RAW format--no one other than the original picture-taker should have to deal with that. RAW is, by definition, not a standard format and, like with all camera companies' RAW formats, NEF from one Nikon is different from NEF from another. Most NEF files can be read by Photos, but not all.

When you saved with Preview, did you use "Save" or did you use "Export?" Export allows you to save the image as a jpeg that should be compatible.

So strange that it didn't just see the files that it couldn't import and stopped everything.

Yes, isn't it! I have used an app called TeraCopy from the App store that, when copying a large number of files, tries to fix files that don't want to copy, and skips the ones that don't work rather than just stopping and going "duh." It's been awhile-- I was copying old pictures from CDs-- but I remember it working well.

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Answer 5

skillet Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 16, 2024 9:17 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

I am not sure how to change that info but no I am on 14.4.1

I did imports through the menu as well as drag and drop from the Finder and neither worked. I do not use iCloud to sync Photo libraries.

It looks like everytime it hit a strange file type that the OS considered an image .NEF would stop it. Also the 1,000 limit seemed to be an issue as well. I went through slowly importing until I could find where these roadblocks were. So strange that it didn't just see the files that it couldn't import and stopped everything.

Here is an example of just one image that will not import I even squashed it down as a new image and it still will not import. HEIC import but some don't.

I have over 20% of my hard drive free and on the default location of the internal Photos.

Same issue if I save a new version with Preview.

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Answer 6

skillet Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 6, 2024 3:03 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Absolutly, I think everything that was said in that conversation I did.

I have imported from another drive no images import.
I have changed permissions and applied to the folder to give everyone and admin and my log-in permissions applied to the folder and important no success.
I have restarted Photos, and my computer no images will drag and drop import.
I have Ignored permissions on the external drive, no photos import.
I have dragged images to the computer's desktop, and sometimes, they import, but then they don't.
All the images open just fine in Preview
I have changed the location of the Photolibrary to both the internal drive and the external drive.
I have tried both locations with and without "Use as System Photo Library."
I have tried importing the smallest size photos first, but no import
I tried the largest photos first, but there was no import.
Occasionally, about 1200 photos will be imported, but only a little. I have tried dozes of times with restarts and different ways and different locations.

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Answer 7

skillet Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 16, 2024 11:22 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thank you, good to know it does most NEF's. I removed all those from the files I was trying to import. Regarding Preview I did export and just tried again and it still didn't work through both import dialog and drag and drop.

Thanks for the info about TeraCopy, I just downloaded it. I have used PathFinder for that reason as well and has done much better than the Finder and also added so many more options to override based on date added, or modified and gives Finder like abilities that Windows has had like that since Windows 98'.

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My external photos not importing on Mac Pro

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