Controlling image order in photo stream

Question

Level 1

11 points

Controlling image order in photo stream

I'd like to understand how iPhoto/iCloud controls the order of images in the Photo Stream. And specifically why does it seem to automatically reorder my images.

Today I loaded of images into iPhoto from the last two weeks of travel. The images came from several cameras with different file name sequences and clocks not all in sync. I created an album with a few hundred and ordered them for continuity but not chronologically. I then copied all the photos from the album to my Photo Stream, which was empty, and enabled streaming. After a few minutes of sync, the images appeared on my iPhone, in my desired order. Perfect.

Several hours later I noticed that the image order had changed on my iPhone. I went back to my laptop and found that the image order in iPhoto's Photo Stream had also changed. (I think something like this happened before with MobileMe and I was able to rearrange images using a browser to access the MobileMe Gallery directly no way to do this with iCloud.) I'd like to fix the order so that I can give a slideshow.

I'm using iPhoto '11 version 9.3 on MacOS version 10.7.4. I'm guessing this has something to do with file names or image chronology but a definitive answer would be appreciated. Thanks.

Posted on Jul 8, 2012 10:41 PM

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Answer 1

tecsi12

Level 1

110 points

Apr 5, 2013 12:05 PM in response to dw0s

This is a BUG. And this is also a big problem which really limits the use of PhotoStreams, which are a great way for Apple to get people to deepen their iCloud use/commitment.

I want to order my PhotoStreams into "Groups" where I can change the order to create some organization. The iPad Photos app lets me do this, and everything is fine until I do anything else, and then the PhotoStreams reset their order by date created. WHY let us change the order if you are going to then reset it? This is a BUG!

The exact same issue exists for images within a PhotoStream, as noted by this original post.

Apple, do you realize how you are squandering this iCloud/iDevice opportunity here?

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Answer 2

Jul 9, 2012 12:11 PM in response to dw0s

It sounds as though you are using the "set date and time" option instead of the "batch change" option. The set date and time option does indeed add the same amount of time to each photo as you set in the options.

The batch change option allows you to set the time for the first photo in your selection and then add incremental periods of time according to your choosing to each supplemental photo.

Note; you must place all the photos in the order you want them and then select them all before applying the batch change option.

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Answer 3

Jul 9, 2012 4:14 AM in response to dw0s

If the clock settings on your cameras are causing things to be out of order, you will need to change the dates/times on the photos to have them displayed in the correct order.

In your album in iPhoto, put them in the order you want them (custom sort), then apply a batch change from the photos menu and set the date to suit your photos accordingly.

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Answer 4

dw0s Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 9, 2012 10:49 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Using the batch update I was able to correct the skew between my camera clocks (by searching and selecting one camera at a time) so images now sort in correct chronological order. Thanks.

However I'm not able to maintian my custom manual sort in the Photo Stream. Photo Stream seems to enforce sort by date/time.

I'm unclear how to implement your suggestion of reordering the image times in my custom sort with a batch change. The batch update adjusts each selected image by a relative amount. This does not change the temporal order of the photos in the album. I think the images would still reorder chronologically once I copy the album to the Photo Stream.

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Answer 5

Mar 30, 2014 12:27 PM in response to tecsi12

I agree. It's either a bug or incredibly tone-deaf user design. I created an album, organized all my photos, and gave them all titles. I shared with photostream, and they're now in chronological order and their titles all reverted to "IMG_1373", etc. (iPhoto 9.5 on Mavericks). This is really irritating.

Plus I discovered the people I want to share with get invited to "subscribe" to the stream, where their email addresses will be publicly posted, and way down in the fine print is says Oh, you can just view them at this link instead.

This is really crappy. I won't be using it again to share photos.

I guess the best feature in software is something that sounds great in the feature list, but is so badly implemented no-one will want to use it, so you don't have to actually support it, 😠

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Answer 6

May 9, 2014 12:02 PM in response to Old Toad

That solves the sharing/subscribe issue, but does nothing for setting sequence or transferring titles. Every photo has to have its titled retyped in the photostream. This is an awful "feature". Must have been designed by the Apple Maps team.

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

215,706 points

Apr 5, 2013 1:57 PM in response to tecsi12

Send a feature request to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html and http://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html

OT

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Answer 8

Old Toad

Level 10

215,706 points

Mar 30, 2014 2:07 PM in response to John Springer

Just copy the link and use Mail to send it to the recipients. Use the BCC field so the recipients don't see the other's email address or who even was included.

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