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I've "titled" many, many photos in iPhoto by changing the filename (e.g. "DSC_2254" --> "On vacation in Hawaii"), but there appears to be no option in Photos to show the filename. So none of my "titles" appear. Am I missing something?
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)
That is an idea.
I experimented a bit, and with Apple Script we could make it a bit simpler, directly in Photos: This will save the installation of exiftool and the necessity to export the files. This way the lossless workflow will be preserved.
Create an Automator action, that executes an Apple Script to change the titles to the filename, if the title is empty:
The Apple Script:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Photos"
activate
set imageSel to (get selection)
if imageSel is {} then
error "Please select an image."
else
repeat with im in imageSel
set title to the name of im
if not (exists (title)) then
set the name of im to the filename of im
end if
end repeat
end if
end tell
return input
end run
Launch Automator, create a new service, and drag a "Run Apple Script" action into the workflow.
Copy and paste the text above into the "Run Apple Script" action to replace the default text in the action.
Save this workflow with a suitable name. It will be installed in the services.
After the Automator action completed:
Without modifying the script I added THREE new files, .PSD, .JPG and .JPEG to the library. All filenames were added as titles without the extensions as expected.
I noticed that the second line I've been working with is "Set to include" which keeps .cr2 in the title. I removed that line, keeping .cr2 in the line above, and got the following error message.
I added that line back and it worked as expected on all file extensions in the first line regardless of case.
Let's say I go to Germany for a vacation and on day one I go to Hamburg. I would like to batch change the titles to all say either Hamburg, or even better sequential titles of 01_Hamburg, 02_Hamburg.
Try this script:
on run {input, parameters}
-- batch change the title to the input, © léonie, version 1.0.1
set n_digits to 2 -- how many digits for the appended number
set answer to display dialog "Select the number of digits for the appended numbers (0 .. 10). Selecting '0' will suppress the leading zeros." buttons {"o.k"} default answer n_digits
-- For 1-9 photos use 2. For 10 to 99 photos use 3 and for 100 or more photos use 4.
set n_digits_text to the (text returned of answer)
set n_digits to n_digits_text as number
tell application "Photos"
activate
set counter to 1
set imageSel to (get selection) -- get selected images
if imageSel is {} then
error "Please select some images."
else
repeat with im in imageSel
set ntext to the counter as text
repeat while (the length of ntext < n_digits) -- add leading zeros
set ntext to "0" & ntext
end repeat
tell im
set the name to input & "-" & ntext as text
-- set the title to the input plus formatted number
set counter to counter + 1
end tell
end repeat
end if
end tell
return "Done. The titles of " & (length of imageSel) & " photos have been changed."
end run
and use it in this Automator workflow application:
The first window you'll get is this where you'll put in the title
The next window is this which sets the number of digits for the sequential number:
Which gives you this for the titles:
I save all of my scripts as applications and put them in the Scripts folder
That menu is enabled in AppleScripts Editor's preferences:
You might want to try saving it as an application and see if it will work in the other sections of Photos.
I feel like I'm taking so much of peoples' time but this created an all new error. I did as suggested and re-created the script as an application and saved it to the Scripts folder inside ~/Library. First time I ran it, it renamed the FIRST photo in an album but not the second. Second time I ran it, it failed immediately without renaming any of the files.
HI OT,
I made a copy of the script to convert the title to text with a sequential number as an application and saved it in the scripts folder:
The result is the same - it works in the "All Photos" album, but not in another album.
Thanks for all your help with this.
-Jay
3. Taking a step back, I think that there is a good solution to this dilemma. For the images without metadata, many filenames contain some metadata information (mine have year, month, subject (sometimes) and location (city, state, country) and time sorted index. For example: 201505-SailingBostonMA-001.jpg. Some of my oldest images, I can only guess at the decade. I'm sure that there are as many file naming conventions as there are people.... I think that the best solution is to write a script that will convert filenames of a defined format, into the metadata of individual images. The order of time of the legacy image can be set by using the sort index (e.g., each sequential image is one minute newer than the last). While the metadata would not be accurate by today's standards, it would be good enough for legacy images.
Take a look at one of the Applescripts in the Photos for Mac User Tips. There's one what will give you this type of title: YYYY-MM-DD-xxxx-01.jpg. The date is the short date format you setup for your Mac in the System/Language & Region/Advanced/Dates preference pane. The text is whatever you want and the sequential number can have as many padded zeros as needed.
FWIW I prefer to use apps so I have Automator or Applescript create an application which I put in the Scripts folder that is accessible from the menu bar.
The Script Folder button in the menu bar is activated in the AppleScript Editor's General preference pane:
Just food for thought.
Photos can show the title below the thumbnail, but not the keywords.
To see the keywords below the thumbnails you could invest into PowerPhotos. It is a great companion to the Photos.app, just like iPhoto Library Manager used to be for iPhoto. The recent version of PowerPhotos can show you your Photos Library and you can select, what you want to see below the thumbnails, the filename, the title, the keywords. or the date.
You can display the photos as a thumbnail grid or as list, with the metadata in column view. And the beauty is, you can browse your Photos libraries without launching Photos. You can scan for duplicates, and you can move photos between libraries.
Only, it takes a rather long time to open a large library. I'm waiting for more than a minute for my iCloud Photo Library of 40000 photos to open in PowerPhotos. So I keep it running.
Fat Cat Software – PowerPhotos
The Trial version is free.
For example: The keywords as a subtitle:
Or the keywords in List View in PowerPhotos:
Use this Applescript from the Photos for Mac User Tips to write the file names of selected images to the title field for those images: Photos for Mac: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename.
You can download a compiled version of the Applescript as an application from this tutorial; P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications
The idea that you have to Get Info for every picture is unrealistic, it's cumbersome and time consuming.
If you keep the Info panel open, you just have to select a different photo and the Info panel will display the metadata. just keep it open.
Using Get Info, I copy the filename into the Search panel and NOTHING.
That should not happen. There is something wrong.
If an image is in your library, search should find it by the filename.
For example, searching for IMG_6547.JPG produced the JPG file:
but there appears to be no option in Photos to show the filename. So none of my "titles" appear. Am I missing something?
No, you're not missing anything. However, there is a way to get the file names to be displayed in the Title field underneath the thumbnails. Here's how:
1 - use the View ➙ Metadata menu option and check all of the metadata options.
2 - select the photo you want to have the file name entered into the Title field (don't do the entire library at once as the script could time out) and run ones of these two Applescripts from the Photos for Mac User Tips:
Script: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename w/Extension
Script: Changing the Title to the Filename without Extension
You can download a compiled version of the script as an application from this tutorial site: P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications
Could I make this as a suggestion for your next update?
Apple personnel aren't there. We're all users like yourself. Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html.
You can display the file name or special title under the thumbnails with the latest version of Photos, V. 1.5.
as there are workarounds for the missing batch change feature:
1 - go to the View ➙ Metadata menu option and check all of the metadata items:
Next use one of the Applescript from the Photos User Tips to batch change the title to a variety of formats. This is one: Photos for Mac - Batch Change Title to Text w/Padded Sequential No.
You can download a compiled version of the script as an application from this tutorial site: P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications
NOTE: the process is rather slow so keep the number of photos to process to around 1000 at a time. It might take a minute or two for each batch so exercise patience.
If you want the file name under the thumbnail image here's how to achieve that:
1 - go to the View ➙ Metadata menu option and check all metadata items.
2 - go to the Photos User Tips section and download the AppleScript Script: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename w/Extension.
You can download a compiled version of the script as an application from this tutorial site: P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications
3 - select about 1000 photos at a time and run the AppleScript.
If you want the file name under the thumbnail image here's how to achieve that:
1 - go to the View ➙ Metadata menu option and check all metadata items.
2 - go to the Photos User Tips section and download the AppleScript Script: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename w/Extension
You can download a compiled version of the script as an application from this tutorial site: P01 - Applescripts from Photos’ User Tips Compiled as Applications
3 - select about 1000 photos at a time and run the AppleScript.
BTW --everyone is talking about "Moments" I have Photos 2.0 & there is NOTHING called "Moments".
Click on the Photos album and you'll see each moment. Click on the left arrow in the upper left hand corner and it'll take you to Moments with titles:
Where are photo file names?
