How do I restore only my Photo albums to my iPad from my iTunes backup without doing a complete backup?

Lots of misunderstandings on this thread, I am afraid.... 😟

1) First, your question was "How do I restore only my Photo albums to my iPad from my iTunes backup without doing a complete restore?" (I changed backup to restore). The answer is that you cannot. All you can do is restore the complete backup you have in iTunes. iTunes or for that matter iCloud backups do not allow you to restore just part of a backup. The restore is all or nothing.

About backups in iCloud and iTunes - Apple Support

2) Secondly, this is water under the bridge perhaps, but the photos on the old iPad should have been imported (different than a backup) to your computer. If you did this, you can sync back any folders/albums that your want by simply doing a sync from iTunes to your new iPad.

Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer - Apple Support

Keep your photos safely stored and up to date on all your devices - Apple Support

3) Third, one can backup to iCloud and also backup to iTunes. In your iPad > Settings > iCloud > and select what you want to backup there. This is for iCloud backups only. iTunes backs up nearly all (see link above) as size is not an issue.

4) I would not turn on iCloud Photo Library without understanding the consequences. I have had to respond to many users here who did not understand how iCloud P.L. works and have inadvertently deleted their photos from all devices. Please read this article for details.

iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

Finally, for whatever it is worth, my iPad is configured to only backup my Contacts and Safari to iCloud. I do regular iTunes backups and use that as my main backup source. I sync Albums to my iPad as per above. I do not use iCloud Photo Library. Camera Roll is backed up by default to iCloud (unless you have iCloud P. L. on in which case there is no Camera Roll). The store was thus able to restore your Contacts (you must have had them on) and Camera Roll. To "restore" the Albums please sync them from your computer to the new iPad as per article above.

To LACAllen, I do have the photos in folders on my computer to which I have synced in iTunes.

Then why hassle with iTunes. I didn't know all about iTunes and iCloud. I don't want to mess around to learn this stuff 'cause I don't want to mess up my data. I keep my critical stuff outside of Apple to avoid problems with their decisions to know what is best for me.

So, you do have all you photos outside of apple apps?

You have lots of choices for moving the photos. Including a flash drive, if you want to buy the camera connection kit. As, suggested in my first post get dropbox.com. Install the dropbox app on your computer and on your ipad. Copy the photos to the the dropbox folder on your computer. Photos are copied to the ipad. Don't know what happens when ipad backs up. I wanted backup not sync, so I have a separate accounts for my mac and iphone. Hence, I have backup for each. I don't want sync between devices.

"iMazing is the all purpose iOS management software: expand your control over your mobile data beyond what is normally possible, without jailbreaking your device. With iMazing, you can easily browse and manage your backups, extract and print your text messages, or drag and drop songs to your iPhone. To put it simply, iMazing allows you to go way beyond what iTunes offers"

https://imazing.com/

Files Connect -- "Cloud Storage services like Dropbox, MobileMe iDisk, Google Docs/Picasa, Facebook photos, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV ... AFS (Apple File Shares) SMB (Windows shares) protocols"

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/files-connect/id404324302?mt=8

Windows File server

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8

Simple Transfer - Wireless Photo & Video Backup, Sync & Share by Rambax, LLC

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simple-transfer-wireless-photo/id420821506?mt=8

"The kiteworks mobile file sharing solution provides secure creation, viewing, and sharing of enterprise content on smartphones and tablets while providing IT and security teams the administrative controls to manage user privileges and access rights necessary to ensure enterprise security and compliance." " Includes choice of private cloud on-premise."

http://www.accellion.com/solutions/mobile-enablement/mobile-file-sharing

"Dukto is a simple application that allows you to share files between devices connected to the same (wireless) LAN network."

http://www.tidal.it/?page_id=309&lang=en

http://www.msec.it/blog/?page_id=11

"Transfer files the easy way, just drag & drop the file and we will handle the rest. Like Apple AirDrop, but works and on all major platforms and computers that don't support AirDrop. Apps are available for iOS, OS X, Windows, and Android."

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instashare-air-drop-transfer/id576220851?mt=8

You could look into Apple's airdrop.
"To share content with AirDrop, both people need one of these devices using iOS 7 or later, or a Mac with OS X Yosemite"
Use AirDrop to wirelessly share content - Apple Support

How to transfer photographs

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302

I tried using iTunes to copy a folder of photos on my mac to my iPhone.

I guess if you ignore the fact that iTunes copied a few extra files into my mac folder you could claim success.

See:

Attempting to sync single folder

Advice is needed.

R

You could look into a sync option. Consider dropbox.com, box.com, etc. You would set up the app on both machines. You would need to get the photos out of itunes with an app like iExplorer.

https://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

I haven't tried this.

R

Sounds like they may be telling you to restore from the old iPad backup on your iTunes. You Of course you will lose any current content On your new iPad. If you do this, back up your current content. it sounds like to me you want to turn on your iCloud Settings. You can use iTunes and sync only what you want but you have to through the confusing process of enabling and checking photos settings and other settings, and resyncing, God help you if you got a PC like me, iTunes is a big mess. Then you have to setup your old iPad to sync the same way, easy to mess up this task... Good luck! Just use iCloud

DO you know how to go to settings, and search? Open settings, look to the top-left area. Press on the empty area under the word, "settings" and pull your finger down to reveal the search bar. Type iCloud. Boom their ya go.

If you do have all the iCloud photo and drive settings enabled then your new iPad photos and folders should look exactly the same as long as your wifi is working so it can sync and backup to the cloud, not to iTunes. Save your backups to iCloud. If you ever get another iOS device you can restore from that backup. i recently setup my mom's new iPhone, first thing I did after logging in with account pass, it asked me if I wanted to restore from her iPad's backup. I've always done this. To get everything to sync up though, theirs a few different areas to enable iCloud that it can be confusing. Their is iCloud drive, backup to iCloud, send and receive all photos so they sync from iCloud... Etc. so I don't remember the exact places but you want to go to settings

You can't populate photos to your iPad from both iCloud Photo Library & iTunes at the same time. It's one or the other.

If you have photos that are in an iTunes backup, you can't pick them out and sync them. Do they exist on your iTunes computer? You can sync them using iTunes, but again, NOT if you have the iCloud Library enabled.

Do you have iCloud Photo Library enabled for this device?

Yw, 🙂 yes, like LACAllen said, you use iTunes OR iCloud to manage your photo library.

Yes you have to enable iCloud Photo Library as well. You may get a warning about photos being managed by the cloud... I suggest icloud everything, notes, reminders, find my iPhone, etc if you want both iPads to be the same... unless you want them to be different or giving your old iPad to someome. Give it time too, leave iPad plugged connected to wifi. Then go to photos, tap the albums tab.

the albums are only link/shortcuts to the photos in all photos, they are not real folders but I don't want to confuse you...

IMO, you already have too much advice.

Please carefully consider what has been offered you here. Most of it is unwise IMO for you and your situation at this time.

Particularly the suggestion that you should be aware of "to avoid problems with their decisions to know what is best for me."

I don't consider that to be good advice or a very good observation at all. Apple does not make decisions for you. Apple offers you simple choices. Their products and services may not be, in some circles, the most full featured or "best" They are offered for those who want simplicity and stability. They do not however, ever, tell you what is best for you. Everything you can "do" in iOS with regards to Photos is a choice. Even backing up your device has several options for you to select from.

Like any other software, if you do not understand how they work, and you do not bother to educate yourself on your options, you may not get the results you expect. IMO, that may lead to such statements about Apple.

I didn't make this clear, the camera connection kit allows you to input your photos into you ipad. It doesn't support output of files from the ipad. And you need to format the flash drive as if it was a flash drive from a camera. And, the files need to be in 8.3 dos naming convention. It's probably a bigger pain than you expect.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2103582/using-a-flash-drive-with-an-ipad.html

This article cites some interesting hardware alternatives.

If you going to buy something, something like this might be better.

Airstash
"Easily access, transfer, and stream your files from AirStash® – the pocketable wireless flash drive for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch! This app requires an AirStash device in order to work. View, import & export photos, wirelessly stream videos, music & podcasts, and view documents stored on your AirStash. AirStash+ is an enhanced alternative to the built-in web interface adding features only possible with a native app."
http://www.airstash.com/

SanDisk
" SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick is the flash drive reinvented to work with both your computer and your mobile devices."https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/connect-wireless-stick

FlashAir™ II Wireless SD Card series

--Share photos & videos wirelessly

--Capacity 16GB

--Supports simultaneous access from up to seven devices

http://us.toshiba.com/accessories/wireless-sd/16gb/class-10/PFW016U-1CCW

RCcharles I think you are making it much more difficult on yourself and complicated. At least form a valid opinion based on usage and experience rather then stand on speculation, on top of that, giving advice against on something you haven't used... I understood jaqueline not to be an advanced user, like my mother.

As for iCloud's dependability, it's very reliable and I never have to worry about loss of data. Any of my iPads or iPhone could get stolen or break and I can get another iPad and be up and running in minutes, with the same data, not an old backup. iCloud doesn't just backup your iPad, it is constantly talking to the cloud, and apps are syncing. I can delete my paper app, as I have done a couple times, then months later when I want to try it's latest update, I can be sure my drawing are going to still be on it from before. When I buy or upgrade my iphone I'm all set. I also use iCloud & iCloud Drive on my pc. Apple is not going to suddenly stop the cloud or something, besides their are tons of backup servers. Thats just not going to happen. Maybe iCloud is not for you, but imo you are more likely to lose photos and data your way. ITunes is a horrible bulging mess and coders nightmare that is the opposite of what Apple is. I think since they have not made another complete revamp in years, they must be looking to get everyone on the cloud as the final solution. Even microsoft copied their cloud based VS Windows and apps working together solution.

Years ago I used to have to backup data to multiple drives to multiple computers, I still have old dead drives I'm holding onto for when a cheap recover business pops up. I loved iTunes over 15 years ago, but then it became a bloated mess like all the mainstream news websites loading content from over 200 links, that's the reason for Myspace's fall. I can't believe iTunes software has gone on this way this long, and your thread mentions that the OC version is the same as the Mac!