Viewing Original File Names in Photos

To elaborate on Larry's advice to use PowerPhotos as a companion to Photos:

• With PowerPhotos you will get essentially a second Browser window for your Photos Library. It can display your Photos Library in list view (you can select the columns of metadata to be displayed), or as a grid of thumbnails, and you can select what to display below the thumbnails. You can sort by any of the columns.
• PowerPhotos can reveal the original files or edited versions in the Finder, or select the photos in Photos.

You can try PowerPhotos as a Browser for Photos with the free trial, but the more advanced options, like searching for duplicates or merging libraries, require the full version.

Power Photos is slow at startup, when it loads the Photos Library. SO I simply keep it open during the day.

There is no way. I'll be blunt: if you're a pro user then Photos is not the app for you. Look to third party solutions designed for pro use: Lightroom, Capture One, Media Pro and so on.

If you type the number in the search window it will show you all photos with that number in the file name

You also can use a user supplied script to set the title to the file name - Script: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename w/Extension - or - Script: Changing the Title to the Filename without Extension

And PowerPhotos can display the photos in many ways and include the file name

LN

Scripting Photos on Yosemite is problematic. On Yosemite the script line "(get selection)" does not work well. The script will continually encounter timeout errors. It is safer to pass the selection as an album. If you scroll down in the user tip to the version 2 and pass the selected photos as an album, it should work better (Script: Batch Changing the Titles to the Filename w/Extension).

I found the Apple Scripts to be much more robust on El Captan.

You're welcome, Tom. PowerPhotos is the successor to iPhoto Library Manager, but not yet as versatile as iPhoto Library Manager has been, because the scripting interface to Photos is more limited than either the interfaces of iPhoto or Aperture have been. This is giving the elopers a hard time.

Hi, léonie, I've used your script and the one from Old Toad from the discussion back in mid-2015 (LarryHN provided a link to this below). Unfortunately, on one of my MBPs, it works great with just a handful of photos selected, yet continually kicks out the service for anything more ("The action 'Run Apple Script' encountered an error."). I would like to have the original filename revealed for an entire album of pictures (roughly 1000 in one of the albums). Why would the service encounter an error with a larger batch but work splendidly for 3-5 photos on this device?

On the 2nd MBP, I can batch hundreds of files in the service run though need to run the service from Automator as it never shows in the service list within Photos.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Neal

Device 1 (Service appears in list within Photos though stops after only a few photos with above error)

MBPr Early 2015

Yosemite 10.10.5

Photos 1.0.1

Not using iCloud Photo

Divice 2 (Service works perfectly (Old Toad version) though must run from Automator as it does not appear in list within Photos)

MBPr 2016

Sierra 10.12.16

Photos 2.0

Not using iCloud Photo

Quite oddly, after saving the service in the automator, I can't then locate it in finder.

It appears in the "Most Recent" list within automator but not anywhere in finder nor is it in the Services subfolder.

Are you looking in the Library > Services folder at the top level of your system drive or in the Library folder in your user home folder? Automator will install the server in your user library folder, not in system wide for all users. by default the Library folder in your Home folder is hidden.

To reveal the hidden User Library:

• Bring the Finder forward by clicking on the Desktop or the Finder icon in the Dock.
• Select your user/home folder (with the house icon in the Finder sidebar)
• With that Finder window as the front window, press the key combination ⌘J to bring up the View options.
• In the View options panel enablec’Show Library Folder’. That will make your user library folder visible in your Home folder, if it is still hidden.
• Open your Home folder, then the Library folder, then Services.

The option ’Show Library Folder’ is only available while viewing the Home folder for some weird reason.

you are welcome

LN

Which system version are you using? And are you using iCloud Photo Library?

OK, I'll try that version on the Yosemite machine.

Tho what about the service not showing up on the Sierra machine?

Did you install the service in the folder ~/Library/Services/ ?

Yes, it's there. Still can't find it via search, though can navigate to it.

Yet it's still not showing in the Photos services list. I can still run from Automator and it works perfectly.