Export Mac Photo Libraries to Synology Photos

[buckland]

Yes all permissions seem right. So I should have direct access to all my photos inPHOTO folder in file services when I am in Synology photos? OR... do I have to upload all the photos in the NAS PHOTOS folder to Synology Photos? That would take a month of Sundays.... as so far I am only allowed to do 30 or so at a time.... doing the math says I'll be 86 by then.

 

[fredbert]

Here’s the help page that explains how to add photos and where. Look for the file sharing info on uploading direct to NAS folders. Provided you put stuff in these places then the DSM indexing service will find them and make them available in Photos.

Manage Photos | Synology Photos - Synology Knowledge Center

Synology Knowledge Center offers comprehensive support, providing answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, software tutorials, and all the technical documentation you may need.

kb.synology.com

 

[buckland]

Appreciate you steering me in the right direction... I have read that page a few times and perhaps it is that I have my folder in File Station as "photos" (which contains 127 gig of jpg's from my Apple Library) and not "Home/Photos" ? I will continue to peck away at this until successful but my knowledge base is shaky at best. Thanks again. I will return victorious someday!

Editing this entry... I think I see what is wrong. I have a home/photos/photolibrary in file station.

Now how the heck do I move all the photos I uploaded to a folder i made in File Station called "photo" to the home/photos/photolibrary in file station? Is there a wiz-bang way or must I redo that upload? HA! what fun! I certainly do learn the hard way it seems.

 

[buckland]

Well I just found my wiz bang method .... and here I was wishing it could be more like Apple with drag ands drop... and what do you know..... it is.
I dragged and dropped the folders from "photos" to "home/photo/photolibrary and bang.... they they are.
I'm pretty concrete!
Again thanks for your patience.
My next project after wandering in the dark with Photos will be setting up a VPN... the type one can use to route through other countries on the web? Or at least that is what I'd like to do instead of paying for a service if it is possible.

 

[fredbert]

The locations are explicit stated. Either personal album in your /home/Photos folder or the shared album in the /photo shared folder. There is no other place you can put your folders of photos/movies and have Synology Photos know about them.

 

[fredbert]

Well I just found my wiz bang method

Ah well I left the browser open and didn’t see your next post. Good it’s working!

 

[buckland]

Hoping to now find a way to sort this large folders and the A-G and 0-9 sub-folders into something recognizable. Timeline doesn't seem to be able to put photos in order as the import data is reconfigured (renamed). I get only the date of import as a sort option. Pecking away at it in short sessions.

 

[fredbert]

It's still to look at exiftool (ExifTool by Phil Harvey) and test what information is in the tag data for the files. There may be an one date tag that you can then use to apply to, or create, other date tags. That could even be used to rename the file too. You just have to first identify the useful tag and then work out the rather difficult command syntax to rename the file. Once you've done that then you work out how to sequentially move through the folders.

I've tried it a bit but haven't yet scripted it.

 

[buckland]

Thanks... I did read over his site page and I am working up the courage to give that a try. I guess sometimes one has to test the depth of the water with both feet. I still have not deleted my Apple Photos Libraries in my Mac so I suppose if I bollox it up I can just go back and get my old files.

 

[fredbert]

Yes. I made a copy of the 'originals' folder from Photos Library then worked on that.

 

[DavidZ]

Whoa, you've had quite a journey getting those 5 Photos libraries sorted! As you know, Apple Photos uses a database structure, storing the unedited versions of all photos and videos in Originals folder within the Photos Library.photoslibrary package. Within this folder are sub-folders named e.g. A-G, 0-9 etc., and the file names are GUID based, which bear no relation to the original file names. To export everything with the original file names, there are two ways, both quite easy:

1) Using Photos app's export functionality: Create a folder for each library in the destination drive. In Photos app, select all the photos, then click File > Export N items > select the options (e.g. metadata, file naming convention etc.) and export. If you have photos in iCloud, download them to the Mac before doing the above. Repeat with each library.

2) Using Photos Takeout for Mac: This app exports Mac Photos libraries into folders by years or albums. If photos are in iCloud, it'll download them to the Mac and then export to the destination drive (So you must have enough free disk space). Like Photos, this app also retains original file names (or Titles, if you've added any) as well as metadata. The evaluation version is free, so see if it works for you.

With both the method, you can preserve your album or folder structure. Good luck.

 

[fredbert]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

2) Using Photos Takeout for Mac:

What's your experience/relationship with this application? Any alternatives that you've tried?

 

[buckland]

Thanks, this forum has been very helpful... I work on the NAS projects when time allows. So it has been a long learning trip but I am making progress. From some of the help videos I was lead to believe I was missing the easier way. I was able to get all photos in to the homes/photos folder but as you stated they are in an A-G and 0-9 set up and finding a photo is arduous at best. I was told Exiftool was the way to get them sorted by date and I played with that but that would not maintain my originally used folder set up.
I appreciate your help/suggestion and will no doubt delete all the photos I have imported to the NAS and start over. I have not deleted (my original plan to free up space on my laptop) the Apple photos from the laptop yet so will go back and work through from there again. I do like the IOS backup feature of Photos app as i don't have to import to the Mac first then transfer. Will get back on here and report after attempting it..... but as we have Hurricane Henri hitting shortly I have a lot to do to prepare outside! Batten down the hatches!