Peter writes:
How do I backup the Photos Library so the folders remain organized in the external hard drive just like I have it in the Mac?
The easiest way to perform a desktop transfer is to download/ export your entire icloud library to your google drive. This can be done by exporting all the selected files to your folder of choice. Then, go to google drive and import that folder. In photos.google.com, you will have the option to upload from 'Google Drive'. Visit the Google Takeout website and sign in to your Google account. Click the “Deselect All” button to export only your media from Google Photos and exclude your information from the rest of the Google services. Scroll down to find “Google Photos” and tick the box next to it. In your WordPress admin, navigate to Tools Export, and select “Media” from the list of what to export. Then, download the export file. In the site you want to import your media to, go to Tools Import, and install the WordPress importer. Then, you can upload the export file you downloaded from your other site.
I read this question and almost replied, “That’s easy!” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s an intricate question, because of how Apple has its own organizational structure that’s invisible in the Photos Library, independent of how you sort images in the Photos app. And because there are several possible answers to the same question.
Export Photos From Iphoto Library
The first question is, really, what is your ideal outcome for this copy on the external drive?
Export Photos Library From Iphone
- An exact duplicate of the library. Quit Photos, if it’s active, find the Photos Library, and copy it. The Library includes 100 percent of everything that Photos needs. Done. But that’s probably not what Peter was asking.
- Copy the file structure of the folder in the Photos Library. You can Control-click the Photos Library and select Package Contents, and then access all the folders that form the library. However, Photos organizes images and video into chronological folders— nested by year, month, and day—inside Masters (originals) and Previews (modified versions). This is probably not what Peter wants, either.
- Copy Moments, Albums, Smart Albums, and other organizational structures in the Photos app. Unfortunately, while Apple lets you select multiple images to export at once (via File > Export), you can’t export these album and other structures as folders. You could open albums one at a time, select all the photos inside, and then export them to a folder you create with the same name, but that’s manual and tedious, and doesn’t automatically update.
I’ve recommended PowerPhotos ($30) before, a utility by Fat Cat Software that can merge, de-duplicate, and selectively copy Photos libraries, along with other tasks.
But it can’t (yet?) provide that sort of clean export operation Peter wants.
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Export Photos Library From Mac
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