How to export organised files into folders named by geolocation and date?

[sgarratt77]

Hi Rhet,

I'm impressed that you continue to develop your script, seeing templates added now - nice!

I wanted to export any further libraries into folders that are named by geolocation firstly and then subfolders that have date (year and month). AS I type this I think it would be beneficial in also naming the folders by album name instead of geolocation. However not all media will have been put into an album and may be in multiple albums so it presents a problem. the best way I keep things organised in photos app is to crate albums entitled by 'event', ie; [2024-03-02] Trip to Park. I also use the @ symbol at times to help find locations I have entitled the album with too - not sure if this causes a problem with your script or not???

My question is, is it possible to achieve this and could you give me an example please?

My current script is this (now a year old) so I will need to amend it:
osxphotos export /Volumes/T7/Temp/Temp/Photo\ LIbraries\ to\ Export/1/Media --db /Volumes/T7/Temp/Temp/Photo\ LIbraries\ to\ Export/1.photoslibrary --exportdb /Volumes/T7/Temp/Temp/Photo\ LIbraries\ to\ Export/1/.osxphotos_export.db --export-by-date --touch-file --preview-if-missing --update --exiftool-merge-keywords --exiftool-merge-persons --album-keyword --person-keyword --strip --sidecar xmp --report /Volumes/T7/Temp/Temp/Photo\ LIbraries\ to\ Export/1/Report1Offline.csv --save-config /Volumes/T7/Temp/Temp/Photo\ LIbraries\ to\ Export/1/Config1Offline.toml --keyword-template "PhotosExport>{folder_album(>)}" --keyword-template "{edited?edited-before-lightroom,}" --exiftool 2>1.log

[RhetTbull]

I also use the @ symbol at times to help find locations I have entitled the album with too - not sure if this causes a problem with your script or not???

That's no problem. OSXPhotos will sanitize any folder or file name to ensure it is compatible with the file system. @ works fine.

I wanted to export any further libraries into folders that are named by geolocation firstly and then subfolders that have date (year and month).

Remove --export-by-date and add --directory "{place.name}/{created.year}/{created.mm}" This will output a folder structure like this:

Washington, District of Columbia, United States/2024/03

Some photos may not have reverse geolocation data so in that case, the template system would use the default value of _ so you'd get: _/2024/03. You can specify your own default value like this: --directory "{place.name,NoPlace}/{created.year}/{created.mm}" in which case you'd get: NoPlace/2024/03.

There is a lot of reverse geolocation data available. See here and search for {place. For example, {place.name.city} would list just the city.

AS I type this I think it would be beneficial in also naming the folders by album name instead of geolocation.

You can do that with {album}/{created.year}/{created.mm} or {folder_album}/{created.year}/{created.mm} if you want the parent folders included. Same pattern to specify a default value: {album,NoAlbum}/{created.year}/{created.mm}.

If a photo is in multiple albums you will get multiple copies of the photo exported. There is no way to avoid that.

[sgarratt77]

oh wow! That's really helpful, thanks Rhet!

What do you mean by "parent folders included"? like if my albums are within folders on photos app? i could see that being useful too if so. thanks

[RhetTbull]

"parent folders" refers to albums that are in folders in Photos. For example, in Photos, you have Folder1>SubFolder1>Album1, then {folder_album} gives you Folder1/SubFolder1/Album1 during export.

[sgarratt77]

Also, can I also run my previously exported files/folders through using an adapted script so that I can update them to the new, desired structure as well? or is there a way I could do that? (maybe just using ExifTool on its own if osxphotos can only be used with existing photo library files?)

[RhetTbull]

Photos won't organize the files on disk. I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for. Are you looking for an app to let you organize your photos (and adjust where they are stored on disk to match the organization)? If so, I don't use a workflow like this and am not familiar with any apps that do this. Maybe something like DigiKam or Lightroom.

[sgarratt77]

yes I'm trying to organise my existing (already exported) photos and videos into folders with the above-mentioned event names and include month and year.

[RhetTbull]

Why not just re-export with the updated folder structure? I'm not aware of any tools to do this though I'm sure such exists. It's just not something I use so I'm not familiar with what's out there.

[sgarratt77]

i would re-export but i don't have the photo library files any longer. My ultimate aim is to organise my media into folders and use them within synology photos on my nas. i want to move away from apple photos completely really.

[sgarratt77]

ill look into other apps and can mention any good ones here in case it helps anyone else if you like?