Linking to photos in the Photos library

[DualPlatform]

If I drag in a photo from within the Photos app, a notification pops up that it is a lower quality version of the photo and to first export to disk to maintain full image quality. But that would create another copy of the image. I'd rather link directly to the photo in my Photos library. Is there something I'm missing? Is thee a trick to link directly to a photo in the Photos library at full resolution?

[ttl]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Someone else might know more pieces of the puzzle, but it sounds to me like you have your Photos storage optimized and only have your full resolution images stored on iCloud. If this is the case, it’ll take less room on your hard drive to have a full res duplicate of selected images than to have your whole Photos library at full resolution, which I think is the only other option. I could be missing something, too, though.

[DualPlatform]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Someone else might know more pieces of the puzzle, but it sounds to me like you have your Photos storage optimized and only have your full resolution images stored on iCloud. If this is the case, it’ll take less room on your hard drive to have a full res duplicate of selected images than to have your whole Photos library at full resolution, which I think is the only other option. I could be missing something, too, though.

Thanks, a worthy suggestion, but no, I don't have optimize turned on. For whatever reason, when I drag and drop, it points to the thumbnail.

[theKiwi]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Thanks, a worthy suggestion, but no, I don't have optimize turned on. For whatever reason, when I drag and drop, it points to the thumbnail.

This is from Reunion 12 Help if you search for "Photos"

Working with Apple's Photos App (and/or iPhoto)

We recommend that you do not use iPhoto (or its replacement, the newer Photos app) for storing genealogical pictures.

Although it's a nice tool for managing and editing images, Apple has made changes (and may continue to make changes) over the years in the way images are stored in iPhoto/Photos libraries, which have caused problems with existing links between your family file(s) and images in the iPhoto/Photos libraries, particularly if your image files names are generic or you have lots of images. With a little planning, you can devise a system of naming and organizing your genealogical image files using folders in the Finder. This approach is likely to prove more useful now and is more likely to provide better stability in the future (rather than using iPhoto/Photos).

Roger

[DualPlatform]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

This is from Reunion 12 Help if you search for "Photos"

Working with Apple's Photos App (and/or iPhoto)

We recommend that you do not use iPhoto (or its replacement, the newer Photos app) for storing genealogical pictures.

Although it's a nice tool for managing and editing images, Apple has made changes (and may continue to make changes) over the years in the way images are stored in iPhoto/Photos libraries, which have caused problems with existing links between your family file(s) and images in the iPhoto/Photos libraries, particularly if your image files names are generic or you have lots of images. With a little planning, you can devise a system of naming and organizing your genealogical image files using folders in the Finder. This approach is likely to prove more useful now and is more likely to provide better stability in the future (rather than using iPhoto/Photos).

Roger

Yes, I know, but that's not the issue I'm describing. That help text is about broken links. The issue I'm describing is that when directly adding a photo from Photos, the thumbnail is used instead of the full resolution image.

Given the responses so far, it sounds like this is expected behavior. The help file says:

drag a thumbnail from iPhoto/Photos and drop it onto a person's name button

Perhaps, then, what's lacking is an additional warning in the help file that dragging the photo to Reunion will link to the thumbnail and not the full resolution.

What a pain to have to export images, save a copy in Finder, and then link.

[Gregg]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

If I drag in a photo from within the Photos app, a notification pops up that it is a lower quality version of the photo and to first export to disk to maintain full image quality.

We're not seeing this warning message when we drag an image from Photos to Reunion 12. Can you give us a few details about your system to help us see what's going on...

• MacOS version
• file type of the original image
• dimensions of the original image
• dimensions of the image that appear in Reunion after the drag
• the exact wording - or better yet a screen shot of the warning message that is appearing.

[Bob White]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Yes, I know, but that's not the issue I'm describing. That help text is about broken links............What a pain to have to export images, save a copy in Finder, and then link.

But it is worth the tiny bit of pain. The internal file structure of Photos (formerly iPhoto) is very complex. With many version updates, Apple has "fine tuned" or revised said file structure. Pretty much every time a new Apple update comes out, there is a rash of messages in this forum about broken links with photos in Photos.

You do not have to either export nor save photos from Photos. Simply drag the photo to your destination folder and a copy is made in said folder. The original remains in Photos. Then set your link via the person's family card and Multi-media mode --- which you would have to do no matter how you delivered the photo.

In my Reunion Files folder, there is a folder named Reunion Pictures where all of my Reunion multimedia items are stored. For sanity, I name each photo as I drag in as LastName_FirstName_YearPhotoTaken (last item if known). I started this before iPhoto ever was invented. I have never lost a link due to the comings and goings of Photos/iPhoto. (Released 1/7/2002) Almost 17 years.

Like I said above... it is worth the tiny bit of pain!

[DualPlatform]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

This is from Reunion 12 Help if you search for "Photos"



Roger

We're not seeing this warning message when we drag an image from Photos to Reunion 12. Can you give us a few details about your system to help us see what's going on...

• MacOS version
• file type of the original image
• dimensions of the original image
• dimensions of the image that appear in Reunion after the drag
• the exact wording - or better yet a screen shot of the warning message that is appearing.

MacOS 10.14
JPEG
2328 × 2892
1024 x 824
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/OE8zLZZ.jpg

[DualPlatform]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

But it is worth the tiny bit of pain. The internal file structure of Photos (formerly iPhoto) is very complex. With many version updates, Apple has "fine tuned" or revised said file structure. Pretty much every time a new Apple update comes out, there is a rash of messages in this forum about broken links with photos in Photos.

You do not have to either export nor save photos from Photos. Simply drag the photo to your destination folder and a copy is made in said folder. The original remains in Photos. Then set your link via the person's family card and Multi-media mode --- which you would have to do no matter how you delivered the photo.

In my Reunion Files folder, there is a folder named Reunion Pictures where all of my Reunion multimedia items are stored. For sanity, I name each photo as I drag in as LastName_FirstName_YearPhotoTaken (last item if known). I started this before iPhoto ever was invented. I have never lost a link due to the comings and goings of Photos/iPhoto. (Released 1/7/2002) Almost 17 years.

Like I said above... it is worth the tiny bit of pain!

Fair enough. Do you group images in subfolders mirroring your tree (or some other structure) or are all the photos at the same folder level?

Also, do you just have a single photo per person, so you don't end up recreating your whole Photos library in Reunion?

[theKiwi]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Fair enough. Do you group images in subfolders mirroring your tree (or some other structure) or are all the photos at the same folder level?

Also, do you just have a single photo per person, so you don't end up recreating your whole Photos library in Reunion?

I have mine organised in a folder structure that mirrors what is required by TNG - the software I use that runs my online genealogy website - so top level folders for document, headstones, histories, photos, and then inside them sometimes a hierarchy of folders so that for example all headstone photos for any particular cemetery are in a folder of their own. This hierarchy is transferred to my web server via GEDCOM file as I update the site from Reunion every now and then.

Roger

[Gregg]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

MacOS 10.14
JPEG
2328 × 2892
1024 x 824
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/OE8zLZZ.jpg

Thanks for the details.

This appears to be a new 'feature' in the version of Photos that's installed with Mojave.

One thing to try would be to hold down the Shift and Command keys before and during the drag from Photos to Reunion. This will make a full resolution copy of the edited image in your Reunion Pictures folder.

[Bob White]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

Fair enough. Do you group images in subfolders mirroring your tree (or some other structure) or are all the photos at the same folder level?

Also, do you just have a single photo per person, so you don't end up recreating your whole Photos library in Reunion?

Majority of photos are on one level. Several subfolders exist and are related to family events like family reunions. Yes, there are sometimes several photos of a same person. I connect all to that person's multimedia and, in Reunion, choose which to display as the primary.

The thing to remember here is that the path is your one and only worry with regard to linking multimedia. (e.g., Macintosh HD > Users > YourName > ....) As long as that path stays the same, one should never lose links. In my previous reference to Apple playing with the internal structure of iPhoto/Photos, lost links related to using Photos has mostly been the path being messed up by their revisions to their internal file structure.

There is absolutely no danger of recreating Photos. My Reunion Pictures folder has roughly 600 photos. My main Photos Library is pushing toward 20,000 and I have two other libraries totaling maybe another 4,000. If I live long enough to have time to scan pre-digital age photos, I may end up doubling that number.

Probably around 400 of the photos in the Reunion folder are not from Photos. These are photos that I've scanned or been gifted from a relative or downloaded from various sources. Since there is no particular reason to add them to Photos, I don't.

[Tom Robinson]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

I make a copy of my family history photos in a folder specifically for Reunion — yes it means 2 copies of some, but it keeps all my family history in a single location.

The main driver is the idea someone can pick up my entire Family History folder and have everything necessary, and no more than necessary. Also a bunch of self-contained, named, JPEG files has a much higher chance of remaining readable by future software.

Also, do you just have a single photo per person, so you don't end up recreating your whole Photos library in Reunion?

I'll either do 1, or a few key photos from someone's life. And if it's a group photo you can link cropped selections from multiple people.

Cheers

[DualPlatform]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

I make a copy of my family history photos in a folder specifically for Reunion — yes it means 2 copies of some, but it keeps all my family history in a single location.

The main driver is the idea someone can pick up my entire Family History folder and have everything necessary, and no more than necessary. Also a bunch of self-contained, named, JPEG files has a much higher chance of remaining readable by future software.



I'll either do 1, or a few key photos from someone's life. And if it's a group photo you can link cropped selections from multiple people.

Cheers

What is your naming convention?

“Last, First.jpg”?

[Tom Robinson]

Re: Linking to photos in the Photos library

What is your naming convention?

“Last, First.jpg”?

I start with the source number, then usually the person's name + ID number. e.g.:

1303 Christopher Williams-9721.jpg

And they're all in the main Pictures folder (no sub-folders).