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Moving media from downloaded Apple Photos library into Synology Photos with a minimal metadata loss

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**Problem:** I have an almost 2TB Apple Photos library already downloaded onto an external drive. I wanted to migrate this library into Synology Photos without re-downloading it from the internet. Exporting originals from Apple Photos was too time-consuming and impractical. After some investigation, I discovered that the .photoslibrary file is essentially a regular folder containing an SQLite database and the original images and videos. So, I moved this file to my Synology NAS. **Expected Outcome:** I wanted to move the media files from the .photoslibrary/originals directory into home/Photos on my NAS, organized in a %Y/%m/%d directory hierarchy. Ideally I would like to keep as much as possible metadata from Apple Photos. **Solution:** I created a program that: 1. Recursively loops through all files inside the originals directory. 2. Queries a CSV file (exported from the ZASSET table in the Apple Photos SQLite database). The CSV contains two columns: ZFILENAME and ZDATECREATED. 3. Converts ZDATECREATED into %Y/%m/%d format and creates/selects the appropriate folder inside home/Photos. 4. Moves the file into that directory. **Shortcomings:** A significant number of files in the originals directory have _2, _3 suffixes before the extension, and the database does not have ZASSET records for these files. How should I handle these? In general, I'd like to hear suggestions from anyone who has done a similar migration of their Apple Photos library to Synology Photos. What is the best method with the least metadata loss?
Asked by Tural Ali (237 rep)
May 27, 2024, 02:20 PM
Last activity: Jul 22, 2025, 08:02 AM