gantipas

I have thousands of images mixed with other documents on several external drives.
I am using an iMac.
What is the best software that can automatically isolate and extract and save these images ?
I tried a commercial program on a thumb drive which did not work.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

How about using Finder to search for all images with the various image file extensions and then move or copy the results of your search to wherever you prefer.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

On Edit.... I see it is your first post. Welcome. With luck folks here will help you get it figured out.


You question is a little confusing. If your images are on multiple drives, they have already been isolated and extracted from your camera. Are you trying to put them all on one drive? If not, what is your goal?

That said, in Windows, you could use Explorer to filter for file extensions like ".jpg" and then cut, paste, copy or whatever. On a Mac, I assume "Finder" is about as good as Explorer so should also filter.

A commercial product like Lightroom Classic (using the Import process) would catalog every image file and ignore the rest.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Why?

gantipas

Life changes, job moves between countries.

gantipas

Thanks. I'll try Lightroom and Find my File.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Lightroom Classic, if you're not familiar with it, will take a little planning to get the results you might want.

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

You might checkout MacPaw Gemini 2 app, said to remove duplicates and similars. I have not used this product.
Best, chase

gantipas

Thanks. I'll try Lightroom Classic first.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

I use windows. With it, I use "search everything". I set it to search for all photos by extension type. I then can drag them to any other drive/folder.

Everything is not available for mac. They are very similar programs. Here is a list for the mac.

https://formac.informer.com/everything

I would connect a drive that you want to combine on, and then connect a drive you want to search on. Useing the search program, search for all photos. Then COPY them to the destination drive(drive you are combining on). Then search another drive. Do not delete any photos untill you are sure they're are all moved and are good. Store the drives you searched, as there are a lot more steps to get organized. After you have viewed feet photo and are sure they were not damaged in transfer, then and only then, can you delete them from the drives.

Once you have the photos on the combined drive, it is time to start organizing. First I would sort by file name and check for duplicates. I would then create folders by year (2000, 2001 etc). Then move the photos to the correct date. Then it's time for a D.A.M. (digital asset management) program. I use and love light room. Others here use other programs. These are managing software that allow cataloging, and editing. You could go all this from within Lightroom, but if you do not use it, this is not the way to learn (IMHO). Do this with a way you are comfortable with.

Good luck. This will not be a fast process. You need to take your time and not get in a hurry.

gantipas

I am trying to put them all in a one drive. I'll try Lightroom. Thanks.

gantipas

Thanks. This is a very thorough approach. Even if it takes more time, these days I have extra time.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I would star by taking an external hard drive and dragging them into categories. You may want to start with general categories and then break them down again. When you are done you have them your way.

Finished do a 2nd hard drive and have 2 of everything.

goldenyears Loc: Lake Osewgo

I can vouch for that advice. I accumulated some 75,000 photos of airplanes over a 20 year period, sent to me by contributors to my aviation website. There was no rhyme or reason to how the files were named. I saved them in folders named for the contributor, and that was it. Selecting photos to add to the website started getting more and more time consuming as the number of photos I received grew, so a few years ago I began the process of viewing each one and renaming the files by airplane manufacturer, model, tail number etc. It was a huge undertaking but I disciplined myself to do some every day, and now I can rename new contributions as I receive them.

DICK32

Hi: I use Lightroom and recommend it. Buy this book. $19. plus shipping. He does seminars all over the world. I go to them every 2years. I see what Adobe has done to improve their software and his books help because he'll tell you how to do it the simple way. Read this first. It will save you time and you'll know that you're doing it the right way. The book is easy to read. He has video too. To learn the newest stuff--look for Adobe videos on U Tube. Have fun,

Scott Kelby How Do I Do That in Lightroom Classic? (2nd Edition)

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