Missing Functions in Photos App with Imported Images

Question

Missing Functions in Photos App with Imported Images

My photo collection is stored on a NAS and I'm connected to it via wifi. I've imported photos taken on my iPhone 11Pro to the Photos app to avoid duplication.

I have two issues that I believe may be a result of either the import function or the storage of the images (NAS vs local) that I need help with:

Images favorited on my phone do not show as favorites in the Photos app
Images taken in Portrait Mode cannot be adjusted using the functions related to Portrait Mode (depth of field, lighting, etc). Usual adjustments are available (Light, Color, etc)

Any insight would be great!

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Aug 22, 2020 5:56 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

markwmsn

Level 6

15,569 points

Aug 22, 2020 9:05 PM in response to katetakespics

When you say your photo "collection" is stored on a NAS, do you mean your Photos library is on the NAS, that your Photos library on your internal drive references photos stored on the NAS, or just that you have a bunch of photos stored in Finder folders on the NAS?

Note: Apple doesn't recommend storing Photos libraries on NAS. Many experienced users here do not recommend using referenced photos.

Some other information that may prove helpful to somebody here trying to help you:

What version of macOS is running on your MacBook Pro?

Does your collection include only photos taken with your iPhone 11 Pro, or do you have photos from earlier iPhones or other cameras there also?

How do you import photos taken on the iPhone into the Photos app? (possibilities include iCloud Photos, My Photo Stream, and cable transfer using Image Capture or the Import function inside Photos)

If your "collection" is not all in the Photos library, how do you get photos into the collection?

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Answer 2

Aug 24, 2020 5:00 PM in response to markwmsn

Heya! Thanks for the reply!

All digital photos that I take are stored as files on the NAS (organized by year/month folder structure and unique naming conventions). I have lots of client work that I organize w/ Adobe Lightroom but my personal photos (largely iPhone - various models over the years) are imported into Photos so that I can leverage simple functions like Favourites (if working!), People, and access to Videos alongside my images. I thought this would be a nice way to see my family photos outside of LR. Looks like I might be wrong.

To answer your questions:

Running latest macOS 10.15.6 on the Macbook Pro
Photos app contains images taken only w/ iPhones but various models over the years - 3GS, 5, 7, 11 Pro
No images from DSLRs in Photos app
Import images into the app by... cable transfer using Image Capture, rename, save to NAS, then File>Import (navigate to NAS location). This keeps the library size (stored locally on Macbook Pro) quite small considering the volume of images. I would usually do all this with a direct connection from my NAS to iMac but alas, it's temporarily out of the game.

I don't intend to do anything too crazy with the images in the Photos App... I really just want to see those that have been 'favorited" so that I can easily create photo books of the family.

I'm all ears for a better way to do this!

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Answer 3

markwmsn

Level 6

15,569 points

Aug 30, 2020 11:09 PM in response to katetakespics

I see. You must have chosen to use "referenced" files by deselecting the "Copy Items to the Photos Library" in Photos > Preferences > General. It does sound good in theory, but Apple's Photos application is notoriously bad at handling referenced files (especially compared to their previous Aperture application, which at least had tools for handling problems when they arose).

Regarding your original issues:

I see no mechanism that would communicate the "favorite" information with this lash-up. I don't think Image Capture attempts to gather the information in the first place, and I doubt that Photos is expecting to see the information in files it imports. (The only mechanism that I know is available for that would be iCloud Photos, but that doesn't mix well with either Image Capture or referenced files.)
When I try to import a "portrait" photo from my iPhone 11 Pro Max, it shows up in Image Capture as both IMG_1234.HEIC and IMG_E1234.JPG. Which one(s) do you choose to import? The IMG_E1234.JPG copy imports with the depth "baked into" the image and would act as you describe. The IMG_1234.HEIC copy imports as two files with the same name but different extensions: the HEIC file without depth information and an AAE file with the depth information. For me, they recombine when imported to Photos, but maybe your NAS interferes with that.

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Answer 4

Sep 2, 2020 10:52 AM in response to markwmsn

Yeah, I'm intentionally using "referenced' photos to save the space on the macbook but considering all the issues, it seems this is a bad way of doing things. Too bad, I used to do similar in Aperture without issue... and have done the same in Lightroom for years. Back to the drawing board.

Doing my best to avoid iCloud for photos. I prefer to manage/import images myself so I'm confident everything is backed up and organized. My organization, though, may be what's messing up the "portrait" photos. As I rename the images on import, I have likely separated the HEIC file from it's AAE... though they wouldn't be hard to pair back together. Good thing I keep everything!

Thanks!

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

210,295 points

Aug 31, 2020 10:10 AM in response to katetakespics

FYI; you should read this user tip so you're aware of the dangers of a "referenced" library: Disadvantages of a Referenced Library in Photos - Updated for macOS 10.15 Catalina

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Missing Functions in Photos App with Imported Images

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