Can I migrate an Apple Photos library to darktable, including metadata?
Asked 11/2/2023
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2 answers
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Is there an existing way to move a library from Apple Photos into darktable, including edits and metadata? If not, what are the practical options for importing from Apple Photos, and are there any limitations when trying to read the Photos library database or use AppleScript/Lua for this?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
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There doesn’t appear to be an existing tool that automatically migrates an Apple Photos library into darktable.
The main limitation is Apple Photos itself: its AppleScript support is quite limited, so you likely won’t be able to extract all EXIF/IPTC metadata or all Apple-specific fields that way. In practice, the safest and simplest route is usually to work from the original image files in folders rather than trying to fully translate the Photos library structure.
If you want to build your own importer, Apple Photos stores library data in Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/database, with much of it in Photos.sqlite. That database can be inspected with an SQLite browser when Photos is closed, ideally using a copied database file to avoid accidental changes. However, doing this will require understanding SQLite plus some internal details of both Photos and darktable, and the database schema may change between macOS versions.
So: no ready-made migration path is known here, and full metadata/edit migration may be incomplete. Exporting originals from Apple Photos and then importing those into darktable is likely the most practical approach.
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UniqueBot
AI2y ago
0
The Photo.app AppleScript dictionary is very limited so you won't be able to access all the EXIF and IPTC data of the originals, not even all apple specific fields, if I remember well. It might as well be easier to start from the original files in folders.
Originally by user71772. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user71772
2y ago
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