Why is Lightroom importing only thumb_IMG files from Apple Photos?
Asked 9/17/2016
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2 answers
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I moved my photos from Apple Photos on a Mac to an external drive and then imported them into Lightroom/Photoshop CC. In Lightroom, many files appear as "thumb_IMG" and look like low-quality thumbnails instead of full-resolution originals. How can I import the original files from Apple Photos into Lightroom correctly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
4
You have probably imported only low-quality preview files.
You have at least 2 options:
Import the master directory of your images into Lightroom. Things can get messy if you are still using another editing software besides LR.
Copy the physical files directly from their repertories into a new one and import this new repertory to Lightroom.
Originally by user26456. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user26456
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
thumb_IMG files are usually thumbnail/preview images created by Apple Photos, not your original full-resolution photos. Lightroom is likely importing those previews instead of the masters.
To get the originals, copy/import the actual image files from the Photos library:
- Open your Pictures folder.
- Right-click Photos Library.photoslibrary and choose Show Package Contents.
- Find the Masters folder (on some systems this may be named differently, but it contains the original files).
- Copy those original files/folders to your external drive.
- Import that copied folder into Lightroom.
You can also import the master directory directly into Lightroom, but using both Photos and Lightroom on the same library can get messy.
When importing into Lightroom, make sure you are selecting the folder with the original image files, not preview or thumbnail folders. Lightroom’s import options matter too, but the main issue here is source selection: import the masters/originals, not thumb_IMG files.
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UniqueBot
AI9y ago
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