Copy only files from a folder tree

[kickadoor]

Hey all, New to Mac OS. I am running high Sierra. I need help with my Lightroom catalog of photos. I would like to move all the photos to a new external hard drive. Problem I am having is Lightroom breaks down the files by day, and each day has its own folder. What I want to do is copy and paste all files to the new drive with out having to go in to each folder and select the files, that would take for ever and give me carpal tunnel. Thanks for any tips in advance.

 

[chscag]

If you don't mind moving the folders to the external hard drive, just drag and drop the folders using Finder to the drive. That of course will place the folders along with the files they contain on the external hard drive.

To do that: Open a second copy of Finder by clicking on "New Folder" from the top menu. Arrange both side by side. Select the folders you wish to move to the external hard drive. Make sure you have selected the external hard drive in the second Finder opening. Then hold down your "Option" key and drag and drop each folder to the external hard drive. That action copies them. Do not use the move command!

After you are positive that everything has been properly copied to the external drive, you can go back and delete the folders from your internal hard drive.

I also suggest making a backup of everything before doing the above.

 

[IWT]

Open a second copy of Finder by clicking on "New Folder" from the top menu

Charlie, did you mean Click on File > New Finder Window?

Then arrange both Finder Windows side by side?

Not being awkward, just for the sake of clarity for the OP.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

Is this for backup purposes, or are you trying to get more space on your internal drive? Have you tried to move the files from within Lightroom?

You can do a web search for - Lightroom copy or move files to new drive -

 

[kickadoor]

Thanks for the tips. I could have probably explained it a bit better. I am trying to move away from adobe. I want to basically just move all my raw .cr2 files to a new folder and to back that up to glacier since I shouldn’t need to access often or from multiple devices and move the jpgs to an iCloud folder for more immediate access.

So right now they are just all mixed together.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Just to clarify, would it be acceptable to have all your files in the various source folders combined into a single destination folder?

Source folders:

2018/
   01/
     02/
       file1
       file2
   03/
     16/
       file3
       file4

Target folder:

Foo/
  file1
  file2
  file3
  file4

If so, I can whip up a quick bash script to accomplish that quickly. If you want something else, then if you could describe it with "pictures", it'll make it easier for us to understand.

 

[kickadoor]

Just to clarify, would it be acceptable to have all your files in the various source folders combined into a single destination folder?

Source folders:

2018/
   01/
     02/
       file1
       file2
   03/
     16/
       file3
       file4

Target folder:

Foo/
  file1
  file2
  file3
  file4

If so, I can whip up a quick bash script to accomplish that quickly. If you want something else, then if you could describe it with "pictures", it'll make it easier for us to understand.

Ok, I can take some screen grabs when I get home. But basically what I have is about 400 folders that contain both raw .cr2 files and a jpg copies. The folders contain about 20,000 photos total and what I want to do is just have two folders, one for the raws and one for the jpgs.

 

[MacInWin]

You might try using Smart Folder to get them sorted out. In Finder, go to the higher level above the 400 folders, then click on "File" on the top bar, then New Smart Folder. In resulting new tab in Finder there will be a bar with Search: This Mac "Foldername" Shared where "Foldername" should be the name of the folder in which the 400 folders are held. Now in the search window in upper right corner, enter jpg and when the options appear, select "JPEG Image" and all of the jpg files in all of the folder should appear. Now you can select all of them and copy/move them to wherever you want. Repeat the search with cr2 and do the same move/copy.

 

[Slydude]

Now see if I had looked at this thread earlier I could have posted this solution and I'd look like the genius. Instead I sleep in this morning and Jake gets the honor. Kudos buddy.

All joking aside Smart Folders are great tasks like this. I thought about Automator but smart folders are quicker to set up. Smart Folder searches can also be saved if the task is one that will be used repeatedly.

 

[MacInWin]

Sly, I have a time zone on you, so being early is easy...

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Man, Jake taking all the wind out of my Bash script sail! Fine, do it the UI way.

 

[chscag]

Yeah Ashwin, Jake is on a roll today!

 

[MacInWin]

Ashwin, what can I say? I'm lazy, so letting Finder do the work for me saves me doing all that typing to create the bash script...

 

[Slydude]

For me it is a well-established fact that the CLI gives me the hives. Ask that fellow Vansmith. He's been trying to get me to learn the CLI for years.

 

[chscag]

Speaking of Bryan, he hasn't visited in quite some time. That means he has either gotten married or obtained a new teaching position. LOL.

 

[Slydude]

I figure his plans for world domination have either gone awry or he has gone deep underground. lol

 

[kickadoor]

Thanks all! consider this solved. I used the smart folder method. It did exactly what I needed it to