Locating Photo Folder(s)

[speedo]

I have created a folder under Mac HD, so I can put all my work in that folder, makes it easier for me to locate files and do backup, I just backup one top folder.

I now have all 'Write' files, 'Numbers', etc under a folder MacData.

So far I have not been able to locate the 'Photo' folder so I can move it there, and how do I make the OS point to this folder when it comes to photos?

Thanks in advance

Speedo

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Honestly the better strategy is to something like Time Machine or SuperDuper/CCC and keep the folders organized the way they normally are with the apps you use. That way, your data is backed up and is places where you and the application expects them to be.

The Photos app for example keeps photos organized in a sub-folder under the Pictures folder. Inside the sub-folder is a series of additional sub-folders based on year/month/day and some identifier. You are not meant to mess with the folder specifically, but rather use Photos to interact with the pictures. However, you want a backup of your pictures and tags and how you've organized them, so TM/SuperDuper/CCC will do that for you.

 

[speedo]

Thanks a lot, I will check Time Machine.

Coming from the Windows background, am used to having full control of my work, well I guess we have to adapt to survive

 

[ferrarr]

With Apple/Mac, you do have full control. But you do have to change your thinking to adapt.

 

[MacInWin]

Also, you have a "home" folder which you can find at /Users/<<your account name>> in which you have full read/write authority and no other user does. That is the one folder approach built into macOS. Under that folder you can have any other folder you want, and most applications will use that folder for you. In addition, your personal preferences are stored in that folder in hidden folders so that when you get your Desktop or Dock the way you want it, it will be there next time you come back to the system. So, rather than created another folder somewhere else, you are much better off using what macOS provides and not making that MacData folder.

You need to give up the Windows way of thinking. Not that it is "bad" thinking, but it isn't how macOS works efficiently or properly. You can have as much control over your data as you want, but if you stick to the way applications expect you use the system your system will work much more efficiently for you.

And what Ashwin said about Photos deserves repeating. Do NOT mess with the Photos folders other than through Photos. If you do mess with them, there is an excellent chance that you will lose them all. Every picture. If Photos loses the database integrity, your photos could be toast. What I would suggest is that you just leave them where they are (probably in your home folder already) and not mess with them.

 

[badshoehabit]

Since Apple OS has perfectly good ways of storing and categorising documents, photos etc and a stellar search facility in Spotlight, I can't understand why people want to circumvent systems which have cost millions of pounds to develop. It's like installing a dishwasher then doing dishes in the sink.

 

[MacInWin]

Sue, it's a hangover from Windows. Speedo said

Coming from the Windows background, am used to having full control of my work, well I guess we have to adapt to survive

I remember when I shifted over from Windows to the Mac about 10 years ago the idea was hard to accept that I didn't need to worry about where to put things, or how it might affect the system or any of the myriad tasks that Windows required just to keep running smoothly. That was what Jobs meant by "It just works." And that principle largely still applies. But a long time Windows user that moves to the Mac still has that "I must need to do something" mentality and so looks for solutions to problems that don't exist like Antivirus, file structures, etc. I understand that Win10 is more robust and doesn't require as much tweaking as before, but MS pushes out a LOT of updates, so even now it probably feels the same, that a user has to "do" things to make it all work. So if Windows users like Speedo jump to the Mac, they bring those habits of a lifetime with them, not knowing that in the macOS universe, things really do "work different." Over time, as Speedo gains experience and confidence in the macOS environment, those old Windows habits should die away.

 

[badshoehabit]

I used Windows for over a decade before moving to Mac and the only things I recall being strange were the white on black keyboard and having to backspace to delete. Perhaps I wasn't techie enough to know the filing and storage differences!

 

[MacInWin]

Could be, Sue. Windows does have a "My Documents" folder by default, but most Windows users customize where files are kept. Given that Windows was/is based on a single user OS and the macOS is a multi-user OS, the Windows model is that YOU are the user, there is no other, so having one My Documents folder was all you needed. And if you wanted to store stuff in the root of the drive, it's YOUR drive, so go ahead. With OSX/macOS coming from a multi-user background, the root is a bit less obvious and not really recommended for the user to use. So Apple emphasizes the "home" folder, with each user having an individual home and not having read/write to anybody else's home folder. But if you are coming from Windows and don't do the homework to recognize the differences, you can fall into the old Windows way of doing things and think that you need to have a more unique folder than the default home folder. But actually it is more secure and easy to manage if you just let the Mac do what the Mac does and drop the Windows way.

 

[badshoehabit]

Yep, I was an ignoramus - you lost me!

 

[MacInWin]

I was an ignoramus

Never, Sue! We all had to learn (and un-learn).

 

[speedo]

Thanks guys for your comments, the thing is, its not about a complete switch from mac to win, I still have to work on both. I use a win laptop, and recently started heavy on Mac, I have an iPhone, and Android phone. I need to be able to move files, and pictures between both mac and win systems.

But maybe its about time to, as MacInWin said:

...just let the Mac do what the Mac does and drop the Windows way.

 

[MacInWin]

speedo, I would venture to say that most of us who transitioned from Windows to Mac had a period of time where we worked on both. In fact, I had to have Windows for one single application for my wife's business until recently, so I ran Win7 in a virtual machine on my Mac for that one app until about a month ago. Moving files and pictures between them is relatively easy as the file formats for those kinds of things are compatible. You can use either your local network to move files through sharing, or you can move them through USB thumb drives. You can even move one or two through email from one system to the other. And you can do that without having to treat either one as the other. Mac can be Mac, Windows can be Windows, the data flows between them pretty easily.

And what a lot of us discovered while doing that is that the Mac was and is, in general, easier and more logical that Windows. Once your brain makes the shift, anyway. But what doesn't work well is to try to use Windows approaches on a Mac, or Mac approaches on a Windows system. Blending the two invariably leads to problems, sometimes on both. So let Win be Win, Mac be Mac and you, the squishy-ware in the middle, do the transitioning.