My family photo management solution

A quick summary of how I’m currently managing our family photos.

My Objectives

What I wanted:

✅ Let's us choose which photos are backed-up to a shared family photo library we can both access

✅ Lets us favourite photos on any device

✅ Renames files to preserve the date taken in the filename itself

✅ Identifies and removes duplicate photos

✅ Without any reduction in the quality of the photos

✅ As cheap or free as possible

What I did not want:

❌ Duplicate photos

The Solution

Where do we want to show these photos?

• Social media
• Collect photos into albums to share with family through a semi-public link (e.g. sharing holiday pictures)
• Show on TV screensaver
• Digital photo frames
• Our yearly photo book
• Our custom framed wall prints

Who’s done this before?

• https://github.com/ptoomey3/family-photo-library
• https://medium.com/swlh/my-automated-photo-workflow-using-google-photos-and-elodie-afb753b8c724

What tools are already available?

• Approachable solutions:

• SlideBox
• Google Picasa
• OnceUpon

• Complicated and technical:

• Apple Shortcuts
• https://github.com/elisemercury/Duplicate-Image-Finder
• https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka
• https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net

As a picture

Current solution

Routines

• Every month on the 1st: Use SlideBox to sort photos and Apple Shortcuts to convert any HEIC to JPG and auto-upload to Dropbox
• Every month on the 1st: Favourite photos in the collection
• Every October on the 1st: Finalise yearbook in OnceUpon app
• Every October on the 25th: Send the OnceUpon yearbook for print using the Halloween discount (~25% off)
• Every January on the last Sunday: Backup photos to external hard drive and delete already backed up photos from mobiles

Process

1. Set iPhone to Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible = Yes
2. Take photos on our phones (iPhone/Android)
3. Use SlideBox to sort photos into folders on our phones either:

• "Memories", which should be backed-up and protected
• "Stuff", which could include screenshots, legal documents, and/or receipts that can be safely ignored in this process

4. For Cain's iPhone:

• Apple Shortcuts will regularly upload any new "Memories" photos to Dropbox with the photos' original names and quality

5. Convert all iPhone HEIC photos to JPG
6. Rename all photos to follow YYYY-MM-DD format and use Apple Shortcuts to upload to Dropbox
7. Apple Shortcut is configured to not replace any existing files
8. Same-named files will be renamed YYYY-MM-DD (1) and so on to avoid overwriting