Frames · Manual2 · Getting photographs in

Chapter 02 · Getting photographs in

2.1

The Photos library

Add Apple Photos as a source to browse its still photographs using locally available previews.

Click Photos Library on the first-run screen or under ＋ in SOURCES. macOS requests read-write access. Only one Photos library can be added. Rename its source row from the row’s menu.

Permission. If access is denied or restricted, the source row explains where to change the setting. Limited access works with the selected photographs; other photographs are not marked missing by a limited scan.

Cataloguing. Frames reads still images newest first and excludes video, hidden items and the other frames of a burst, so its count runs lower than the one Photos shows; the source panel says so under the count. Under limited access it reads the selected photographs alone. rawctl can limit import to one album or the newest n photographs. Albums and folders form the collection tree, which is rebuilt on each sync.

Photographs use stable iCloud identifiers that survive a library restore. A photograph without one is skipped.

Base metadata is read during import. EXIF is read during rendering, when the photograph is already open. A separate EXIF request can download a cloud-only original.

Previews and originals. Cataloguing uses local Photos previews. Photographs with no local rendition are deferred. Original downloads require the actions described in The ideas it is built on.

For RAW+JPEG pairs, Frames uses the RAW as the original, including when Photos stores it as an alternate resource. Downloaded originals are cached outside the Photos library package. A size limit applies, with the oldest downloads removed first at launch.

Sync. Changes in Photos trigger an automatic sync. Changes made while Frames is closed are checked on launch using Photos’ change history.

Changes to Photos. Ratings and verdicts remain in Frames’ catalogue. These operations can change the Photos library:

  • Deleting in Cleanup sends a photograph to Recently Deleted after the system confirmation. The deletion syncs to other devices.
  • Publishing an edit writes a full-resolution JPEG with recipe adjustment data. Revert in Photos removes the rendering.
  • Importing from a card creates new photographs, including paired RAW and JPEG resources.
  • Organising creates, renames, moves or deletes albums and folders, and changes album membership.

Publishing behaviour is described in An edit reaches Photos.app.

See Deleting, in Cleanup and nowhere else, An edit reaches Photos.app, Card import, Organising the library.