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Prob. importing only new images from iPhone X

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David PZ

Active Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
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133
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
5.x
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom version: 5.7
Operating System
When I had my iPhone 6s, importing only new images each time to LR 5.7 was never a problem. Now all the images have been copied onto my new iPhone X. with iOS 11.3.1. Every time I import just new images from the X to LR, all the images, old and new, get imported. If I keep them in LR, then next time only new images get imported to LR. Since the old images are already in LR, I just delete them from the disk, which does not affect the existing copies in LR. Then next time they all come right back in again. How can I get LR to recognize that the old images from the iPhone X already exists in LR? Is it basically a problem with the phone?
 
When I had my iPhone 6s, importing only new images each time to LR 5.7 was never a problem. Now all the images have been copied onto my new iPhone X. with iOS 11.3.1. Every time I import just new images from the X to LR, all the images, old and new, get imported. If I keep them in LR, then next time only new images get imported to LR. Since the old images are already in LR, I just delete them from the disk, which does not affect the existing copies in LR. Then next time they all come right back in again. How can I get LR to recognize that the old images from the iPhone X already exists in LR? Is it basically a problem with the phone?

***I just discovered that the file numbers of the images had changed when they were copied to X from 6s. I am going to check with AT&T who did the transfer for me to see why this happened.
 
That's a great bit of detective work David!
 
I still do not know why the file numbers changed after transferring from iPhone 6s to iPhone X. I did find that on the X, under Settings > Camera > Formats, choosing High Efficiency means shooting HEIF and choosing Most Compatible means using shooting JPEG. I had mine set on High Efficiency. Then all my HEIF images automatically got converted to JPEGs in LR 5. I did some testing and found that the file size shot in Most Compatible is smaller than that of the JPEG converted from HEIF. Can anyone tell me if the quality of a JPEG converted from HEIF is the same or inferior than that of a JPEG shot at the start?
 
Lightroom doesn't support HEIF files yet, so you'll want to leave it on Most Compatible for now, even though the JPEGs are slightly bigger than the HEIFs.
 
I imported HEIF files into LR 5 on my MacBook Pro with El Capitan, and of course, I couldn't see the HEIF files, but they were accompanied by JPEG images. I did not use any converter and this happened. Online some say that Dropbox (which I use) does the conversion and others say Dropbox does not touch your files. Does anyone have any idea how I got the JPEG images in my LR, which I can edit with no problem? (By the way, the file extension is not simply .JPG, but -2.JPG) Not knowing how they got there, I don't know if the conversion was high quality or not. (Of course, I could reconvert the HEIF images through a good converter to my Mac, but perhaps it's nor worth the amount of work involved.) (Just want to mention that I did the importing via a USB cable.)
 
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I might have found my answer after I just read this online: "Apple has a JPEG converter built into iOS 11 photo transferring as well. If you go to Settings and then Photos, make sure the “Transfer to Mac or PC” option is set to Automatic. This should make your iPhone photos transfer to your computer in a compatible format (e.g. JPEG). " I just hope that the quality is good.
 
Online some say that Dropbox (which I use) does the conversion and others say Dropbox does not touch your files.
Those people are all correct - it depends on how you've set one of the preferences in the Dropbox app.
 
Dropbox tech support informed me that they do not convert files, yet their help page online shows exactly how to make your choice. Then I never was able to find the icons mentioned in the instructions on my Dropbox app page. So I am just going to let the whole thing go.

As I mentioned, when all my HEIF images were imported into my LR 5, the JPEG files were there. So the Automatic setting under Transfer to Mac or PC in ios 11 of my iPhone must have worked. It that's true, I wonder why there are so many apps, online and offline, paid and free, out there to help you convert HEIFs or HEICs to JPEGs. Am I still missing something?
 
Dropbox tech support informed me that they do not convert files, yet their help page online shows exactly how to make your choice. Then I never was able to find the icons mentioned in the instructions on my Dropbox app page. So I am just going to let the whole thing go.
On my phone, it's in the Dropbox app account tab under Camera Upload.
IMG_0609.PNG


I wonder why there are so many apps, online and offline, paid and free, out there to help you convert HEIFs or HEICs to JPEGs. Am I still missing something?
Nope. I guess a lot of people out there are having trouble with transferring the files, and not a lot of software reads HEIF yet.
 
I have dropped Dropbox, since I have other backups. The last comment I want to make is that the Heic files fouled up all the file numbers of the Jpg versions after being imported into my LR 5. I don't understand the numbers any more, for they are all different and not always sequential. Also, duplicates of a bunch of images in a different color showed up. I have no idea how that could have happened. Some imported I could not move into the file I had intended directly and had to change the name or move them into a different file first. Anyway, I am done with Heic or Heif. Back to Jpg. BTW, some articles showed that Heic images lose detail when compared to Jpg versions under magnification.
 
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