How to clean up folders under DCIM folder?
- Thread starter Zergslayer69
- Start date
dhewson777
iPF Novice
For generally transferring pictures to and from the iPad, I like to use the app Photo Transfer App. It's great for iDevice to iDevice as well as to PC and Mac.
robert_welsh
iPF Noob
To copy files between iPad, PC or android device, I use the Lenovo Shareit app. I also use use Microsoft's OneDrive, which handles photos very well and can copy them automatically to your PC when you take a photo on the iPad camera.
In syncing my iPad photos to iTunes on a pc, where does iTunes store the jpegs on the computer? I've looked in My Documents/My Photos and they are not there. Same question, probably the same answer if i am syncing my iPhone to iTunes on a pc, where does itunes store the jpegs?
dhewson777
iPF Novice
The photos from your Camera Roll are in the back-up file and are not automatically saved out to a folder for use. You have to do that manually. You can access them off the iPhone/iPad just like a camera, by using Windows Explorer to navigate to the DCIM folder and drag and dropping the photos you require. Alternatively you can use a third party app to transfer off via wifi. Photo Transfer App is a good one.
I think this thread has got side tracked into how to delete photos for some reason. If the original poster has the same issue as me it's about deleting all the folders in the DCIM folder in Windows, at least that is how I read it. Every time I take a few photos it creates another folder or sticks them into one of the dozen folders that are already there. Some of those folders only have one photo in them and some are actually empty! Like the original poster all I want is to have one folder to store all these photos I take in before I move them to other folders but it's near impossible to find where they are as you have to search through all these stupid folders that have been created. By the way I am not using any extra programs for taking photos so that's not the problem. I think the problem is that whoever wrote the software screwed up. I know that when I recently upgraded to the latest IOS version it screwed up all my folders. I've lost count of the number of photos I've lost!
Connect your iPad or iPhone to your computer. I'm talking PC here. Click on either 'Computer' or 'Windows Explorer' and look for iPhone or iPad and click on it. In the window 'Internal Storage' appears. Click on Internal Storage and DCIM File Folder appears. Click on DCIM File Folder and in my case 11 or 12 file folders appear with names like 873SDNOQ. Note that these are called 'File Folders' not albums. Now what we are trying to figure out is why this brilliant operating system creates 11 or 12 folders to store less than 20 photos making it a pain in the ass when you try to find photos you have just taken in order to transfer them to an 'Album!'And if it was a computer thing why is it that when I connect my Canon Digital SLR to my computer I find all my photos in one album and don't have to go searching for them? It's definately an IOS thing.
PagodaGirl
iPF Noob
I gave up on fixing the problem and used a workaround...I now have all pics backed up to Dropbox which is NOT riddled with folders and broken up into events. It's a nice, clean collection with no breaks just like it used to be on my iPad in previous versions. If I want to post a picture I find it in Dropbox and post from there.
twerppoet
iPad Fan
Your comments triggered a few new thoughts. Luckily I have aspirin handy.
I haven't looked at the DCIM folder since the iOS 8 update, however it's possible things have changed and Apple is using some sort of folder structure to organize the photos now. The new Photos app organizes things by Moments. It also groups pictures if they are taken in multi-shot mode.
If that is the case, then deleting those folders would mess up how Photos is organizing things.
This is speculation. I don't know anything for sure, but it is consistent with how iTunes and Photos on a Mac store files; a complex direct access unfriendly sub-folder system. As with most file organization methods it's got plusses and minuses.
The plus is that the basic organization is inherent. You're not depending just on secondary files or metadata to keep things organized, so the database can be reconstructed if records get corrupted. The minus you are experiencing. Accessing those files directly becomes a nightmare.
Maybe I'll look into it further, to make sure this is what's happening.
At any rate, if you really need all your files dumped in the same place on the computer you have two (that I can think of) choices. You can use something like DropBox or another cloud service to export and keep the photos. Or, you can use a third party app like PhotoSync to export the photos to the computer, instead of accessing the DCIM folder directly.
Not great answers, but what I've got.
BTW, this is pretty much how it works on a Mac already. You can't see the DCIM folder on a Mac without installing special software. Instead you have a native app (Image Capture) that looks at the iPad (or camera), shows you the photos, and give you import tools. No messing around with direct folder access.
dhewson777
iPF Novice
Apparently it stands for Digital Camera IMages.
twerppoet
iPad Fan
Pretty much any app on the computer that can recognize and import images from a camera or camera SD card should work. I don't remember what it is called, but there is at least one native Windows app that should work.
The app PhotoSync by touchbyte GmbH should work as well. It needs both the computer and the iOS device to be on the same network. It will work with only the iOS version installed (through a web browse on the computer) but there is a companion app for the computer that makes it easier. It's a little slower than using a cable connection, but I like it.
The apps must be open on both devices for them to detect and transfer photos.
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