Overview

Photos taken with phones and cameras typically contain rich EXIF metadata, such as capture date and GPS location. Claude can read this information and help you automatically organize photos into folders named by year, month, and location, keeping your photo library well-organized.

Use Cases

Organize travel photos by destination
Archive family photos by year and month
Merge photos from multiple devices into a unified directory structure
Clean up messy filenames from camera exports

Steps

Step 1: Analyze Photo EXIF Information

First, have Claude scan the photo folder to understand the capture information.

Please analyze the EXIF information of all photos in the ~/Pictures/Unsorted folder:
- Date range of captures
- Whether GPS location information is included
- Number of photos and total size
- Whether any photos are missing EXIF information

Step 2: Organize by Date

Create directory structure based on capture date and move photos.

Please organize photos into ~/Pictures/Organized with this structure:
- Year/Month/Day (e.g., 2024/12/25)
- Keep original filenames
- For photos without EXIF date, use file modification date
- Generate an organization report

Step 3: Group by Location

If photos contain GPS information, you can organize them by capture location.

For photos with GPS information, please:
1. Use reverse geocoding to identify the capture city/location
2. Create ~/Pictures/ByLocation directory
3. Organize photos by "Country/City" structure
4. List all identified locations

Step 4: Rename Photos

You can rename photos to a more meaningful format.

Please rename photos to:
YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_originalfilename.jpg
For example: 20241225_143022_IMG_1234.jpg
This preserves both the capture time and original filename for identification

Warning: Always backup original photos before organizing! If photos are missing EXIF information or the information is incorrect, they may be sorted into wrong folders. It's recommended to test on a small scale first.

Tip: iPhone Live Photos include both .jpg and .mov files. When organizing, ask Claude to keep them in the same folder, otherwise the Live Photo effect will be lost.

Common Questions

Q: What if some photos don't have EXIF information? A: Claude can use the file's modification date as a substitute, or place these photos separately in an "Unknown_Date" folder for you to handle manually.

Q: Will original files be deleted after organizing? A: The default is to move files. If concerned, you can ask Claude to copy instead of move, keeping original files as backup.

Q: How are GPS coordinates converted to location names? A: Claude can use command-line tools or Python scripts for reverse geocoding, converting latitude and longitude to city names. For offline situations, you may need to provide an API key.