My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)
9 days ago
- #EXIF
- #photo-management
- #Immich
- Changes to photo metadata (albums, descriptions, location, date/time, favorites) through Immich are stored in EXIF and backed up to Synology NAS and Dropbox.
- A simplified version of the author's plugin, 'immich-exif', is available for those with different workflows.
- The author's photo management workflow relies solely on EXIF for metadata storage, avoiding external databases.
- Key principles of the author's photo management: Preserve (future-proof), Unify (single library), Experience (relive moments).
- Previously used Google Photos for viewing but stopped due to privacy concerns and workflow disruptions.
- Synology NAS is the primary photo source, organized using the command-line tool 'Elodie'.
- Immich's external libraries feature allows adding existing folders to the photo library, mounted as read-only.
- Immich was adapted from a read-only viewer to a full organizer while maintaining EXIF-only metadata storage.
- Challenges with Immich and Elodie's interaction were resolved using an eventually consistent approach.
- The author is now able to enjoy photos without compromising long-term preservation principles.