How to Copy 1,000 Files?

[Alameda]

I’m a photographer and I frequently copy ~1,000 photos at a time. Through many versions of MacOS, I’ve found this quite difficult. (Of course it takes time, but that’s not the issue).

The issue I run into is that when I open the folder, use Select All, I cannot simply touch one file and use it to drag the photos from the mounted flash card to a folder on my internal drive. Sometimes, if I wait a very long time, it works.

Lately, I’ve worked around this by using Select All, followed by Copy/Paste. But is there a Finder setting which will enable drag and drop of a large number of files?

 

[circatee]

Curious, during the 1000+ item selection, is the CPU or Memory maxed out?

 

[fisherking]

wondering if this is an issue with the flash card, since the process should work. what format is the card? (am assuming it's formatted for the camera....)

 

[joevt]

Two options:
1) Copy the folder instead of the files.
2) Use a Terminal.app command to perform the copy.

 

[Alameda]

wondering if this is an issue with the flash card, since the process should work. what format is the card? (am assuming it's formatted for the camera....)

I think it is. And flash cards aren’t formatted in a native Mac file system.

 

[Alameda]

Two options:
1) Copy the folder instead of the files.
2) Use a Terminal.app command to perform the copy.

Yes, I need to change my methods, although copying the folder isn’t as convenient, I’ll find a way.

 

[Kenny99]

Have you tried creating a "WorkFlow" script?

 

[Chuckeee]

Sometimes it is more efficient to compress into an archive, transfer the archive, decompress the copied archive and then delete the compress archive

 

[Alameda]

Sometimes it is more efficient to compress into an archive, transfer the archive, decompress the copied archive and then delete the compress archive

Thank you. I think the solution will be to copy the parent folder. I think the cause of the problem is either the slow speed of the SD card or the FAT32 file system of the SD card, which the camera requires.

I really appreciate this forum. Even though my problem was pretty simple, it has been a big annoyance, and everyone here’s really helped me work through it, understand why it happened, and figure out what to do about it. THANKS EVERYBODY!!!

 

[Fishrrman]

Try selecting smaller "chunks".
Instead of 1,000, how about 250?

Yes, it's a few "extra steps".
But if it works better...

 

[Alameda]

Try selecting smaller "chunks".
Instead of 1,000, how about 250?

Yes, it's a few "extra steps".
But if it works better...

It will work better to just move the parent folder, then move them out of the folder once I copy them. But I appreciate all the suggestions! Great forum!

 

[Macshroomer]

For about a decade I have had no issues carefully dragging up to 10,000 photo files at once from one folder to another on the same drive. Yes, you make sure the destination folder is a big target and have to pause and make sure it is highlighted or it will bounce back. I routinely have to move 25,000 to 45,000 of photos to a new folder as part of my archiving regimen.

Now, with my brand new 16" M3Max that is pretty much top of the line (4TB instead of 8TB SSD) running buggy Sonoma 14.2.1, I get f__king beach balls when dragging just 1,000 photos off a card to my inbox folder. I do much better when dragging the top level folder on the card to the desktop then move the files to the inbox folder. When transferring more than 3,000 photos from one folder to the next, finder now "thinks" as it is preparing to move photos from one folder to the next when it is actually moving them, the progress bar is no longer accurate.

In my 32 years using macs for my job as a photographer, these hangups are a first.

The funny thing is, When I drag any amount of photos to one of my RAID externals, it starts the transfer right after doing the check sum like it always has. I think and I hope this is a bug that will be worked out in an upcoming OS update, because I am not going to start using terminal or scripts for something that I have done without issue for a very long time.

 

[Isamilis]

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