Photo Storage on the iPod -- The Gory Details

[pInK]

Originally posted by scottced
Keith,

As someone who recently lost the photo library on my computer, I'd be very interested in this, even if it is in the larger formats. 5 years of pictures exist on my iPod right now and I need to find a way to salvage them to my computer or my wife is going to kill me.

Me too. I used my iPod as mobile photo storage on a trip and kept moving photos from my SD card onto it with the camera connector, then taking more with the camera until there were 11 "rolls" showing in the iPod browser.

I am so afraid that one false move in iTunes will result in syncing my computer to the iPod in such a way that the photos are deleted forever without being saved to my PC hard drive (like it wipes songs clean to match those already existing on the PC).

[Jesse Hollington]

Actually the risk of this is very low, as photos imported with the camera connector are stored in a completely separate directory from those used by iTunes.

Unless you were actually to run the iPod Updater and "Restore" your iPod (thereby erasing everything on it), reconnecting your iPod to iTunes won't be a problem.

Specifically, photos imported with the camera connector are stored in the \DCIM directory, and must be retrieved through "Disk Mode" (in the same way that you would transfer photos from your memory card directly to your computer). On the other hand, photos placed on the iPod by iTunes are stored in the \Photos directory.

[awheewall]

Originally posted by jhollington
[I]Firstly, for those who may not realize it, the iPod photo is not capable of resizing images on the fly. All of this work is done by iTunes when it transfers the photos onto the iPod photo -- be it normal pictures or album artwork, the principle works the same -- iTunes does the resizing, and the iPod photo just displays whatever it has in it's photo database.

Actually the iPod is very capable of resizing pictures, as I've just uploaded a roll of photos from my digital camera via the iPod Camera Link and I can now view them just like all the other photos that iTunes put on there. All without going near my computer.

[Jesse Hollington]

Well, admittedly that statement probably should be updated from when it was originally written. However, the ability to resize and view the photos imported from the camera connector was only introduced in the version 1.1 firmware that came out last March (when the camera connector was released).

This was added by Apple since there were many concerns raised with the initial release of the iPod photo that pictures imported from the Belkin camera connectors were not viewable on the iPod.

Even with the v1.1+ firmware, the iPod's resizing capabilities are still limited due to the lack of processing power on the unit itself. When importing digital pictures, they are resized for viewing on the iPod, but a TV-resolution image is not created. I suspect this is because the time required to create an additional resized photo and insert it into the database would add an unacceptable additional delay to the photo import process (which many have already complained is slow enough as it is).

Keep in mind that this conversion process is still done at import time, so it is still at least partially correct to suggest that the iPod does not resize pictures on the fly during viewing. This is an important distinction, as people need to understand that you can't just plug the iPod into any computer and dump a bunch of photos on it for later viewing.... They have to be converted and resized either by iTunes (for full viewing in all resolutions), or by the photo import process (for viewing on the screen).

The specifics on the photo import capabilities in the v1.1 firmware have been discussed in other threads (such as here and here).

[pInK]

Originally posted by jhollington
Actually the risk of this is very low, as photos imported with the camera connector are stored in a completely separate directory from those used by iTunes.

Unless you were actually to run the iPod Updater and "Restore" your iPod (thereby erasing everything on it), reconnecting your iPod to iTunes won't be a problem.

Specifically, photos imported with the camera connector are stored in the \DCIM directory, and must be retrieved through "Disk Mode" (in the same way that you would transfer photos from your memory card directly to your computer). On the other hand, photos placed on the iPod by iTunes are stored in the \Photos directory.

I couldn't get iTunes to show me any directories in Disk Mode but downloaded the latest Anapod Explorer and found the .jpgs right where you said - thanks! :-) I managed to copy the directories to my hard drive and am going to check through later to see if all the pix are there; it looks like they are. I am SO happy about that. Thanks for your advice!

[awheewall]

Originally posted by jhollington
Well, admittedly that statement probably should be updated from when it was originally written. However, the ability to resize and view the photos imported from the camera connector was only introduced in the version 1.1 firmware that came out last March (when the camera connector was released).

When importing digital pictures, they are resized for viewing on the iPod, but a TV-resolution image is not created. I suspect this is because the time required to create an additional resized photo and insert it into the database would add an unacceptable additional delay to the photo import process (which many have already complained is slow enough as it is).

Yes I realised that it only did it for the iPod Screen only soon after posting that. It's a pity really, as the TV size is also a small picture compared with a 5-8Mbit original. If the time taken was an issue I'd at least have liked an option for the iPod to do this, with perhaps a warning about the time taken. The whole point of using the iPod to take photos from a digital camera means that you can take thousands of photos without having to "return to base". Surely it's a few lines of code to add the TV resizing also. Come on Apple, you don't normally do things by half measures, get this important functionality right. We want a TV resize too.

[Jesse Hollington]

Well, I think that Apple has a habit of not including features in their products unless those features are going to work well enough that people won't be frustrated by them. Apple's product line has many examples of this type of approach.

People already complain about the slow transfer speed of photos even with the current firmware. While I agree that it would be nice to have the option, I think that you would have a lot of users turning it on and then complaining as to why Apple would even put it in, as it would likely not only be slower, but also consume more battery power, thereby somewhat defeating the purpose.

However, I'm sure that the ability to view photos at all was a result of feedback to Apple on this issue, as just about every review of the iPod photo (my own included) expressed concern at this previous omission.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to Send Feedback to Apple indicating that this is something you would like to see added.

[awheewall]

Thanks for the Apple link, I was wondering if there was any official way to give feedback/feature requests. I just wonder if they only respond to lots of requests for the same thing, or actually assess the value of even a single suggestion.

Anyway, thanks.

[Jesse Hollington]

First Post Updated for 5G iPod.

The main differences are the image thumbnail database sizes. While the TV database remains the same for obvious reasons (TV output resolution hasn't changed), most of the other databases have been changed to accomodate the larger screen.

Album artwork is now 200x200 for the full-size image, and 100x100 for the "Now Playing" thumbnail.

Full-size photo display is 320x240 (ie, the full-screen resolution on the 5G iPod), and the thumbnails for the photo browser appear to have been increased to 50x41.

Each piece of album art will take up 100,000 bytes on the 5G iPod (in addition to the space required for the album artwork image inside the AAC/MP3 track itself).

Each photo will take up 851kb (871,780 bytes), in addition to the storage for any full-resolution images (if "Store Full-Resolution Photos" is enabled).

[AMRivlin]

Any changes to any of this in iTunes 6 or the 5 G... I would like to use the iPod to store my photos, and remove them completely from my 30gb ibook, so I will have some storage space there, so I will want to Retain orginals? Too bad it will change my directories. I have most my photos sorted by trip or event... now it will sort them by date?

[Jesse Hollington]

Well, other than the changes to the image sizes that I've noticed, everything still works the same on the 5G iPod in terms of photo storage. "Full Resolution" photo storage will still sort into subdirectories by Year\Month\Day.

However, you could always back up your photos to your iPod manually in Disk Mode. In that case I would suggest leaving the "Store Full Resolution" photos option off, and then just copying the files over manually (or perhaps on a scheduled basis). This may be a bit more awkward, but it's really the only way to ensure your subdirectory structure is preserved.

[iPod Dance]

With iPodLinux, you can put a big-assed Jpeg in your iPod, and zoom in, and pan around on the fly!

(takes awhile on my greyscale 4th gen)

[JFan]

If you have iTunes set to copy the full resolution photos to your iPod and you've edited your photos in iPhoto, does it copy only the most recent edits of each photo, or are the originals also copied over? I'm hoping that it copies both which could make the iPod a great way to keep a complete backup of your entire photo library including the ability to "un-edit" photos back to their originals if you wanted.

Thanks! Awesome overview that answered all my questions about how the iPod stores photos (excepting the question above of course!

[mrmagwitch]

I bought the 60gig video ipod and i use windows.

is the auto update process the only way to upload photos? i know mac users can use iphoto or i can purchase adobe elements (not sure if thats the right one), but outside those two options what are there?

i got to say it is super frustrating to not be able to manipulate or add one or two new photos without clearing and re-adding all 800+ photos i have (if i am doing this wrong please tell me).

the load time for my photos is easily over an hour. yikes!

if this is the only way to work with photos then i have to say i feel ripped off.

[yinyang]

for those that may need to access these ithmb files on the iPod photos and use a mac, then try one of these apps to see if they will do what you need...

File Juicer - this app is pretty straight forward to use, and costs US$8 (you can try before you buy!)

Keith's iPod photo Reader- probably the same Keith from earlier in this post!! haven't tried this one out, but seems pretty simple, though perhaps not as fully featured as File Juicer. however it seems to be very specific in what it's doing, and it's free