---
created: 2026-05-28
modified: 2026-05-28
type: note
tags: [photos, consolidation, archive]
aliases: [photo-consolidation]
---

# Photo Consolidation Plan

> Consolidating all photo collections across drives into a single clean archive.

---

## Principle

**Do not touch Immich** — it manages its own library at `/mnt/hd/immich/` (40K photos, Dec 2024 – Jan 2025). All other photos get consolidated into one archive.

---

## Current State — All Photo Collections

### Immich Library — DO NOT TOUCH

| Machine | Location | Photos | Period | Organized |
|---------|----------|--------|--------|-----------|
| .35 | `/mnt/hd/immich/` | 40,769 | Dec 2024 – Jan 2025 | Immich-managed |

### Collections to Consolidate

| # | Collection | Machine | Path | Photos | Period | Organized | Duplicate Of |
|--|-----------|---------|------|--------|--------|-----------|-------------|
| **1** | **sorted_pictures_holder** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/sorted_pictures_holder/` | **31,279** | **1990–2023** | **✅ Year → Month** | Master collection |
| **2** | **temp_transfer** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/temp_transfer/` | ~? | 2024 | ❌ By event name | Unique (latest photos) |
| **3** | **PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD/` | ~? | 2005–2012 | ❌ By topic | **= #7 Back Up drive** |
| **4** | **Integral300 recovery** | .27 mounted | `/run/media/sam/Integral300/` | 30,747 | — | Mixed | **= #5 SmartDrive + #1** |
| **5** | **SmartDrive backup** | .27 | `/run/media/sam/SmartDrive/integral300_backup_20260305/` | 30,747 | — | Mixed | **= #4 recovery img** |
| **6** | **Photos-001 (1-4)** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/Photos-001 (1-4)/` | ~119 | May–Jun 2023 | ❌ Raw dumps | Unique |
| **7** | **Back Up drive photos** | .27 | `/mnt/backup/old_photos_backup/pictures/` | ~? | 2005–2011 | ❌ By topic | **= #3** |
| **8** | **sorted_pictures/2019** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/sorted_pictures/` | ~? | 2019 | ✅ Year only | Might be in #1 already |
| **9** | **sam rolfe/previous years** | .13 | `/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/sam rolfe/previous years/` | ~? | 2018–2019 | ❌ Mixed | Unique? |
| **10** | **grandas_wake** | .13 | `/mnt/storage/Users/Sam Rolfe/Desktop/grandas_wake/recent photos sams/` | ~7 | — | ❌ | Unique? |

### Duplicate Summary

| Group | Collections | Action |
|-------|------------|--------|
| **A — sorted_pictures_holder** | #1 only (on .13) | **Keep as master** — best organized |
| **B — PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD** | #3 (#7 is same) | **Keep one copy, delete the other** |
| **C — Integral300** | #4 (#5 is same) | **Delete SmartDrive copy** — recovery .img is source of truth |
| **D — temp_transfer + misc** | #2, #6, #8, #9, #10 | **Merge into archive** — these are unique |

---

## Proposed Archive Structure

### Target Location: `.13` — `/mnt/data/archive/photos/`

This is on the always-on NTFS drive (accessible to network, has 416G free).

```
/mnt/data/archive/photos/
│
├── by_date/                     ← The master date-organized collection
│   ├── 1990/
│   │   └── 01-Jan/
│   ├── 2003/
│   ├── 2004/
│   ├── ... (years 2005–2023)
│   ├── 2023/
│   │   ├── 02-Feb/
│   │   ├── 03-Mar/
│   │   ├── 04-Apr/
│   │   └── 05-May/
│   └── 2024/                    ← From temp_transfer (sorted into months)
│       ├── 03-Mar/              → footy_round_5_2024, etc.
│       ├── 04-Apr/              → fin round 7, etc.
│       └── ...
│
├── by_subject/                  ← Topic-based albums (no clear dates)
│   ├── baby_harry/
│   ├── wedding/
│   ├── grandma_funeral/
│   ├── bruges/
│   ├── byron_bay/
│   ├── footy/                   ← All footy games combined
│   ├── dad_80th/
│   └── ... (others from PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD)
│
└── phone_dumps/                 ← Raw phone exports (keep original names)
    └── pixel_6_pro_2023/
        ├── 2023-05/
        └── 2023-06/
```

### Explanation

| Folder | Source | Rationale |
|--------|--------|-----------|
| **`by_date/`** | `sorted_pictures_holder/` + `temp_transfer/` (sorted into dates) | **Primary** — date-organized is the most useful for finding photos. `temp_transfer` events will be sorted into year/month folders |
| **`by_subject/`** | `PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD/` | Secondary — some photos make more sense grouped by event (weddings, funerals, trips) |
| **`phone_dumps/`** | `Photos-001 (1-4)/` | Raw exports — useful to keep original PXL_ filenames for reference |

---

## Consolidation Steps

### Step 1 — Delete Obvious Duplicates

```bash
# These are identical to PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD on .13:
# Delete from .27 Back Up drive after confirming .13 copy exists
# /mnt/backup/old_photos_backup/pictures/  ← DELETE SAFELY

# These are already extracted and match recovery .img:
# Delete SmartDrive integral300_backup_20260305/  ← DELETE SAFELY
```

### Step 2 — Build the Archive (on .13)

```bash
# Create archive structure
mkdir -p /mnt/data/archive/photos/{by_date,by_subject,phone_dumps}

# A) Copy sorted_pictures_holder as the foundation of by_date/
cp -a /mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/sorted_pictures_holder/ \
  /mnt/data/archive/photos/by_date/

# B) Copy subject-organized albums into by_subject/
cp -a /mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD/* \
  /mnt/data/archive/photos/by_subject/

# C) Copy phone dumps
cp -a "/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/Photos-001 (1)/" \
  /mnt/data/archive/photos/phone_dumps/2023-05/
cp -a "/mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/Photos-001 (2)/" \
  /mnt/data/archive/photos/phone_dumps/2023-05/
# ... etc

# D) Copy temp_transfer events — needs manual sorting into by_date/2024/
cp -a /mnt/data/ALL_TRANFERS/Pictures/temp_transfer/ \
  /mnt/data/archive/photos/temp_transfer_to_sort/
```

### Step 3 — Sort `temp_transfer` into `by_date/2024/`

The folder needs manual review. Photos can be filed into:

```
by_date/2024/
├── 03-Mar/          ← footy_round_5_2024, fin round 7
├── 04-Apr/          ← fin round 8, harry round 8
├── 05-May/          ← harry round 9
├── 06-Jun/          ← whatever dates are in there
└── ... 
```

Each file has timestamps — use `exiftool` or file timestamps to determine the right month.

### Step 4 — Verify & Clean Up

1. Run `du -sh` on the archive to confirm all photos arrived
2. Spot-check a few folders with `ls`
3. Delete source directories from ALL_TRANFERS **only after confirmed**
4. Unmount recovery .img + delete SmartDrive copy

---

## Additional Photo Sources to Check

| Source | Where | Action |
|--------|-------|--------|
| .35 My Passport `/mnt/hd/data/` | .35 | Check if any photos exist in the data folder |
| Immich database | .35 | Already managed — leave alone |
| Integral300 recovery .img | .27 `/mnt/tempbackup/` | Data is in the archive already — keep for now? |
| **Obsidian attachments** | .27 `~/obsidian/` | These are notes, not photos — keep in vault |

---

## What to Keep vs Delete After Consolidation

| Item | Keep? | Reason |
|------|-------|--------|
| `sorted_pictures_holder/` on .13 | 🗑️ Delete | Moved to archive |
| `PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD/` on .13 | 🗑️ Delete | Moved to archive |
| `temp_transfer/` on .13 | 🗑️ Delete | Moved to archive |
| `Photos-001 (1-4)/` on .13 | 🗑️ Delete | Moved to archive |
| **old_photos_backup** on .27 Back Up | 🗑️ Delete | Duplicate of PICTURES_GROUPED_SUBJECT_OLD |
| **SmartDrive integral300_backup** | 🗑️ Delete | Already in archive + recovery .img |
| **Recovery .img** (298G) | ❓ Keep for now | Matches archive + extracted backup |
| **Immich** | ✅ Keep | Live service, managed separately |
| `sam rolfe/previous years/` on .13 | ❓ Check first | Mixed content (photos + documents) |
| `grandas_wake/` on .13 | ❓ Check first | Only 7 photos — may overlap |
| `.27` Back Up drive (the disk itself) | ❓ Repurpose | Once photos are archived, 224G freed |

---

## Discarded Approaches

- **Merging into Immich**: Immich handles ingestion well, but it's running on .35 and the archive target is .13. Better to keep a simple filesystem-based archive.
- **Deleting all duplicates immediately**: Too risky. Only delete after confirming the archive copy is intact.
- **Keeping everything on .27**: The NVMe drive is fast but limited (490G free). .13 has more space (416G free on Data, 2.6T on ubuntu_storage_3TB) and is always-on.