importrr

importrr is a Python application designed to automate importing of image and movie files into a photo library. It wraps around Phil Harvey's ExifTool which does the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Following the DRY (don't repeat yourself) principle, the application follows the same steps to adjust and clean up the files before sorting and storing them in the photo library. Once running, the images only need to be copied into the import directories and they will be properly organized into the photo album.

Features

• Automatic photo/video import and organization by date
• MOV to MP4 conversion using FFmpeg for better compatibility
• EXIF metadata cleanup and date standardization
• Intelligent file naming with collision handling
• Archive creation for backup purposes
• Built-in scheduler runs every 2 hours automatically
• Docker support for easy deployment

Configuration

Create a config.ini file in the root directory or in /config/config.ini with the following structure:

[global]
album_dir = /path/to/albums
archive_dir = /path/to/archives

[home]
import_dir = personal,photos

[work]
import_dir = corporate

Configuration Parameters

• album_dir: Root directory for album storage (e.g., /path/to/albums)
• archive_dir: Root directory for archive storage (e.g., /path/to/archives)
• import_dir: Comma-separated list of subdirectories to monitor for importing

How it works:

The global section defines the root directories. Each additional section (like [home] or [work]) creates a separate processing area:

• Images from /path/to/albums/home/personal and /path/to/albums/home/photos → sorted into /path/to/albums/home/yyyy/mm/ → archived to /path/to/archives/home/
• Images from /path/to/albums/work/corporate → sorted into /path/to/albums/work/yyyy/mm/ → archived to /path/to/archives/work/

Using multiple import directories is handy when importing images from multiple devices which could potentially have naming collisions.

Error handling:

Image files which cannot be cleaned, are corrupted or have malformed EXIF data will be left in a timestamped directory. Assuming the data can be manually fixed by the user, the image files can be placed back into the import directory for re-import.

How it works

1. File discovery: Find files in the import_dir which have not been accessed in the last 2 minutes
2. Safe processing: Move the files to a timestamped sub-folder for processing
3. Format standardization: Adjust all file extensions based on each file's MIME types
4. Video conversion: Convert MOV files to MP4 using FFmpeg for better compatibility
5. EXIF cleanup: Update blank Exif DateTimeCreated using CreateDate or FileModifyDate when available
6. Organization: Sort files into yyyy/mm folders and rename to yyyymmdd-hhmmss-c.ext format
7. Archiving: Create tar archives of the processed images in the archive directory

Scheduling

importrr uses APScheduler for intelligent job scheduling with built-in error handling and logging.

Default behavior:

• Runs every 2 hours from 8 AM to 10 PM (8, 10, 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 PM)
• Runs once immediately on startup
• Automatic recovery - failed jobs don't stop the scheduler
• Graceful shutdown handling

Usage

Docker (Recommended)

The easiest way to run importrr is with Docker:

# Pull the pre-built image
sudo docker pull curfewmarathon/importrr

# Run with volume mounts for your config and photos
docker run -d \
  -v /path/to/config:/config \
  -v /path/to/photos:/album \
  -v /path/to/archive:/archive \
  curfewmarathon/importrr

The container will start the scheduler automatically and run every 2 hours.

Building from source (optional):

# Build the container locally
docker build -t importrr .

## Local Development

For development or testing, you can run importrr locally:

```bash
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run the scheduler (same as Docker behavior)
python3 src/launch.py

# Or run the main process once for testing
python3 -c "from src.launch import main_process; main_process()"

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• ExifTool - for EXIF metadata manipulation
• FFmpeg - for video transcoding (MOV to MP4)
• Docker (optional) - for containerized deployment

License

importrr is free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License.