Preserving the order of photos that are synchronized to the iPhone

jmt356 · Jan 1, 2015

I have photos on my computer that are in order based on the number prefixing each file name. They appear as follows
1 [Photo name]
2 [Photo name]
3 [Photo name]
When I view these photos in Windows, they appear in the order of the number prefixing each file name.
However, when I synchronize the photos on my computer to my iPhone using iTunes, this order gets all mixed up. The photos appear to be randomly assorted within the album.
Is there any way to preserve the order of the photos in the iPhone such that the arrangement matches that which is on my computer?

J. A. · Jan 1, 2015

It might be necessary to change the EXIF data for the images on your PC to get them to the right order.

jmt356 · Jan 1, 2015

J. A. said:
It might be necessary to change the EXIF data for the images on your PC to get them to the right order.

What's the EXIF data and how do I change it?

J. A. · Jan 1, 2015

jmt356 said:
What's the EXIF data and how do I change it?

EXIF data show a lot information about the picture you took, e.g. time and date, which device was used to take the picture, the lens that was used, also, if you enabled it on your camera, the data will also show your name, ...

Here's an example of a part of the EXIF data of one of the pictures I took with my iPhone:

To edit these on your PC, you'll need software like IrfanView. You'll have to change them for every photo, one by one.

jmt356 · Jan 2, 2015

What would I modify in software such as IrfanView? The file names?

Is it possible that the Photos app is using some criterion other than file names to organize the order of my photos? Perhaps it is ordering them according to the date in which the photos were last modified or when they were created. If that is the case, is it possible to change the settings such that the photos are shown in the order of the file names, alphabetically?

UPDATE: I believe the Photos app organizes photos in the order in which they are created. I believe I found a workaround. I took each of the photos that I wanted to synchronize to the iPhone and saved them as new files in the following order: First I saved as a new file the photo that I wanted to appear first; then I saved the photo that I wanted to appear second, etc. After I synchronized with iTunes, the photos appeared in the order that I wanted.

Therefore, it seems that the issue is with the way the Photo app organizes photos. Is there a way to set up the app such that it organizes photos by file name rather than by date of creation?

J. A. · Jan 2, 2015

As far as I know the iDevice doesn't organize them by file name, but by the date the photo was taken. I'm not sure, though. You'll have to try.

Btw: there should also be an option in Windows Explorer to edit Exif-data. Right click on the image, scroll to Properties, see if you can edit the information there.

EDIT:
I see you found another way to show the pictures in the order you prefer.

It's not possible to change the way the Photos app organizes images. Sorry!

jmt356 · Jan 3, 2015

Actually, today, the photos were not displaying in the order that I was able to get them to display yesterday. I tried replicating the result I obtained yesterday but with no success. The only way I have found to obtain the result I want is to open each of the files in the order that I want them to appear on my iPhone, take a screen shot and then save them to my iPhone sync folder. That definitively gets the date to save in the order I want them (in the order that each one was created).

My previously technique (merely opening and saving each file as a new file) causes the date properties to be imported along with each new file and thus does not achieve the result I am seeking.

jmt356 · Jan 4, 2015

Actually, I must correct the above post. Even the screen shot approach discussed in my previous post does not enable me to organize the photos in the order that I want. The iPhone seems to completely randomly organize the order of the photos on my iPhone. I cannot figure out the logic to it at all.

Can synchronizing through iPhoto force the iPhone to display the photos in name rather than date order? If so, is iPhoto available for PCs?

J. A. · Jan 4, 2015

Well, in this case, my suggestion (again) is to take a look at the Exif data. Hopefully this will show a pattern and help organizing them in the order you prefer.

alicepattinson · Jan 4, 2015

jmt356 said:
I have photos on my computer that are in order based on the number prefixing each file name. They appear as follows
1 [Photo name]
2 [Photo name]
3 [Photo name]
When I view these photos in Windows, they appear in the order of the number prefixing each file name.
However, when I synchronize the photos on my computer to my iPhone using iTunes, this order gets all mixed up. The photos appear to be randomly assorted within the album.
Is there any way to preserve the order of the photos in the iPhone such that the arrangement matches that which is on my computer?

You should had a backup of it 1st before making any move.

Ledsteplin · Jan 4, 2015

Seems like a lot of people have issues when they sync photos from their computer to their phone. The one I see the most is not being able to delete the photos once on the phone. Apple should fix some of this.

Sent from CrapaTalk on my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5.