Metadata: Read favorite status (star=yes) from Google Picasa 3 .picasa.ini during initial import/index #1379

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opened 2026-02-20 00:11:31 -05:00 by deekerman · 0 comments

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 00:11:31 -05:00

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Originally created by @jcward on GitHub (Mar 30, 2022).

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I use Google Picasa 3 to browse my original photos folder. I've tagged thousands of photos as "favorites" in Picasa. As luck would have it, Picasa leaves a simple, text .picasa.ini file in each folder with metadata about the images in the folder.

Describe the solution you'd like

The originals folders are all populated with .picasa.ini files which contain (among other things) a flag for "starred" photos. I would like to import all these as favorites into PhotoPrism. For example, the ini file looks like this:

~/Pictures/some-folder/.picasa.ini

[IMG_9846.JPG]
backuphash=35617
crop=rect64(44a60ba0e74affff)
filters=crop64=1,44a60ba0e74affff;
star=yes
[IMG_9845.JPG]
backuphash=42031
crop=rect64(36331348fdc3daaa)
filters=crop64=1,36331348fdc3daaa;finetune2=1,0.000000,0.000000,0.199298,00000000,0.000000;
star=yes
[IMG_9868.JPG]
star=yes

As you can see, it's a list of image files in the current directory with metadata for edits and "stars". For any image file with a star=yes in the metadata, I'd like it to be marked as a "favorite" in PhotoPrism.

I see this as possibly fitting into the "index" operation. But it could also be a separate / one-time script or action. I could also see it being tucked behind an option, like PHOTOPRISM_DETECT_PICASA_INI

I could write a separate script with the ini parser, but I don't know how to trigger the "set favorite on image XYZ" in PhotoPrism. I'll look into it.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Doing it by hand? 😱

Additional context

I don't think it's necessary to keep the favorite status in sync (neither removing favorite status if missing from .picasa.ini, nor changing the .picasa.ini file to match PhotoPrism). I'm happy with a simple one-way import, as it's primarily a mechanism to retain a lot of past work tagging favorites.

Originally created by @jcward on GitHub (Mar 30, 2022). **Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.** I use Google Picasa 3 to browse my original photos folder. I've tagged thousands of photos as "favorites" in Picasa. As luck would have it, Picasa leaves a simple, text `.picasa.ini` file in each folder with metadata about the images in the folder. **Describe the solution you'd like** The originals folders are all populated with `.picasa.ini` files which contain (among other things) a flag for "starred" photos. I would like to import all these as favorites into PhotoPrism. For example, the ini file looks like this: `~/Pictures/some-folder/.picasa.ini` ``` [IMG_9846.JPG] backuphash=35617 crop=rect64(44a60ba0e74affff) filters=crop64=1,44a60ba0e74affff; star=yes [IMG_9845.JPG] backuphash=42031 crop=rect64(36331348fdc3daaa) filters=crop64=1,36331348fdc3daaa;finetune2=1,0.000000,0.000000,0.199298,00000000,0.000000; star=yes [IMG_9868.JPG] star=yes ``` As you can see, it's a list of image files in the current directory with metadata for edits and "stars". For any image file with a `star=yes` in the metadata, I'd like it to be marked as a "favorite" in PhotoPrism. I see this as possibly fitting into the "index" operation. But it could also be a separate / one-time script or action. I could also see it being tucked behind an option, like `PHOTOPRISM_DETECT_PICASA_INI` I could write a separate script with the ini parser, but I don't know how to trigger the "set favorite on image XYZ" in PhotoPrism. I'll look into it. **Describe alternatives you've considered** Doing it by hand? :scream: **Additional context** I don't think it's necessary to keep the favorite status in sync (neither removing favorite status if missing from `.picasa.ini`, nor changing the `.picasa.ini` file to match PhotoPrism). I'm happy with a simple one-way import, as it's primarily a mechanism to retain a lot of past work tagging favorites.