Import Photos from Smartphone

Import Photos from Smartphone

Automatically add photos every time you connect your device
In this article

Tonfotos makes importing photos from your smartphone or another device easy. Whenever you connect a smartphone, camera, or another USB device, Tonfotos detects it and suggests importing your photos. The import feature copies the photos from a device to one of the library locations, without touching the files on the device.

NOTE: The feature is only available on Windows.

Importing for the first time

  1. Connect the device. Tonfotos will prompt you to start importing. You can also import manually by selecting File > Import...
  2. Select the library location to which you want to copy the photos.
    The photos are organized into <Year> folders, each containing subfolders named in the YYYY-MM-DD format. For example, a photo taken on October 29, 2024, is moved to a 2024/2024-10-29 subfolder.
  3. If you want Tonfotos to import photos from this device automatically, check the Next time: Automatically import when connected checkbox 1. The next import will use the same options as the current one. The settings are saved only for this device, as you may want different import settings for your devices.
The Import options dialog that will import all photos except exact duplicates, and ask again when the device is reconnected
The Import options dialog that will import all photos except exact duplicates, and ask again when the device is reconnected
  1. To avoid re-importing old photos, check the Ignore older than: checkbox 2. Enter the date when you last copied photos. If you imported from this device with Tonfotos before, the date of last import is filled in automatically.
  2. The Duplicates: Ignore checkbox 3 will help you avoid re-importing the same photos, together with the previous option. As explained in Duplicates, the photos aren't considered duplicates if you add tags or make changes to metadata.
  3. Click Done to start importing.

Tonfotos will detect all photos on your device and copy those that satisfy the criteria you set, starting from the oldest. The operation may take some time, but you'll be able to see the progress in the status bar. If import encounters identical filenames, the files will be quietly renamed to avoid conflicts. When Tonfotos is done importing, it displays a popup notification to let you know.

Automatically importing next time

When you connect your device again, Tonfotos will remember your settings from the last time for this device.

  • If you set the automatic import for next time, the import starts without any actions from your side.
  • Only the photos taken after the last import are copied.

Turning off automatic import

To change the settings or disable automatic import from this device:

  1. Connect the device.
  2. Automatic import will start. Wait for it to finish, but don't disconnect the device.
  3. Select File > Import... to open the Import options dialog again.
  4. Change any of the settings. To turn off automatic import, uncheck the Next time: Automatically import when connected checkbox.