ZIP FILE EXTRACT: THE WEDDING PHOTO PROBLEM
This simple trick saved me 100s of hours
After our wedding this year, my wife and I received nearly 3,000 photos, distributed across approximately 60 different ZIP files.
This wasn’t just a massive use of storage space. This task would require us to individually extract each ZIP file and then sort the photos into the correct folders on our USB drives.
SOLUTION
I created a Bash script that automatically iterates through all the ZIP files, pushing the photos into the appropriate folders based on their file names.
RESULT
- Hours saved on manual extraction and sorting
- Created multiple USB backups, with the ability to set up new ones at any time
- Peace of mind knowing our photos are safe and we own them
OVERVIEW
The script goes through and creates a folder for “Ceremony”, “Reception”, etc… and puts the photos in the correct folder
SETUP:
Step 1: cd into the directory that contains your zips and add Zip_Extract.sh Step 2: chmod +x the script “chmod +x Zip_Extract” Step 3: run ./Zip_Extract.sh in your terminal Step 4: Do whatever you want knowing you don’t have to do this!
CODE
#!/bin/bash
# Define the directory containing the zip files
ZIP_DIR="/<SOURCE PATH>" # Replace with the path where your zip files are located
# Define the destination directory on the USB drive
USB_DEST="/<TARGET PATH>" # I used unix and a usb so my path was /Volumes/<USB PATH>
# Navigate to the directory with the zip files
cd "$ZIP_DIR"
# Iterate over each zip file
for zfile in *.zip; do
# Extract the category name from the zip file name
CATEGORY=$(echo "$zfile" | cut -d'-' -f1)
# Create a new directory for the category on the USB drive if it doesn't already exist
if [ ! -d "$USB_DEST/$CATEGORY" ]; then
mkdir -p "$USB_DEST/$CATEGORY"
fi
# Extract the zip file to the corresponding category directory
unzip "$zfile" -d "$USB_DEST/$CATEGORY"
done
echo "Files have been extracted to their respective folders on the USB drive."
#chmod +x Zip_Extract.shPAIN
To give you an insight into ALL of the zip files I was given, they are listed below.
PAIN **List of Zips I extracted from **
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Ceremony-1.zip | Preparation-8.zip | Reception-11.zip |
| Ceremony-2.zip | Preparation-9.zip | Reception-12.zip |
| Ceremony-3.zip | Preparation-10.zip | Reception-13.zip |
| Ceremony-4.zip | Preparation-11.zip | Reception-14.zip |
| Ceremony-5.zip | Preparation-12.zip | Reception-15.zip |
| Ceremony-6.zip | Preparation-13.zip | Reception-16.zip |
| Ceremony-7.zip | Preparation-14.zip | Reception-17.zip |
| Ceremony-8.zip | Preparation-15.zip | Reception-18.zip |
| Ceremony-9.zip | Preparation-16.zip | Reception-19.zip |
| Ceremony-10.zip | Preparation-17.zip | Reception-20.zip |
| Ceremony-11.zip | Reception-1.zip | Reception-21.zip |
| Engagements-1.zip | Reception-2.zip | Reception-22.zip |
| Engagements-2.zip | Reception-3.zip | Reception-23.zip |
| Preparation-1.zip | Reception-4.zip | Reception-24.zip |
| Preparation-2.zip | Reception-5.zip | Reception-25.zip |
| Preparation-3.zip | Reception-6.zip | Rehearsal-1.zip |
| Preparation-4.zip | Reception-7.zip | Rehearsal-2.zip |
| Preparation-5.zip | Reception-8.zip | Rehearsal-3.zip |
| Preparation-6.zip | Reception-9.zip | Rehearsal-4.zip |
| Preparation-7.zip | Reception-10.zip |
Hope you like it, thanks!