Multimedia Settings

Multimedia 101

Multimedia Settings

Repairing Multimedia Links

Rebuilding Thumbnail Images

Cleaning Up the Multimedia Folders List

Moving Multimedia Files

Working with Multiple Macs

Working with Apple's iPhoto or Photos App

Multimedia Sidebar

Media Window

Multimedia Usage Report

Slideshow Settings

Multimedia 101

Two things happen when multimedia items are added to people, families, or source records in Reunion...

  1. A "link" to the original multimedia file is saved. Put another way, Reunion remembers the identity and location of the original multimedia file.
  2. Thumbnails (smaller renditions) of the original multimedia files are created and stored inside the family file.

For example, let's say you take a hi-res picture of Aunt Jenny with the iPhone 6 and store it somewhere inside the Pictures folder of your Mac. That picture file would encompass 3264 x 2448 pixels and require about 2.6 MB of disk space.

If you add that picture to Aunt Jenny, a "link" to the original hi-res picture file is saved in Jenny's record in the family file. In addition, thumbnail renditions of her picture are created and stored inside the family file. However, the original image file is not saved inside the family file (this keeps the size of family files manageable).

Jenny's thumbnail image will appear in different places, like the family view, tree view, sidebars, reports, charts, etc. Thumbnails are also shared with ReunionTouch — that's what you see on your devices. Storing Jenny's thumbnail images inside the family file also means that the family file can be copied to another Mac and the images for her (and every other person, family, and source record) will appear in the family view, tree view, sidebars, reports, charts, etc. — without needing to copy the much larger original picture files to the other Mac.

In summary: original multimedia files do not become part of the Reunion family file; only the thumbnail versions get stored inside the family file. Any cropping or rotation specified in Reunion's Media window is applied to the thumbnail images you see, but the original image files are not altered. Reunion does not move, store, or change the original multimedia files, although it does keep track of the original item's identity and location.

Details about the storage of images added from your web browser or from an iOS device are explained here.

Multimedia Settings

The Multimedia Settings window serves three purposes...

  1. Specifying where Reunion should look when it can't find the original multimedia files.
  2. Repairing broken links to the original multimedia files.
  3. Rebuilding the thumbnail images that Reunion stores inside the family file.

To open the Multimedia Settings window...

Multimedia Search Folders

As mentioned earlier, Reunion saves the identity and location of original multimedia files linked to people, families, or sources. If, for some reason, Reunion can't find an original file, then it will search for the file on-the-fly. And the folders where it searches are specified in the Multimedia Settings.

Two lists appear in the Multimedia Settings...

Repairing Multimedia Links

Repairing multimedia links is a feature that searches for missing multimedia files and updates the person, family, or source records with the correct locations of the multimedia files (aka the "links" to the files).

The repair process will search for the missing items in the folders listed under Multimedia Search Folders (the top list) in the Multimedia Settings window. That's why it's important to have the correct folders in the list.

If items can't be found, Reunion will present the option to create a report listing each missing item and show the usage (the person/family/source to which it was linked). This is known as the Multimedia Usage report, explained here.

To repair multimedia links...

The repair process could take a long time, especially when the list contains folders with lots of files, and when there are many missing multimedia items. The repair process will also remove any redundant folders from the list of search folders in the Multimedia Settings.

Note: When only one, or just a few, images are missing, there are shortcuts for fixing the broken links. These are available in the Multimedia Usage report (learn more) and in the Media window (learn more).

Rebuilding Thumbnail Images

Rebuilding Thumbnails is the process of looking for original multimedia items linked to people, families, or sources and then making previews — aka "thumbnails" — of each item and storing the thumbnails inside the family file. By default, Reunion creates and stores (inside the family file) a "large" and a "small" thumbnail for every multimedia item linked to a person, family, or source record. These thumbnails are used in person buttons, the Multimedia sidebar, the tree view, charts, reports, etc., as explained in Multimedia 101. Rebuilding thumbnails has no impact on your original multimedia files.

Reasons to rebuild thumbnails...

  1. To reduce the size of your family file. When there are many (let's say thousands, for example) of images linked to people, families, and/or source records in your family file, the family file size could grow enormously. This is mainly due to the storage requirements for the large thumbnail images saved inside the family file. The Rebuild Thumbnails feature provides options to adjust the quality and/or size of the large thumbnails. In addition, there's an option to not use large thumbnails at all. These options (for quality, size, and/or omission) apply independently to people/families and sources. (See the illustration below.) The main drawback of omitting large thumbnails is that images shared with ReunionTouch will not be "zoomable" on devices. The other drawbacks are lesser: slower rendering of reports, slower performance in Reunion's Thumbnails window, and when sharing the family file on another Mac without access to the original image files, only a small thumbnail will appear in the Media window. As a point of reference, no earlier version of Reunion has utilized large thumbnails.
  2. To increase the resolution of images shared with ReunionTouch on your devices. This scenario is the opposite of reason #1. If you don't have many images being shared with ReunionTouch and you need those images to be zoomed as much as possible (when reverse pinching with your fingers), then using larger and/or better quality thumbnails may be desirable. For example, if you want to read text in scanned census images on your device.
  3. To refresh images that Reunion uses in the family view, charts, reports, etc. You'll need to do this if you edit pictures in other apps (like Photoshop or Preview) after linking the pictures to people in Reunion. For example, if you link a census PDF image to a person or source record in Reunion and subsequently annotate, highlight text, draw an arrow, etc., on the PDF image in the Preview app. Rebuilding will create updated thumbnails in your family file, reflecting the changes you've made to the original images.

To rebuild thumbnail images...

Note: all the options in the Rebuild Thumbnails window apply to large thumbnails; small thumbnails are always rebuilt and have a preset size and quality.

When rebuilding is finished, a confirming message will let you know the impact on the family file size (if significant), and alert you if any thumbnails needed to be rebuilt but were not, because the original image files could not be found.

If you're curious about how many small and large thumbnails are inside your family file (for people/families and sources) and how much disk space they require, choose File > Get Info.


When thumbnails are missing, a generic camera icon with a red question mark will appear in the Multimedia sidebar and Media window...

Cleaning Up the Multimedia Folders List

For best performance, we recommend that you keep your Multimedia Search Folders list up-to-date and tidy.

  1. Remove outdated folders in the Multimedia Search Folders list. I.e., if a folder no longer exists, remove it from the list.
  2. If a folder exists, but no longer contains multimedia files, remove it from the list.
  3. Remove redundant folders or subfolders in the list, for example if "~/Pictures/Smith/" is listed then remove "~/Pictures/Smith/Archives." (In this case, "Archives" is a folder inside of the "Smith" folder.)

Moving Multimedia Files

Once a multimedia file is linked to a person, family, or source record, the multimedia file can be moved and/or renamed on the same hard drive and Reunion will automatically keep track of the file. Thus you won't be breaking links to the original picture files if you reorganize or rename them in the Finder. You don't need to manually relink pictures or tell Reunion where they've gone — if the files still reside somewhere on the same hard drive.

The exception is when you are using multiple hard drives (moving pictures from one volume to another) or multiple Macs.

Working with Multiple Macs

When a family file is located in Dropbox, it can be used by another Mac — if the other Mac has access to the same Dropbox account. A common scenario is when you have a desktop Mac and a portable Mac. If the family file and the original multimedia images are stored in Dropbox, and the family file has valid links to the original multimedia files, then whether you use Reunion on the desktop Mac or portable Mac, they will both behave the same way. To learn more about using Dropbox to share your family file with other Macs, click here.

Working with Apple's Photos App (and/or iPhoto)

We recommend that you do not use iPhoto (or its replacement, the newer Photos app) for storing genealogical pictures.

Although it's a nice tool for managing and editing images, Apple has made changes (and may continue to make changes) over the years in the way images are stored in iPhoto/Photos libraries, which have caused problems with existing links between your family file(s) and images in the iPhoto/Photos libraries, particularly if your image files names are generic or you have lots of images. With a little planning, you can devise a system of naming and organizing your genealogical image files using folders in the Finder. This approach is likely to prove more useful now and is more likely to provide better stability in the future (rather than using iPhoto/Photos).

Nonetheless, the following information is provided if you decide to use iPhoto/Photos.

The easy way to add pictures from iPhoto/Photos to a person/family is to open iPhoto/Photos and adjust the size of your iPhoto/Photos window and your Reunion window so that both are visible, side by side. Then drag a thumbnail from iPhoto/Photos and drop it onto a person's name button or the marriage field in the family view. When you drag a thumbnail to somebody's name button, be sure to release the mouse button when the name button highlights.

You can also drag and drop a thumbnail from iPhoto/Photos directly into the Multimedia sidebar for a person/family. (More details about adding multimedia items are here.)

Note: with iPhoto '08 or newer, be very careful not to drag and drop "events" into Reunion, as every image in the event will be included!

Pictures from iPhoto/Photos can be added via the Add button (+) in Reunion's Multimedia sidebar and Media window. After clicking the Add (+) button, click Photos in the "Media" section of the Mac OS X Sidebar.

What Happens With Drag and Drop?

When you drag and drop a picture from iPhoto or Photos to somebody in Reunion, a copy of the image file will be saved in the Imported Media folder. Learn more. Also, two thumbnail renditions of the image are created and stored inside your family file.

Problems and Suggestions

Although iPhoto/Photos are nice tools for managing and editing images, there are some pitfalls to avoid when used in conjunction with other software, like Reunion. The following is a discussion of potential problems with using iPhoto/Photos and some suggestions.

Problem: Updating "description" and "comments"
When you first add a iPhoto/Photos image to a person in your family file, the "description" recorded for that image in iPhoto/Photos is added to the new image in Reunion (it's put into Reunion's "Comments" field for the image). Any subsequent changes made to that description in iPhoto/Photos will not be updated in Reunion. And any changes to the comments in Reunion won't be reflected in iPhoto/Photos.

Suggestions for working with iPhoto/Photos: