Best Practices for Automating Photo Organization with Hazel

Hi everyone,

I’ve been using Hazel for a while to tidy up files on my Mac, but I’m looking to build a more advanced workflow to organize my photos automatically.

Specifically, I want Hazel to:

1. Detect new photos in my Downloads and Desktop folders

2. Sort them into year/month subfolders in my Pictures library

3. Rename them using the date taken (from EXIF data) plus a short descriptor

4. Move duplicates to a separate Duplicates folder

Has anyone implemented a similar setup? What rules or scripts did you use to pull EXIF metadata and rename files accordingly? Are there known pitfalls with handling large batches of images (e.g., performance or rule conflicts)?

Thanks in advance for any tips or example rules!

What have you tried so far? I think this is pretty straightforward using the Move and Sort into subfolder actions. Can you describe where you are getting stuck?