SmugMug to Google Photos: Galleries to Albums, and What Won't Fit

Google Photos caps photos at 200 MB and 200 MP; SmugMug allows 500 MB and 4 GP. How galleries become albums, what gets refused, and how to move a library.

Introduction

SmugMug and Google Photos solve different problems. SmugMug is a storefront and a place to present galleries; Google Photos is a personal library with search and easy sharing across your family's phones. People who move a SmugMug archive there usually want old galleries to be findable alongside everyday pictures, not a new client site.

Google Photos has no folders and lower limits than SmugMug: 200 MB or 200 megapixels per photo, against SmugMug's 500 MB and 4 gigapixels. So a move has three questions to answer before the copy starts: which files Google will refuse, whether your galleries should become albums or go straight into the library, and how much storage it will use. This guide answers those, then covers a server-side copy with CloudsLinker and SmugMug's zip download with Google's own uploader.

The Short Answer
Question 1: What Will Google Photos Refuse?
Question 2: Albums or the Main Library?
Question 3: How Much Storage Will It Use?
Method 1: Copy Galleries Server-Side With CloudsLinker
Method 2: SmugMug Zip Download, Then Google's Uploader
Reading the Result in Google Photos
Frequently Asked Questions

The Short Answer

Neither service has a button that sends a SmugMug library to Google Photos. For a few galleries, download each as a zip from SmugMug and use Import photos at photos.google.com (Method 2). For a whole library, copy it server-side with CloudsLinker (Method 1).

Before either one, look for files over Google's limit of 200 MB or 200 megapixels, and keep RAW archives you care about somewhere folder-based, such as Google Drive.

Question 1: What Will Google Photos Refuse?

SmugMug was built to hold photographers' full-size files, so its limits are well above Google's. The gap only matters for some kinds of work, but those are often the files you'd least like to lose track of.

File	SmugMug accepts	Google Photos accepts	Who should care
Photo size	Up to 500 MB	Up to 200 MB	Layered or 16-bit TIFFs, scans
Photo resolution	Up to 4 gigapixels	Up to 200 megapixels	Stitched panoramas, even small JPEGs
RAW	Up to 3 GB with SmugMug Source	"Most RAW files", within the 200 MB limit	Source subscribers; test a sample from your camera
Video	Check your SmugMug plan	Up to 10 GB	Long, high-bitrate originals
Very small images	No minimum we could confirm	Must be larger than 256 x 256	Logos and old web-sized images

Sources: Google Photos help, Google Photos upload guide and our SmugMug notes. Files over these limits don't get resized. They fail to upload, so they have to live somewhere else. A SmugMug library that is mostly RAW plus JPEG often works best as two copies: JPEGs in Google Photos for browsing, and everything in Drive or a similar store as the archive.

Question 2: Albums or the Main Library?

Google Photos has no folders, so your folder and gallery tree can't arrive as it is. In CloudsLinker, a Google Photos connection shows two places that can receive files, and the choice decides what happens to your structure:

	Target `album`	Target `upload`
Result	One album per source folder, and the photos appear in the library as well	Photos in the main library only, with no albums
Gallery `Miller wedding 2025` ticked directly	Album `Miller wedding 2025`	No album; filenames only
Parent folder `Clients` ticked	Album `Clients/Miller wedding 2025`	No album; filenames only
Item limit	20,000 per album	No item limit
Fits	Client work, trips and events you want to keep apart	A personal archive you'll find through search and the timeline

Tick galleries one level down if you want short album titles. One restriction comes from Google: apps can only add to albums they created themselves (Google's album rules), so an existing album in your Google Photos can't be chosen as a target.

Question 3: How Much Storage Will It Use?

SmugMug has no storage quota, so it never shows a library total, and photographers are often surprised by the number. Google's quota is shared with Gmail and Drive, and the free allowance is 15 GB. Listed plans include Basic with 100 GB at $1.99 a month, 2 TB at $9.99 and 5 TB at $19.99, and prices vary by country (Google One plans).

The route changes what you pay. Files sent through Google's API, which is how CloudsLinker writes, are stored at original quality and count in full (Google API limits). Google's own uploader follows your backup quality setting instead, so Storage saver can reduce size at the cost of quality (backup quality help). For a photographer's archive, that trade is rarely worth it. Estimate from your largest galleries, or copy one top-level folder first and watch the storage figure in your Google account.

Method 1: Copy Galleries Server-Side With CloudsLinker

CloudsLinker reads your Site's folders and galleries through SmugMug's API with read-only access, then uploads the originals to Google Photos through Google's API. Your disk and home connection aren't involved. Uploading to Google Photos goes file by file and is slower than a copy between folder-based clouds, so expect a large library to run for a day or more.

Step 1: Connect SmugMug and Google Photos

Click Add Cloud, choose SmugMug, click I got it, Authorize Now SmugMug and approve on SmugMug's page. The dialog marks SmugMug as source only: access is read-only, and nothing on SmugMug can be changed.

CloudsLinker Connect Your SmugMug dialog with a yellow Source only notice explaining read-only access, that SmugMug cannot be a transfer target and that Move is unavailable, above the authorize button

Next, go back to Add Cloud, search for google photos, choose New Google Photos and approve on Google's own consent page.

CloudsLinker dialog for connecting New Google Photos, with the button that opens Google's consent page

Step 2: Tick Galleries and Choose album or upload

Open Transfer. In Source, expand SmugMug and tick folders or individual galleries. In Target, clicking Google Photos itself doesn't work: Create transfer stays disabled and a note explains why.

CloudsLinker Create transfer task page with SmugMug folders ticked and the Google Photos root selected as the target, a note saying Google Photos can only receive files in upload, your main library with no item limit, or in an album under album with up to 20,000 items per album, and the Create transfer button disabled

Expand it and select album or upload, according to Question 2. With album selected, each source folder holding photos becomes its own album.

CloudsLinker Create transfer task page with the SmugMug folders Clients, Portfolio and Travel ticked, album selected under Google Photos as the target, Copy checked, Move greyed out and Create transfer enabled

Step 3: Filter Out Files Google Would Refuse

If Question 1 flagged anything, turn on Files filter in the options and leave out files above 200 MB, or RAW extensions such as NEF or CR3 if they're staying in another store. A filter keeps the task's result easy to read, because every remaining failure then needs a look. Copy is selected and Move is greyed out, because nothing can be deleted from SmugMug.

Step 4: Run the Copy and Compare Each Gallery

Click Create transfer. Task monitor shows files and bytes done and the speed, and the task continues after you close the browser. A free CloudsLinker account includes 10 GB of transfer a month, which is enough to test one gallery; a larger library stops when the allowance runs out, so check your plan first.

CloudsLinker Task monitor with a running copy from SmugMug Clients to Google Photos album at 38 percent, showing files and gigabytes completed and the speed

Method 2: SmugMug Zip Download, Then Google's Uploader

This works well for a few galleries, and it's the only route where Storage saver can apply. Everything passes through your computer, so you'll need disk space for each gallery and enough upload bandwidth.

Step 1: Download a Gallery From Site Organizer

Logged in to SmugMug, open My Site → Site Organizer, open the gallery, click Select All and then the Download icon in the toolbar. The owner download includes hidden photos, plus RAW and sidecar files if you have SmugMug Source (SmugMug help).

SmugMug Site Organizer with the gallery Coastline 2026 open, all six photos selected after Select All and the pointer on the toolbar's Download icon

SmugMug prepares the archive and lists it in a Download Images dialog. Click its name to save the zip, then extract it into a folder named after the gallery.

SmugMug Download Images dialog listing the archive Coastline 2026 with its creation time and a note that photos deleted after selection are not included, with a Done button

Step 2: Import Into Google Photos

At photos.google.com, click the + button and choose Import photos, then select the files. To keep a gallery together, create the album first from the same menu and drag the photos onto it.

Google Photos + menu with a Create section listing Album, Collage, Highlight video, Animation and Share with a partner, and an Add photos section listing Import photos, Back up folders and From other places

Step 3: For a Whole Library, Back Up a Folder

A desktop downloader from SmugMug's list, such as Folio on macOS or WinMug on Windows, can save the folder tree to a disk. Then choose Back up folders in the menu above, pick the folder and click Allow. This needs a Chromium browser such as Chrome or Edge, and backup only runs while the Google Photos tab stays open (Google help). Older guides suggest Drive for desktop, but Google ended its Google Photos backup on August 10, 2026. Folder backup adds photos to the library without recreating galleries as albums.

Reading the Result in Google Photos

What you see	Likely reason	What to do
Task ends as PartialSuccess	Some files failed, or a limit stopped the task; the status alone doesn't say which	Compare completed files with your gallery counts, and look for files over Google's limits
A gallery is smaller in Google Photos	Files over the limits, or more than 20,000 items for one album	Send those files to Drive; split the gallery or use `upload`
Photos missing from every copy	They're only in SmugMug's Library, in no gallery	Library → Media Location → Only in Library → Add to Site Gallery, then copy again
Album titles with slashes	A parent folder was ticked, so the title includes the path	Rename in Google Photos, or tick galleries directly next time
Old photos dated today	The file has no capture date in its EXIF	Edit the date in Google Photos, or fix EXIF before copying
Photos in the library look like duplicates	The same photo exists in two galleries, or was also backed up from a phone	Check a few before cancelling, and copy each gallery only once

Before cancelling SmugMug, remember that client links, proofing, passwords and print sales don't move with the files. Google Photos share links are a simple replacement for family albums but not for client delivery. The cancellation checklist in our Dropbox guide applies here too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Google lists limits of 200 MB or 200 megapixels per photo and 10 GB per video, and items must be larger than 256 x 256 pixels. SmugMug accepts photos up to 500 MB and 4 gigapixels, and RAW files up to 3 GB with SmugMug Source. So large TIFFs, stitched panoramas and very large RAW files can be refused. Google says it supports most RAW files, not all, so test a sample from your camera first.

They do if you target album. Each source folder that holds photos becomes an album. If you tick the gallery itself, the album takes the gallery's name. If you tick a parent folder such as Clients, the album title includes the path, such as Clients/Miller wedding 2025. Targeting upload creates no albums at all.

No. Google lets an app add items only to albums that the same app created, so an album you made in Google Photos can't be a target. CloudsLinker creates new albums instead, and adding to an album it created earlier works. You can combine albums by hand afterwards in Google Photos.

Yes, 20,000 items per album. A gallery larger than that won't fit in one album through album; split it in SmugMug, or send it to upload, which has no item limit and places photos in the main library.

It uses your storage and isn't compressed. Google's documentation says media uploaded through its API is stored at original quality and counts toward the account's storage. Your Storage saver setting doesn't apply to this route. It does apply to Google's own Import photos and folder backup, which follow your backup quality setting.

Google Photos sorts by capture date, and SmugMug's originals keep the EXIF date because the files aren't re-encoded. Scans and exports with no embedded date may appear under a different date, so check a few of those. Titles, captions and keywords typed into SmugMug stay behind unless they were written into the file, for example by Lightroom.

Photos that sit only in SmugMug's Library, in no gallery, aren't visible through SmugMug's API. In the Library, set Media Location to Only in Library, select them and choose Add to Site Gallery, or download them with More → Download. Files Google refuses are the other common cause; see the limits table.

Not any more. Google ended Drive for desktop's Google Photos backup on August 10, 2026. Its replacement is Back up folders at photos.google.com, which needs a Chromium browser such as Chrome or Edge and only backs up while the Google Photos tab stays open.

Conclusion

Most JPEGs and HEIC files from a SmugMug library fit Google Photos without trouble. The files to look for are large TIFFs, panoramas and some RAW files, which are better kept in Google Drive or another folder-based store. For a handful of galleries, SmugMug's zip download and Google's Import photos are enough. For a whole library, CloudsLinker copies galleries to Google Photos from its own servers with read-only access to SmugMug: target album to keep galleries apart, or upload to add everything to the main library. Compare counts per gallery before you cancel SmugMug.

Related: SmugMug connection notes, Google Photos, SmugMug to Dropbox and copy Google Photos to a second account.