Ordering Books and Calendars on a Mac that cannot be upgraded past El Capitan
Currently quite a few users are seeing the message "Upgrade required. Ordering is no longer available for this version of Photos. Upgrade to the latest version before ordering., when they are trying to oder a book or calendar.
This message is a bit misleading. Upgrading will not allow us to order print projects from Apple. Apple is no longer offering support for print products. Last orders had to be placed by September 30, 2018. We have now to use third-party services to order books and other print projects.
Newer versions of Photos (since Photos 3.0) come with the ability to call third-party project extensions from Photos to let us create books or other print projects.
Use Project Extensions to order print products in Photos after September 30, 2018 - Apple Support
"To give users access to a broader variety of print services, macOS High Sierra introduced Photos Project Extensions which integrate directly with the Photos app. In macOS Mojave, Photos will transition entirely to Photos Project Extensions. Users will be able to print and update their existing projects using these new services, and will gain access to a broader variety of options. For final purchases using the existing built-in service, place your orders by September 30, 2018. "
- If your Mac can be upgraded to macOS 10.13 with Photos 3.0 or newer, you can use the project extensions to create the print projects. Or try to convert your existing project with project extensions to a new format. Be sure to make a backup copy of your Photos Library (and your Mac), before you try the upgrade to a new system version.
- If your Mac is stuck on macOS 10.11 El Capitan and is too old to be upgraded, you can save your finished PDF book as a PDF file (https://web.archive.org/web/20170614002828/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201504 or Check and review a project before you order using Photos on Mac - Apple Support) and then send it to a service that can print books from PDF files.
- Mimeo used to print for Apple and can handle PDFs created in Photos, see: https://import.mimeophotos.com
- Also Presto Photo can print from Apple https://www.prestophoto.com
- If you are not located in the US, there may be local printing services, which would be more economic with respect to international shipping fees and shipping time. In Germany we can use photographerbook to print existing Apple PDF files: https://www.w2p-photographerbook.de/fotobuch-aus-aperture-iphoto-fotos
To check the compatibility of your Mac with newer system versions and Photos 3.0 or 4.0:
- Upgrading to High Sierra is described here: Upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Official Apple Support
- The compatible models for Mojave and Photos 4.0 are listed here: How to upgrade to macOS Mojave - Apple Support
But before upgrading to Photos 4.0 you should be aware, that Photos 4.0 has no longer any native built-in support to create books or calendars at all. Apple removed these tools in favor of the third-party extension. As a consequence, you cannot create a book or calendar PDF any longer with the previous tools, while working off-line. The extensions need an internet connection and do not allow to save a PDF version. If you want to have PDF versions of a book or want to to be able to work on a book off-line, you could try the PrestoPhotos.app to create your book in Pages: https://www.prestophoto.com/help/PrestoPhoto+App