Q: ICloud photo stream saving

Hi nickbeachswim,

Are you working with a Mac or a PC?  If you set up Photo Stream on your iOS devices and your computer, then the monthly archive should have been automatically downloading to your computer.   Take a look at the article below for accessing the data from iCloud.

Archive or make copies of your iCloud data - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055

 

Photos and videos

You might already have a copy of your library in iCloud Photo Library beta and the last 30 days of photos in My Photo Stream:

• If you enabled iCloud Photo Library in iOS 8.1 or later, your photos and videos are automatically uploaded to iCloud at full resolution. You can download the original photos and videos from iCloud.com, or select Download and Keep Originals on your iOS device, then import the photos to your computer. 
• In OS X, My Photo Stream photos are automatically imported to your iPhoto or Aperture library, unless My Photo Stream and Automatic Import are turned off in iPhoto or Aperture preferences.
  • In iPhoto, check your settings by going to iPhoto > Preferences > iCloud. 
  • In Aperture, check your settings by going to Aperture > Preferences > iCloud.
• In Windows, My Photo Stream photos are automatically imported when My Photo Stream is turned on in iCloud for Windows (or iCloud Control Panel).

You can also use the steps below to manually copy your photos and videos. Any comments or likes attached to a shared photo aren't saved, and photos and videos saved from shared albums aren't full resolution.

Copy content from My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing on your iOS device

If you haven’t turned on iCloud Photo Library, use these steps to copy content from My Photo Stream in iOS 8.1 or later:

1. Open Photos, tap Albums, then tap My Photo Stream.
2. Save photos using one of these methods:
   • Tap an image to open it, then tap Share . To select more images, scroll the images left or right and tap the ones you want to save. Tap Save Image.
   • Tap Select, then tap the images you want to save. Tap Share , then tap Save Image.
3. Import the photos to your computer.

Use these steps to copy content from a shared album in iOS 8 or later:

1. Open Photos, tap Shared > Sharing, then tap the name of the shared album.
2. Save photos using one of these methods:
   • Tap an image to open it, then tap Share . To select more images, scroll the images left or right and tap the ones you want to save. Tap Save Image.
   • Tap Select, then tap the images you want to save. Tap Share , then tap Save Image.
3. Import the photos to your computer.

In iOS 7, use these steps to copy content from My Photo Stream or a shared album:

1. Open Photos.
   • To copy content from My Photo Stream, tap Albums, then tap My Photo Stream.
   • To copy content from a shared stream to which you subscribed, tap Shared, then tap the name of the shared photo stream.
2. Save photos using one of these methods:
   • Tap an image to open it, then tap Share . To select more images, scroll the images left or right and tap the ones you want to save. Tap Save to Camera Roll. (If you're using an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4, tap Next, then tap Save to Camera Roll.)
   • Tap Select, then tap the images you want to save. Tap Share , then tap Save to Camera Roll.
3. Import the photos to your computer.

Copy content from My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing in OS X Mountain Lion or later

Follow these steps to manually import photos to your iPhoto library:

1. Connect your iOS device to your computer.
2. You can import all new content or choose which items you want to import: 
   • To import all new photos shown in the iPhoto window, click the Import button that displays the number of photos.
   • To import a selection of photos, hold down the Command key while clicking photo thumbnails, or drag to select a group of photos. Then click Import Selected.

After you import your photos, you might want to back up your iPhoto library.

Follow these steps to manually import photos and videos in shared streams to your iPhoto library: 

1. Open iPhoto and choose Shared > iCloud in the Source list.
2. Select a shared stream under Family and Friends' Streams.
3. You can import all new content or choose which items you want to import: 
   • To import all new content, click Add To, then click Import.
   • To import specific items, open the shared stream, hold down Command, and select what you want to import. Click Add To, then Click Import.

Follow these steps to manually import photos and videos to your Aperture library:

1. In the Library inspector, select Photo Stream.
2. Double-click My Photo Stream or a shared stream.
3. Select the photos or videos you want to import.
4. To import the photos or videos, drag them to a project or an album in the Library inspector.

After you import your photos, you might want to back up your Aperture library.

Copy content from My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing in Windows

All photos in My Photo Stream are automatically saved to your Windows PC and are available even if you turn off Photos in iCloud for Windows (or iCloud Control Panel). To save photos and videos from a shared stream, you must first save them to another folder on your hard drive:

1. Open iCloud for Windows (or iCloud Control Panel):
   • In Windows 8.1, go to the Start screen, click the down arrow  in the lower-left corner, then click the iCloud app.
   • In Windows 8, go to the Start screen, then click the iCloud tile.
   • In Windows 7, choose Start menu > All Programs > iCloud > iCloud. 
2. Click the Options button next to Photos (or Photo Stream). Note the path listed under "iCloud Photos location."
3. Open a File Explorer window (Windows 8) or Windows Explorer window (Windows 7).
4. Go to the iCloud Photos folder location using the path you noted earlier. Open the Shared folder.
5. Select the photos you want to save, then copy them to another folder on your hard drive. Include this folder if you back up your computer's hard drive to another device or service.

For information on backing up your Windows computer, see Microsoft Support.

Take care,

- Judy