mystwillow

Q: Reverting to iPhoto after Photos migration

Does anyone know if it is ok to delete the new Photos library from the Pictures folder after you've migrated your iPhoto library to Photos? This is the situation I'm in - I migrated my library to Photos but I HATE it. I am very invested in Events and being able to review each new batch of photos before categorizing them into the appropriate events, and with this new app it's like everything is in a giant shoebox, it seems to include all my Photo Stream pictures in my library before I'm ready (I typically delete a lot of dud pictures every time I import, now they are all mixed in automatically and I have to remember how far back I've gone through and culled), and there's no way to tell which pictures haven't been categorized into an event yet. Worst of all, there's no way to hide photos from all views. Not only are hidden albums/events not even a thing anymore, Photos "conveniently" makes a whole new album of all the pictures I didn't want anyone to see. So now instead of me being the only one who would know where to look for hidden photos/Events in my library when they were unhidden, they're all collected in one place at the top level of my albums view. Why anyone would want an automatic, top-level album of all photos in an entire library that were meant not to be see, I don't know. Seems to defeat the entire privacy/security purpose of the Hide feature. Not to mention, anyone can still see all hidden photos when scrolling through the Albums view.

 

Long story short, I am RUNNING back to iPhoto for as long as Apple allows it to be used. Now, I know that any changes I make to the iPhoto library won't carry over automatically to Photos. I'm fine with that as I don't intend to use Photos until I'm forced to. However, I know that at some point I will be forced to use it, and at that point its library will be (hopefully) several years out of date. Since Photos creates symbolic links to the photo files, I know I could easily have deleted the iPhoto library when I migrated to Photos, but does that work both ways? I guess my question is, can I delete the Photos library I have now, keep working with my iPhoto library until iPhoto is killed completely, and then re-import the entire library back into Photos? Or do my photo files actually now live in the Photos library package instead of the iPhoto library package and deleting the Photos library will delete all my photos?

 

Any clarification on my options would be appreciated.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Apr 9, 2015 6:29 PM

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Q: Reverting to iPhoto after Photos migration

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  • by writedeb,

    writedeb writedeb Apr 16, 2015 9:37 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 9:37 PM in response to Old Toad

    I was under the impression I could back up the photo library (found in pictures file on computer) by copying the folder onto dropbox and it would be another place to safeguard my photos. I even bought the bigger Gig package from dropbox to have room for this. So are you saying that copying my folder and putting it into dropbox it won’t work for me later if I want to see any of my photos? I am not terribly savvy with this stuff, but I am not particularly dense, either, so if you could explain it to me that would really help! And what about the programing that dropbox has to allow you to automatically put a copy of your loading photos from phone or camera up to dropbox? Do they not save there as .jpg or useable file?

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 16, 2015 11:00 PM in response to writedeb
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Apr 16, 2015 11:00 PM in response to writedeb

    The problem with Dropbox and all other online systems is that the Library may well be stored (read: very likely to be stored) on a disk not formatted appropriately. That means that when you restore there is a high likelihood that the Library will be corrupted. These services are perfectly fine for storing files, but a database is not a file, it's a complex ecosystem of interlinked database, cache, metadata and data files.

  • by Richard3030,

    Richard3030 Richard3030 Apr 16, 2015 11:26 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 11:26 PM in response to Terence Devlin

    > These services are perfectly fine for storing files, but a database is not a file, it's a complex ecosystem of interlinked database, cache, metadata and data files.

     

    A Photos Library is a folder. You can right click at it and select "Show Package Contents" to see the actual files. Are you saying we should not store any folders in Dropbox now?

     

    Now, if you use a referenced Library, and you store your referenced photos outside of Dropbox, you may have a problem if you move them around manually.

  • by Richard3030,

    Richard3030 Richard3030 Apr 16, 2015 11:39 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 11:39 PM in response to Old Toad

    > You do realize that you can't backup an iPhoto library to an online site, right?

     

    Are you sure about that? What do you mean an 'ecosystem' of files? They are just a bunch of referenced files, not unlike a folder that contains a bunch of other folders and files under Finder.

     

    An iPhoto Library is similar to an Aperture Library in that both of them are a 'Package' file that contains files, directories, etc. I store some of my Aperture libraries on Dropbox all day (years actually) without any issues.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 17, 2015 12:18 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Apr 17, 2015 12:18 AM in response to Richard3030

    No, I'm saying that you should avoid storing complex database ecosystems on there, Like iPhoto, Aperture, Photos and Lightroom Libraries.

     

    What do you mean an 'ecosystem' of files?

     

    a database is not a file, it's a complex system of interlinked database, cache, metadata and data files.


     

    A Photos Library is a folder.

     

     

    Well to be picky, it's a package. But what's inside the package?

     

    a complex system of interlinked database, cache, metadata and data files.

     

    I store some of my Aperture libraries on Dropbox all day (years actually) without any issues.

     

    Good for you. But see what was written above:

     

    That means that when you restore there is a high likelihood that the Library will be corrupted

     

    We've seen plenty of reports of this here over the years.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 17, 2015 4:49 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 9 (51,382 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 17, 2015 4:49 AM in response to Richard3030

    Richard3030 wrote:

     

     

    An iPhoto Library is similar to an Aperture Library in that both of them are a 'Package' file that contains files, directories, etc. I store some of my Aperture libraries on Dropbox all day (years actually) without any issues.

    No, Apple are saying that the iPhoto library should only be stored on a correctly formatted drive. It remains your choice whether or not you heed their advice

  • by writedeb,

    writedeb writedeb Apr 17, 2015 5:36 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 5:36 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    I think I understand what you are saying— the catalogs and organization aspects of the photos in the library fall under another data file category— data attached to photo files inside the folder? Or something like that? And so maybe this would be affected if incorrectly formatted?  But unlike my annoyance with catalog issues with the iPhoto/Photo apps, for Dropbox all my personal concern is for saving the photographs themselves— having my valuable photographs saved somewhere in any order as a backup in case of horror or travesty outside my computer box. I thought that the photo libraries would have a folder of just the jpgs themselves...

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 17, 2015 5:37 AM in response to writedeb
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Apr 17, 2015 5:37 AM in response to writedeb

    To do what you want, export the files from Photos to an Folder on your dropbox.

     

    File -> Export

  • by Richard3030,

    Richard3030 Richard3030 Apr 17, 2015 9:38 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 9:38 AM in response to Csound1

    > No, Apple are saying that the iPhoto library should only be stored on a correctly formatted drive.

     

    Well, anything should be stored on a correctly formatted drive.

     

    I did a search 'Dropbox corrupted iPhoto library' and couldn't find any credible evidence that Dropbox would specifically corrupts iPhoto libraries. On the other hand, my experience and other reported cases indicate it's ok to put the whole library on Dropbox (or Box for that matter).

     

    This is different from storing a library on a FAT32 drive as it can't handle some links, etc., so I was told. Dropbox is much more sophisticated than than and millions of people use it to sync all kinds of databases. I myself have Filemaker databases, and even a Quickbooks (Windows) database on it without problems.

     

    Are there any specific technical reasons why you don't recommend Dropbox other than the generic statement like 'databases are complex'?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 17, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 9 (51,382 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 17, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Richard3030

    Feel free to store it wherever you choose, I would not, but it's not my Library so losing it would not affect me.

  • by MrPheasant,

    MrPheasant MrPheasant Apr 17, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Richard3030

    Like a lot of things in tech, Dropbox has its share of doubters and haters.  Meanwhile, the world moves on.  There are no good technical reasons - really no reasons at all - why you shouldn't use it to store important data.  Dropbox has been upgraded nicely over time.  It does a great job of storing what you need for however, wherever and whenever you need it.

     

    The issue at hand is how to migrate iPhoto libraries to a product better/friendlier/more robust than Apple's unfortunate Photo.  MediaPro 1 doesn't cut it. During import attempt #1, it stalled halfway through the import and crashed, dumping everything it brought over.  During attempt #2, it imported my collection successfully but headed south when I started sorting.  Of course it dumped the entire transfer.  Fail.

     

    The MediaPro debacle showed, at least, that Photo's mea culpa - I can't import your iPhoto collection because I can't find the metadata for two-thirds of it - is the BS I thought.  I've contacted Apple about it.  No reply so far.

     

    PhotoDirector 6 is on deck.  I hope it gets here today.  I'll let you know how it does.

  • by Richard3030,

    Richard3030 Richard3030 Apr 17, 2015 9:58 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 9:58 AM in response to Csound1

    > Feel free to store it wherever you choose, I would not, but it's not my Library so losing it would not affect me.

     

    I did already. I just wanted to know more about this topic. I do informal computer support in my company also, so knowing the reasons can always help trouble shoot down the road or just to keep an eye on it.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 17, 2015 10:02 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 10 (141,664 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 10:02 AM in response to Richard3030
    On the other hand, my experience and other reported cases indicate it's ok to put the whole library on Dropbox (or Box for that matter).

    Have you personally copied an iPhoto Library to the Dropbox and restored it back from the online copy and run it?  If you put a library in your Dropbox folder on your Mac and run it from there it's on a properly formatted drive. The key is to recover the library from the online copy and see if it runs as it should. 

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 17, 2015 10:02 AM in response to Richard3030
    Level 9 (51,382 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 17, 2015 10:02 AM in response to Richard3030

    The reason simply is that Dropbox is synchronous storage (assuming that you have a Dropbox folder in Finder), databases and synchronous storage can have issues.

     

    My personal reason is having watched Dropbox lie to a congressional enquiry regarding data store security and only get caught when one of their own staff turned whistleblower I have no faith in them. There are plenty of alternative vendors who don't lie.

  • by wgposwego,

    wgposwego wgposwego Apr 17, 2015 10:10 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 10:10 AM in response to Kappy

    Dear Kappy:

     

    We get it. We will never, ever criticize Apple. We are just lowly customers and we will remember our place.

     

    For the record. Photos is awful. I have given it a try and reverted to Aperture. Since Apple is also abandoning Aperture, I'm exporting everything to use in Lightroom. Lightroom, by the way, also runs on Windows.

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