thomas_r.
Level 7 (30,919 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Archive iCloud Photo Library?

When I take pictures on my iPhone, my ideal process would be:

 

1) Pix from the phone go into iCloud

2) Pix from iCloud get downloaded to Photos on my Mac

3) Once on my Mac, pix never get deleted from Photos unless I do so explicitly

 

In other words, the Mac should be the archival storage, and I should be able to delete the photos from the phone and iCloud without deleting them from the Mac.

 

In practice, #1 and #2 work just fine. Problem is, if I delete a photo on the phone, it disappears from my Mac as well.

 

I cannot find any way to keep those photos on my Mac, short of exporting the files from Photos. Surely there must be a better way?

 

Note that I do have the "Download Originals to this Mac" setting turned on in the iCloud settings in Photos. That doesn't seem to prevent the photos from getting deleted, though.

 

I'm using OS X 10.11.6 and iOS 9.3.5.

Posted on Sep 13, 2016 9:32 AM

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thomas_r.

Q: Archive iCloud Photo Library?

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  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Sep 13, 2016 12:16 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (106,958 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 13, 2016 12:16 PM in response to thomas_r.

    In practice, #1 and #2 work just fine. Problem is, if I delete a photo on the phone, it disappears from my Mac as well.

    It is because iCloud Photo Library is meant for syncing, not as an external storage, as your probably know. New imported photos from any device upload to iCloud Photo Library as the central storage. All edits and changes to the photos from any device will sync to iCloud and update across all devices, including the deletion of photos. iCloud Photo Library keeps the libraries on all devices identical.

     

    I cannot find any way to keep those photos on my Mac, short of exporting the files from Photos. Surely there must be a better way?

    For your desired workflow, Thomas,  I'd recommend to create a second Photos Library on your Mac, your Archive Photos Library, that is not syncing with iCloud.

    Let the photos sync from the iPhone to your iCloud Photo Library and download to the library on your Mac that is syncing with iCloud. Then transfer them to your Archive Library by exporting and reimporting.  Or invest into Power Photos for an easy transfer of photos between Photos Libraries.

     

     

    The alternative, that Apple recommends, is to refrain from deleting photos from the iOS devices and to use the "Optimize Storage" option on the iPhone.  Keep your complete library on the iPhone, in optimized form.

    I used that approach for a few month. My iPhone and iPad have 64GB storage, and that worked in some way, but is a pain, because we cannot control which photos will get "optimized". It is a pain, if I want to make a slideshow and the photos are current in iCloud only, and no internet available.

     

    I switched back to My Photo Stream to download new photos from my iPhone and disabled iCloud Photo Library on my iOS devices, I am only using iCloud Photo Library to keep the Macs in sync.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Sep 13, 2016 12:19 PM in response to léonie
    Level 7 (30,919 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 13, 2016 12:19 PM in response to léonie

    Bleh, that's what I was afraid of.

     

    Well, for my "real" photos, I keep them organized with Lightroom. I'd prefer to keep my iPhone photos, which are usually of very different quality and subject matter, in Photos. But, I suppose I'll have to export the keepers from Photos and then import into Lightroom before deleting from my phone.

     

    What a pain in the arse.

     

    Thanks for the info, though, even if it's just to confirm that I'm not crazy for failing to find a feature that doesn't exist (but should).

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 13, 2016 12:26 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (84,646 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 13, 2016 12:26 PM in response to thomas_r.

    failing to find a feature that doesn't exist (but should)

     

     

    Suggest to APple - http://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

     

    LN

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Sep 14, 2016 11:45 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (106,958 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 14, 2016 11:45 AM in response to thomas_r.

    You're welcome.

     

    The easy way out is to sign up for 2TB of iCloud storage and never again to worry about deleting files from your iPhone. That is probably what Apple wants us to do.

     

     

    One more thought - since you do not want to use Photos on te Mac: Instead of syncing with iCloud Photo library you could use the Share menu to save the photos you want to delete from the iPhone to a folder on iCloud Drive, for example the Previews folder. Create a subfolder, if the Preview folder it is too cluttered. Then import from this folder  directly to Lightroom and delete the photos from iCloud.