Editing portrait depth in Photos on MBP

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Editing portrait depth in Photos on MBP

I can't seem to to find the portrait depth slider on my portrait photos when editing on my MBP - the slider doesn't appear as described in help. What am I doing wrong?

Am using HS 10.13.6 and Photos 3.0 trying to edit photos saved to iCloud shot on an iPhone XS running iOS 12.1.4 - I see the bar on the same photos on my iPad and my iPhone but nothing on my MBP, which seems odd as it should be the best device to edit photos on. Am sure I've missed a step or some such but cannot fathom it - any ideas?

Thanks

Dublj

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Mar 11, 2019 12:14 PM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

197,717 points

Mar 12, 2019 7:58 AM in response to dublj

The Help for Photos 3.0 on High Sierra and Photos 4.0 on Mojave are both not yet mentioning the depth slider.

You can only change the lighting - spotlight, contour light, etc. . The depth slider to change the focus is currently only available on the newest iPhones.

This is what I am seeing in the Photos Help: Change the lighting of a portrait in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

The depth slider is not mentioned:

In the Photos app on your Mac, double-click a portrait photo, then click Edit in the toolbar.
Select a lighting effect.

Natural: Displays the portrait as it was originally taken.
Studio: Brightens facial features.
Contour: Applies dramatic directional lighting.
Stage: Applies spotlight stage lighting with a darkened background.
Stage mono: Changes a portrait to black and white with stage lighting.

Are you saying, that you are not even seeing the basic tools to change the lighting effect?

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Answer 2

dublj Author

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Mar 12, 2019 9:09 AM in response to léonie

Hi léonie, thanks for the feedback. Whilst you’re absolutely right in that I did confuse the depth slider with the lighting effect I don’t even see the portrait logo or the option to change the lighting on shots which are otherwise identified as portrait shots by the app itself (they have the

logo and are in the portraits album.) I assumed it was something to do with iCloud. Have you tested it yourself? Ie: go into a portrait shot as described in help? I just don’t see the slider to change the lighting effect anywhere.

Thanks

dublj

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Answer 3

dublj Author

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Mar 12, 2019 6:43 AM in response to Keith Barkley

hi Keith - thanks for the response, the veracity of which i don’t doubt one bit - it’s just odd that the excerpt from help in my original post is from the Help in Photos on my MBP, which is more than a bit misleading.

But thanks anyway, at least now I know I’m not going insane!

dublj

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

197,717 points

Mar 12, 2019 9:24 AM in response to dublj

i can edit the lighting-effects on my mac, yes. Are you using iCloud with Optimize Storage? then the depth map may be missing. force Photos to download the full version by zooming in on the photo. i can only trst in Photos 4 on Mojave, however.

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

197,717 points

Mar 12, 2019 10:49 AM in response to léonie

One more thing - my iPhone is an iPhone X, not an iPhone XS like yours. Photos 3 came out, before your iPhone model has been released. Consider to upgrade to Photos 4.0 and Mojave. Mojave should support your nice, new iPhone model better, since the current version of Mojave with Photos 4.0 has been released after the XS came out.

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Answer 6

dublj Author

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Mar 12, 2019 11:24 AM in response to léonie

Funny you should say that - it was so on my to do list it’s how I noticed the issue in the first place (was just making sure everything was backed up nicely when i started playing around in photos.) I’ll try that as soon as I have a spare mo’ again, thanks for your input, léonie!

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Answer 7

Mar 11, 2019 1:11 PM in response to dublj

Depth is not a feature of Photos for Mac, only iOS devices.

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Editing portrait depth in Photos on MBP

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