Photos transferring from external hd to macbook air

Question

Photos transferring from external hd to macbook air

I have 5 photos libraries on an external HD which I want to copy on to Photos on my MBA so I can edit and delete a lot of the photos on them, and then transfer the remainder to iCloud. Most of these libraries are migrated Iphoto libraries. I'm doing this because I'm not sure how long the external HD will last. Is it a matter of just dragging and dropping the icons of each library onto Photos icon in the dock? I've tried doing this and it doesn't seem to be working. Secondly, can I merge all these libraries into one library because I think there a lot of duplicates.

Posted on Jul 3, 2019 11:47 PM

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Answer 1

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Jul 4, 2019 3:38 PM in response to annefromcarlton north

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, annefromcarlton north.

If I understand your post correctly, you'd like to import photos from an external storage device to your MacBook Air. I’d like to help.

Follow the steps in this article:

Import photos from storage devices and DVDs using Photos on Mac

Let us know if that resolves this issue for you.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Take care.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

208,027 points

Jul 6, 2019 11:02 AM in response to annefromcarlton north

Am I right in saying that you have several Photos libraries on an external HD and want to merge them into your Photos library on your MBA?

1 - One way to achieve that is to use the paid version of PowerPhotos. The downside to this method is that you can only merge original files or edited files. When merging edited files the original version of any photo that hasn't been edited will be merged. But the original version of the edited file will not be available. My belief is that one can always reedit a photo but if edited can't go back to the unedited version so I choose to merge originals.

2 - The other way its to use the iCloud Photos Library. You have 1 library (A) on your MBA, a matching library (AC) in iCloud and 4 libraries (B,C,D,E) on the EHD.

Copy library B to your MBA and set it up as the System Photos Library. It will begin to merge with the iCloud library giving you library BAC.

When that upload merge is finished copy library C to the MBA and set it as the System Photos Library. It will begin to upload and merge with the iCloud library giving you library CBAC.

Do the same for libraries D and E. You will eventually end up with library EDCBAC in the cloud and on your MBA.

NOTE: after each merge you can delete the library copied from the EHD to the MBA in order to preserve storage space. Don't delete the libraries from the EHD until you're all done and have verified that all photos have been successfully transferred and merged.

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Answer 3

Jul 5, 2019 12:09 AM in response to chris_g1

Hi Chris, thanks for responding. I still can't get this to work. What happens is if I connect the HD and open it to get the list of photo libraries, and select one of the libraries that I want to import, then all the photos in that particular library come up on to the screen. I select File Import (in Photos app) and that library will be greyed out so I cannot do anything with it.

If I try to drag and drop an entire library (that's in the external HD) into Photos from the Finder, then nothing happens. Hope you can help.

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Answer 4

Jul 7, 2019 9:06 PM in response to Old Toad

Hi Old Toad,

Thanks for responding. I will look into getting Power Photos. However, the issue for me so far has been, to quote you, "Copy library B to your MBA and set it up as the System Photos Library."

I have tried different ways to do this (copying photos by dragging and dropping from External HD into Photos, copying the library's icon from Finder) but unsuccessfully. I assume they would go into the current System Library after being dragged and dropped, but they are don't appear. I have even set up a new dedicated System Library and done the dragging from EHD) and dropping (into Photos app in dock) but nothing happens.

Hope you can help.

Anne

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Answer 5

Jul 18, 2019 2:21 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for your help. The issue seemed to be that in the transfer from EHD to Photos the partitioning into the separate libraries as shown on the EHD, wasn't being reflected in the transfer, so that it was downloading almost all of the content of the disc in one go. This took so long, and without any visual cues that it was downloading, that it looked as though it wasn't downloading at all. I still don't get how or why this was happening, but through setting it to back up to iCloud it seems to have worked.

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