Photos referenced images

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Mr.BigFromMA Author

Level 1

8 points

Photos referenced images

How do I make an image in the Photos Library a referenced image the way I could with Aperture?

Mac mini, macOS 11.2

Posted on Feb 28, 2021 3:57 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

24,056 points

Feb 28, 2021 4:03 PM in response to Mr.BigFromMA

You uncheck "copy items to library" in photos preferences. See screenshot. This will apply to everything imported while that is unchecked.

However using referenced images can't be recommended at the moment - see this user tip from Leonie for why.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250002591

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Answer 2

Feb 28, 2021 11:51 PM in response to Mr.BigFromMA

No problem - sorry for my misunderstanding 😃. Photos doesn't have that option. And is unreliable for referenced images anyway.

So I suspect you need a different app.

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Answer 3

Mr.BigFromMA Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 28, 2021 4:55 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Sorry for the confusion. I am looking in Photos for the opposite of “Consolidate...”—that is, a feature that moves an existing image in the Photos Library to an external location, creating a reference to it. In the process, the same image becomes a referenced image.

If you are unaware of it, the setting in preferences only works for imported images. Photostream images are placed in the Photos Library automatically and must be removed manually to make them referenced images.

Until Photos is able perform satisfactorily with a database of 100,000 images, storing images in Photos is not a viable option.

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Photos referenced images

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