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iCloud Photos question

With the demise of My Photostream - which was hit and miss anyway since Apple stopped developing/supporting it - it looks like I'll have to use iCloud Photos with a monthly subscription.


I create a lot of Slideshows which are included under 'My Projects'. These, together with the photos and videos I have in Photos are all contained in the photos library.


My question is, does the whole library get uploaded to iCloud Photos and shared so that I will be able to see the same Photos library across my devices - ie complete with photos, videos and My Projects (for slideshows)?


Thanks

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on May 29, 2023 9:53 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 30, 2023 3:05 AM

Copying a library between the devices is problematic, because of the file ownership and system versions. You can only copy the library to a mac running the same system version or a newer version, but not to a mac with an older version. And create the copy on an external drive with the "Ignore ownership on this volume" flag enabled. Prepare the external drive as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


The big advantage of iCloud Photos is that it allows us to keep the Photos Library identical and in sync across all devices, including the metadata, the structure (albums, smart album, folders), the adjustments. iCloud is taking care of the file ownership and the differences between system versions. I can start editing my photos on the iPad and continue on any of my macs, either on a Mac with Mojave or Ventura. I do not have to apply the adjustments manually on all devices, or to recreate the albums and folders, add favorite hearts again, add titles and keywords and create inconsistencies. My Photo Stream synced only the unadjusted originals.


For the slideshow projects or books I would suggest to create a separate Photos Library for each of your projects, at least for the new projects. Keeping a project in a separate library makes it easier to archive and will protect it from accidental deletion of photos that are used in the project. When we are weeding out duplicates or similar redundant photos, it is easy to accidentally delete a photo that is needed for a slideshow project. If you want to profit from the syncing, use iCloud Photos: Three Good Reasons for Using iCloud Photos Library and when not to use it - Apple Community

If you just want to transfer new photos between devices, it should suffice to download new photos using a USB connection or Wi-Fi.


When I create an elaborate slideshow, I am using Keynote to create the presentation. The Keynote presentations are syncing with iCloud to all my devices and I can see them on my Macs, my iPhone, my iPad.


7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 30, 2023 3:05 AM in response to RCully

Copying a library between the devices is problematic, because of the file ownership and system versions. You can only copy the library to a mac running the same system version or a newer version, but not to a mac with an older version. And create the copy on an external drive with the "Ignore ownership on this volume" flag enabled. Prepare the external drive as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


The big advantage of iCloud Photos is that it allows us to keep the Photos Library identical and in sync across all devices, including the metadata, the structure (albums, smart album, folders), the adjustments. iCloud is taking care of the file ownership and the differences between system versions. I can start editing my photos on the iPad and continue on any of my macs, either on a Mac with Mojave or Ventura. I do not have to apply the adjustments manually on all devices, or to recreate the albums and folders, add favorite hearts again, add titles and keywords and create inconsistencies. My Photo Stream synced only the unadjusted originals.


For the slideshow projects or books I would suggest to create a separate Photos Library for each of your projects, at least for the new projects. Keeping a project in a separate library makes it easier to archive and will protect it from accidental deletion of photos that are used in the project. When we are weeding out duplicates or similar redundant photos, it is easy to accidentally delete a photo that is needed for a slideshow project. If you want to profit from the syncing, use iCloud Photos: Three Good Reasons for Using iCloud Photos Library and when not to use it - Apple Community

If you just want to transfer new photos between devices, it should suffice to download new photos using a USB connection or Wi-Fi.


When I create an elaborate slideshow, I am using Keynote to create the presentation. The Keynote presentations are syncing with iCloud to all my devices and I can see them on my Macs, my iPhone, my iPad.


May 29, 2023 11:56 AM in response to FoxFifth

Thanks FoxFifth, I've read this before but dismissed it as I couldn't find any reference to slideshows. Unfortunately, I still can't.


From the looks of it, I will have to copy the photos library between devices as I have been doing but even this action has a few glitches when trying to copy a large file from my iMac to MBA.


Annoyingly, when My Photostream actually worked, it was seamless and a great tool. I saw this as not being a free service but one that I bought into when selecting Apple in the first place.

May 30, 2023 2:38 AM in response to FoxFifth

Thanks for your suggestions FoxFifth.


Your solution will indeed allow me to export slideshows to iCloud so I can share on my other devices, however, I was hoping that the My Projects (containing slideshows) - and Albums for all that matter - would be replicated on my other devices so that I can continue editing them. This would not be the case with exported versions as they are finalised and uneditable.


Copying the whole library file between devices may be the only solution......

May 30, 2023 7:29 AM in response to léonie

Iéonie, thanks greatly for your input.

Both my iMac and MBA are running the latest OS so copying between devices is generally OK. Indeed, I didn't know about the 'ignore ownership' flag because I've never come across it - but thanks for the heads up.


I didn't appreciate/realise that My Photo Stream only synced originals so now appreciate that iCloud Photos will do a much better job - even though it is at a cost. Your linked article about iCloud Photos is great advice.


The only thing I won't be following is your suggestion for making a different library for each project. I have about 50 projects (typically slideshows) so, to me, this would be inefficient.

iCloud Photos question

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