Convert iPhoto Events to Photos Albums

I just installed Photos on my iMac. I have taken a LOT of time making Events in iPhoto. Is there a way for me to convert the Events I made with iPhoto into Albums for the new Apple Photos software? It would take me a LONG time to make new Albums and then copy all the Event images into the New Albums.


Is there a way to automate this?


Kevin

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 16 gigs of Ram - 3 gig Fusion Drive

Posted on Apr 8, 2015 1:21 PM

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Posted on Apr 15, 2015 2:38 PM

I had the same problem. There is a quick and easy fix. Go to My Albums section and then go into the album "iPhoto Events" and then hit Command + A (Select All) that will highlight all the events. Then right click and click on move events out of "iPhoto Events". Once you do this, all your events will be individual albums listed in the album section. Hope this helps. Cheers!

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 15, 2015 2:38 PM in response to Kevin Hawkins

I had the same problem. There is a quick and easy fix. Go to My Albums section and then go into the album "iPhoto Events" and then hit Command + A (Select All) that will highlight all the events. Then right click and click on move events out of "iPhoto Events". Once you do this, all your events will be individual albums listed in the album section. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Apr 16, 2015 5:25 AM in response to kieran485

Kieran,

What an elegant and simple solution! Not at all obvious to the casual user, and too late for me, but I hope everyone else who is baffled the Events folder uses your terrific advice. Spent an hour at the Apple Store in a Photos class, their solution was dragging photos or events, or using the Right click/option to make each Event one by one into an Album, and then making more folders.

So used all yesterday as opportunity to clean up, weed out and rename my events while doing above. Since Moments collects all photos by date (my many, many scanned older photos are out of luck here, unless I re-date each and every one) I created/renamed Albums with logical alphabectical groupings, and now keep Albums sorted by Name, not date.

And note to all, read the last pages of the on-line Photos help book where all these hidden Keystroke shortcuts are listed. Don't bother to Search the user manual, pretty much useless at finding answers, but a full read through before attacking Photos is helpful. Thank you, Kieran!

Sep 17, 2015 4:44 PM in response to ufauxreal

The photos will be distributed into various Moments based on their EXIF creation date. So they only will be grouped in the Cards album that should have been carried over from the iPhoto library.


However, if you're concerned about having them ungrouped when you migrate to Photos select them all in the Cards album in iPhoto and create a new Event for them. When migrated to Photos that Event will be be converted to an album and be located in a folder titled iPhoto Events in the sidebar of the Photos library.

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This way you should end up with two albums of the same photos: one in the iPhoto Events folder and the other just in the sidebar under Albums.

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Jan 4, 2016 10:07 AM in response to Kevin Hawkins

Found an new app who certainly can help a lot of folks in this forum called Events Maker 2.0 (extension for Photos) from macupdate.com.

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I have felt in love with this app myself. With a single click it gives you back the ability to create new events on Import just like in iPhoto! 😎 And it even includes some convenient features like uploads folder from finder with subfolders intact and more. Worth having a look.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/55945/events-makerUser uploaded file

Jan 19, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Angela.P

Moments in Photos are the new Events, i.e. groupings of photos sorted by date taken.


When the iPhoto Library was first migrated to Photos there is a folder created in the sidebar titled iPhoto Events and all migrated iPhoto Events (which are now Moments) are represented by an album in that folder.

To open the sidebar if it's not already open use the Option+Command+S key combination.

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NOTE: It's been reported by several users that if the Event albums are moved out of the iPhoto Library folder in the sidebar they may disappear. It's not widespread but several users have reported that issue. Therefore, if you want to assure that you keep those Event albums don't move them outside the iPhoto Events folder.


There's a way to simulate events in Photos.

When new photos are imported into the Photos library go to the Last Import smart album, select all the photos and use the File New Album menu option or use the key combination Command+N. Name it as desired. It will appear just above the iPhoto Events folder where you can drag it into the iPhoto Events folder


When you click on the iPhoto Events folder you'll get a simulated iPhoto Events window.

Albums and smart albums can be sorted by Title, by Date with oldest first and by Date with newest first.


Also tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via Apple-Photos Feedback.

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Feb 26, 2016 9:46 AM in response to Stanley22

You might consider this:


Put all of you albums in a folder in the sidebar and name that folder Albums.

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When you click on the folder you'll see your album in the window at the right:

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Also when you go to the albums section with the sidebar closed

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you'll see just one item titled Albums.

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Click on it and you'll see all of you albums. This method helps keep the sidebar cleaner and easier to get to the projects at the bottom of the sidebar if you use the sidebar a lot.


If you never use the sidebar then this method won't be for you.

May 2, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Stoker

Moments in Photos are the new Events, i.e. groupings of photos sorted by date taken.


When the iPhoto Library was first migrated to Photos there was a folder created in the sidebar titled iPhoto Events and all migrated iPhoto Events (which are now Moments) are represented by an album in that folder. To open the sidebar if it's not already open use the Option+Command+S key combination.


There's a way to simulate events in Photos.

When new photos are imported into the Photos library go to the Last Import smart album, select all the photos and use the File New Album menu option or use the key combination Command+N. Name it as desired. It will appear just above the iPhoto Events folder where you can drag it into the iPhoto Events folder


When you click on the iPhoto Events folder you'll get a simulated iPhoto Events window.

The downside to the simulation is that the Albums/Events can only be sorted automatically by Title. But they can also be sorted manually, either in the sidebar or in the folder's window at the right.


Ask Apple for more sorting options in Photos via https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html.

May 26, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Bamidbar

iPhoto was not deleted from your hard drive, only removed from the Dock. If you had iPhoto 9.6.1 you can still use your iPhoto library. If you don't have that version but some earlier version of 9.x try following Terence Devlin's iinstructions in this post to obtain iPhoto 9.6.1 from the App Store:

Terence Devlin

Apr 14, 2015 11:21 AM

Re: Is Iphoto gone ? i want it back!

in response to Johannes666

Recommended


Go to the App Store and check out the Purchases List. If iPhoto is there then it will be v9.6.1


If it is there, then drag your existing iPhoto app (not the library, just the app) to the trash


Install the App from the App Store.


Sometimes iPhoto is not visible on the Purchases List. it may be hidden. See this article for details on how to unhide it.


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4928


One question often asked: Will I lose my Photos if I reinstall?


iPhoto the application and the iPhoto Library are two different parts of the iPhoto programme. So, reinstalling the app should not affect the Library. BUT you should always have a back up before doing this kind of work. Always.

Sep 13, 2015 9:38 AM in response to TimK

was disappointed that these cannot be sorted by date. If I were to insert a date prefix in the event names (e.g. 15-09-13 for today, or just 15-09), would that solve the problem?


No. Wait until 9/30 when El Capitan is released with the new version of Photos. It will have a number of missing features released as can be seen from the following paragraph in this Apple webpage: Apple OS X El Capitan.

Photos has been fine-tuned to make it even easier to manage your library. Now you can add a location to a single image or to an entire Moment. Naming your favorite people in Faces is faster with a streamlined workflow. You can also sort your albums — and the contents inside them — by date, title, and more.

Keep telling Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via Apple-Photos Feedback.The feedback is working.

2) When I first looked at Photos, there was no batch change function. This was a surprising omission. Is there one now?

Not yet. However, there are a number of Applescripts in the Photos for Mac User Tips that will allow you to batch change titles and descriptions.


3) Again, when I tried it as a beta, the 'Moments' was a mess.

Have you tried repairing the library according to this Apple document: Repair Your Library?


Moments in Photos are the new Events, i.e. groupings of photos sorted by date taken.


When the iPhoto Library was first migrated to Photos there is a folder created in the sidebar titled iPhoto Events and all migrated iPhoto Events (which are now Moments) are represented by an album in that folder. To open the sidebar if it's not already open use the Option+Command+S key combination.


NOTE: It's been reported by several users that if the Event albums are moved out of the iPhoto Library folder in the sidebar they may disappear. It's not widespread but several users have reported that issue. Therefore, if you want to assure that you keep those Event albums don't move them outside the iPhoto Events folder.


There's a way to simulate events in Photos.

When new photos are imported into the Photos library go to the Last Import smart album, select all the photos and use the File New Album menu option or use the key combination Command+N. Name it as desired. It will appear just above the iPhoto Events folder where you can drag it into the iPhoto Events folder


When you click on the iPhoto Events folder you'll get a simulated iPhoto Events window.

The downside to the simulation is that the Albums/Events can only be sorted automatically by Title. But they can also be sorted manually, either in the sidebar or in the folder's window at the right. This will change with the release of Photos 2 with El Capitan this fall. That will allow the sorting by date or title, ascending or descending.

Apr 13, 2015 11:10 AM in response to naderz

Thank you! So I have moved some of my (MANY) Events out of that folder with Control + click, but now I want to MERGE the Album previously know as an Event with another existing Album. Can I Merge Albums like I use to Merge Events and Photos?

ps: the Photos Help has yet to provide an answer to any of my questions. Did the Merge function completely disappear from all sections?

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Convert iPhoto Events to Photos Albums

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