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ypni

Q: How can I merge photos libraries?

I have big photos libraries (several GB) can Photos handle it in just one ? How can I merge the libraries?

Posted on Apr 9, 2015 5:03 PM

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Q: How can I merge photos libraries?

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  • by Terence Devlin,Solvedanswer

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 10, 2015 12:26 AM in response to ypni
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
    iLife
    Apr 10, 2015 12:26 AM in response to ypni

    Several GB would not be a problem. There is no way to merge Libraries in Photos. If you want them merged, you need to merge them before updating.

  • by rapid city,

    rapid city rapid city Apr 14, 2015 9:40 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2015 9:40 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    How do you merge libraries before updating?

  • by pimentel,

    pimentel pimentel Apr 16, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    I allready migrated to photos  and I need to merge them…  

    Mow What?

  • by macYeluru,

    macYeluru macYeluru Apr 16, 2015 9:49 AM in response to pimentel
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 9:49 AM in response to pimentel

    One alternate if you have more space available,

     

    • Export the photos from Photos to normal file system (Pictures/Desktop etc)
    • And import them into your primary Photos library.
    • Then delete the library from which you've exported the photos and merged
  • by macYeluru,

    macYeluru macYeluru Apr 16, 2015 9:49 AM in response to ypni
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 16, 2015 9:49 AM in response to ypni

    One alternate if you have more space available,

     

    • Export the photos from Photos to normal file system (Pictures/Desktop etc)
    • And import them into your primary Photos library.
    • Then delete the library from which you've exported the photos and merged
  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 16, 2015 10:24 AM in response to macYeluru
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
    iLife
    Apr 16, 2015 10:24 AM in response to macYeluru

    If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later you can merge libraries with Aperture.

     

    Otherwise the only way to merge Libraries is with the paid ($30) version of iPhoto Library Manager

     

    Do the merge and repeat the conversion.

  • by macYeluru,Helpful

    macYeluru macYeluru Apr 20, 2015 7:59 AM in response to ypni
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 20, 2015 7:59 AM in response to ypni

    If you want to merge the libraries

     

    • Make one of the libraries as the system library
    • Now open another library (Which is not system library)
    • File > Import > Select Photos under media on the left pane
    • Now select all photos to import to the current library.
    • Repeat this for merging multiple libraries and finally make the consolidated library as your System Library

     

    Note: Albums, Projects, Slideshows etc will not be imported from other libraries

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 20, 2015 6:09 AM in response to macYeluru
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
    iLife
    Apr 20, 2015 6:09 AM in response to macYeluru

    That's adding the previews from one library to another one. It's not merging libraries.

  • by NikeCircleGrump,Helpful

    NikeCircleGrump NikeCircleGrump Apr 20, 2015 7:04 AM in response to ypni
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2015 7:04 AM in response to ypni

    There are several GBs that I have in photos in iPhoto libraries separated by year. It is already too late to "pre-merge" as I simply updated my OS because I got a notice to and a big surprise. Now I have orphaned iPhoto libraries grayed out by Photos. This means several days of work if I want to use Photos - exporting from iPhoto then importing to Photos. This means that even if I maxed out iCloud storage (1TB) I would not be able to use it for all my photos. I would not pay that much monthly anyway. I see Photos simply as a vehicle to sell iCloud storage. What I am going to be forced to do is use Photos simply as a platform for sharing by importing and deleting as size permits. In other words it is dumbing down my iMac to fit into iCloud and iOS. It may perform better but the function is inadequate in my opinion.  iMovie suffers from the same dumb down, I still use the previous version that has functions that were deleted by the new version. I am not sure what Apple's mission here is but the reasons for buying a Mac are starting to be lost. If I get forced to get expensive software that could be run on a cheaper PC why bother with an expensive Apple?

     

    This is not so much as a problem but a request to put back features that they threw away, especially library management. If you have a solution for that, I would appreciate hearing it.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 20, 2015 7:09 AM in response to NikeCircleGrump
    Level 10 (84,125 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 20, 2015 7:09 AM in response to NikeCircleGrump

    Is there a question for the users in this forum there? Or just a statement of your personal views among with a misplaced note to Apple (they are not here - this is strictly a user to user forum)

     

    LN

  • by NikeCircleGrump,

    NikeCircleGrump NikeCircleGrump Apr 20, 2015 7:34 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2015 7:34 AM in response to LarryHN

    Mostly whining but the last part was a question about managing photos in separate libraries which from my poking around in the menus does seem to exist.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 20, 2015 7:38 AM in response to NikeCircleGrump
    Level 10 (84,125 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 20, 2015 7:38 AM in response to NikeCircleGrump

    and what specifically do you want to know about library management?

     

    Basically Photo is no different form iPhoto in this respect - you can not manage multiple libraries with it  --  you open each library and use it exactly the same as with iPhtoo

     

    LN

  • by NikeCircleGrump,Helpful

    NikeCircleGrump NikeCircleGrump Apr 20, 2015 7:59 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2015 7:59 AM in response to LarryHN

    Ok, agree, mostly whining. However, the last paragraph was serious. I cannot find a method for continuing to manage photos (thousands) in various hard drives that is my current practice in iPhoto/Aperture. Yearly libraries works best. At this point I can only assume that I must stick with iPhoto/Aperture unless someone here can tell me something otherwise.

  • by ypni,

    ypni ypni Apr 20, 2015 7:56 AM in response to macYeluru
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 20, 2015 7:56 AM in response to macYeluru

    I´ve tried this but no photos are displayed in the library

    EB

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