Level 1

18 points

Reverting to iPhoto after Photos migration

Does anyone know if it is ok to delete the new Photos library from the Pictures folder after you've migrated your iPhoto library to Photos? This is the situation I'm in - I migrated my library to Photos but I HATE it. I am very invested in Events and being able to review each new batch of photos before categorizing them into the appropriate events, and with this new app it's like everything is in a giant shoebox, it seems to include all my Photo Stream pictures in my library before I'm ready (I typically delete a lot of dud pictures every time I import, now they are all mixed in automatically and I have to remember how far back I've gone through and culled), and there's no way to tell which pictures haven't been categorized into an event yet. Worst of all, there's no way to hide photos from all views. Not only are hidden albums/events not even a thing anymore, Photos "conveniently" makes a whole new album of all the pictures I didn't want anyone to see. So now instead of me being the only one who would know where to look for hidden photos/Events in my library when they were unhidden, they're all collected in one place at the top level of my albums view. Why anyone would want an automatic, top-level album of all photos in an entire library that were meant not to be see, I don't know. Seems to defeat the entire privacy/security purpose of the Hide feature. Not to mention, anyone can still see all hidden photos when scrolling through the Albums view.

Long story short, I am RUNNING back to iPhoto for as long as Apple allows it to be used. Now, I know that any changes I make to the iPhoto library won't carry over automatically to Photos. I'm fine with that as I don't intend to use Photos until I'm forced to. However, I know that at some point I will be forced to use it, and at that point its library will be (hopefully) several years out of date. Since Photos creates symbolic links to the photo files, I know I could easily have deleted the iPhoto library when I migrated to Photos, but does that work both ways? I guess my question is, can I delete the Photos library I have now, keep working with my iPhoto library until iPhoto is killed completely, and then re-import the entire library back into Photos? Or do my photo files actually now live in the Photos library package instead of the iPhoto library package and deleting the Photos library will delete all my photos?

Any clarification on my options would be appreciated.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Apr 9, 2015 6:29 PM

480 replies

Mar 28, 2016 10:54 AM in response to cat320

Thank you!! This is brilliant.

May 5, 2016 2:01 PM in response to toulouse

I fully agree - Photos is appalling. I made the mistake of migrating to Photos. Can I roll back to iPhoto easily?

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

May 5, 2016 2:14 PM in response to FrustratediMacUser

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

May 5, 2016 2:22 PM in response to FrustratediMacUser

Not unless you have a bootable clone to return to -- and there is really nothing to roll backup to since iPhoto is dead and will someday (I'm guessing soon) have the final stake driven through its heart and then the users will be in a world of hurt to no good path forward

and BTW - Photos is not only not appalling but is a major advancement over iPhoto in pretty much every way - it is different and does require study and learning like all new programs and many things require a different workflow - but it is FAR from appaling

If you have questions post them including your exact set up including software versions and help is readily available - no one can help with RANTs adn editorials

Old Toad

Level 10

215,694 points

May 6, 2016 10:43 AM in response to FrustratediMacUser

What sorts of problems are you having with it? Why not start a new topic in the Photos forumand spell out your issues in detail so you can get some help. Trying to do that here at the end of a 30 page topic is a bit of a pain.

Jun 3, 2016 4:23 PM in response to chipsfortea

Replying only to say that I googled this same question and found your thread and share your frustration and dislike for Photos, for all the same reasons. Moving my library back if I can! I hope Apple is listening!

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Jun 3, 2016 4:25 PM in response to atxrobinette

What exactly do you want Apple to do, iPhoto is gone and been replaced, it's not coming back. Did you have something other than resurrecting iPhoto in mind?

Jun 3, 2016 4:29 PM in response to Csound1

apologies, I meant to reply to the original post. as I expose my issues with technology... I still have iPhoto, it is not "gone".

Aug 2, 2016 10:28 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thank you

Aug 2, 2016 10:38 AM in response to Richard3030

Fortunately, for the last few years, I have named each event starting with the date in this format YYYY-MM-DD so that it will sort properly. But, the rest......

Sep 24, 2016 10:48 AM in response to Kappy

This is for who ever wants to answer!!! I just took a bunch of photos on a trip. I imported them into Photos before I realized I just do not like this program. (I recently converted.) Now do I need to reimport them into iPhoto if I make the switch back?

I just bought a Photos book to be sent later this week; maybe I better said.

In iPhoto, I had the side bar organized for example.

Album:Genealogy person's name

Folder under that:

Census

Documents

Pictures

Tombstones

Obituary

Now this does not reappear on Photos. I went to the iPhoto imports on the side bar and he drop downs are not there. There are some strays to be filed so I went to the + and put them into the file on Photos. There there were drop down menus, but they are not to be found on the side bar. Did this escape when Photos came in.

I have written to Apple---who knows if they will make changes.

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Sep 25, 2016 12:44 AM in response to gerenahum

Not sure exactly what you did but you can create albums exactly like you did in iPhoto, and have them in the sidebar.

and so on...

Sep 25, 2016 6:59 AM in response to mystwillow

In addition to the mess of losing original file index, Photos does not have the slider edit control of highlight and shadow control. The shadow control feature is pretty much vital to me as I take a lot of animal photos and the shadow control is the only one I have found that really helps lift fur and feather detail on dark coloured subjects.

It is a huge retrospective step and I am deeply aggrieved that Apple Store did not warn me of this feature when they advised me to upgrade my mac to El Capitan (to allow it to Synchronise to my recently updated iPhone)

When you look to download latest iPhoto it says 'not available in UK' - most unimpressed and thoroughly hacked off with Apple over this. I have four apple macbooks and feel like throwing the lot in the river!

léonie

Level 10

200,633 points

Sep 25, 2016 7:10 AM in response to hylotrupes

Photos does not have the slider edit control of highlight and shadow control.

Have you looked at the advanced editing tools in Photos for Mac?

Highlight and Shadows has been around since the first Photos version, and the newest version Photos 2.0 has a combined Highlight & Shadows filter called Brilliance, that combines both sliders nicely. If you never used the advanced options you missed a lot of the tools in Photos.

In the "Adjustment" panel in Edit mode click the blue tag "Add" to add all adjustments.

Then click the disclosure triangle to the right of the name of the adjustment.

You will see plenty of sliders to adjust the Light, color, sharpness, white balance, etc.

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 25, 2016 7:04 AM in response to hylotrupes

As iPhoto will stop working one day it gives you time to find a substitute that you want to use instead.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Reverting to iPhoto after Photos migration