What to do with iPhoto after installing and migrating to Photos?

After migrating to Photos I tried to open iPhoto which warns me that changes will not be visible in Photos. Fine, but will changes still be present in iPhoto? There are some pictures in the trash bin, which I guess will stay until I remove them from there?

Yes they will. Yes on the trash question too.

I see both an iPhoto and Photos library among in my Pictures folder, about the same size. From the total disk space I do not think they are duplicates. How does it work?

It uses hard links - put in my layman's terms, it's the same store of photos in both libraries, so no wasted disk space.

Can iPhoto be removed, removing all traces, with no adverse effects on my photo library?

Yes.

Lightroom, Aperture, iPhoto and Photos all work in essentially the same way. All processing is virtual, the master file is preserved as a digital negative.

I see both an iPhoto and Photos library among in my Pictures folder, about the same size. From the total disk space I do not think they are duplicates. How does it work?

iPhoto and Photos are sharing the image files using hard links. The photos are only once on your disk, see:

Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

After migrating to Photos I tried to open iPhoto which warns me that changes will not be visible in Photos. Fine, but will changes still be present in iPhoto? There are some pictures in the trash bin, which I guess will stay until I remove them from there?

The changes will stay applied in the iPhoto Library, yes. And empty the iPhoto Trash, if you want the trash deleted.

• Can iPhoto be removed, removing all traces, with no adverse effects on my photo library?

It could, but I would wait a bit, before take this step. Check your photos library thoroughly, before you delete if.

If you should discover later, that the migration of your libraries has been faulty and you need to repeat it after repairing your libraries, you will be out of luck.

Remember, it is is just a few days after the first release of Photos as version 1.0. There are very likely some bugs and I would not burn all bridges before the library has been thoroughly tested and you are very confident, that this early Photos release is working well on your Mac.

Another related issue that I haven't figured out: I heard that when editing in iPhoto the application would create a new image and save it on disk, while e.g. LightRoom would just store the edit information? Is it true, and how is it done in Photos?

iPhoto and Photos have a lossless workflow like Lightroom. They store the sequence of edits, and create only a preview image of the edited version. When you add further edits, all edits will be applied starting from the original image, and all edits can be removed and the photo reverted to the original. With Photos this works also with iCloud Photo Library across all your devices. Edit a photo on your Mac and change the edits on our iPhone.

I have a couple of follow up questions:

I organized my iPhoto db by events. However, now I cannot find that organization. just a mess of photos by date...sort of.

In the info links, it says

"Events migrate to a folder labeled "iPhoto Events" in the Albums view."

However, not all events are there...only events which were really what iPhoto termed albums...

So my best understanding is that Albums in Photos = Events in iPhoto (approximately). In theory, you can make a bunch of folders, etc. to further organize.

I still am trying to figure out, though, where my "Events" in iPhoto went.

A couple of other things, are the faces in iPhoto supposed to migrate to faces in Photos?

If I edit something in Photos, will it show up in iPhoto? I think not, but wanted to confirm.

Does it need to "prepare library" every time I switch libraries? If so, THAT terribly problematic for large collections. I am currently going on my second hour.

Finally, is there any way to "un-migrate" my iPhoto library? Could I take the Photos library icon that is in the same folder as the iPhoto library icon and trash it?

I get the sense we are being pushed to divorce ourselves from iPhoto (which has worked so well for years). But there are so may issues with moving large collections over, I hope they continue to improve, update, and support iPhoto until they get all the bugs sorted out.

Appreciate any help on the above. Thanks.

-Wes

However, not all events are there...only events which were really what iPhoto termed albums...

There should have been an album for each of your events. I found an album for each event in the folder "iPhoto Events".

A couple of other things, are the faces in iPhoto supposed to migrate to faces in Photos?

Yes.

If I edit something in Photos, will it show up in iPhoto? I think not, but wanted to confirm.

Photos edits will not be visible in iPhoto.

Does it need to "prepare library" every time I switch libraries? If so, THAT terribly problematic for large collections. I am currently going on my second ho

Once a library has been migrated to Photos, it should open quickly. Only, if Photos crashes you might see a prompt to repair the library.

Finally, is there any way to "un-migrate" my iPhoto library? Could I take the Photos library icon that is in the same folder as the iPhoto library icon and trash it?

You can simply launch iphoto and it walloped your old iPhoto Library. Continue to work with iPhoto this way.

You may see a warning (If Photos won't open a library that you already migrated - Apple Support). In that case just confirm that you want to open the library in iPhoto.

There is no need to trash the Photos Library. It needs not much space, since your iPhoto Library and the Photos library are sharing the image files. Deleting the Photos Library will not free much space. (Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support)

Update,

I found my iPhoto Events. As stated, located in the iPhoto Events Folder. Not sure why I couldn't find it earlier.

Faces transfers no problems.

Library preparation is one time it appears (However, when you open while holding Alt. key, you need to make sure you select Photos library not iPhoto library)

You can "un-migrate" a library by deleting it, but all that seems to do is make you have to go through prepare library step again...

-Wes

You can "un-migrate" a library by deleting it, but all that seems to do is make you have to go through prepare library step again...

When you asked about un.migrating, I thought you wanted to use it again as an iPhoto Library. If you open your iPhoto Library again in Photos instead of iPhoto, it will naturally have to be prepared again.

Yeah, I didn't know what else to call it.

But right, there are two libraries, you just have to make sure you pick the right one depending on which program (Photos or iPhoto) you are opening.

Thank you for your responses. All very helpful.

-Wes

You're welcome, Wes!