Photos: Can't Drag & Drop to Browser

Terence Devlin wrote:

I think you'll find that with simple organising, using the search facility and as the caching improves, that it's actually faster. Or not. Whatever. You're welcome.

While your explanation is technically correct, it does not acknowledge that Photos is functionally inadequate.

Sure, the Media Browser is nice, but it is not always the best or fastest way. Let's make it very clear what is actually happening: Because Photos deprecates drag-and-drop export, Photos is less capable of doing what just about all other photo applications on the Mac are and have been totally capable of doing for 30 years: The core Mac feature of drag and drop. It puts Photos behind other photo applications in a feature list, and makes Photos less a useful solution.

Robert:

I have the current version of Photoshop and it works as I describe. Older versions of any apps often have issues with newer apps. Personally, I believe that Adobe should an extension to allow a similar round-tripping facility to an external editor like iPhoto had. But it's questionable if such a thing would work with an older version.

Network 23

It's not my job to acknowledge anything about the app.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html is the place for feature requests and feedback

Robert Haddan wrote:

Terence, I appreciate your expertise, but there are several use cases where your solution does not work. For example, I am using an older version of Adobe Photoshop and I can't access the files in Photos through the Open dialog in PS, I can't drag and drop from Photos to PS and I can't use Adobe Bridge to open from Photos. The "best" solution at this point is to copy from Photos into a folder on the Desktop and open from there, creating duplicate files. This adds two steps to my workflow... very un-Apple like.

There is a slightly simpler workaround. If you have been importing images to Photos as referenced photos, right-click (or equivalent) the image in Photos and choose "Show Referenced File in Finder." The photo file will pop up in the Finder and you can drag that to any program you want. This means you don't have to create a duplicate file, nor do you have to worry about whether an application supports the Media Browser because you can just use standard drag and drop.

The catch of course is that only works with referenced files. In iPhoto it worked with any file, but in Photos they have restricted this ability to referenced photos only. To import photos as referenced in the future, in Photos, open Preferences. In the General tab, uncheck "Copy items to the Photos library." Now photos will stay in their original folders, not be duplicated into the Photos library. I do not know how to convert images already inside the Photos library to referenced photos other than exporting all, making sure the preference is changed, then re-importing. As we are seeing so much with Photos, "this is not ideal."

I don't think it's realistic to expect Photoshop to add the Media Browser. It never has, and probably never will. This doesn't make it un-Mac-like; the vast majority of Mac applications do not implement the Media Browser, and certainly not most professional applications, since the Media Browser is so limiting. As we have seen in this thread, even some Apple applications like Safari, Preview, and TextEdit do not use the Media Browser but will accept a dropped photo from anything other than Photos, so unfortunately the lack of drag and drop support in Photos makes it less integrated even with current applications made by Apple itself.

What is more possible is in the future, Apple might decide to add drag-and-drop capability to Photos. But as long as Photos is crippled by the lack of that, we will need to use workarounds that are unnecessary in most other Mac applications.

If you have been importing images to Photos as referenced photos, right-click (or equivalent) the image in Photos and choose "Show Referenced File in Finder." The photo file will pop up in the Finder and you can drag that to any program you want. This means you don't have to create a duplicate file, nor do you have to worry about whether an application supports the Media Browser because you can just use standard drag and drop.

You need to be careful here. If you save that image after editing in Photoshop then the thumbnail in Phots will not relate the changes. If you save as, well then it doesn't save you a duplicate, of course.

Evert application supports a media browser. It's system wide. Photoshop doesn't have to add the media browser, it's already there. Safari, Preview and Text Edit all support the media browser.

Terence Devlin wrote:

Evert application supports a media browser. It's system wide. Photoshop doesn't have to add the media browser, it's already there. Safari, Preview and Text Edit all support the media browser.

OK. I stand corrected here. I didn't notice in the first link that the Media browser is in the Sidebar. Since I find Photos inadequate I don't keep photos in there, so I had collapsed the Media sidebar category and dragged it further down and forgot it was there. But I now see that Terence is correct that it is system wide because it is in the Open/Save sidebar and that's why he could say Safari, TextEdit, and Preview support it.

I then did a test and now understand how the actual situation here:

• Apple appears to be deprecating drag/drop in favor of the Media Browser. This is based on the fact that where iPhoto supported direct dragging to other applications like Photoshop, Photos does not.
• It is not true that Photoshop must add support for the Media Browser, because it already works. My test involved using File/Open in Photoshop. It does display the Media Browser in File/Open, and when a photo is chosen, it will open in Photoshop. Brandy and Robert, it looks like this should now be the primary workaround. In many situations, this is still not as convenient as direct drag and drop.
• It is not true that the Media Browser is always the fastest way to open a photo. When a photo is already visible in a Finder window, it is faster to just drag it from the Finder window into an application. When a photo is already visible in Photos, that is of no value compared to the Finder because Photos makes you go to the other application first, then go into the Open/Save dialog box, knowing enough about the photo (filename, keyword...) to pull it up in Media Browser search, or dig through the Events/Moments in Media Browser to retrieve it. When you could have just dragged in one step.
• One more thing I forgot to mention. iPhoto supported "Edit in External Editor," so another workaround back then was to set up Photoshop as the external editor. In Photos that is not available, and seems to be more evidence that Apple is really trying to shoehorn all workflows through the Media Browser whether it's a good idea in a given situation or not.

I just think it's funny that after all of the UI progress in OS X and iOS toward direct manipulation and the elimination of dialog boxes, Apple is now pushing us through the Open/Save dialog to do something that used to be direct.

Don't complain to us. We're just users like yourself. Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored in Photos via https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

It is not true that the Media Browser is always the fastest way to open a photo. When a photo is already visible in a Finder window, it is faster to just drag it from the Finder window into an application.

Completely agree. In fact, I don't know how anything could be faster or easier than "drag-and-drop". I can use drag-and-drop with all my other photo applications, Lyn, Aperture, Capture One.

Apple is now pushing us through the Open/Save dialog to do something that used to be direct.

I'm not sure this is the case. I believe that the replacement for the External Editor feature is the extension feature in Photos, and that is what I was referring to here:

Personally, I believe that Adobe should an extension to allow a similar round-tripping facility to an external editor like iPhoto had

(with the rather obvious typo: I believe that Adobe should add an extension...). The idea with extensions is that the third party app can be used within the host app - which effectively solves all problems, albeit accessed in a slightly different way. That said,

The issue with drag and drop (which does work between Photos and some apps, Mail, for instance) is related to sandboxing and I would expect updates to the apps in question to resolve this over time.

It is not true that the Media Browser is always the fastest way to open a photo. When a photo is already visible in a Finder window, it is faster to just drag it from the Finder window into an application. When a photo is already visible in Photos, that is of no value compared to the Finder because Photos makes you go to the other application first, then go into the Open/Save dialog box, knowing enough about the photo (filename, keyword...) to pull it up in Media Browser search, or dig through the Events/Moments in Media Browser to retrieve it. When you could have just dragged in one step.

When I referred to the Media Browser being faster I meant it only in the context of images in Libraries. (In the Finder I'd use right-click and open with...). And sure, if you're in Photos drag and drop might be faster, but there's no round-tripping with that, which is why I never used it. That said unless there is an extension there's just no round-tripping at all...

In fact, I don't know how anything could be faster or easier than "drag-and-drop". I can use drag-and-drop with all my other photo applications, Lyn, Aperture, Capture One.

But I'm someone who rarely uses a mouse, and work almost entirely from the keyboard... And again, particularly in the case of Aperture or iPhoto, what does drag and drop actually yield?

I have Photoshop CS3, which I'm aware is a very old version but for the limited work I do in Photoshop, I can't justify purchasing the subscription for CC or buying a standalone copy of CS6. The Media Browser in CS3 only brings up Photo Booth and not Photos.

My comment about "un-Apple like" refers to the ability to drag and drop from other Apple applications. I can drag an image from Safari onto my PS icon in the Dock and the file will open. I can drag a link from Mail into Safari. I can drag an image from Mail into PS. Basically, I can drag and drop throughout the Finder. To remove this functionality from a process (because Photos replaced iPhoto, it replaced a process for me, not just an application) is very un-Apple like.

The conversation on the Media Browser might be useful for other people, but I've never found the Media Browser functionality helpful. In my experience, it's always been very slow to load my library (25K photos/videos) and unless I've already done a lot of organizing, very difficult to navigate as it always resets the list to the oldest images after selecting a file.

Anyway, I've already submitted my feedback to Apple on this. Hopefully it's restored/added soon.

I sure could use some help.

Just did the change over to Photo from iPhoto.....Looks to be a HUGE mistake on my part

Cant organize by date

Cant use my cursor to see what is inside an album

Cant drag and drop pictures to a photo site that I use anymore (fotki)

Tried moving 46 pictures to the desktop, thought it would keep them all together, now I have 46 pictures all over my desktop that I have to click on to then drag into fotki photo.

PLEASE tell me there is another way to do this OR better yet, Can I go back to my old IPhoto?

I also have CS3. I doubt if it will ever be made compatible with Photos. I also have Photoshop Elements. That probably be made compatible with Photos and upgrading to PSE will be much more reasonable than upgrading to PS. I've found that PSE does everything that PS does that I need except for support of CMYK color mode. I only use that once in a great while so it's not a deal breaker.

I have to agree completely with the thread starter. Not being able to drag and drop out of Photos is really inconvenient. To the posters talking about the Media Browser, c'mon! If you have a photo library of any size, it is all but useless. Wait for it to load, try and find the photos you want, finally get them. That is not a solution.

And why are you telling other users who can do nothing

tell Appel - https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

LN