How to clean up photos from iPhone without deleting from iCloud or removing them from Photo on Mac?

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Level 1

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How to clean up photos from iPhone without deleting from iCloud or removing them from Photo on Mac?

When my phone needs cleaning up, I start deleting pictures and movies I shot. But since I've got pictures syncing with iCloud, they also disappear from my Mac in the new Photos app in Yosemite. If I plug my iPhone in and manually import, then I start getting duplicates and the whole thing gets messy from then on.

I like the idea of syncing with iCloud, but how can I immortalize a picture or movie while still being able to delete it from my phone? I guess I just export out of Photo on the Mac into a folder? If i do that, how can I be certain I'm exporting the best copy of the pictures and movies at the right resolution? iCloud keeps lower resolutions on different devices.

Am I confused on how to use iCloud? Should I just turn it off and do manual importing via USB?

iPhone 5c, iOS 8.2, Mac OSX 10.10.3 with new Photos app

Posted on Apr 15, 2015 1:22 PM

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Answer 1

RJAVHH

Level 1

5 points

May 5, 2015 6:56 PM in response to verm71

I'm with you verm71; it's not entirely clear how Apple is expecting you to manage this. I'm going on vacation soon and want to clean up my phone so that it's nice and empty for the new pictures. There doesn't seem to be a way to do this without losing your pictures in the new Photos as well. If imported, it's impossible to see which is the Cloud version and which is the Local version. It's very annoying.

I've also noticed in iPhoto you used to have the ability to locate the original of the picture inside the photo database. That option is not provided in Photos, making finding the original extremely difficult.

It seems to be a great, well-oiled system. But I would love to know how Apple envisions the typical workflow for archiving...

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Answer 2

verm71 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 18, 2015 3:52 PM in response to verm71

I've tried disabling iCloud photo sync on just the mac, but leaving it on my iPad and iPhone. That seems to allow the "archive to Mac", then "delete from device" method, while still being able to sync between the devices (take a picture on the iPhone, and edit it or post it from the iPad)

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