Photos and Outlook

Some folks have fixed this by simply first opening iPhoto...

The problem is that the when Outlook is selected as the "default" email application (in Mac Mail's preferences), the "Share Menu" extension for Outlook is grayed out and does not work. You can see this in System Preferences > Extensions window.

This is not a problem for users of Mac Mail, as the extension for it is active and viable. Looks like Outlook users were overlooked. Until this is fixed, see this thread for the details of the problem, and a useable work-around using Photos Export feature:

How on earth do I send photos via the new "Photos" application???

Edit to show the work-around steps for Outlook users here too:

Open Photos and select the picture(s) that you want to send. Once they're selected, go to the Photos > File drop-down menu, then select the "Export" option. I use the first option: "Export n Photos..." (where "n" is the number of pictures selected for exporting. (Alternatively, you can use the indicated Shift+Command+E" keyboard shortcut to Export the selected pictures.

In the resulting window, select the options for the photos: Photo Kind selections are JPEG, TIFF or PNG. Then select the Quality options (Low, Medium, High, Maximum), and Size (Small, Medium, Large, Full Size, Custom). These options can help limit the size of the resulting photo files you'll be attaching to your email message. Then pick the appropriate "Info' and "File Naming" options, and click the "Export" button. Decide where you want to export the file(s) to - I typically just use the Desktop as a temporary repository for the photos, but use whatever works best for you. Now all you have to do is to open Outlook, create a new message, and attach your exported photos. Pretty simple solution and ensures the photos you're sharing are attached in an appropriate size and quality and as standard attachments rather than being embedded in the message body.

Hope that helps until the Outlook Mail extension issue is fixed!

Same issue here, in addition there is no quality option in the export process.

OS 10.10.4, Photos 1.0.1

Same issue for me. I'm using the new Outlook 2015, v. 15.12.3

No quality (i.e. size) option available when exporting, only option is to export at full size. After exporting to desktop I open the file with Preview, use Tools>Adjust Size.Then Drag&Drop into Outlook email.

Geez, this used to be so easy with iPhoto, now we're 5 steps back. Definitely not a fan of Photos, here's hoping El Capitan brings back missing functionalities!

Another workaround if you still have working version of iPhoto on your Mac:

1. In Photos select your photo, Control-click to bring up menu, choose Export to Mail
2. This opens a new email in Mail, with your photo in the body. First, use Mail's Image Size button to select size you want. Then Control-click to being up menu and select Export to iPhoto
3. This opens iPhoto and shows the photo in the Last Import folder, already sized to your preference. Now drag and drop the photo into your already-open Outlook email.

Images:

Wouldn't it be easier to simply export at the size you require (File -> Export) and then attach that?

Thanks Terence - you are absolutely right!

Your remark inspired me to go back and look at File>Export because previously I didn't see an option to select for file size as per Image-1 below. But now I've found it by clicking on the triangle icon as per Image 2 --- clever of Apple to have hidden the option so well!

Image-1:

Image-2:

Thank you SOOOO much!! After countless unsuccessful calls to the geek squad, you have solved my most annoying problem in 3 minutes!! 🙂

Cross posted from another thread about Photos and Outlook. I cross posted because this thread has great information and has been linked to from blogs and other messages, so I wanted to give my updated info on Outlook compatibility here as well:

FYI, the newest version of Outlook 2015 doesn't work with Photos either. It behaves the same way as Outlook 2011. There has been no update to the extension that prevented Outlook 2011 from working with Photos.

At this rate I doubt MS will ever update their extension to work with Photos. It appears to be the same extension that's been around since Entourage 2008.

What really stinks is that if you buy a new computer from Apple, it comes factory installed with a non-downgradable Yosemite and no iPhotos app. So, you can't use iPhoto as a workaround.

FYI, the newest version of Outlook 2015 doesn't work with Photos either. It behaves the same way as Outlook 2011. There has been no update to the extension that prevented Outlook 2011 from working with Photos.

This is incorrect:

Photo Browser working in Outlook 2015. You have an issue local to your machine.

I need to edit my original post, as I was referring to Photo's inability to attach a photo to a new Outlook message like you can with Photos and Mail. Other than dragging an image from a location on your computer into a new Outlook email, the only other way to attach an image from Photos is by using the Photo Browser, which personally I find kludgey and kind of buggy.

With iPhoto, I could find my image out of a library of hundreds of photos and right click to Share it with a new Outlook message at a chosen resolution. Very helpful when I have 200 baseball action photos that all look basically the same except for the number on the kid's jersey and the position of his bat before the ball reaches him, and a parent is looking for me to send them a shot of their kid.

Photo Browser just doesn't handle that very efficiently. In iPhoto is was as easy as finding the picture, right click and Share at a viewable but not bandwidth hogging resolution. Now with Photos I have to go through several additional steps to perform the same action, and I have no confidence that MS will ever update whatever extension made that iPhoto to Outlook share so easy.

Also, I have found that if there's a few movie files buried in the library that Outlook Photo Browser sees, depending on the format of the file, it'll crash Outlook. MTS files from AVCHD cameras tend to do this, but I've had it happen with GoPro MP4 files as well.

Very helpful when I have 200 baseball action photos that all look basically the same except for the number on the kid's jersey and the position of his bat before the ball reaches him, and a parent is looking for me to send them a shot of their kid.

Check out Lightroom. Select at any size and send the photo to Outlook from the Lightroom window.

I feel that Photos is a poor replacement for Aperture, which is no longer being developed and if I remember doesn't even install on Yosemite. I've been looking at Lightroom for a long time and will be transitioning to it sometime soon. In my opinion Photos is even less of a professional product than iPhoto, and without Aperture, Apple appears to be handing all the RAW photography business to Adobe.

Nice to know that Lightroom works with Outlook in the manner that iPhoto used to! That makes my decision to stop banging my head against the inefficiencies I find in Photos and switching to Lightroom all that easier.

I feel that Photos is a poor replacement for Aperture

It's not a replacement for Aperture and nobody at Apple said it is - though a lot of commentary speculated that it might be. In truth, Apple just got out of the "software for the pro-shooter/serious hobbyist" market. Photos is aimed squarely at the largest market segment: those shooting on iPhones and managing those image across their Macs and iOS devices. It's pretty good at that. iPhoto was never a professional product, but from the point of view of processing Raw, Photos has more tools for the job than iPhoto has.

The current version of Aperture does run on Yosemite.

why are they trying to alienate me? I am seriously concerned about what they will do next and thinking about how to get out of the apple empire. i am really annoyed. iPhotos was so much better in so many ways