Q: Can I delete Photos and Start fresh?
I would like to delete all the photos on my Mac Air (Yosemite) as part of a clean up. All my pictures are in iCloud (full resolution sync'd with iPhone 6) If I delete all the libraries can I start fresh with my creating a new one and import from iCloud? A lot of the photos originated from iPhoto, HDD, etc. I just want to make sure that the albums, quality, etc import back onto my mac.
My current libraries include iPhotos, Photos, and a few file folders stored on the hard drive. All photos have been successfully uploaded into the cloud.
MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), iPhone 6 and iPad Air iOS 8
Posted on May 13, 2015 9:04 PM
All my pictures are in iCloud (full resolution sync'd with iPhone 6)
How are you using iCloud on your iPhone? With My Photo Stream or iCloud Photo Library? The quality of the photos in iCloud will depend on how the photos got to your iPhone.
Is your Mac currently syncing with iCloud Photo Library? Have you upgraded to MacOS X 10.10.3 on your Mac (your profile signature says 10.10.2, which does not support Photos and iCloud Photo Library)?
If you are using MacOS X 10.10.3, you can sync your iCloud Photo Library like this:
- Make a full backup of your Macbook air as it is now.
- Create a new Photos Library on your Mac - simply launch Photos while holding down the alt/options key and select to create a new library.
- Enable this library as the new System Photo library in the Photos Preferences > General - Use as System Photo Library.
- Enable this library in the Photos Preferences > iCloud as iCloud Photo Library. Enable "Download originals on this Mac".
- Wait for the items to download. Check the available storage. If you are running out of storage, relocate your old photo libraries to external drives, but don't delete any of the photos on your Mac completely, before you are sure, what synced back from iCloud.
This document explains, what will sync back from iCloud to a Mac: Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support
Once you are sure, that all your photos synced back from iCloud, you can delete the original versions on your Mac. But check the pixel sizes carefully. before you do that
- Photos you have taken with your iPhone and synced to iCloud will have kept their original pixel size.
- Photos you have taken with a different camera and streamed to the iPhone with My Photo stream may have been stored on theiPhone in a lesser quality and consequently will now be in iCloud with a lesser quality than on your Mac. Compare carefully the pixel sizes on your iPhone in the Info panel) to the pixel sizes in your original photo libraries on your Mac.
Posted on May 14, 2015 12:08 AM