how do i move photos from icloud to an external drive

from my mac and icloud

Are you using iCloud Photo Library with the new Photos.app? Do you want to stop using iCloud Photo Library?

Make sure your external drive is formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). See: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

Then drag your Photos Library from your internal drive to the external drive.

Click the copied library to open it in Photos. Then open the Photos > Preferences and click "Use as System Photo Library" to make the copy your main system library.

If you want to stop using iCloud Photo Library, see this Help page: https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.0/?lang=en#/phtf5e48489c

Stop using iCloud Photo Library

Important: If you decide to turn off iCloud Photo Library, first be sure to select “Download Originals to this Mac” in the iCloud pane of Photos preferences, so all your original photos can be downloaded from iCloud to your Mac. Be sure to allow time for your originals to download before turning off iCloud Photo Library completely.

1. Choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud.
2. Deselect the iCloud Photo Library checkbox to turn it off.

After you turn off iCloud Photo Library, the Photos app on your Mac can’t access your iCloud library, and any edits you make to photos on your Mac won’t appear on your other devices. Your library remains in iCloud and available to other devices that use iCloud Photo Library. To turn off iCloud Photo Library on all your devices, open the iCloud pane of System Preferences, click the Manage button, then click Photo Library. Click “Disable and delete.” Your photos and videos will be deleted from iCloud Photo Library in 30 days, unless you click Undo Delete before that time.