How to revert back to an older version of iPhoto

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Level 2

230 points

How to revert back to an older version of iPhoto

I have an older Mac containing a Snow Leopard partition with a number of iPhoto Libraries, version 5. I installed iPhoto 6 on this partition and it did a terrible job of upgrading the first iPhoto Library that I opened.

Unfortunately, iPhoto 5 will no longer run even though it still exists on this partition.( I find that to be strange because on a different Mac I have 2 different, later versions of iPhoto co-existing nicely.)

Question: How do I uninstall iPhoto 6 so that I can continue to run iPhoto 5 when booted into the Snow Leopard partiton?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), iPhone 5

Posted on Jul 7, 2015 11:48 AM

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Answer 1

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Old Toad

Level 10

207,439 points

Jul 7, 2015 11:57 AM in response to Ralphjh

it did a terrible job of upgrading the first iPhoto Library that I opened.

Have you tried running the First Aid routines on that library by launching iPhoto with the Option+Command keys held down?

To revert back to the earlier library just restore that library from your Time Machine backup (or other type of backup) made before you ran iPhoto 6 the first time.

If you don't have a backup of that library you'll have to downgrade that library to iPhoto 5 by following this iPhoto Library Manager tutorial: Can I use iPhoto Library Manager to "downgrade" my library to an older version of iPhoto?.

To get iPhoto 6 out of the picture just delete it. Or you can compress it to save it for later and delete the uncompressed version.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,743 points

Jul 7, 2015 12:05 PM in response to Ralphjh

With Snow Leopard you should or could be using iPhoto '11, version 9.2.3 or 9.2.4.

Your iPhoto 5 version might be a version with Powe rPC code. In that case it will only run on SnowLeapord, if you installed the Rosetta environment to emulate PowerPC code. Can to be that you did not include Rosetta, when you installed the system in your Snow Leopard partition? It is optional and not automatically included, when you install the system.

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Answer 3

Ralphjh Author

Level 2

230 points

Jul 7, 2015 12:21 PM in response to Old Toad

Problem partially solved:

I trashed the iPhoto 6 app file and the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file and that seemed to do the trick. I can now run iPhoto 5 on this partition.

The question remains as to why iPhoto 6 did not do an acceptabel job of upgrading an iPhoto Library. The result was numerous duplicate photos. Many were portraits before and after rotation which leads me to believe that it was combining Originals and Modified photos together.

I did have a backup, no problem.

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Answer 4

Ralphjh Author

Level 2

230 points

Jul 7, 2015 12:39 PM in response to léonie

Hi léonie, thanks for the input.

iPhoto 5 is a PPC app and it runs fine on the Snow Leopard partition, so I must have Rosetta installed. I have my reasons for not upgrading the iPhoto libraries on this partition but it would be nice to be able to open them on a later OS, thereby my attempt to try iPhoto 6 which is a Universal app. Much to my surprise, iPhoto 6 would not open without upgrading the file.

Regarding the use of later versions of iPhoto, I do have both iPhoto 8 and iPhoto 9 co-existing nicely on a later MacBook Pro running Mavericks. I do not like the change in interface from version 8 to version 9. One of these days, something is going to have to give because of Apple no longer supporting iPhoto. So far, the new Photos app is not the answer due to reported limitations, such as no external processing. I may have to look at 3rd party apps such as Lightroom.

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

194,743 points

Jul 7, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Ralphjh

One of these days, something is going to have to give because of Apple no longer supporting iPhoto. So far, the new Photos app is not the answer due to reported limitations, such as no external processing. I may have to look at 3rd party apps such as Lightroom.

Apple is still supporting iPhoto, but no longer developing it.

If you are planning to upgrade to Yosemite or or later versions at some point, it would be a good idea to create a Yosemite partition as well, to be able to secure a copy of iPhoto 9.6.1, This is the only version that is compatible with MacOS X 10.10.3 or later. This will ensure, that you will be able to open iPhoto Libraries on newer systems if need be, even if you migrate to Lighteroom or Capture One, or similar.

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Answer 6

Ralphjh Author

Level 2

230 points

Jul 7, 2015 3:58 PM in response to léonie

Hi, Thanks again.

léonie wrote:

If you are planning to upgrade to Yosemite or or later versions at some point, it would be a good idea to create a Yosemite partition as well, to be able to secure a copy of iPhoto 9.6.1, This is the only version that is compatible with MacOS X 10.10.3 or later. This will ensure, that you will be able to open iPhoto Libraries on newer systems if need be, even if you migrate to Lighteroom or Capture One, or similar.

I do have a Yosemite partition but it does not contain a copy of iPhoto. My Mavericks partition does have iPhoto 9.5.1. The App store shows that I have downloaded a copy of iPhoto but it won't let me upgrade it, whether booted into Mavericks or Yosemite.

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