Fitzkun

Q: How do I, if possible, revert a photos library back to an iphoto library?

I migrated my iPhoto library to a photos library (the new 10.3 app). The new app for some reason does not work on my iMac. It frequently crashes upon running it and if it runs will not show my photos. Actually, sometimes it shows the thumbnails of some of my photos but if I try to view the actual photo it either crashes or nothing happen and then the thumbnail will disappear never to return. because of this I have gone back to iPhoto (had to re-download). After migrating to photos I made the mistake of deleting my iPhoto library. When I ran iPhoto for the first time after re-downloading it it did not give me the option to use the photos app library as my new iPhoto library (makes sense), so I tried to import the photos back in but it said I didn't have enough space on my hard drive. This makes me think it wanted to copy (duplicate) the photos in the photos library even though the .photolibrary is just a list of hard links to the actual picture file. My question is, how can I somehow get iPhoto to reference the photos  library so that I can access my images again in iPhoto? Can I convert the photo library to an iPhoto library or just get rid of the photos library and recreate a new iPhoto library with my images? Thank you.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 5, 2015 9:32 PM

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Q: How do I, if possible, revert a photos library back to an iphoto library?

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  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 9:35 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 9:35 PM in response to Fitzkun

    II'm actually running osx 10.10.4

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 5, 2015 9:48 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 5, 2015 9:48 PM in response to Fitzkun

    Do you have a Time Machine backup of your iPhoto Library that you can restore? I have provided three links below. One has a post by LarryHN (last post on the page) which indicates that restoring a deleted iPhoto Library is almost impossible, so getting it from a backup is probably your best bet.

     

    The second is a link to an Apple Support article that explains how Photos uses the iPhoto Library rather than duplicating it, so you really didn't need to remove it to begin with.

     

    The third one is a general info article on Photos.

     

    Can I delete my iPhoto Library after migrating to Photos?

     

    Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

     

    Get started with Photos for OS X - Apple Support

     

    Best of luck,

     

    GB

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 5, 2015 10:05 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 10 (84,585 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 5, 2015 10:05 PM in response to Fitzkun

    You can not revert

     

    If you had not deleted your iPhoto library you could simply launch iPhoto

     

    Now you choices are to restore a backup of the iphoto library or fix your photos problems  (Photos works just fine so you can to this if you post specific questions)

     

    LN

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 5, 2015 10:07 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 5, 2015 10:07 PM in response to LarryHN

    Thanks Larry. I was hoping you would see this and pop in!

     

    GB

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 10:19 PM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 10:19 PM in response to gail from maine

    thank you for the reply. Yeah, the only reason I deleted it was in despair after trying everything to get photos to work. I eventually took my machine into  the Apple Store and they had no clue either as to why it wouldn't run.  Re-installed the os and the update to 10.10.4 thinking the original update to 10.10.3 was corrup perhaps but to no avail. to answer your question I'm not sure if I backed it up with timemachine I did do a backup but not sure if it was before or after I deleted the library. I'd like to simply just go to the folder with all my images/photos and just create a new library. Seems strait forward enough. As well I'm feeling superstitious about restoring anything before i reinstalled the os this last time. Lol.

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 10:32 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 10:32 PM in response to LarryHN

    thanks for replying. Photos may work jus fine for most but on my machine it did not. It crashed almost every single time. Could not access images, again would show thumbnails sometimes and then often crash or just spin its wheels or if not, once I clicked a thumbnail it would go to some limbo world of nothing, would have to soft shut down and then if I got back in the thumbnail I selected would be gone as well as other strange behavior And in general just making my machine run whacky. Also again I took it in to the apple store and they were equally baffled after also telling me initially tha photos works fine.

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 10:41 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 10:41 PM in response to Fitzkun

    AAlso after re installing iPhoto I created a new library and uploaded recent photos from my iPhone and that operation worked fine. Can view, edit, share just like old times. I just can't access al the previous photos on my hard drive.

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 10:47 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 10:47 PM in response to Fitzkun

    Let me ask this. If I were to delete my photos library, which from what everyone is saying is just a group of hard links and not the actual photos on my hard drive, then even though technically all my photos would still be on my machine I would not ever be able to access them because the hard links were deleted?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Aug 5, 2015 10:50 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Aug 5, 2015 10:50 PM in response to Fitzkun
    I just can't access al the previous photos on my hard drive.

    There is no way to use a Photos Library as an iPhoto Library.

    Open the Photos Library in Photos and export the Photos to folders on your Desktop.  You can select all Photos in the "All Photos" view in Photos and then use the command "File > Export > Export ... versions".

     

    Then import the folder with the exported photos into iPhoto.

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 5, 2015 10:59 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 10:59 PM in response to léonie

    Thank you for the reply. I am aware that one cannot use a photos library with iPhoto. Your solution would probably work if photos would run properly on my machine but alas it does not. Nothing but crashes and of late the photos window dosnt even come up even after running the app.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Aug 5, 2015 11:10 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Aug 5, 2015 11:10 PM in response to Fitzkun
    Thank you for the reply. I am aware that one cannot use a photos library with iPhoto.

    And you cannot downgrade a Photos library to an iPhoto Library  If Photos is not working on your Mac you need to fix this first, even if you do not want to use Photos.  Photos is  a part of MacOS X 10.10.3 or later, and if it is not working, it is a bad sign that there is a problem with your current system installation.

     

    Possible reasons you should check:

     

    • Do you have enough free storage on your Mac? At least 20GB of storage?
    • Where is your Photos Library stored?  On an external drive or in your Picures folder?
    • Are you using iCloud Photo Library with Photos? If the Photos are in icloud and not stored locally, it will be difficult to access the photos without Photos.
    • What does the crash report show?
  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 6, 2015 8:04 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2015 8:04 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks again léonie. I agree that something is wrong with the installation. I do have the required memory, the library is on the local drive, I am not using iCloud photo library and I don't recall what the crash report said (even the apple people couldn't make heads or tails of it). I have not reopened photos since reinstalling iPhoto. Which by the way works just fine with new images I've uploadded. I would just like to locate my images on my drive and access them using iPhoto, to **** with photos(app)! LOL is that so much to ask?(rhetorica) have to export to desktop then re import seems the long way round, seeing that my images are already on the drive I want to access them on through iPhoto. cheers.

  • by Fitzkun,

    Fitzkun Fitzkun Aug 6, 2015 8:05 AM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2015 8:05 AM in response to Fitzkun

    Oh, as well I have reinstalled the OS

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 6, 2015 8:42 AM in response to Fitzkun
    Level 10 (84,585 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 6, 2015 8:42 AM in response to Fitzkun
    I would just like to locate my images on my drive and access them using iPhoto, to **** with photos(app)! LOL is that so much to ask?

    You decided to to trash the iphoto library which is the only reason this is difficult - for 99.9999% of the people you do not trash important parts of their system there is no problem

     

    Since you (no one else, not Apple, not anyone here - you) trashed you iPhoto libarary you now have a difficult time going back

     

    You have been given several paths and you keep cursing and rejecting them

     

     

    Now you choices are to restore a backup of the iphoto library or fix your photos problems  (Photos works just fine so you can to this if you post specific questions)

    or start over from scratch

     

    You made you bed - now you have to lie in it

     

     

     

    LN

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