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Can't copy and paste individual photos?

I'm used to being able to simply copy a photo and paste it wherever I want. Now it seems I can not do that in Photos, I have to "share" the photo, which eliminates some functionality. The reasons are not important and not what I want to debate. I just cant believe this isn't included in the basic functions of Photos.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 6, 2015 1:00 PM

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31 replies

Aug 6, 2015 3:29 PM in response to MadWyn0333

You can also drag a photo from the Photos/Moments/Collections window into any album in the sidebar or from any album in the sidebar to another album.


However, there are no Events in Photos so that sort of drag and drop isn't possible.


Moments in Photos are the new Events, i.e. groupings of photos sorted by date taken.


When the iPhoto Library was first migrated to Photos there is a folder created in the sidebar titled iPhoto Events and all migrated iPhoto Events (which are now Moments) are represented by an album in that folder. To open the sidebar if it's not already open use the Option+Command+S key combination.


NOTE: It's been reported by several users that if the Event albums are moved out of the iPhoto Library folder in the sidebar they may disappear. It's not widespread but several users have reported that issue. Therefore, if you want to assure that you keep those Event albums don't move them outside the iPhoto Events folder.


There's a way to simulate events in Photos.

When new photos are imported into the Photos library go to the Last Import smart album, select all the photos and use the File New Album menu option or use the key combination Command+N. Name it as desired. It will appear just above the iPhoto Events folder where you can drag it into the iPhoto Events folder


When you click on the iPhoto Events folder you'll get a simulated iPhoto Events window.

The downside to the simulation is that the Albums/Events can only be sorted automatically by Title. But they can also be sorted manually, either in the sidebar or in the folder's window at the right. This will change with the release of Photos 2 with El Capitan this fall. That will allow the sorting by date or title, ascending or descending.


Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via Apple-Photos Feedback.

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Nov 30, 2015 6:45 PM in response to MadWyn0333

This thread is amazing to me. For the past 20+ years cut & paste has been a staple in the MacOS arsenal. Now I find it necessary, as do many to jump through hoops to simply get a photo to appear in a Powerpoint document. Utilizing A Mac Air/OS X 10.11.1, with Powerpoint for the Mac 2011 v14.4.8 it is no longer possible to accomplish through the insert feature as before, "Photo" is not visible and an attempt to load the media photo file simply spins endlessly. The only work around is to export the photo to a file folder and they upload it to Powerpoint. Has anyone had better luck?

Mar 17, 2016 4:01 AM in response to threeleggeddog

Potos is part of MacOS X, not a stand-alone application.

System upgrades make older applications incompatible, that have been built for and compiled for system services that are no longer supported. if you need to use older application versions don't upgrade to new MacOS X versions, that are incompatible with your application.

Most changes in Yosemite and El Capitan are very radical. Starting with MacOs X Yosemite Apple has changed the ways how applications communicate and interact. It is part of the new security features. There would be no point to leave loopholes for older applications that cannot adopt the new security protocols.

Apr 30, 2016 10:14 PM in response to MadWyn0333

I discovered this thread trying to solve the same problem. I wanted to add a photo from "photos" to Facebook from within the Facebook menu and would not allow a selection from Photos. It would allow a selection from "pictures" though but all my camera pictures are automatically transferred to Photos. I tried to share a picture from photos to Facebook but when I selected Facebook from the share options it jus simply closed the menu without sharing.


I am starting to think the solution is to go back to my windows computor where their programmers had enough sense to leave cut /copy and paste. Seems Windows photo system is a lot easier to use.

Bob.

May 30, 2016 9:57 PM in response to Bob Bates

I also share same frustration with new Apple products. I miss old iMAC. I have been upgrading to the latest of the latest Apple products and now I find out that I cannot perform all simple operations that made Apple superior as now they are not available in MacBook Pro, El Capitan etc. I cannot copy and paste a picture out of Time Capsule into MacBook Pro desktop or photo. I found the hard way that photos in my old versions of iPhone were not saved in the computer when backing the phone and now I wish I had not given away old phones and saved them for its photos. Library Pictures did not have pictures as I thought they would be there. The Time Capsule and photo are too slow to retrieve and watch photos, I have big memory but it seems to lack horsepower. I doubt Steve Jobs would have allowed these inconveniences in Apple products.

Nov 4, 2016 3:32 PM in response to MadWyn0333

Sorry to necro this thread, but I just ran into this problem and it's hilarious and disgraceful behavior from Photos.


Found a Photo I liked in Photos. Went up to the Edit menu and hit Copy

Opened Photoshop and hit Paste. Nothing happened.

Went into Slack and hit Paste. Nothing happened.

Went into Outlook and hit Paste. Nothing happened.

Went into Messages which is an actual Apple product and hit Paste. In the chat box, an item appeared that said "stale_thumb_2". No picture.


Awesome job, Apple. Really, really fantastic.


In the end I used Control-Shift-Option 4 to take a SCREENSHOT of the Photo in Photos and then I could paste it anywhere.

Nov 4, 2016 4:29 PM in response to plochner

Don't blame Photos for your problems. All you needed to do is export the original file out of the library to the Desktop according to this user tip:How to Access Files in iPhoto (it is applicable to Photos also). The open it with Photoshop and do your thing.


Or, purchase this 99¢ app from Apple's App Store, External Editors For Photos, and use Photoshop from within the Photos library.


As for Facebook if you have your Facebook account activated in the System/Internet accounts preference pane

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you can then select the photo in Photos and use the Share menu:

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There's no FB in the screenshot as I don't have a FB account.

Can't copy and paste individual photos?

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