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Transferring folders of photos from PC to MAC

I have over 10 years of photos on my PC all organised into folders and sub folders....thousands of photos! I have tried to import them into iPhoto but they all import in date order - I have tried many times to try and import them in the same format namely in folders and sub folders. Is this possible?

Many thanks

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 2:27 AM

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2 replies

Aug 31, 2015 3:59 AM in response to mandy_b

Couple of things:


1. You don't have to use iPhoto (nor, indeed, any app), you can just use folders in the file manager as you always have done.


2. If you are going to use iPhoto (or it's successor, Photos.app) then there is a learning curve. On the upside, these apps are a lot more flexible in terms of the organisational tools they provide, on the other hand you need to work within their structures.


When you import items to iPhoto they are automatically imported into Events. (An Event is really just a folder with a fancy icon), and Events are date based. For more fine-grained organisation iPhoto uses Albums, Smart Albums and other tools like Keywords.


How are your folders organised? By date? by name of the occasion? What's the logic behind the system you use? If you can tell us that we might explain some of the ways to leverage iPhoto to mimic what you are used to.

Aug 31, 2015 10:13 AM in response to mandy_b

It sounds like your using Photos that came with Yosemite (10.10.5) instead of iPhoto. Is that correct? If so then the following will be relevant to you:


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


Since you're not migrating from an iPhoto library the first sentence below is not relevant. The text in the quote box below is particularly relevant.


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 a folder that you create to simulate the Events view.

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When you click on that 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 wha new features you'd like added in Photos via https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html.



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Transferring folders of photos from PC to MAC

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