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Robert D. Wines

Q: add text to photos in Apple potos

how does one add text to photos. Also lines and arrows. Could previously do with Photoshop elements

 

Bob Wines

iBook (10.2.8)(Powerbook (Mac OS10.5)

Posted on Nov 13, 2015 6:34 PM

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Q: add text to photos in Apple potos

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  • by davidneale1,

    davidneale1 davidneale1 Nov 14, 2015 5:48 AM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 1 (83 points)
    Nov 14, 2015 5:48 AM in response to Robert D. Wines

    Preview will do that nicely.

  • by Robert D. Wines,

    Robert D. Wines Robert D. Wines Nov 14, 2015 2:12 PM in response to davidneale1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 14, 2015 2:12 PM in response to davidneale1

    I was thinking more of doing multiple labelling in photos

     

    Bob Wines

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Nov 15, 2015 11:35 PM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 15, 2015 11:35 PM in response to Robert D. Wines

    You'll have to do what you want outside of Photos with a 3rd party image editor.


    Some Image Editors That Support Text and Layers:


    Photoshop Elements 11 for Mac - $79

    GraphicConverter - $40
    Rainbow Painter - $30

    Affinity Photos - $50

    FX Photo Studio - $30

    Inpaint - $20
    Imagerie - $38
    Acorn - $50

    Pixelmator - $60

    Seashore - Free

    GIMP for Mac - Free

     

    OTsig.png

  • by Robert D. Wines,

    Robert D. Wines Robert D. Wines Nov 14, 2015 4:08 PM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 14, 2015 4:08 PM in response to Robert D. Wines

    It's pretty hopeless when a so called "advance"to "Photos"  does not provide the capabilities available in iPhoto. To me the great advantage of iPhoto was the ability to batch label photos and process them ,especially easily add text and arrows with Photoshop elements as the Editing software. It would appear the software  designers of "Photos" have little idea of the practicalities  and needs of the everyday amateur photographer !!

    The instructions provided with "Photos" are inadequate probably because the product itself is so poor !! The is no helpful advice on the addition of extensions, whatever they may be, which appears at the bottom of the Edit list.

     

    Naming the product "Photos" is also problematical as attempting to get assistance on the internet one is bombarded with irrelevant items such as photoshop. Surely apple and it's gurus could have come up with a more distictive name !!

     

    Bob Wines

  • by davidneale1,Apple recommended

    davidneale1 davidneale1 Nov 15, 2015 5:39 PM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 1 (83 points)
    Nov 15, 2015 5:39 PM in response to Robert D. Wines

    Well, do you mean labelling or adding text?

     

    To add text, i.e. to place text on a photo so that it is visible as part of the photo, you need an external editor, and Preview (free and already installed with OS X) will do that for you.

     

    To add a label, such as a title, a description, a keyword… you can do this very easily to one or a whole batch of photos in Photos. Just select the photo(s) you wish to edit and, in the Info window, enter the required information (if the Info window isn't showing, use menu Window>Info or Cmd-i, or right-click Get Info, or…).

     

    I agree that Photos is a badly-chosen name.

  • by Robert D. Wines,

    Robert D. Wines Robert D. Wines Nov 15, 2015 5:41 PM in response to davidneale1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 15, 2015 5:41 PM in response to davidneale1

    thanks . I'm surprised the Bulk labelling is not mentioned in the Help of Photos. You've solved my main problem. Much appreciated.

     

    Bob Wines

  • by davidneale1,Apple recommended

    davidneale1 davidneale1 Nov 16, 2015 2:22 AM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 1 (83 points)
    Nov 16, 2015 2:22 AM in response to Robert D. Wines

    Good.

     

    Then there's the "lines and arrows" part of your original question. Sorry, forgot about that, but no problem: again, Preview can do this easily. Lines, arrows, different colours, different thicknesses… Just click on the toolbox icon in the toolbar of Preview to get all sorts of interesting stuff.

  • by Robert D. Wines,

    Robert D. Wines Robert D. Wines Nov 16, 2015 4:31 AM in response to davidneale1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 16, 2015 4:31 AM in response to davidneale1

    David,

     

    (I presume you're not the Urological David Neale UK  )

     

    Thanks once again. Is it possible to access Preview from within apple Photos or do we have to drag the photo onto the desktop to make changes

     

    Bob Wines

  • by davidneale1,

    davidneale1 davidneale1 Nov 16, 2015 8:41 AM in response to Robert D. Wines
    Level 1 (83 points)
    Nov 16, 2015 8:41 AM in response to Robert D. Wines

    Nope, nothing to do with urology; that's a David Neal, without the final "e".

     

    Normally, you should be able to edit photos in the Photos library directly from Preview. The Open File menu allows you to select photos from the Media section and they open in Preview fine. You can then even work on them, but the problem comes when you (or at least I) try to save them back: the Save command has no effect and closing the window (which should save automatically) causes a spinning beachball and an "Application not responding". For the moment, then, it seems that the way to go is via intermediate storage, such as you suggest. Might be worth you testing it, though, as it might just be that there's a glitch in my setup. In any case, I shall report a bug to Apple.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Nov 18, 2015 8:21 AM in response to davidneale1
    Level 10 (84,585 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 18, 2015 8:21 AM in response to davidneale1
    Normally, you should be able to edit photos in the Photos library directly from Preview.

    Not at all - you can get a photo and edit it in preview but you can not return it to the photos library except to save to the desktop and then imported the edited photos into Photos giving you two copies (the original and the edited version)

     

    You can not ever make any changes of any sort to the structure or content of the Photos library using external programs - you can only edit photos in the Photo library using Photos or programs purchased from the App store that have Photos extensions available

     

    For the moment, then, it seems that the way to go is via intermediate storage, such as you suggest. Might be worth you testing it, though, as it might just be that there's a glitch in my setup. In any case, I shall report a bug to Apple.

    As noted above the only way is using intermediate storage and that is not a glitch in your set up or bug - it is the way database programs work - in fact most programs - you do not change the contents of a Word document using external software, of an excel spread sheet using external software, of your contacts using an external program - and you do not change the contents of Photos library using any external program


    LN

  • by davidneale1,

    davidneale1 davidneale1 Nov 19, 2015 3:32 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (83 points)
    Nov 19, 2015 3:32 AM in response to LarryHN

    Quite correct, LarryNH. However, Preview offers the possibility to Save the edited image from Photos (menu item Save black and active) and also allows the window's red close button to be used (which in Preview creates a Save action), so there is clearly something wrong with the interface design. The user should not have to know that the Save menu may not be used, or that the window close button may not be used: if this is the case, they should not be active. In the worst case, a warning message should be displayed, informing the user that the changes cannot be saved in that manner, but to end with a hanging program is just incorrect.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Nov 19, 2015 4:15 AM in response to davidneale1
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Nov 19, 2015 4:15 AM in response to davidneale1

    That is indeed a problem.

     

    When I open a photo in Preview from the Media Browser and select a photo from my iCloud Photo Library in Photos,  the Media browser will pass apreview file stored inside the Photos Library to Photos and not a copy of the preview.

     

    The Save button is active, but causes Preview to hang.

     

    This screenshot is showing the path to the file, that is passed to Preview: The model resources folder in the Photos Library.

    Screen Shot 2015-11-19 at 13.03.38GMT.png

     

    That is the same path, where the Photo Editing extensions are returning their edit results to Photos, but Photos cannot write to this directory and will hang.

     

    What works, is to use "File > Duplicate", once the photo has been opened and to save the duplicate to a different folder.