iPhoto and Photos

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Level 1

8 points

iPhoto and Photos

After I upgraded to El Capitan, Photos was installed automatically. How does this compare to iPhoto? Is it an upgrade? Does it work in conjunction with iPhoto?

When I connect my iPhone next time, do the photos still go into iPhoto?

As above, when it asked me to choose my library and import during the first start-up, does it mean it COPIED my entire iPhoto library, thus in effect taking twice as much the storage space?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Nov 20, 2015 8:24 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 20, 2015 8:40 PM in response to tigerustin

Here is a great user tip from Community member Old Toad that should provide some insight:

Photos 1.2 vs iPhoto 9.6.1: Features and Capabilities

Also, if you open the Photos app and click on Help in the top menu, you will find a lot of info as well as a tutorial that may help.

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 2

tigerustin Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 21, 2015 1:32 AM in response to gail from maine

Still two questions: When I connect my iPhone next time, do the photos still go into iPhoto? When it asked me to choose my library and import during the first start-up, does it mean it COPIED my entire iPhoto library, thus in effect taking twice as much the storage space?

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Answer 3

Nov 21, 2015 8:21 PM in response to tigerustin

No, it is not taking up twice the space. For the photos that were migrated from your iPhoto library, it just creates links:

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

As far as the app that does the importing, check both apps on the Mac and make sure that you have them set up so that the app you want to do the importing is the one selected:

If you want them to be automatically imported to iPhoto go to iPhoto on the top menu bar then Preferences>General>Connecting Camera Opens, and select iPhoto

If you want them to be imported to Photos, go to Photo on the top menu bar, then Preferences>General>Importing: Copy items to Photos Library checked

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 4

tigerustin Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 21, 2015 8:22 PM in response to gail from maine

Last clarifying questions: If I choose to use Photos now, does iPhoto still has any use whatsoever? Is it okay for me to uninstall it?

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Answer 5

Nov 21, 2015 9:49 PM in response to tigerustin

That is entirely up to you, but once you uninstall it, not sure the app will still be available to you later.

I have Photos, iPhoto, and Aperture running on my Mac. Sometimes I want to use Photo for what I'm doing, sometimes I want to use one of the other apps. Since you can display your entire camera roll on either Photos or iPhoto on the Import window, you can selectively choose particular photos to import on the App you do not use as your "Primary".

I did find that recently (not sure if it was when I went to El Cap, or later) I can no longer have my Photo Stream and Shared Photo Streams set up in Preferences for both Photos and iPhoto, and if you have it set up on iCloud, it now defaults to Photos. Just worth a mention.

I believe that our resident Photo experts say that if you want to delete the iPhoto app and the iPhoto library from your Mac, to be sure that you really want to do that, and to also be sure to make a backup to Time Machine before doing that because reverting once you have made the leap is extremely difficult.

Cheers 🙂

GB

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