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Level 1

1 points

Upgrading to El Capitan and Photos

I have a 2010 iMac running OS X 10.8.5. I am using iPhoto ’09 v.8.1.2 for a library with 28,826 photos (67 GB).

I want to upgrade to El Capitan. I bought a copy of Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual to try to prepare myself.

The author’s first step for migrating from iPhoto to Photos for Mac is to upgrade iPhoto to the latest version. The catch-22 is that 9.6.1 has disappeared from the App Store and the author says that if you haven’t upgraded iPhoto to 9.6.1 before you upgrade to OS X 10.3, iPhoto won’t open at all. My searching of this forum seems to confirm that others have had the experience of not being able to upgrade iPhoto, especially if they have never purchased an iPhoto update in the App Store—which I have not.

So that seems to mean that once I upgrade to El Capitan, I will no longer be able to use iPhoto. I can reconcile myself to that but I still need to know the best way to prepare for the upgrade in order to avoid problems.

On Oct 27, 2015 Old Toad told someone using an even older version of iPhoto than I am, “You don't need to upgrade your iPhoto if all you want to do is migrate to and use the new Photos app in El Capitan.” That is reassuring.

I know the first step is a backup. And I’ve read that iPhoto Trash as well as the Finder’s Trash should be emptied.

Is there anything else I should do?

When I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion last February, Old Toad advised me to first rebuild my iPhoto Library. Apple’s built-in tool made a mess and I used iPhoto Library Manager version 3.2.4. Is there any reason I would need to rebuild the library again?

Thanks!

Posted on Dec 1, 2015 8:19 AM

Best reply

léonie

Level 10

195,031 points

Posted on Dec 1, 2015 8:38 AM

So that seems to mean that once I upgrade to El Capitan, I will no longer be able to use iPhoto. I can reconcile myself to that but I still need to know the best way to prepare for the upgrade in order to avoid problems.

That is right. iPhoto 9.6.1 is the only version compatible with El Capitan.

But you cannot update iPhoto 8.1.2 to this version. It is not a free update but requires a purchase of iPhoto '11, and that is not possible any longer, because Apple stopped selling iPhoto from the App Store.

When I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion last February, Old Toad advised me to first rebuild my iPhoto Library. Apple’s built-in tool made a mess and I used iPhoto Library Manager version 3.2.4. Is there any reason I would need to rebuild the library again?

It would be wise to run all repairs - repair permissions, repair library, to ensure the iPhoto library has no issues. It needs to be done before you upgrade the system, because it will be impossible to run iPhoto 9.8.1 after the upgrade, if you should discover issues with the library. But make a backup copy of the library, before you repair it. This way you can easily restore the original library, if the repair should go wrong.

I know the first step is a backup.

Make a full backup -a Time machine backup or a bootable clone. Then you can restore your current system, if you should encounter problems on El Capitan. See: OS X El Capitan: Revert to a previous OS X version

Where is your iPhoto Library stored? If it is on an external drive, move it to a drive, that is formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). Otherwise the Migration to Photos will not work.

Photos does not yet support batch changing like iPhoto did. If you need to batch change titles to the date or the filename do it while you are still using iPhoto.

Finish all book projects or Calendar projects in iPhoto, because the book and Calendar templates have changed and the books might look different in Photos.

How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

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23 replies

léonie

Level 10

195,031 points

Dec 21, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Medley

Medley wrote:

Thank you. Just to be clear: you are saying that at this point, if you were me, you would do nothing more to prepare for El Capitan and Photos. Is that correct?

Just do not do the upgrade without a working backup. Better be safe than sorry. You are running Time Machine, that is good.

If you have cloning software like Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner it would be good to make a second backup by cloning your Mac to a second drive. If you have a bootable clone of your Mac when you upgrade to el Capitan, you can always but your Mac from this clone and run your software as it is now, should you encounter unexpected problems.

Medley Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 21, 2015 11:56 AM in response to léonie

Thank you. I'm afraid cloning is beyond me.

One additional question:

Over the years, I have exported all my photos from iPhoto, including the titles and descriptions, and saved them on an external hard drive. If there are problems with the migration from iPhoto to Photos for Mac and I need to load any of those exported photos into Photos for Mac, will the titles and descriptions load along with the pictures?

I have invested a lot of time in labeling my pictures and don’t want to lose that.

Thanks!

léonie

Level 10

195,031 points

Dec 21, 2015 12:16 PM in response to Medley

Photos has been designed to be able to migrate iPhoto Libraries with all metadata included. See: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

Unless something goes awfully wrong, your work should be saved.

And if you exported your photos with the option to inlcude the meta date, these photos should show the titles and descriptions and the keywords, if you import them to Photos.

Medley Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 21, 2015 12:20 PM in response to léonie

Thanks very much!

Mr.Poo

Level 1

4 points

May 15, 2016 10:17 AM in response to Medley

Hi there,

I´m using this thread, because my general questions will fit here, after reading all posts.

I today update from 10.10.3 to OS X El Capitan. After successfull upgrade and restart I recognized, that my iPhoto Library was renamed from

iPhoto Library to iPhoto Library.photolibraray and a new file called Photos Library.photoslibrary was generated with nearly the same size.

What happend to my original iPhoto Library? Was it touched somehow or just renamed?
Did it become a new file type or why did it get the new extension "iphotolibrary"?
Who generated the new Photos Library.photoslibrary ? I even didn´t fire up iPhoto nor Photos.
Does it contain exactly the same content related to photos and videos? As I read How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture it seems so.
Please note: My original iPhoto Library.photolibraray was also used by Aperture and was structured as a referenced library
Since I am not going to use the new Photos yet, I would like to know, if it is possible to regenerate the mysteriously generated Photos Library.photoslibrary (see Q3), if I would delete it now to save space?
Just as an info: I used to use my iPhoto Library with Aperture (referenced library). I now use Lightroom, which shares the same (RAW) originals, to which my referenced iPhoto/Aperture Library references. I only keep iPhoto and Aperture to be able to edit the old adjustments. Thats why it gets a little bit complicated in my head, since the new Photos is now the 4th application and I don´t know how to organize my photos and videos.

Thank you very much for your help

and best regards

MrP.

Old Toad

Level 10

207,697 points

May 15, 2016 10:39 AM in response to Mr.Poo

What happend to my original iPhoto Library? Was it touched somehow or just renamed?

When an iPhoto library is migrated to Photos you end up with two libraries:

The ".photoslibrary" file is the new library and the ".migratedphotolibrary" is the iPhoto Library. It get's it's extension renamed so Photos won't migrate it again.

Who generated the new Photos Library.photoslibrary ? I even didn´t fire up iPhoto nor Photos.

It gets generated only when Photos is run the first time. I don't know how it might have been run on your machine.

Does it contain exactly the same content related to photos and videos?

Yes. The only differences might be in project if the theme you used in iPhoto isn't available in Photos.

Since I am not going to use the new Photos yet, I would like to know, if it is possible to regenerate the mysteriously generated Photos Library.photoslibrary

Yes. But first make sure you're able to open your iPhoto library with iPhoto by double clicking on it and clicking on the Use iPhoto button from this window:

Once you get the migrated iPhoto library opened again with iPhoto you can delete the Photos library.

I don´t know how to organize my photos and videos.

You organize the photos and videos pretty much the same as in iPhoto. There are a couple of differences like Moments instead of Events. That is described in this user tip: Moments in Photos are the New Events

These user tips from Photos for Mac will help you in your transition from iPhoto to Photos:

Photos 2.0 vs iPhoto 9.6.1: Features and Capabilities

Moments in Photos are the New Events

External Editors in Photos Are Here

Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac

Photo Editing Extensions for Photos for Mac

Remember iPhoto is on it's death bed. It is no longer supported at the Apple Print Products Store and there will be no more updates to it. iPhoto 9.6.1 was the last. It's only a matter of time before iPhoto won't be compatible with the system.

With the availability of external editors in Photos it's editing capability is very strong depend on what 3rd party editors you have in your arsenal.

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

May 15, 2016 10:46 AM in response to Mr.Poo

I now use Lightroom

Simplify. Stick with that and forget the rest. Youc an import your Aperture / iPhoto Libraries to LR. Soon, a version of the OS will come along that won't run Aperture or iPgoto. If you're an Aperture/Lightroom user there is nothing in Photos for you.

Mr.Poo

Level 1

4 points

May 16, 2016 10:15 AM in response to Old Toad

Thanks OT and Terence for your help,

as well as the links from OT, which are very interesting.

At the end, I will delete the newly generated photoslibrary, because I will stick with Lightroom. I was just afraid, if somehow my original iPhoto library was touched, because I got renamed twice.

Best regards

Mr.P

Upgrading to El Capitan and Photos