How can I get Yosemite's Library.photoslibrary file to open in Mavericks

Question

Apple Jack Author

Level 2

279 points

How can I get Yosemite's Library.photoslibrary file to open in Mavericks

Hi!

I’ve downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks, and I'm in the process of moving my files to Mavericks.

I’m having a problem opening Photo’s Library.photoslibrary file to Mavericks.

This is what I’ve tried:

From iLife 11. Installed iPhoto and updated it to ver 9.4.3. Copied Library.photoslibrary to Mavericks.

Could not open library.

Suggested from a how-to website. Go to the App Store and download (from “Purchased” files) iPhoto. The version there was 9.5.1. Tried that with the same result, would not open the Photos Library.photoslibrary file on Mavericks.

Would appreciate any help on how I can access/use the Yosemite photoslibrary on Mavericks.

Thanks for any help!

AJ

iMac (24-inch Early 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Dec 6, 2015 11:27 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Dec 6, 2015 12:21 PM in response to Apple Jack

Photos is a completely different application, and I know of no tool at all to open a Photos library in Mavericks. Photos can open iPhoto Libraries, but not the other way round.

Do you have a backup of your iPhoto Library from before the migration to Yosemite?

Then restore this backup and try to extract the photo you imported to Photos after the upgrade to Yosemite.

You can extract the imported original image files from your Photos library. Ctrl-click it, use the command "Show Package Contents", then open the folder Masters. You will find your most recently imported photos in the subfolder "2015".

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Dec 6, 2015 11:36 AM in response to Apple Jack

Which version of iPhoto did you use last to open the library?

iPhoto cannot downgrade a library, but you could use iPhoto Library Manager to downgrade the library, see this Help page: http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Help/downgrading%20a%20library%20to%20an%20ea rlier%20version%20of%20iphoto.html

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Answer 3

Apple Jack Author

Level 2

279 points

Dec 6, 2015 12:12 PM in response to léonie

About four months ago I upgrade from Mavericks to Yosemite. Then upgraded iPhoto to Photos ver 1.0.1. I'm not sure what version of iPhoto I had before the upgrade to Yosemite's "Photo" app.

I'm trying to open the Yosemite's Photo Library.photoslibrary file in Mavericks.

AJ

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Answer 4

Apple Jack Author

Level 2

279 points

Dec 8, 2015 12:07 PM in response to léonie

Thanks Ieonie! I dragged the master folder to a new library on Mavericks. All my photos imported, just that they are not in their albums any longer.

However I have all my pics in Mavericks now which is fine.

AJ

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Dec 8, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Apple Jack

You're welcome. I'm glad you got your photos back. 🙂

Yes, Photos reserves the original photos in the Masters folder, so they can be recovered. That is the most important part. But all the work invested in creating the library and tagging the photos is lost when downgrading.

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