sburech

Q: Using iPhoto and Photos together

Is there anyway to use iPhoto and Photos together until I get used to the Photos interface?

Posted on Jan 6, 2016 12:31 PM

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Q: Using iPhoto and Photos together

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  • by léonie,Apple recommended

    léonie léonie Jan 6, 2016 1:21 PM in response to sburech
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Jan 6, 2016 1:21 PM in response to sburech

    Both, iPhoto 9.6.1 and Photos are working on El Capitan.  You can have both applications open at the same time.

    Only, both applications have a different format for the photo libraries, so each of them will use a separate photo library.  If you edit photos in iPhoto, the edits will not appear in the Photos library and vice versa.

    You could use iPhoto and its library as your main Photo library, and import the new photos ti iPhoto, while exploring Photos.  Once you are confident that Photos will suffice for your needs, open the iPhoto Library in Photos and create a new Photos library from it.  Then start using Photos as your main photo application.

  • by sburech,

    sburech sburech Jan 7, 2016 8:38 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 7, 2016 8:38 AM in response to léonie

    How can I keep my existing 14,000 photos on iPhoto and put any new ones into Photos?  How do I do that? If I like Photos can I merge my iPhotos into it?  Also, why am I getting two huge photo libraries in my Pictures folder.  Do I need both? Screen Shot 2016-01-06 at 10.43.36 PM.png

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Jan 7, 2016 9:17 AM in response to sburech
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Jan 7, 2016 9:17 AM in response to sburech

    See this support document:   Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

     

    When you opened the iPhoto Library in Photos, a new library has been created by Photos, formatted for Photos.   This new library has nearly the same size as the original iPhoto Library. but the images in the new library have been created as hard linked files.  They are sharing the disk space with the originals in iPhoto. So both libraries together do not need much more storage than one of them.  If you delete either of these libraries, you will not free much storage.

     

    I'd keep the iPhoto Library until you are ready to abandon iPhoto.

     

    How can I keep my existing 14,000 photos on iPhoto and put any new ones into Photos?  How do I do that? If I like Photos can I merge my iPhotos into it?  Also, why am I getting two huge photo libraries in my Pictures folder.  Do I need both?

    Looking at your screenshot, you have already migrated the iPhoto Library to Photos, and all your older photos are available both in iPhoto and Photos. But if you import new photos they will only be added to one of the libraries, depending on the application you use for importing them.

    Photos cannot merge libraries.  If you want to import new photos you have to make up your mind, if you want them in the iPhoto Library or the Photos Library.

    if you continue to import into iPhoto, you will have a full iPhoto library. And when you decide to switch from iPhoto to Photos you can delete the the current Photos Library you are using for testing, then open the iPhoto Library in Photos and migrate it again.

  • by sburech,

    sburech sburech Jan 7, 2016 1:04 PM in response to sburech
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 7, 2016 1:04 PM in response to sburech

    So as I understand it, I just press "Get Started" in Photos to play around with all the photos that were migrated last August without effecting anything that I am doing with iPhoto.  If I get to like Photos I just delete the Photos library.  You then said to "migrate" my iPhoto library to Photos.  How do I do that?  Will I still have two libraries? Should I then delete the iPhoto library (or store it somewhere)?  Presently any pictures taken with my cell phone load to iPhoto as do any pictures I have on my camera's flash card.  Do I have to change something if I like Photos and want them to download in Photos?  Will Photos will pick up all the metadata I have placed on my Photos (Faces, keywords, locations, titles, descriptions)?  What about the video clips I have in iPhoto, will it pick those up as well?  Will it pick up all my albums, smart of otherwise?  Sorry for all these questions, but I am extremely nervous about transitioning a lifetime of memories that I have spent hundreds of hours organizing and commenting up.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 7, 2016 1:25 PM in response to sburech
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Jan 7, 2016 1:25 PM in response to sburech

    I would keep a copy of your iPhoto Library on an external drive, together with a copy of the iPhoto application. This way you will always be able to go back to your iPhoto library, if you should later discover that items did not migrate properly.

     

    Photos is supposed to migrate the iPhoto Libraries losslessly. The original photos and the edited versions will all be migrated, also your albums.  Projects will not migrate fully, because the templates have changed.

    Read this support documents for the details  :How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

     

    Photos and organization:

    • Photos and movies migrate without changes. Your images migrate with the adjustments and filters you applied in iPhoto. You can't modify the adjustments in Photos, but you can revert to the original image.
    • Events migrate to a folder labeled "iPhoto Events" in the Albums view.
    • Albums are preserved in Photos.
    • Most Smart Albums are preserved in Photos. Smart Albums with selection criteria that isn’t supported by Photos usually migrate to Smart Albums with "(modified)" added to the Smart Album name; in cases where none of the Smart Album criteria are supported in Photos, the Smart Album isn't migrated.
    • Some photo books and calendars, made with themes that are no longer supported in Photos, migrate to Albums.
    • Slideshows are preserved in Photos. If a slideshow theme is not available in Photos, it uses the default Photos slideshow theme.

    Keywords and other metadata:

    • Keywords are preserved in Photos.
    • Photos preserves user-defined titles. Images without user-defined titles will show as "untitled" in Photos.
    • Star ratings migrate as similar keywords in Photos, such as “1 Star,” “2 Stars,” and so on.
    • Flagged images migrate with the keyword “Flagged” and appear in the “Flagged” Smart Album in the Albums view.
    • Most metadata is preserved in Photos. Some IPTC metadata, including Copyright, won't appear in Photos, but is still associated with the image and can be seen in iPhoto, Aperture, and other applications that display IPTC metadata.