Marcia F

Q: Photos: iCloud storage and sync

MacBook 12" running El Capitán:   I wish to add, delete, and edit both old and new photos on two iPhones, one iPad, and perhaps my husband's MacBookAir (which also runs El Capitán)  I have 14,000 photos in my library, the great majority of which are from iPhoto.   Problems if I turn on iCloud Photo Library on my MacBook12"?  And the other devices?    How much iCloud storage might I need to buy? 

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), MS Word for Mac

Posted on Apr 3, 2016 6:40 PM

Close

Q: Photos: iCloud storage and sync

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Old Toad,Solvedanswer

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 4, 2016 4:24 PM in response to Marcia F
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 4, 2016 4:24 PM in response to Marcia F

    How big is your iPhoto library as shown in the finder?

    Finder001.jpg

    Your options are

    System Preferences001.jpg

    Select which ever will hold your library and allow for expansion as you add new photos.

     

     

    Note:  for you husband to use the same iCloud Photo library he would have to be signed in to the same Apple/iCloud ID and thus, would be sharing the same email account, contacts, messages, etc..  That's probably not what you want.

     

    To share photos online one can use the Family Plan.  That way each of you can continue to use your own Apple IDs.

     

    Family Sharing - Apple Support

     

    Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support

     

    OTsig.png

  • by Marcia F,

    Marcia F Marcia F Apr 4, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 4, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Old Toad

    Thanks, Old Toad, you've brought me closer to a solution, because I hadn't figured out how to FIND the size of my Libraries.  My iPhoto Library is 51GB, and my Photos Library is 50GB.  And I had thought that the iPhotos Library just morphed into to Photos Library, because those older photos do seem to be on the same screen - Years, Collections, Moments, etc. 

     

    So here are some follow- up questions:

    -- If I have two Libraries, does that mean duplication eating up massive space?

    -- How much storage do you think I'd need (especially if I could somehow have just one Library)?

    -- Your "Note: for your husband to ... got cut off by the screen shot, I think.  Can you tell me what you were saying about his MacBookAir?

     

    THANKS for your help !

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 4, 2016 3:21 PM in response to Marcia F
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 4, 2016 3:21 PM in response to Marcia F
    My iPhoto Library is 51GB, and my Photos Library is 50GB. -- If I have two Libraries, does that mean duplication eating up massive space?

     

    With the exception of any photos imported into either library after the migration they are occupying the same space on the hard drive. It's done with hard links:

    Here's more info on hard links:

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

     

    The (hard) link between Photos and iPhoto

    There's no duplication of space.  Since you are going to use Photos from here on out you can delete the iPhoto library.  You won't, however, save more than 1-2 GB of space in doing so. 

    -- How much storage do you think I'd need (especially if I could somehow have just one Library)?

    Since the Photos library is already 50+ GB in size, the next size of storage that's available is the 200 GB size.  That would serve you for quite a while.

  • by Marcia F,

    Marcia F Marcia F Apr 4, 2016 5:08 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 4, 2016 5:08 PM in response to Old Toad

    Hey OT, you're really helpful! 

    Now a follow-up:  My husband and I do have just one Apple ID, which is connected to our joint gmail account.  In addition, we each have individual gmail addresses, plus a yahoo address for junk mail and shopping, as well as a university email for me.  We've had no problems with having five addresses all coming into our email inbox (at least that I can see so far))   Do you see issues with this set up, for email, etc. and especially for Photos issues?  

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 5, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Marcia F
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 5, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Marcia F

    That should work.  The emaIl address that you would have to share would be the address that you have associated with your Apple account. You can disable those features in iCloud that you don't want to be synced between your devices, like Mail and use your own individual Gmail accounts.

    System Preferences002.jpg