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User profile for user: RetiredAnn
RetiredAnn Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Can I save iPhoto when I upgrade my OS X Lion and other related questions re iPhoto

I am using a 2011 iMac running OS X Lion V 10.7.5 and iPhoto 9.4.3. I have delayed upgrading from Lion because I read I would lose iPhoto. It has now gotten to the point that my OS is simply too old and I am running into too many incompatibility issues. I finally decided I must upgrade when I learned my OS is incompatible with Amazon cloud photo storage. I have read much here in the Communities and elsewhere about possible solutions for saving iPhoto.


When I go into the App Store, it shows iPhoto as a Jan 19, 2012 purchase. (It was preinstalled on my Mac.) When I click update, I get the message that "IPhoto can't be installed on "Macintosh HD" because Mac OS X Version 10.10 or later is required." Do I have any relatively simple options? I am not knowledgeable enough for anything too complicated! 🙂


I intend to purchase a hard drive today to back up my 24K photos (I know, shame on me for not having done that sooner!) However, I have synced most of my photos to my iPad Air 2 128 GB running iOS 9.3.1, where they are stored in Photo. Is that a semi-adequate backup, or would I lose my photos on all devices if, for example, my Mac was to crash? (I also have a year's worth of synced photos on my iPhone 6 in Photo.) This is another reason for wanting to store them in Amazon's cloud.


Also, I have just read I can no longer order photo books/products from iPhoto, but possibly only from a 3rd party vendor. Books are important to me, so I now have to decide whether to simply forget iPhoto and move on... I assume it is not possible/advisable to run both.


Thanks so much to those of you who take the time to help in these forums!

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 8:01 AM

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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
162,408 points

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 5:17 PM

I'm not sure why you thought you would have lost iPhoto by upgrading from Lion. It runs on every version of the OS since. But it will need to be upgraded too. But before you can upgrade iPhoto you need to upgrade the OS.


Make a back up before you do anything. No, Photos on an iPad are not a back up. They're reduced in size and quality for the iPad screen.


You can no longer order print products with iPhoto, that ceased on March 31st last.


If you upgrade to the current OS (El Capitan, 10.11) you'll get the replacement for iPhoto - Photos.app. This has many additional features, but is a little different and might take a little getting used to. However, it will open and work with an existing iPhoto Library, and you can order print materials with it.


Honestly? I see no future in iPhoto. It has not been developed in 2 years and not been updated in more than one. It's over. Sooner or later you will move to a new app. Why not now?

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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
162,408 points

Apr 27, 2016 5:17 PM in response to RetiredAnn

I'm not sure why you thought you would have lost iPhoto by upgrading from Lion. It runs on every version of the OS since. But it will need to be upgraded too. But before you can upgrade iPhoto you need to upgrade the OS.


Make a back up before you do anything. No, Photos on an iPad are not a back up. They're reduced in size and quality for the iPad screen.


You can no longer order print products with iPhoto, that ceased on March 31st last.


If you upgrade to the current OS (El Capitan, 10.11) you'll get the replacement for iPhoto - Photos.app. This has many additional features, but is a little different and might take a little getting used to. However, it will open and work with an existing iPhoto Library, and you can order print materials with it.


Honestly? I see no future in iPhoto. It has not been developed in 2 years and not been updated in more than one. It's over. Sooner or later you will move to a new app. Why not now?

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User profile for user: RetiredAnn
RetiredAnn Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apr 27, 2016 4:42 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for your quick response. I was under the impression I would be forced to use Photo if I upgraded my OS, and apparently that is the case if I upgrade to El Capitan, which is what I probably will do. I had read so many complaints about the upgrade to Photo from iPhoto, particularly about the loss of completed projects, such as photo books and journals. Since I have my photo books printed, I will accept that. From what I have seen of Photo on my mobile devices, I do not like it as much as iPhoto (which I love), but I realize it might be different on my desktop. Today I purchased a portable hard drive (WD My Passport for Mac) so I can attempt to back up my data. Then I will go ahead and upgrade to the latest El Capitan and hopefully bring my photos over to Photo. I'll take the plunge! Then I'll try to figure out Amazon cloud. Each step is a learning experience for me! 😉


Just so I understand, if my desktop was to crash, would I still have my photos on my mobiles devices, albeit of lower quality? Also, will the change from iPhoto to Photo do anything to the Facebook albums I created using iPhoto? I'm trying to wrap my head around the interconnectedness… Again, thanks for your help.

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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
162,408 points

Apr 27, 2016 10:57 PM in response to RetiredAnn

I was under the impression I would be forced to use Photo if I upgraded my OS, and apparently that is the case if I upgrade to El Capitan, which is what I probably will do.


Well you have the wrong impression. You are not forced to use Photos - or any app. You can use the current versions of iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, Picasa (though that's discontinued too), Capture One and so on. Or simply use the Finder or any of about another 25 apps. You're not forced at all. No idea where people get these ideas.


I have no idea about Facebook.

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
195,113 points

Apr 28, 2016 7:48 AM in response to RetiredAnn

Your current iPhoto version can no longer use the Places feature. It will crash, as soon as you try to assign a location to a photo, because it uses a Google server, that is no longer available from iPhoto. That will be fixed by updating to iPhoto 9.6.1. Because iPhoto appears in your purchase history, you will be able to update to that version as described by Barney's user tip:

Can't Update iPhoto because it is not available in the App Store.


Do this update to iPhoto 9.6.1 anyway, after you upgrade to El Capitan, even if you migrate your iPhoto Libraries toPhotos for Mac. This way you can open the iPhoto Library in iPhoto and its new Photos version side by side and compare to fix any inconsistencies. The books from iPhoto may change slightly, because of the new themes. It will also allow you to repair the iPhoto Library in El Capitan should problems occur. That is unlikely, but better be safe than sorry.


This document describes how iPhoto Library will be migrated to Photos: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

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Can I save iPhoto when I upgrade my OS X Lion and other related questions re iPhoto

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