How to download pictures from iCloud but not upload from iMac

I found this thread somewhat helpful but it has been dean for almost a year so I don't know if anyone will read this. I started using iCloud for my photos on my iPhone 6 as I made the tragic mistake of buying a 16 GB phone (actually only 12 GB is useful apparently). I now want to download the full resolution pictures from the iCloud. Using iPhoto is a joke. It wants to upload AND download everything on my iMac 24. So I did find the iCloud via a browser to be useful, and it just might be the ticket, however, I cannot select more than one picture at a time to download. I have a few hundred pictures I'd like to download but the SHIFT key doesn't allow me to select a range of pictures. Any advice?

Currently we all upload our photos to our individual iCloud accounts.

Which iCloud service are you using for this? iCloud Photo Library? iCloud Drive? My Photo Stream?

in Photos for Mac the syncing with iCloud goes in both directions. If you enable iCloud Photo Photo Library or My Photo Stream on your Mac, the photos from your Mac will upload to iCloud Photo Library and new photos will upload to My Photo Stream and your other devices that are using this service.

If you only want to download to your Mac, use the web interface to access iCloud Photo Library from the Web Browser and do not enable iCloud Photo Library on your Mac.

Open the web Page www.icloud.com and signs in with one of your iCloud Apple IDs. Then launch the Photos.app on that web page. Now open the All Photos album and click "Select". Then select all photos and click download.

To select all photos click the first photo in the range, hold down the Shift key, scroll down to the last photo and select that.

THere is no service named iCloud Photos

Which iCloud service are you using for this? iCloud Photo Library? iCloud Drive? My Photo Stream?

If you use iCloud Photo Library then everything on devices with ICPL on are synced completely

Again the only way to access iCloud Photo Library without syncing is to use a web browser

You can sync IOS devices using WiFi or a USB cable - that is not using iCLoud in an way

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes using Wi-Fi - Apple Support

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes on your computer using USB - Apple Support

LN

Then I click on the flowery icon called 'Photos'

What should I refer to this as?

It is the Photos.app at www.icloud.com.

You can use that interface to sign into the iCloud accounts of your wife and your daughter in turn. Download first your wife's photos from her iCloud page, then sign into your daughters account and download her photos. And then yours.

Your wife and daughter just need to enter their AppleID and password so you can access their accounts this way on your Mac.

I log in through a web browser into 'iCloud'

Then I click on the flowery icon called 'Photos'

What should I refer to this as?

Then you are not using iCloud Photo Library on that device and nothing is automatically uploaded or downloaded - you totally control what is done

Shame, as it seems wrong to have to have all my wife and daughters photo's in my iCloud and vice versa...just seems really messy

I have no idea what you are saying - the only things you have on iCloud Photo Library using your Apple ID are photos you have uploaded to ICPL by using ICPL on a device connected to your Apple ID or by uploading via the above process using a browser and iCloud.com - there are only two ways to add photos to ICPL and you totally control both

LN

iCloud can only just be a back up of my phones photos and I will have to manually load them into the iMac

iCloud Photo Library is not even a backup, if you use iCloud Photo Library for any device. It is syncing the device with the current contents of iCloud Photo Library in iCloud. It does not create archival backups. If you are using iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone and delete photos from your iPhone, they will be deleted from iCloud Photo Library as well and from all other devices syncing with iCloud. There will be no chance to recover the deleted items from iCloud, so it is no backup.

If I transfer them to my iMac they will all be uploaded to my iCloud!? The storage needed would be huge!

That is why Apple is offering a 1TB storage plan for iCloud. 😁

I am using th 200GB plan. That is good for about 40000 photos and videos.

• Plan A will get the photos down from iCloud to your mac.
• Plan B is missing a step 3.

2, Configure iPhones and iPod to sync via wi-fi with iTunes on iMac

iTunes Photo Sync is only a one-way route. It can sync photos from your Mac to the iPhones, but but iTunes Photo Sync cannot download photos from the iPhone. If you do not use iCloud in any way, simply connect the iPhones to a USB port and launch the Photos.app or Image Capture to import the photos from the iPhone. (see the paragraph "Sync manually with iTunes": Keep your photos safely stored and up to date on all your devices - Apple Support )

Hang on, what I'm being told surely can't be correct.

Well it is - the fact that you do not understand does not mean it is incorrect -- the reason you came here is to get help is because you do not understand - now you are arguing with two different very experienced users who are trying to help you - you can not resolve things by arguing with people who know more than you do - you either listen and learn or keep doing it your way which is not working

Lets assume that I have my iPhone syncing to iCloud.

Once again there is no such thing as syncing to iCLoud - iCLoud has many services and you have to only reference the one you are using - which according to you is iCLoud Photo Library on your IOS devices and iCLoud.com/Photos from your Mac - so as has been explained to you this will sync your IOS devices to each other and to iCLoud.com and noting will go to or come from your Mac except what you manually upload or download from iCLoud.com

The whole idea would be then to sync iCloud with my iMac, correct!?

If and only if your want all libraries on all devices to be the same - which you state you do not - once again for all devices using ICPL the libraries on those devices will be kept in sync and all identical - for devices not using ICPL nothing will be uploaded or downloaded automatically - you have to do it manually - very clear and simple

I have hundreds if not thousands of photographs and videos on my old windows pc.

If I transfer them to my iMac they will all be uploaded to my iCloud!? The storage needed would be huge!

And again if and only if you are using ICL on your Mac - again for all devices using ICPL every thing is kept in sync - all additions, all deleting and all edits adn the storage requirements are what they are with a Max of 1TB - I use 200MB and have about 20,000 items - other use more and others use less depending on what they have

If it does work as I am being told it kind of renders the system useless.

Of course it works like you are being told - why would you think we would lie to you and it is not at all useless - it is amazingly useful as it keeps everything in sync - I can take photos with any of our IOS devices and upload camera photos to any or our Macs or IOS devices and the photos are synced everywhere - even when I am on vacation all of my vacation photos sync back to my home Mac and are automatically backed u by TimeMachine there - ICPL is unbelievably useful

iCloud can only just be a back up of my phones photo

Again no - if you are using ICPL is it not a backup (there is an iCloud service to backup IOS devices that has nothing to do with ICPL in any way)

I will have to manually load them into the iMac

No you choose to - if you choose to use ICL everything is automatic - if you choose not to use ICPL then nothing is automatic - you do have to do either, yoou make the choice

Or am I really missing something obvious......I really hope so....

Yes you are missing a very obvious thing - that you do not understand what you are doing or how it works and you insist on refusing to listen to people who do understand when they explain it to you and tell you haw to do things. And when they tell you that there is no service on iCLoud to download photos from iCloud .com automatically but not upload any - it is a full automatic sync or a manual upload/download of photos you want to have on iCloud

Everything was explained in my original post - nothing has changed nor is anything any diferent than that post with the Apple links giving details

THere is no service named iCloud Photos

Which iCloud service are you using for this? iCloud Photo Library? iCloud Drive? My Photo Stream?

If you use iCloud Photo Library then everything on devices with ICPL on are synced completely

Again the only way to access iCloud Photo Library without syncing is to use a web browser

You can sync IOS devices using WiFi or a USB cable - that is not using iCLoud in an way

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes using Wi-Fi - Apple Support

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes on your computer using USB - Apple Support

You need to listen and learn or go take a class - arguing here is accomplishing nothing for anyone

LN

You are constantly arguing - but don't worry - I give up and am out of here - and again

You need to listen and learn or go take a class - arguing here is accomplishing nothing for anyone

LN