Volipyk
Level 1 (4 points)
iCloud

Q: Using photos with iCloud

I have a problem with the use of photos and iCloud which I can't seem to resolve alone...

I love the function that when I snap a photo on my iPhone, it appears on my other devices as well. However, doing this a lot, results in a using all my iPhones capacity. I want to be able to delete the "local" storage of the photo in my iPhone but still be able to view it in my iPhone. How do I do that? After all, isn't that what iCloud is all about?

 

As iCloud storage gets full, I want to remove them from iCloud too and only keep them locally on my MacBook for viewing. How do I delete the photo from iCloud but still keeping it locally on my Mac? And if I don't want to use photos as my photo manager, how can I take them "out" of photos and store them as a directive on my Mac?

I am afraid that if I simply enter photos app on any of my devices and try to delete a photo from iCloud, it will remove them permanently. How do I avoid this?

 

Hope someone can help me out with this problem!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Aug 25, 2016 11:26 AM

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Volipyk

Q: Using photos with iCloud

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Aug 25, 2016 11:29 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 10 (103,334 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 25, 2016 11:29 AM in response to Volipyk

    With iCloud Photo Library enabled, you cannot delete a photo on one device (or at iCloud.com) without deleting it from every device that uses iCloud photo library (and iCloud.com). In order to save space on your mobile devices (and indeed your Mac if you wish to do so) turn on optimisation for photos on these devices (settings > photos & camera > optimise storage on your mobile device and Photo preferences > optimise storage on your Mac)


    Optimisation is dynamic, it reduces the resolution of your photos as and when needed, so you may not notice it occurring at first. However when it is needed, it is very effective and users have reported libraries being optimised to much less than 10% of their original size in some cases. My own library is about 9% of its original size on my phone.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 25, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 7 (25,445 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 25, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Volipyk

    Actually, that is not at all what iCloud Photo Library is all about.

     

    iCloud Photo Library is not an Archival service, it is strictly a sharing service. It provides a single location for all of your photos to reside, and it shares as much of that library with all of your devices.

     

    If your goal is to instantly share all of the photos you are taking with all of your devices, you would be better off using Photo Stream to do that.

     

    As for being able to keep things locally on your Macbook, you would do that by importing the photos from your devices manually, or by setting up your Photos app on the Mac to automatically import all Photo Stream photos.

     

    Based on what you have described you are looking for, iCloud Photo Library isn't what you want.

     

    iCloud Photo Library allows you to not only share all photos at one source, but it also will process any action that you take on any device using that Photo Library at that source. So, if you delete a photo or a slew of photos, they get deleted from the source. So, they are removed from everywhere when you do a delete.

     

    With your Photo Library housed in Photos on the Mac, if you remove a photo from your phone, it doesn't affect your photo library. You can remove a photo from Photo Stream, and that removes that photo completely, but once that Photo Stream has been imported to Photos, then the imported copy would remain in the library.

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Volipyk,

    Volipyk Volipyk Sep 6, 2016 9:48 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 6, 2016 9:48 AM in response to gail from maine

    Thanks for your answer, appreciated.

    So if I want to setup the library to be in iCloud and not taking up space on my phone, but still be able to view them from my phone when I want to, how would I do that?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 6, 2016 10:05 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 10 (105,183 points)
    iLife
    Sep 6, 2016 10:05 AM in response to Volipyk

    Alternatively to Gaile's solution with Photo Stream you could use more than one library:

     

    You could use two photo libraries on your Mac.  You can create as many libraries as you want and switch between them.

    I would use two libraries:

    1. One small Photos Library, enabled as your system Photo Library to be able to sync with iCloud and all your devices.
    2. One larger library, only local at your Mac, to store all your photos that you do not want on your iPhone and in iCloud.

     

    See this help page:  https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.2/?lang=en#/pht6d60b524

     

    To move photos between libraries you would have to export from one library and import into the other library or invest into the tool PowerPhotos. It will let you move photos between your libraries easily.

  • by Volipyk,

    Volipyk Volipyk Sep 6, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 6, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Volipyk

    So, say I went on a trip for a week, and took a lot of photos with my iPhone. Once I come home, everything is in iCloud and I can view them in the photos app on my mac and I have checked the option to download and keep originals on my mac. Would I be save to delete the photos from my iPhone to restore the storage? Would they still be available for viewing in iCloud and would the originals still be available in Photos app on Mac?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 6, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 9 (50,016 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 6, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Volipyk

    No, once again the library is used by all devices, delete from the library on one and you delete from all.

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Sep 6, 2016 10:32 AM in response to Volipyk
    Level 10 (105,183 points)
    iLife
    Sep 6, 2016 10:32 AM in response to Volipyk
    So, say I went on a trip for a week, and took a lot of photos with my iPhone. Once I come home, everything is in iCloud and I can view them in the photos app on my mac and I have checked the option to download and keep originals on my mac. Would I be save to delete the photos from my iPhone to restore the storage? Would they still be available for viewing in iCloud and would the originals still be available in Photos app on Mac?

    Once the photos have been downloaded to iCloud Photo Library on your Mac export them to a folder on your Desktop and import them to a Photos Library that is not syncing with iCloud. Only then delete them from your iPhone. Deleting a photo from a library that is syncing with iCloud will delete it from iCloud and all libraries syncing with iCloud.  That is independent of the option to download "originals to your Mac".