Question about El Capitan and iPhoto??

They'll transfer unless a problem occurs. Back up your photos and other files before upgrading.

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1. After you install El Capitan iPhoto will continue to work if you have an updated version of it.

2. If you launch Photos (the new app) then it will automatically convert your existing iPhoto Library to the new format for the new app.

3. What could go wrong? Why would you even dream of doing a major update to your OS without an up-to-date back up? That's crazy as there are so many things that could go wrong. Really, you must always have an up-to-date back up of all your important data.

Most Simple Back Up:

Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.

Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.

Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store

The only iPhoto version that will run on El Capitan is iPhoto 9.6.1.

If you are currently running an AppStore version of iPhoto, you should be able to update to this version by reinstalling iPhoto. See Barney's User Tip , if you can update at all:

But sticking to iPhoto is a dead end. Apple stopped the developement and support for iPhoto, and you can no longer order print products from iPhoto.

Photos automatically open your iPhoto Library as TD said, provided the library has been created by an iPhoto version newer than iPhoto 7.1.2. If you are running an older version, use the iPhoto Library Upgrader to prepare your iPhoto Library for the migration. (iPhoto '11: About the Library Upgrader)

And your iPhoto Library should be on a drive that is compatible wth Photos. If your iPhoto Library is in the default location, your Pictures folder, the migration should be automatic. An external drive should be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) and connected directly, not a network volume.

Photos is very different from iPhoto and may at first appear strange to you, but once you get the general idea, it is easy to use and the editing tools are more powerful than in iPhoto. I find it faster and the ability to sync the Photos Library across all my Macs using iCloud is a big improvement.

You may want to look at these documents:

• How to migrate the libery: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X - Apple Support
• How your iPhoto Library will appear in Photos: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support
• The differences between iPhoto and Photos: Photos 1.5 vs iPhoto 9.6.1: Features and Capabilities
• Some precautions to take: Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac