Meesta Feesha wrote:
My $0.02 worth: As a first time Mac user, I've found Photos to be a completely useless. I've had trouble keeping track of my images from day one (this might be easier the second time and I knew what I was up against). It really doesn't have any features that opening a folder with thumbnails has. Sure it creates some stupid scrapbooks etc., but does anyone really use that garbage? Looks pretty on Mac ads, but that's about it. It's redundancy only makes it onerous.
I don't like Photos either, I don't use it. For many of the same reasons you don't like it. But that doesn't mean Photos is stupid or useless. Photos is perfect for everybody who does not want to have to think about managing their photos, which is most of the people on the planet actually, like my relatives. The vision, which Google and others also share with their latest photo offerings, is that you just put your photos in there and you have a one-stop shop for organizing and editing, and if sync is turned on the photos will also be automatically on your other devices. It's actually brilliant...for the users it's intended for. Obviously, it isn't intended for you or me. I prefer a much higher level of control so I organize my photos with a non-Apple application.
It is not true that Photos "doesn't have any features that opening a folder with thumbnails has." Photos has a pretty good image editor built in. If I didn't need the full power of something like Lightroom (which is what I use), Photos has some good editing features and a wide range of plug-ins for more advanced editing. Most people do not see those features at first glance, but if you were to explore and expand the hidden options in Photos you would find features like highlight/shadow recovery and noise reduction that used to be only in advanced software.
Like you, I do not like that there is no good way to find the Finder location of a photo. The reason for this is that Photos keeps image files in a "package" type of folder which is intentionally hidden. The Photos database tracks photo files in the package and if you alter or move files inside the package, the database can become corrupted. Therefore we are kept out of the package.
If you really want to find your originals, they are in Home/Pictures/Photos Library/Masters then in subfolders sorted by date. To get into Photos Library, you will have to right-click and use Show Package Contents. But again, do not modify the contents of that package.
The safer way to get your original out is select it in Photos and then File/Export Unmodified Original. Or File/Export Photo if you want the edits made in Photos.
For you and me, Photos is a pointless, underpowered piece of software. For the majority of users, it's an easy way to store photos because so much of the management drudgery is automated and they can concentrate on easy editing and easy sharing.
Luckily there is a very wide selection of photo applications for editing and/or managing available on the Mac. You don't have to use the one I use, but you should find one that meets your needs.
