How can I put my “camera roll” pictures into a specific album on my Mac?

OK, so when you turn on iCloud Photos, your Camera Roll goes away and is replaced on your iOS device with an album called All Photos.

If you have iCloud Photos turned off on your iOS device and Mac now, then you have a Camera Roll album back on your iOS device. What I do not understand is why you would think that you don't have all your photos when you import vs. when you are using iCloud Photos.

As I indicated, if you turn on Photo Stream in Photos on both the Mac and iOS device, you will have a mirror image of your Camera Roll. Also, (and I forgot to mention this before) when you import photos, you have an album in Photos on your Mac called "Last Import". This album is repopulated each time you do an import, so everything in it immediately after an import is an exact reflection of what you imported from your iOS device (or SD card, or anything else).

Once you import your photos to your Mac, if you select all of the photos in the Last Import album, you can easily move them to a custom album you set up on the Mac. You can call it Camera Roll if you wish.

Best,

GB

Would it be sufficient to create a Smart Album that selects photos taken by an iPhone?

OK, let's try this one step at a time. Can you answer the two questions below, then we can go from there:

1. How do your Camera Roll pics get put into the Library? Are you importing them, or are they being uploaded via Photo Stream?

2. You are now indicating that you have 10,000 photos on your Mac. Are you indicating you want to do something with those existing 10,000 photos?

GB

Sorry, not clear on what you mean? Your Camera Roll is also in Date Taken order. Can you explain why the way it is saving is an issue?

Also, if you only have one iOS device that can take photos, you will find a My Photo Stream album under the Albums section in the Photos app. If you are using only one iOS device, your Photo Stream is essentially your Camera Roll (at least for 30 days).

Best,

GB

How are your Camera Roll photos uploading to Photos on the Mac?

Also, I'm confused why having the photos go into the library is an issue? If they are in date order, then I'm not clear on why you wouldn't simply be able to move them manually to whatever Album you wish once they have been uploaded. But I would need to know the method you are using to be able to provide a clearer answer.

Best,

GB

I think I misinterpreted your request. I read it as asking how to keep phone pictures separate from the rest (taken with other devices).

To answer your latest question, iCloud Photo Library would not have to be turned on to use that smart album. Most other methods of importing photos would work as well for the purpose of the smart album I suggested.

Now I reread your question as how to keep one batch of imported phone photos separate from other batches (some or all having come from the same device). Is that closer to what you meant?

What version of the Photos app are you using?

Also, please answer the questions gail from maine asked.