Photos.app - Organizing

[nanogirl21]

I have tons of photos and want to start using the Photos.app to organize my system a little better and sync everything across my devices. Is there any way to move files around my computer when creating albums in the Photos.app? I am comfortable using a 3rd party app. I just want to move a photo from folder A to folder B if I move it or create an album in Photos.app. Thanks.

 

[vmachiel]

When you use photos.app, you photos will be copied into the photos library that exists in your images folder. You import them, and then you don't need the photos outside that library anymore. When you start organizing, photos.app will handle the file system stuff.

 

[Mr West]

I'm having the same question. I am new to Mac and although I really like it, this seems to bug me.
Basically when I'm in finder, I can't see the pictures like other files. As soon as I click on the 'Photo library' it opens a new window instead of just showing the folder content in Finder.

I just want to be able to drag and drop photo's from one folder to another...

 

[Dave Braine]

When you use photos.app, you photos will be copied into the photos library that exists in your images folder.

Only if you have the "Copy Items To Photos Library" option ticked in Photos Preferences, otherwise they stay in the folder/external device that they were in when you imported them. This is known as a "Referenced" library and can cause if you subsequently delete those pictures, or the external device isn't connected when you want to view the photos.

Adding your photos to Photos Library is the best option, in my opinion.

As soon as I click on the 'Photo library' it opens a new window instead of just showing the folder content in Finder.

It should open the Photos app. However, that file is a "package". It's designed not to be opened, because if you start messing around in there with photos/folders/albums etc, you can seriously mess up your Photos app. You are much better off doing everything from within Photos.

If you really, really, really feel that you want to get in there, then Right/Ctrl/two finger click on it and select "View Package Contents".

 

[Mr West]

It should open the Photos app. However, that file is a "package". It's designed not to be opened, because if you start messing around in there with photos/folders/albums etc, you can seriously mess up your Photos app. You are much better off doing everything from within Photos.

If you really, really, really feel that you want to get in there, then Right/Ctrl/two finger click on it and select "View Package Contents".

Thanks for the reply Dave, though I still don't understand. What are you exactly saying by "doing everything within photo's"?. I just want to be able to move a picture from the Photos app to a folder. =
picture removed from Photos and placed in a folder.

Thanks.

 

[Fishrrman]

What I do (and it's not for everybody):

First (managing originals):
1. I -do not- let Photos "manage" my pictures. In other words, as mentioned above, I have UNchecked the option "Copy Items to Photos Library" in the preferences. This leaves my originals "where I put them".
2. I have a separate volume (partition) dedicated to photography. That makes it easy to backup, etc.
3. On that volume, I manually create (using the finder) my own hierarchy of folders for my originals. I give each shoot it's own name and date.

Second (within Photos)
1. When I want to import some photos, I create a new "Empty Album", and give it a name and date that are meaningful to me.
2. Next, I navigate to my media volume and select the folder (or pictures) I wish to import.
3. I let Photos import the pics
4. Now, I manually select the pics I want to go into my new (empty) album, and drag-n-drop them into it.

Doing it this way, Photos will create referenced images/previes in its own library, but my originals ARE ALWAYS LEFT UNTOUCHED on my media volume, in a folder/file hierarchy that I can understand and manually manage.

Granted, it's more work than simply connecting the camera (or card reader) and letting Photos just import everything.
But this works for me in a system that I can understand.

 

[Ebenezum]

Terms "Photos" and "organising pictures" aren't fitting into same sentence, Photos is very lacking in organisation capability compared to even iPhoto.

OP: You might want to consider third party software because its possible Photos isn't capable enough for your needs.

 

[nanogirl21]

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This is very helpful information. Thank you. However, I am still curious about something. Maybe you can help.

(1) Is everything that is in the Photo.app automatically backed up to iCloud? If not, is there any special steps I need to take or settings I need to change in the Photo.app to have the items backed up to iCloud?

(2) it sounds like it is best to manually add photos to the Photo.app. When connecting my iPhone or iPad I can select what items I want to import into the Photos.app. Can I then delete the photo off my phone and have it remain in the Photo.app and THEN have the photo push to my phone with all the other iCloud photos? I want to do this to save room on my phone. I can turn off iCloud photos whenever I need more space on my deceive and not worry about anything being deleted.

(31) It was mentioned that once the photos are imported into the Photo.app I can delete them off my computer. Am I correct to assume that the photos will stay in the Photo.app AND I will be able to drag a copy back to my desktop (or wherever) whenever I need it?[/QUOTE][/QUOTE][/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

 

[aristobrat]

For folks that haven't seen it, check out iMore's guide to the Photos app and using iCloud Photo.

It provides a good amount of detail that would take hours to post up in a reply here.

http://www.imore.com/how-use-photos-os-x-ultimate-guide

 

[nanogirl21]

For folks that haven't seen it, check out iMore's guide to the Photos app and using iCloud Photo.

It provides a good amount of detail that would take hours to post up in a reply here.

http://www.imore.com/how-use-photos-os-x-ultimate-guide

Thank you for the post. I took a quick glance at it and it answered a lot of questions. However, I still am confused about one of my questions. It was mentioned that once the photos are imported into the Photo.app I can delete them off my computer. Am I correct to assume that the photos will stay in the Photo.app AND I will be able to drag a copy back to my desktop (or wherever) whenever I need it?

 

[aristobrat]

Thank you for the post. I took a quick glance at it and it answered a lot of questions. However, I still am confused about one of my questions. It was mentioned that once the photos are imported into the Photo.app I can delete them off my computer. Am I correct to assume that the photos will stay in the Photo.app AND I will be able to drag a copy back to my desktop (or wherever) whenever I need it?

When you import a photo into Photos.app, a copy of the original photo is made/stored in the Photos library. You can then delete the original picture that you imported. You should not delete the copy of the original photo that Photo stored in its library.

You should be able to drag 'n drop a picture that's in Photos to your desktop or wherever. This should simply make a copy of the file wherever you drop it.

Also, if you haven't seen it before, when you're using a web browser to upload a photo (or music or a movie), the bottom of side bar should let you directly access your media without having to go into the apps and drag a copy back to your desktop (to upload).

 

[nanogirl21]

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Thank you. You are a great help. I spent last night adding everything to photos and I was able to clear up close to 20GB of photo and video by deleting the file after imported into the photo library. Thank you.

After working more questions are popping up and am hoping to get a few more answers. I apologize to all.

(1) How do I know for sure that my photo library was backed up/synced with iCloud? Is there anything on the Mac similar to iTunes * iPhone that displays a last sync date & time? I am not always connected to WiFi and sometimes can go up to 2 weeks without being connected. Therefore, knowing this info would be helpful.

(2) I know that if I permanently delete a photo in the Photo app on my Mac the change will happen across my devices. If I permanently delete something on my iPhone and the photo was already uploaded to iCloud will it delete from the Photo app on the Mac and from iCloud as well? I would like to clean up my files from my phone and have it delete from the Photo app and iCloud permanently if possible. I would hate to permanently delete stuff off my phone only to have it reappear in an iCloud download.

It was some talk about deleting in the more.com link. From my understanding the Photo App is like a "parent" and the master of everything, but this was unclear from the post. This confused me, so if someone can clarify that would be great. Here is a link: http://www.imore.com/how-delete-pictures-and-videos-icloud-photo-library

(3) Instead of syncing my entire library, would it be possible to only sync specific Albums?

Example: I have an album of my grandson's birth. I don't want these uploaded to iCloud, but would like to have it in my library. In this same library I have an album of scenery photos. I would like the scenery photos on iCloud and synced across my devices.

Would I have to create different libraries for things I do want synced to iCloud and things that I do not want synced? If so, do you think it would be best to create all albums in 1 library and just "share" the album's I want with my devices? If I "share" do I need to have iCloud photos turned on for my iPhone and iPad? I am looking for the most user friendly (and easy) solution.

Again, so sorry for all these questions.

 

[aristobrat]

(1) How do I know for sure that my photo library was backed up/synced with iCloud? Is there anything on the Mac similar to iTunes * iPhone that displays a last sync date & time? I am not always connected to WiFi and sometimes can go up to 2 weeks without being connected. Therefore, knowing this info would be helpful.

AFAIK, the only way to have photos on your Mac backed up to iCloud is to enable the iCloud Photo Library in the Photos.app preference. After that, in the Photos.app, if you select Photos, there should be a summary at the bottom that shows how many photos total you have, and how many haven't been uploaded to iCloud yet.

(2) I know that if I permanently delete a photo in the Photo app on my Mac the change will happen across my devices. If I permanently delete something on my iPhone and the photo was already uploaded to iCloud will it delete from the Photo app on the Mac and from iCloud as well? I would like to clean up my files from my phone and have it delete from the Photo app and iCloud permanently if possible. I would hate to permanently delete stuff off my phone only to have it reappear in an iCloud download.

Once you enable iCloud Photo Library on your Mac, your photos "live" in iCloud. You can edit/delete those photos from any web browser (going to http://www.icloud.com), the Photos.app on your Mac, or any iOS device that you have also enabled iCloud Photo Library on.

Any change/delete your make to a photo should update the master photo stored in iCloud Photo Library, which then updates that photo of your devices (that have iCloud Photo Library enabled).

It was some talk about deleting in the more.com link. From my understanding the Photo App is like a "parent" and the master of everything, but this was unclear from the post. This confused me, so if someone can clarify that would be great. Here is a link: http://www.imore.com/how-delete-pictures-and-videos-icloud-photo-library

Once you have iCloud Photo Library enabled, iCloud is the master. Changes can be made from anywhere, but no device is more of a parent or master than another.

Would I have to create different libraries for things I do want synced to iCloud and things that I do not want synced?

I've seen folks here do that. You have have multiple separate photo libraries on your Mac. One of those libraries can be designated (in the Photos.app preferences) as the "System Photo Library". That would be the only library that syncs with iCloud. It's good for separating what goes up to iCloud, but that means your photos in the other libraries aren't being backed up to iCloud (if that matters).

If so, do you think it would be best to create all albums in 1 library and just "share" the album's I want with my devices? If I "share" do I need to have iCloud photos turned on for my iPhone and iPad?

I'm not totally sure about this, but I think that if you do not have iCloud Photo Library turned on for your iPhone/iPad, they can still see the iCloud shared albums. Those are different from normal albums. I played around with them for a bit put it was sort of a PITA to maintain them, as they were more or less duplicates of other regular albums.

Personally, I just turn on iCloud Photo Library on all of my devices, and they all see everything (photos, albums, etc) that I have stored up in iCloud. On my iOS devices, iCloud Photo Library has been good about not using all of the storage, making space (by replacing full-sized photos with thumbnail placeholders) when needed. If I tap on a thumbnail, it will then download the full-sized picture again.

I am looking for the most user friendly (and easy) solution.

I'm not sure too many folks are completely thrilled with how iCloud Photo Library works today, but it's only a year old. Hopefully Apple will add more features and capabilities as time goes by!

 

[nanogirl21]

This is super frustrating. I have been connected to Wifi with 100% battery (with charger plugged in) since yesterday, and there still have not been any photos synced to iCloud.com. Everything is turned on in preferences, so I just don't understand. On iCloud.com there is a button on the bottom that I can click to "sync now". Once I do that nothing changes and the date/time just refresh. I also logged out of iCloud completely on all my devices and reconnected, but nothing. To me it doesn't seem like the "set it and forget it" method works very well.

 

[Dave Braine]

Thanks for the reply Dave, though I still don't understand. What are you exactly saying by "doing everything within photo's"?. I just want to be able to move a picture from the Photos app to a folder. =
picture removed from Photos and placed in a folder.

By doing everything from within Photos, I mean copying, editing, moving into Albums etc. If you go into the Photos package file and move/copy/delete from there, when you next open Photos, the thumbnail or the photo that you moved/copied/edited will still be there, but you won't be able to view the full size version.

To move a photo from within Photos to a folder in Finder, just drag and drop said photo. Or you can use the Export function if you want it at a different size/quality, but drag and drop is the simplest for a straightforward copy to Finder.

 

[aristobrat]

This is super frustrating. I have been connected to Wifi with 100% battery (with charger plugged in) since yesterday, and there still have not been any photos synced to iCloud.com. Everything is turned on in preferences, so I just don't understand. On iCloud.com there is a button on the bottom that I can click to "sync now". Once I do that nothing changes and the date/time just refresh. I also logged out of iCloud completely on all my devices and reconnected, but nothing.

You might try signing out of iCloud Photo Library on all devices, and going back and enabling it on one device at a time. Before I moved to iCloud Photo Library, my Mac was the master, so except for a couple of pictures I hadn't synced from my iPhone, all of my pictures were on my Mac. I enabled iCloud Photo Library on the Mac, first. It took about 2 days (running 24/7) to upload 43,000 pictures/videos. I could track the progress by going into Photos.app > Preferences > iCloud and it would give me a status of how much was left to upload.

When the Mac was finished, I verified stuff uploaded by going to http://www.iCloud.com > Photos. Took about an hour or so for the website to generate thumbnails for everything, but I could then see all of the pictures that I had uploaded.

I then went to each of my devices (one at a time) and enabled iCloud Photo Library and let the device sit until I could see all of the photos on it.

To me it doesn't seem like the "set it and forget it" method works very well.

I hear you there.

I had no problems enabling iCloud Photo Library on my Mac and my iPad, but I struggled to get it to enable on my iPhone. Had to sign completely out of iCloud on the iPhone, and then sign back in, and it magically started working. Kind of hokey, but (knock on wood) it's been working fine then.

 

[nanogirl21]

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I have noticed if I take a photo on my iPhone or do anything photo related on my iPhone it pushes to iCloud.com, but not my Mac. Also, the photos on my Mac will not sync to iCloud at all or download from iCloud.

 

[aristobrat]

I have noticed if I take a photo on my iPhone or do anything photo related on my iPhone it pushes to iCloud.com, but not my Mac. Also, the photos on my Mac will not sync to iCloud at all or download from iCloud.

Good, sounds like your phone is working!

On your Mac, if you go to System Preferences > iCloud > Photos, what options show as being enabled?

 

[nanogirl21]

Good, sounds like your phone is working!

On your Mac, if you go to System Preferences > iCloud > Photos, what options show as being enabled?

iCloud photo library, My photo stream, and iCloud photo sharing and all checked under the system preferences. Under the photos settings the same items are applied along with the optimize mac storage setting.