all photos in one Photos app

[zoran]

Is it possible to gather all the photos from the devices a user owns (iMac, iPhone, 2 iPads, MacBook) to one iPhoto app?
Can i make for eg. the iMac’s iPhoto as the basic collective app for all the pics in all of the devices? Even if i have to do it manually, by using showing Package Contents of the iPhoto Library file and copy paste those folders to a single library

 

[0128672]

What about iCloud Photos, which would simplify everything for you?

 

[zoran]

Dont want my personal photos up to any kind of cloud.

 

[mikzn]

Are you using iPhoto ? or are you using Photos (which version?)

I have used iPhoto since first introduced in 2002 and have stored all my digital pictures since then (had a nikon camera back then) and recently began using my iPhone more than my cannon and nikon cameras

iPhoto no longer works on Catalina and iPhoto has been replaced by Photos since 2014 - that said they are similar and the iPhoto library can be upgraded (make a back up first) to Photos (versions 1 to 6)

I have always used iPhoto and most recently Photos 6 as the hub and central storage for all my digital photos and pictures - once they are in the Photos library I delete the original from the source and use the Photos app to organize all my digital images - also I download all my pictures from my phones- cameras and iPad into Photos and delete them from the devices

I have done this for almost 20 years since my first digital camera (Nikon) and have now split the libraries into 3 separate large libraries (large to me) - 1)Family and personal, 2) Work Images, 3) Hiking Pictures - all 3 libaries are larger than 150g = 500g of images and some movies - and very easy to back up these Libraries weekly with CCC - 5 min to back up

I like iCloud - but I would never trust my pictures and memories on iCloud - if your apple id does not work you are locked out of your pictures - IMHO

 

[zoran]

You are absolutely correct, its Photos and not iPhoto 👍
This mistake of mine prolly changes the answer... sorry about that

 

[Dave Braine]

Is it possible to gather all the photos from the devices a user owns (iMac, iPhone, 2 iPads, MacBook) to one iPhoto app?

Yes, you can import all the pictures that you have taken with the iPhone and the iPads. For the MacBook, without using iCloud, the easiest way would be to put them all on external drive and then import them into Photos.

Even if i have to do it manually, by using showing Package Contents of the iPhoto Library file and copy paste those folders to a single library

Don't do it that way. It can seriously confuse Photos. Syncing the iPhone and iPads will automatically put them into Photos.

 

[zoran]

I was thinking of the manual solution because some devices (iPhone & iMac) are all synced to one Photos app in user account named John. While iPad and MacBook photos are synced to the user account named George. So if i would make a 3rd user account, i would place the photos from the other two users there.

 

[mikzn]

You are absolutely correct, its Photos and not iPhoto 👍
This mistake of mine prolly changes the answer... sorry about that

No does not change much - they are quite similar - although I liked iPhoto - my guess is that Photos was reworked for more iCloud and iOS - which like you - I don't trust Apple with 20+ years of my photos and videos

I was thinking of the manual solution because some devices (iPhone & iMac) are all synced to one Photos app in user account named John. While iPad and MacBook photos are synced to the user account named George. So if i would make a 3rd user account, i would place the photos from the other two users there.

To stop Photos from using iCloud - All you really have to do is turn off the Photos preferences on each mac computer (especially the mac with the main library) - see the 2 screen shots below (Big Sur / Photos 6 - may look slightly different on earlier macOS)

In photos prefs disable iCloud

Check and Make sure internet prefs are also off for Photos

 

[Dave Braine]

I was thinking of the manual solution because some devices (iPhone & iMac) are all synced to one Photos app in user account named John. While iPad and MacBook photos are synced to the user account named George. So if i would make a 3rd user account, i would place the photos from the other two users there.

If I'm reading the above correctly and you are going to have more than one account on the iMac and you want all account holders to be able to access the one Photos Library, you are going to do the following.

You could put a Photos Library on an external drive and have each member start Photos while holding down the Alt key and then selecting that Library file.

However, a quick google on sharing Photos Libraries brings up this:

To share the same Photo library between multiple users on the same Mac, do the following :

• Move the existing library into "/Users/Shared/Pictures/PhotoLibrary"
• Select the library parent directory (eg "Pictures") and click "Get info"
• Click on the padlock icon on the bottom right and enter an administrator password
• Click the "+" icon and select the second user which must have access to the photo library, for instance "user2"
• Click on the row "user2" and select in dropdown "Read and write"
• Click on the row "user2" and click on the "gear" icon at the bottom, and select "Apply to Enclosed Items" in the drop-down menu.
• Click "OK".
• Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down, select "Other library", and choose the photo library.

Tested under MacOS 10.11
https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...iple-users-on-apple-photos-without-paying-for

I haven't tried either, so can't vouch for them.

Which ever way, each member must quit Photos when they have finished otherwise the other members won't be able to access it.

 

[mikzn]

FWIW - There is also some great info on this site - PowerPhotos - for managing Photos and iPhotos libraries - I have purchased both versions and no regrets - great software and very useful info

 

[marthom45]

Is it possible to gather all the photos from the devices a user owns (iMac, iPhone, 2 iPads, MacBook) to one iPhoto app?
Can i make for eg. the iMac’s iPhoto as the basic collective app for all the pics in all of the devices? Even if i have to do it manually, by using showing Package Contents of the iPhoto Library file and copy paste those folders to a single library

Hi Zoran, I stumbled across you post as I am trying to achieve something similar, I'm nearly there but am stuck on the last bit....I think so anyone with any tips I would greatly appreciate.

thus far I have synced all the family iPhones & old digital camera pics from an external HDD to my Mac/Big Sur photos app. I then used a duplicate photo finder to remove a load of noise, then spent ages organising photos into smart albums, i.e. every holiday we have ever been on over 30 years.

what I want to do next is delete all the photos from my iPhone & then sync from the Mac, basically copy the whole of the Mac photo library to the iPhone (so long as there is enough space of course) - however, in a test I tried synching a single Mac album to my phone & as I suspected the photos moved across but not the album structure......and that is what I really want, any ideas as to how I can do that?

Mark.