iCloud Photo Library from old referenced iPhoto library

[profets]

Hi All,

Been searching for some details on this but haven't found much. I'm quite familiar with the new Photos for Mac, iCloud Photo Library and migrating from iPhoto to Photos. However, I'm helping a friend who had a large iPhoto library that was all referenced (he maintained a large folder structure of his photos that iPhoto would reference, as opposed to importing those photos into iPhoto).

He's migrated to the new Photos app, but still manages photos separately (I haven't seen it in person yet). He's looking to make the switch to iCloud Photo Library now. Any idea what would happen with a large library that's all referenced? Would it import them all into the Photos app/database? I would think that a referenced library wouldn't be possible with iCloud Photo Library enabled?

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[zorinlynx]

You need to consolidate the library to use iCloud Photo Library. Referenced photos won't be uploaded.

My advice is to make a backup copy of the referenced library and the photos. Then, consolidate the entire library and turn on iCloud Photo Library. If he then finds it's not working out for him it's easy enough to restore the backup and go back to how things were.

 

[profets]

You need to consolidate the library to use iCloud Photo Library. Referenced photos won't be uploaded.

My advice is to make a backup copy of the referenced library and the photos. Then, consolidate the entire library and turn on iCloud Photo Library. If he then finds it's not working out for him it's easy enough to restore the backup and go back to how things were.

Thanks! I've been reading for a while about it. I was advising him to try consolidating the library, but first to make sure he has full backups of everything.

I tested it with a small library yesterday (made a new one in iPhoto, few hundred photos and some events all referenced), migrated to new Photos app, and then did the Consolidate option. Worked quite nice. Of course that's just a library of a few hundred photos.

Thanks, feedback much appreciated!