Photos Shared-Library Question

[2024]

I have a question re the storage implications of combining two personal photos libraries into one shared library. This would involve two iPhones, each with its own account and photos library. Each of these libraries (let’s say they’re 30GB and 50GB respectively) is duplicated in its own user account on my Mac. All photos are also in the same shared Family iCloud+ storage plan.

If I change the two personal libraries to a shared one, how much storage will it use on the different devices, and how much total in iCloud? I’m thinking each iPhone will have 80GB of photos on it, as will each account on the Mac, adding up to 160 GB total in iCloud. (All else being equal, like full-size pics on every device just for the sake of consistency here.)

Is this correct? I’ve spent time reading up on this but can’t make a clear determination if I’ve got it right or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Slartibart]

you are talking about merging 2 photo libraries into a single one which is kept in 2 different accounts, right? I am asking because Apple Photos allows for shared libraries - which are resolution limited.

Merging implies an intermediate step of downloading the photos for the combined library from iCloud - using the linked procedure, the original image files and edited version will be imported stacked as one photo into the currently active photo library on your Mac, and you will be able to revert the adjustments individually and change them.

But even by importing directly from one library you will lose the keywords on import. So it is recommended to import the smaller library into the larger library.

This will indeed result in an approx. 80GB. merged photo library.



If you want to merge only “final” aka edited versions of the images, you - like before - have to download all images from iCloud. That is: Export all photos from one Photos Library, then import them into the other library.

So you will have to export the edited versions and the originals separately - export once with File > Export > Export unmodified original and once the edited versions with File > Export > Export ...photos, and when you import them to the merged library, you will be seeing two photos instead of one.

But then again, if you only interested in keeping the final, edited versions, you download only these and ultimately the storage requirements of the merged library are significantly lower; you will loose any keywords you used to categorise.



After the merge, the local storage requirements on your devices depend on wether you choose the keep originals or an optimized version.

 

[Cyby-CyberDog]

Try this:

PowerPhotos - Merge Mac Photos libraries, find duplicate photos, and more

fatcatsoftware.com

 

[2024]

you are talking about merging 2 photo libraries into a single one which is kept in 2 different accounts, right? I am asking because Apple Photos allows for shared libraries - which are resolution limited.

Merging implies an intermediate step of downloading the photos for the combined library from iCloud - using the linked procedure, the original image files and edited version will be imported stacked as one photo into the currently active photo library on your Mac, and you will be able to revert the adjustments individually and change them.

But even by importing directly from one library you will lose the keywords on import. So it is recommended to import the smaller library into the larger library.

This will indeed result in an approx. 80GB. merged photo library.



If you want to merge only “final” aka edited versions of the images, you - like before - have to download all images from iCloud. That is: Export all photos from one Photos Library, then import them into the other library.

So you will have to export the edited versions and the originals separately - export once with File > Export > Export unmodified original and once the edited versions with File > Export > Export ...photos, and when you import them to the merged library, you will be seeing two photos instead of one.

But then again, if you only interested in keeping the final, edited versions, you download only these and ultimately the storage requirements of the merged library are significantly lower; you will loose any keywords you used to categorise.



After the merge, the local storage requirements on your devices depend on wether you choose the keep originals or an optimized version.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I think, unless I'm misunderstanding you, that we're talking about different things. I'm interested specifically in a Shared Library, not just a merged one. They seem to work differently. Specifically, I want to understand what the storage effects of that would be on the phones, Mac accounts and iCloud account per my example above. My apologies if I'm not interpreting correctly what you wrote.

 

[2024]

Try this:

PowerPhotos - Merge Mac Photos libraries, find duplicate photos, and more

fatcatsoftware.com

Thanks. I will look at that in more depth.

 

[Slartibart]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I think, unless I'm misunderstanding you, that we're talking about different things. I'm interested specifically in a Shared Library, not just a merged one. They seem to work differently. Specifically, I want to understand what the storage effects of that would be on the phones, Mac accounts and iCloud account per my example above. My apologies if I'm not interpreting correctly what you wrote.

Ah, the exact storage requirements then on the individual iPhone will be a little bit harder to estimate - your local library storage will be the same. Added will be locally the storage needed for the (local) previews of the “other” library in the shared iCloud library (plus the data when you display an shared image in full view, slide show, etc.). How much storage you need locally depends mainly on what format (raw, heic, jpeg,…) and resolution the images in the “other” library have. (what do they have?)

 

[Ruggy]

Shared Library photos live only once in iCloud, even if they come from multiple people.
If you combine the 30GB and 50GB libraries into one Shared Library (and ‘move' them), iCloud will hold 80GB total.
Move = the image exists only in the shared library
Copied = image exists in both personal and shared libraries.
If you then download the originals then each person will have 80GB on their device.

 

[2024]

Ah, the exact storage requirements then on the individual iPhone will be a little bit harder to estimate - your local library storage will be the same. Added will be locally the storage needed for the (local) previews of the “other” library in the shared iCloud library (plus the data when you display an shared image in full view, slide show, etc.). How much storage you need locally depends mainly on what format (raw, heic, jpeg,…) and resolution the images in the “other” library have. (what do they have?)

They're full resolution on the phones, but optimized storage is turned on for both Mac accounts. I think that with optimized storage turned on for both phones, I'd have enough space on them for a shared library; but my iCloud plan is only 200GB and if I need 160GB for that, it wouldn't be enough.

 

[2024]

Shared Library photos live only once in iCloud, even if they come from multiple people.
If you combine the 30GB and 50GB libraries into one Shared Library (and ‘move' them), iCloud will hold 80GB total.
Move = the image exists only in the shared library
Copied = image exists in both personal and shared libraries.
If you then download the originals then each person will have 80GB on their device.

Interesting. 80 GB would work. Thanks.