It keeps links to them, so you can use Photos to edit or catalog them but still keep them where they are. In the Finder, you can also simply drag and drop the images you want to import onto the Photos icon Photos will import them.īear in mind, though, that Photos' default behavior is not to include original images in imports. The file will now be added to your Photos library. Open Photos from your Dock or Applications folder.

Here's what you need to know about bringing your older pictures and libraries to Photos for Mac. How to sync your Lightroom exports with Photos on Mac How to import images and folders into PhotosĪfter you've gotten Photos set up, the next step is to import your images. Just note down where they're stored on your hard drive, and then import away. If you switched to Lightroom a while ago but now want to make the move to Photos, your best bet is to load your Lightroom folders and files directly into Photos. A note for Lightroom users looking to switch However, there is no real good way to import an existing Aperture library into Photos aside from a manual migration. If you need to do this, you can use Aperture first to consolidate libraries, then import that unified library into Photos. Unfortunately, you can't consolidate multiple libraries into a single Photos library - you have to pick which one you want to use. If you had multiple libraries on your machine, Photos will ask you to select which library you'd like to import. Your old iPhoto library will still remain if you need to use iPhoto for whatever reason, but changes made to those older images won't automatically sync to your new Photos library.

If you only had a single iPhoto library on your Mac, it should upgrade automatically as soon as you open the Photos app. If you've been resisting the transition, but have finally decided to switch to Photos on the Mac, it isn't as painful as you might think. Until then, you should keep your Aperture library and expect to migrate it to Photos again.Īpple announced in 2014 that it would no longer continue developing for iPhoto or Aperture, its older photo storage and editing programs for the Mac. Apple will be releasing an update to macOS Catalina that will address this issue. You will still be able to use Photos to choose your Aperture library as demonstrated below, but this may only show the original photos and not any edits you've made. As of macOS Catalina, Aperture is no longer compatible.

New photos app for mac tutorial