#MAC SYNC PHOTOS TO STORAGE MEDIA HOW TO#
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Often this is because someone has multiple libraries (perhaps including some converted from iPhoto and/or Aperture) or photos scattered across multiple computers.

#MAC SYNC PHOTOS TO STORAGE MEDIA HOW TO#

Photos may delete images from your drive to save space, confident that the master files are in the cloud.Ī common question about Photos is how to merge multiple libraries into a single iCloud collection. If you try to edit (or view at a large size) an image that isn’t on your Mac, Photos downloads the image from iCloud and then presents it to you.

#MAC SYNC PHOTOS TO STORAGE MEDIA DOWNLOAD#

With iCloud Syncing, though, you can use Photos to browse your entire collection without it consuming all your disk space.īy default, in Photos’ iCloud preferences, the Download Originals to This Mac option is turned on, which means every photo you see in your Photos library resides on your Mac’s drive.īut if you change that setting to Optimize Mac Storage ③, Photos no longer feels the need to store all your files locally. What that means, though, is that I can’t browse my entire photo collection or add photos to it without finding and plugging in that drive. (The drives inside my computers aren’t big enough!) I have 13 years of digital-camera files in my photo collection, so many that I use an external USB drive to store them. Photos immediately begins uploading the entire contents of your library to iCloud. To turn it on, choose Photos > Preferences > iCloud and select the checkbox next to iCloud Photo Library. Right now, iCloud syncing is an all-or-nothing proposition. Your old iPhoto or Aperture library might suffice. Warning! Make a backup of your photo library before syncing. Click the Use as System Photo Library button ②.Select the library that you want to sync via iCloud, and click Choose Library.Hold down the Option key and launch Photos.You can have as many libraries as you like (see Use Multiple Photos Libraries), but only one can sync to iCloud. It’s generally the first library you opened when you started Photos. ICloud syncing will work only with a single library on your Mac, which Apple refers to as the System Photo Library. So with Apple, you pay more-but you get the deep integration that only Apple can provide.

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Amazon now offers unlimited photo storage free for Prime members and $11.99 per year for everyone else. At the moment, 200 GB of iCloud space (including not just your photos but your iOS backups and iCloud Drive files) costs $3.99 per month, 500 GB costs $9.99 per month, and 1 TB costs $19.99 per month.Ĭompare that to Google Drive and Dropbox, which charge $9.99 per month for 1 TB. Just about every Apple ID comes with 5 GB of storage for free. Apple has become more aggressive in how it prices its cloud storage, but it’s still more expensive than most of the competition.

Mac sync photos to storage media