To combine Photos libraries, open the source library and export the photos and videos that you want to keep. Then open the destination library (the one that you want to use as your main library) and import the photos and videos.
Choose a photo library
Here's how to open one of the multiple photo libraries that you might have on your Mac or on a connected external drive:
MacMost forum question: How Do I Merge Photo Libraries? Over time I seem to have generated a few photo libraries, with much duplication, I think. Is there a simple way of merging them so that there is only one library that both iPhoto and Apple Photos can use?. Get the skinny on importing, merging, and consolidating photo libraries with the new OS X photo-management app, Photos. Jan 18, 2017 How to create a 3D Terrain with Google Maps and height maps in Photoshop - 3D Map Generator Terrain - Duration: 20:32. Orange Box Ceo 7,519,651 views.
- Press and hold the Option key as you open the Photos app.
- Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.
Photos uses this library until you open a different one using the same steps.
Export photos and videos from the source library
Open the source library, then decide whether you want to export your files as unmodified originals or edited versions:
Edited versions retain their edits when you import them. The advantage is that you don't have to recreate any edits; however, these files become the destination library's originals. This means that you can't revert to their earliest pre-import version.
Unmodified originals don't show any edits that you made when they were in the source library. This gives you flexibility for later editing, but recreating your edits might take substantial work.
How to export edited versions
- In the Photos app, select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
- Choose File > Export > Export [number].
- An export dialog appears.
- In the Photos section, set Photo Kind to JPEG, TIFF, or PNG. JPEG recompresses your photos, which may result in smaller file sizes. TIFF and PNG files are higher fidelity and may result in larger file sizes.
- In the Videos section, choose a Movie Quality setting. This section appears only if your selected items include videos.
- In the Info section, select the checkboxes if you want to preserve metadata and location data in the exported files.
- In the File Naming section, set File Name to Use File Name and set Subfolder Format to either Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
- Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
- Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
- Click Export.
How to export unmodified originals
- In the Photos app, then select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
- Choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original.
- An export dialog appears.
- If your photos include IPTC metadata (such as titles or keywords) that you want to keep, select the Export IPTC as XMP checkbox.
- Leave the File Name setting on Use File Name.
- Next to Subfolder Format, choose Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
- Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
- Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
- Click Export Originals.
How to import photos and videos into the destination library
Open the destination library, then drag the folder that contains your exported items into the main area that shows your other photos and videos. When a green plus sign appears on your pointer, you can release the folder.
The photos in the folder are sorted into Moments based on their creation dates and locations. The videos are sorted based on the date you exported them from the source library.
If you created subfolders when you exported the items and you want to create an Album for each subfolder, follow these steps:
- In the Finder, open a subfolder.
- Select all of the photos and videos within the subfolder.
- Drag the items onto My Albums in the Photos sidebar.
- Name the Album in the highlighted text box that appears in the sidebar.
- Repeat for each subfolder.
Save space by deleting the source library
If you're sure that you've exported all of the photos and videos that you want to keep from the source library, you can delete it to save disk space on your Mac.
First, open the Finder and find the source library that you want to delete. By default, photo libraries are stored in your Pictures folder. If you can't find the library, follow the steps to choose a library; the path to the selected library's location appears in the Choose Library window.
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Next, move the source library to the Trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to permanently delete the files.
Nov 12, 2019 The best way to back up your iCloud Photo Library is to download all its content to your Mac. Your entire digital library is probably huge, so you may need a Mac with a massive drive to handle the volume. Otherwise, back up your iCloud Photo Library to an external drive attached to your Mac. Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy. If you have more than one photo library, be sure to back them all up. Save valuable space by moving your Mac Photos library to an external hard drive. Plus find out how to back up your entire iCloud Photos Library! But iCloud Photo Library isn't a backup as such. Mar 18, 2020 Your Photos library holds all your photos, albums, slideshows, and print projects. If your library is large, and you want to free up storage space on your Mac, turn on iCloud Photo Library and use Optimize Mac Storage, or move your library to an external drive. Before you start, be sure to. Dec 11, 2018 Luckily, it’s easy enough to copy your Mac’s Photos library to an external drive. This guide assumes you’re using the actual “Photos” app on your Mac, the. Backup mac photos library to external hard drive.
Learn more
With cameras so readily available, it’s easy to accumulate more photos than you know what to do with. You probably take dozens of pictures when you go out, meet up with friends, or go on vacation. And while taking photos is fun, organizing them is work. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this article, we’ll show you how to organize photos on your Mac in three easy steps:
Mac Merge Two Photos Libraries
- Merge your photo libraries in the Photos app
- Delete unwanted photos
- Group pictures using Smart Albums in Photos
Step 1. Consolidate all your photos in the Photos app for Mac
When macOS Yosemite was released in 2014, the Photos app finally came to Macs, replacing outdated iPhoto. Now with Photos, you’ve got more organization tools, including the ability to switch between libraries and merge them. Delicious library mac.
To start with, let’s get all of your photos from different places onto your Mac. Here’s what you should do:
- Use iCloud Photo Library to ensure that everything you take on an iOS device is synced automatically with your Mac. Alternatively, AirDrop photos from your iPhone and/or iPad to your Mac.
- Import photos from external drives to the Photos app on your Mac
- Import photos from your camera
- If you have several libraries in the Photos app, merge them into one
Once everything is on your Mac and in one library, it’s easier to get organized. Let’s take a look at a few questions most people have when they juggle several Photos libraries.
How do I switch libraries in Photos?
Libraries in Photos can come from a few different sources, including external devices such as cameras and iPhones. If you were using iPhoto prior to Photos, each device and source will have a Systems Photo Library. You can switch between them, and here is how you do that:
- Go to Launchpad
- Hold down the Option key, and then double-click on the Photos app to see the libraries you have on this device
- Now you can move easily from one photo library to another and open the one you want by double-clicking it
How to create a new Photo library on Mac?
Creating a new library is easy. If Photos is open, you’ll need to quit and reopen to create a new library:
- Hold down the Option key
- Double-click on the Photos apps
- Click the Create New button, then choose Library
- Give your new library a name and click OK
How to merge two or more Photos libraries?
At present, there is no native macOS tool for merging libraries in Photos. Essentially, what you’ll be doing is moving all pics to one new library. So, create one as described above, and then follow these steps:
- Launch Photos holding down the Option key and select one the libraries you want to merge
- In the menu bar, click Edit > Select All
- Again in the menu bar, select File > Export. Now you’ve got the following options:
- Export Unmodified Original. This will export every image in these libraries, excluding any edits or changes made to them.
- Export [number of photos you want to export] Photos, which gives you the option to pick a format and select Full Size. That will export your photos as they are, with any edits you’ve made, in TIFF, PNG, or JPEG formats.
- Pick where they’re going (this could be a folder on your Mac or a connected external drive, for example)
- Repeat these steps for the other libraries you want merged
- Now close Photos and re-open using Option to select the library you are merging these photos into
- Either use File > Import or drag the exported photos into the library
Merge Two Photo Libraries Mac
How do I delete a Photo library from my Mac?
Mac Merge 2 Photo Libraries Free
If you want to delete a library, it’s super easy. You just navigate to the Pictures folder on your Mac, locate the library you want gone, and move it to the Trash. However, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got all the images and videos out of it first. Export them like we described in the previous section, and then trash the library.
Step 2. Remove duplicates and other useless photos
Now that you've merged libraries — which can take a while if you’ve got a lot of photos scattered across different locations — you’ve probably got a whole load of duplicates and similar images. Chances are, you had the same photo on an external HDD and on your Mac and now it’s duplicated, or you had a dozen slightly different variations of the same shot. Sure, you might want to keep one or two, but do you really need the other 11 wasting space on your Mac? Probably not. Here is how you delete redundant photos from a Mac without it taking all evening.
How to delete duplicates in Photos
- Download Gemini 2 for Mac and launch it
- Click Scan for Duplicates
- It will scan every photo, album and folder on your Mac, including those on any connected external hard drives and imported from the iCloud Photo Library. Once complete, click Review Results.
- Gemini has a photo preview mode, so you can see every image, including metadata. Your duplicates are grouped under Exact Duplicates > Images, and similar photos will be under Similar > Images. Use the icon at the top to see a grid view, making it easier to identify which copy you want to delete.<
- Tick the box next to each image you want to delete, then click Remove
Gemini places these in a separate folder in Photos (Gemini Duplicates), giving you a possibility to look through the images once again before deleting them for good. For more information, this article is well worth a read.
Step 3. Use Smart Albums in Photos to organize your pics
After merging your libraries and clearing out duplicates and similar images, take photo organizing one step further and group the remaining pics with Smart Albums. Let’s take a look at how to use this fantastic feature of the Photos app to your advantage.
What are Smart Albums in Mac’s Photos app?
Smart Albums are a way of grouping images by the parameters you set. Maybe you’ll want an album to contain photos taken last Christmas, or you’d rather group all the pics of your kid together. All that and more can be done with a Smart Album. As is the case with a regular Photos album, you can edit and delete it.
How to make a new Smart Album in Photos
Creating a new Smart Album is simple:
- Launch Photos
- Click the + button next to My Albums in the sidebar
- Select Smart Album<
- Give your Smart Album a name
- Choose the Parameters, e.g. “kids,” “days out,” “Holiday 2018.” You can modify these at any time.
- Click OK to create
By developing a system (e.g., photos are grouped into albums by date taken) and using Smart Albums, you’ll make sure your photo library is easy to navigate, even if it contains thousands of photos from 2001 and up until now.
That’s it, hope this short guide helps you cope with your photo overload. And remember: the best way to organize photos on your Mac is to keep your library lean and manageable — free from clutter and useless copies. Gemini 2 will gladly help with that.