iPhoto

Maybe I'm the only one that loves this app, but I do. I'm afraid to update Yosemite as I don't want to lose it. I've 5 gigs of photos in there, and I use the "adjust" feature a great deal. I really dislike the organization of Photo, and the simplistic editing features. Is it possible to update Yosemite and protect iPhoto?
Greatly appreciate the expertise here! Thanks!

iPhoto will run under Yosemite if you have the latest version. In fact, I poked around with it a bit last night and it still runs under the El Capitan beta. I haven't checked all of the functions yet though.

In order for iPhoto to work with Yosemite you must have the latest version. I have 9.6.1. Single-click the iPhoto application then use Get Info to find the version number. If you don't have the latest version you can try the following:

1. Move your current iPhoto into a folder.
2. Log into the App Store (Mac) on your account and go to the Purchases tab.
3. iPhoto should show as available for download.

Once you have the new version up and running you can delete the old app. This procedure leaves the iPhoto library intact.

Sly correct me if I'm wrong but if rainbowcat is running mavericks and has done all the updates which I advise he do anyway then he will already have the latest version of iPhoto. At least thats all I did. Currently running iPhoto 9.6.1 which works in my Beta Test Version of El Capitan with no problems I can detect.

Sorry I wasn't clearer about this - I'm already running Yosemite 10.10.3 Folks who have updated Yosemite have lost iPhoto as Apple replaced it with Photos. Trying to avoid that and keep iPhoto. I'm sitting on updating to 10.10.5 because I'm sure it's going to trash iPhoto.
I do appreciate your advice and time.

If you're already running 10.10.3 and iPhoto is working, then, you have nothing to worry about. Going to 10.10.5 is not going to remove iPhoto just like going to Yosemite in the first place didn't remove it. Those folks who complained about iPhoto not working when going to Yosemite failed to update iPhoto to 9.6.1 before updating to Yosemite. Anyway, iPhoto was never removed as it was moved to a separate folder and "Photos" was installed as a new app.

@Rod you're correct that's why I assumed (incorrectly) that the OP had not yet moved to Yosemite. Folks who have kept current all along seem to have avoided the problem because they had the current version of iPhoto. The only exception I can think of where that might not be true are folks who have iPhoto from disc and never updated through the App Store. I'm not sure wheter those folks would have received the update notice though I think they would when attempting to run iPhoto.

@rainbowcat iphoto isn't removed during the update/upgrade process. All that happens is Photos gets installed, the iPhoto icon is removed from the Dock but the app and library remain intact.

I do think that the App Store or the OSX installer could make a little more obvious the need to update all apps to current versions BEFORE upgrading. I know it is written somewhere but the fact that I can't remember where is an indicator that it needs to be made a little more obvious.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums.

I'm not sure what you "don't like" about the organization in Photos -- it's almost identical to iPhoto!

Events in iPhoto are known as Moments in Photos, but are otherwise the same. You can also put your photos into albums, exactly the same as iPhoto. The chief difference as far as I can see is that the next level up is organized by place, then by year. Of these, only the "year" view is new (most people used to make Smart Albums in iPhoto to do this exact same thing).

It's great that iPhoto continues to work, but that will not be the case indefinitely, so you should probably get started learning Photos. You don't have to give up iPhoto just yet -- I haven't -- but the more you know Photos the more you realize it is really just iPhoto Mk II with even better editing controls.

I'm with you rainbowcat! I love iPhoto so when the announcement that photos would improve it came out I was excited! When it finally did I used it for five days, reverted back to iPhoto (and yes it still works on Yosemite)

I'm not sure what you "don't like" about the organization in Photos -- it's almost identical to iPhoto

Click to expand...

Almost identical, but not:
1. Pictures upload weird so you have to manually sort them into an album
2. You can make a smart album based on a keyword or a face
3. They got rid of photo stream and make you pay for no apparent reason
4. Face makes you work a lot harder to tag a face
5. Faces doesn't allow you to select more than one face at a time
5. Batch edit date and time is gone so you have to change each photo by hand
And an upgrade usually gives you more then the previous version not less

I am also a iPhoto user, and find Photos useless. The edit function is not worth much, and the organisation of albums, folders, and so on cumbersome and counter-intuitive.

Can someone suggest an alternative, even if it costs extra, that would do what iPhoto did?

coenvanwyk, the short answer to your question would be no, I think. Apple's native photo manager is so integrated with so many other apple applications not to mention iOS versions, contacts, mail, sharing via iCloud to apple TV, photo streaming to iCloud Photo Library the list goes on and on. Still if you don't want any of those options and believe me you will run into a lot more then have a look at these alternatives (bearing in mind iPhoto is one of the 4). Use 1 of These 4 Photo Managers If You Care About Your Photo Collection
We are told that the next OSX upgrade (El Capitan) will have an improved version of Photo und until then iPhoto continues to work in Yosemite just as it did before unless you didn't update before upgrading to Yosemite and continues to work in El Capitan Beta.

Thanks to all for replies! What I miss in Photo is the fine-tune editing that was in iPhoto under "Adjust": exposure, contrast, saturation, definition, highlights, shadows, etc. I also like having a list of my albums on the left side, as I have a lot of albums. Ah well.

rainbowcat said:

Thanks to all for replies! What I miss in Photo is the fine-tune editing that was in iPhoto under "Adjust": exposure, contrast, saturation, definition, highlights, shadows, etc.

Click to expand...

Hope you won't be offended by this question but are you sure you have all of the editing tools showing in Photos? Example of how to enable them.

Ah ha! Thank you so much! How did I not know this? Sometimes simple solutions are the best. I've asked this question on social media, and no one knew about this but you. This makes Photo much, much better. Problem solved! Two thumbs up from me, but I can only give you one!

Slydude said:

Hope you won't be offended by this question but are you sure you have all of the editing tools showing in Photos? Example of how to enable them.

Click to expand...

Well now I'm offended because I didn't know that either. ;P Sly, you're just getting too sharp for us old fellows to keep up with. ;D

@rainbowcat Thanks for the rep bump. I stumbled upon that information in a different article while answering a post from another member. If I haven't already mentioned this on the Sunday Chat (I think I have), I'll mention it this week.

chscag said:

Well now I'm offended because I didn't know that either. ;P Sly, you're just getting too sharp for us old fellows to keep up with. ;D

Click to expand...

Thanks Charlie I'm just trying to keep up with you guys as best I can. If this question had been about anything related to Terminal I'd have broken out in hives.

Gee, I thought everybody knew that Thanks, Sly I'd give you some reputation points if I hadn't already, gotta spread around some.

Thatguy16 said:

Almost identical, but not:
1. Pictures upload weird so you have to manually sort them into an album

Click to expand...

Not actually true. All my events and albums and smart albums (and projects for that matter), Faces, Keywords and so on converted to Photos perfectly. I also still have (and use) my iPhoto library, since neither it nor the application were altered in any way.

2. You can make a smart album based on a keyword or a face

Click to expand...

Faces are of course already sorted into albums automatically, but yes you can (easily!) make a new album based on a face, a keyword, or just about any other criteria you want. You simply haven't bothered to learn even the basics of the program, as evidenced by the picture below:

3. They got rid of photo stream and make you pay for no apparent reason

Click to expand...

Nope.

4. Face makes you work a lot harder to tag a face

Click to expand...

Not really, it's just moved to the "Faces" section. You select one of the suggested faces, and tag it same way you always have.

5. Faces doesn't allow you to select more than one face at a time

Click to expand...

I'm unsure what you mean by this, but I can, in fact, select multiple faces in the Faces view by holding down the command key.

5. Batch edit date and time is gone so you have to change each photo by hand

Click to expand...

(two number fives, btw) And again, no you are incorrect. Select all the photos you want to change, select "Adjust Date and Time," adjust the date and time and click okay. All photos selected will be adjusted (either the copy or the original as you indicate -- just like it worked in iPhoto!)

So now that we've shown every one of your complaints to be invalid, let me tell you about one you missed that is a **legitimate** complaint about Photos. Unlike iPhoto, it doesn't allow "round-tripping" to a third-party photo editor. However, it does (as of El Capitan) allow third-party plug-ins, which may negate this issue entirely over time. But for now, that's what is keeping me in iPhoto.

It's amazing how many "lost" features reappear if you take the time to learn the new program -- and very often in doing so, one starts to understand why things were changed in the first place! That Adjust Date and Time change makes perfect sense when you think about it for two seconds!

I'm running Mavericks 10.9.5, have always updated iPhoto when prompted, and now I see that it's 9.5.1. No update available to 9.6. So you guys are saying I'll lose iPhoto if I upgrade to the new OSX?

Re-read my post #2 above. It explains what has to be done to use iPhoto under Yosemite. I have not tested its use under El Capitan yet. I know it worked under the betas but haven't tested it since El Capitan was officially released.