Combine Two Photo Libraries Mac Rating: 9,3/10 39 votes

Jan 31, 2017  Feature Request: iCloud Photo Library support for multiple Apple IDs. It’s a lot less time than managing two iCloud Photo Libraries. You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news. Mar 03, 2019  This user tip has been moved to: Notes on Merging Photos Libraries, 2019 Version The older version can no longer be edited without destroying the formatting.-When merging two photo libraries we usually want a lossless merge:The original photos and the edited versions should be merged into the merged library as master-version pairs, so it will be possible to revert edited photos to the. Jul 27, 2019  Part 3. Using an Alternate Hard Drive to Merge Two iTunes Library. The last method that we’re going to look at allows you to merge an iTunes library when your second library is stored on either an external hard drive or another storage device. Step #1 – First off, open up iTunes (if you don’t already have it installed then do so now. 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. Sep 09, 2017  Many people have music in two iTunes libraries, on two different computers, and eventually decide they want to combine or merge those libraries. Here's how to do it. First, some background. ITunes stores your music and other media, and maintains several files that contain information about this content. They're found in /Music/iTunes/ ( is a.

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This user tip has been moved to: Notes on Merging Photos Libraries, 2019 Version

I have two separate libraries for movie documentaries and TV documentaries (and also another for ones which don't seem to have any metadata to be pulled from anywhere) and I was wondering if there's a way to combine them or view them all together as one 'documentaries' sort of library.


Mac itunes icloud music library box gray Aug 04, 2016  I've been having a lot of problems getting my music library/playlists to appear in Apple Music. I think there may be an issue with iTunes because 'Update iCloud Music Library' is greyed out an unclickable when i go to File-Library. Jan 16, 2020  Go to the General tab and select iCloud Music Library to turn it on. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on iCloud Music Library. If you have a large music library, it might take some time to upload.

The older version can no longer be edited without destroying the formatting.


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When merging two photo libraries we usually want a lossless merge:The original photos and the edited versions should be merged into the merged library as master-version pairs, so it will be possible to revert edited photos to the original.The library structure with albums, smart albums should be preserved in the merged library.All metadata, including the faces labels should be migrated.The products (books, cards, calendars, slideshows) should be migrated.

Combine

Written for Photos 2.0 on macOS 10.12.4 or older:There is currently no completely lossless way to merge Photos Libraries, because Photos does not support importing one Photos Library into another library. All work-around methods are compromises. There is no lossless merging of Photos Libraries other than iCloud Photo Library, and even the merging in iCloud will not include the faces albums and the print products.

If you are planning to migrate your photo libraries from Aperture or iPhoto to Photos and own Aperture 3.6, merge your libraries in Aperture before the migration while you still can use Aperture as described here: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries - Apple SupportMake backup copies of the libraries before you try that.

  1. The options in Photos are:Merge the libraries in iCloud by uploading them to the same iCloud Photo Library: Merging in iCloud is the only way to preserve the master-version pairs, so you can revert edited photos to the original versions. Your albums and folders will migrate, keywords, titles, and other metadata. All edited images will be paired with their originals, so you can undo the edits and revert to the original. The searchable faces names will upload (only on Photos 1.5 or older, not on Photos 2.0), but not the faces thumbnails and albums. Photos will scan for duplicates while merging. It is the best way to migrate libraries you invested much work into, but uploading large libraries to iCloud requires a paid subscription for more storage than the free 5GB - for at least a month, and it is slow. My library with 40000 photos took a full week to upload. To merge in iCloud enable the smaller of the two libraries as your iCloud Photo Library.Wait for all photos to upload; that can take a very long time, a week ore more, depending on the size of the library. Photos will merge the the library into the library that is already in iCloud.Now enable the larger library as your iCloud Photo Library. This library will be merged into the library in iCloud too, creating a merged library in iCloud. The merged library will sync back to your larger Photos Library. The merge will not include the Faces albums and projects from the first library you uploaded. That is why I recommend to start with the smaller library. The download will be like to a different Mac, see: Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple SupportTo sync the faces names with iCloud Photo Library, I apply keywords with the names of the persons to all photos in a people album.Merge the libraries by exporting the photos (edited versions and originals) from one library and reimporting them into the other library. This is the most tedious way and only feasible for very small libraries. You would have to export the edited versions and the originals separately and they would no longer be paired. On Yosemite or El Capitan - even if you export the originals with XMP sidecar files to preserve the IPTC metadata, the metadata from the sidecar file will not be applied to the originals when reimporting. Your metadata will be gone, unless you export the edited versions as JPEGS. So there is no help for it but to export both, the originals and the edited versions, and to deal with the duplicates. Photos 2.0 on Sierra can read the sidecar files on import - so exporting with XMP files will transfer the metadata to the new library.

You will have to recreate the albums as well.Merge the libraries with PowerPhotos: PowerPhotos is a tool to manage Photos Libraries. You can easily browse libraries in turn and move photos between libraries. Merging with PowerPhotos is fast (https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/. It will migrate the metadata and the albums, but you have to decide, if you want to use the originals or the edited versions. So you will either lose the editing work or the high quality originals or create redundancy by merging twice in two passes, once to transfer the originals, and then the edited versions. You will have to add a pass to remove duplicates afterward. See chapter six in the PowerPhotos manual: : https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/Help/merging%20libraries.htmlAnother option would by to keep both libraries separate and use PowerPhotos to browse the libraries and to transfer selected albums as you go.iCloud Photo Library would be the best option. Merging with PowerPhotos the second best.Update for Photos 3.0 on macOS 10.13:Photos 3.0 will also sync the recognized faces when you merge two Photos 3.0 libraries in iCloud. projects do still not sync to iCloud.

System Requirements:
  • macOS Mojave or Catalina
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The ultimate toolbox for Photos on your Mac

PowerPhotos works with the built-in Photos app on your Mac, providing an array of tools to help you get your photo collection in order.

Merge Photos Libraries

Create and manage multiple libraries

Merge Two Photo Libraries Mac

Instead of being limited to putting all your photos in a single library, PowerPhotos can work with multiple Photos libraries, giving you many more options for how to organize your ever growing photo collection.

Splitting your photos between multiple libraries helps Photos open more quickly, lets you archive older photos, store some of your collection on an external hard drive, and reduce storage space used by iCloud Photo Library.

Copy photos and their metadata

You can split your library by copying albums and photos with a simple drag and drop. PowerPhotos will take care of copying the photos and retaining their metadata, including keywords, descriptions, titles, dates, and favorite status. Read more about what PowerPhotos can copy.

Merge Photos libraries

Got a whole bunch of libraries you want to consolidate into one? PowerPhotos lets you merge your libraries together while weeding out duplicate photos in the process. You will be shown a preview of what your merged library will look like before any modifications are done, to ensure your merged library looks how you want.

Find duplicate photos

It's easy to have multiple copies of the same photo creep into your photo collection over time. Use PowerPhotos to find duplicate photos in one or more libraries, view them side by side, and separate them into albums where you can easily delete them from your library.

Browse and search

Use PowerPhotos' image browser to quickly view your photos without having to open Photos itself. View detailed photo information using List View, and search for photos across all your libraries at once.

Migrate your iPhoto/Aperture libraries

If you have a lot of existing iPhoto or Aperture libraries that you want to migrate over to Photos, PowerPhotos will help automate your migrations so you don't have to spend time babysitting this lengthy process.

Links and reviews

'PowerPhotos is an extremely useful addition as an enhancement for any Photos user trying to perform tasksthat fall outside of Photos restricted purview.' – Macworld

'PowerPhotos may lack the punch of its predecessor, [iPhoto Library Manager], but it’s indispensable for those making the transition to Photos.' – Mac Life

Video tutorial: Remove duplicate photos in Photos for Mac – PC Classes Online

How To Merge Two Photo Libraries Mac

'PowerPhotos was just what I needed… Two features make it a must-have: merging multiple Photos libraries into one, and finding duplicate photos' – Bob Levitus, Houston Chronicle

Combine Mac Photo Libraries

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