Participant

Answered

Import from Apple Photos to Lightroom

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
April 10, 2017
4 replies
60000 views

Hi,

I am using a MacBook Pro running macOS Sierra (10.12.3), using Photos version 2.0 and Adobe Lightroom CC (2015). !

I've read the forums and cannot find an answer to my question. How can I import/export photos between Photos and Lightroom without having to drag and drop via the desktop every time?

I also use Photoshop CC (2017) if you know a way to import/export between Photos and Photoshop as well.

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer john beardsworth

I think this is how:

Switch to Finder.
Right-click on your Photos library and select Show Package Contents
Drag the Masters folder from inside the Photos package and drop it in Pictures - ie make Masters into a regular folder
In Lightroom, import the Masters folder, choosing Add in the Import dialog

With this method you can import some or everything. I suggest everything, and then forgetting about Photos.

It would be great if you could confirm this method worked.

L

Lucien5C49

Participant

I am using a Mac Book Pro version Big Sur 11.5.2. I cannot get images imported from "Photos" to LightBook. I was able to do this on my older Mac. This is very frustratiing because I only bought the current Mac to be able completely utilize LightRoom and Photoshop for editing. Now I can't even get the photos into LightRoom.

Does anyone know a work around?

Thanks,

Lucien Perrodin

R

Roddy Hogg

Participant

I believe there is a special import script to import all Photos into Lightroom. New photos are handled differently. You should download the Lightroom app to your phone or tablet. Then set Lightroom to import all new photos. They will be added to Adobe (Lightroom) Cloud. When you sync your computer, all photos from Adobe Cloud will be downloaded at full resolution to a folder you specify in Lightroom. Once they are synchronized and downloaded, you just need to organize them.

I hope that helps.

L

Lucien5C49

Participant

Thanks for your comment.

I have both LightRoom Classic and LightRoom. I've tried in both to import from "Photos" on my Mac with no success. How do I access the special script that you are referring to?

Thanks so much.

P

priyav91277586

Participant

Please do note that Lightroom CC - Release 2.0 has a feature to Migrate Apple Photos Library.

This will import all your Album Hierarchy/Keywords/People Information/ Geo Locations along with your images.

Please watch out following before you start migration.

1. All the assets have been downloaded locally on your machine.

2. Hidden assets are not migrated, so unhide any hidden Photos

3. HEIC/HEVC files take a long time to be converted to migration ready format. Please wait until Apple Photos has finished its conversion task to be able to migrate all the assets, else you will lose out HEIC/HEIF files.

H

heinerl92755129

Participating Frequently

I am sorry, but apparently that feature daes not exist (even) in the newest Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.1 Version! It is a pitty.

So my best experience:

- open Fotos-app an Your mac

- look for "export", than choose "unmodified" photos: so You have all data You need

attention: if You follow the advice to extract the Master-folder out of the Fotos.Bibliothek (photos.library), and then import it into LR, all Your photos will appear with another name, not the original one. I am not sure, but perhaps even other metadata will have changed ....

R

Roddy Hogg

Participant

It appears that the only method is to transfer the Apple Photos Master file as described by John Beardsworth. I am using Lightroom Classic version 9.2.1 and it does have a menu option to import Apple iPhotos: Edit>Plug-In Extras> Import from iPhoto Library. However, Apple deprecated iPhoto in 2015 and replaced it with Apple Photos. It is a small change, but an important one. When I tried to use this option to import Apple Photos, I received the error message, "The selection does not appear to be an iPhoto library."

Even the solutions posted in the Adobe help section are inaccurate. I hope this helps someone else save some time looking for a solution.

john beardsworth

Community Expert

This might also help https://photofocus.com/2016/09/20/moving-from-apple-photos-to-lightroom-the-why-and-the-how/

J

juliep31816725

Participant

I just used this method. Thank you, it worked well. One question though: I have 20,000 photos. Are there now two copies on my hard drive and in using my iCloud data? Would you then delete them all from apple photos?

john beardsworth

Correct answer

Community Expert

I think this is how:

Switch to Finder.
Right-click on your Photos library and select Show Package Contents
Drag the Masters folder from inside the Photos package and drop it in Pictures - ie make Masters into a regular folder
In Lightroom, import the Masters folder, choosing Add in the Import dialog

With this method you can import some or everything. I suggest everything, and then forgetting about Photos.

It would be great if you could confirm this method worked.

sarahs29408876

Participant

John - This was very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to post.

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