ICloud Photo Library is an optional feature of Apple's iCloud service that can automatically back up and sync any images and video you take to iCloud. It works with Photos for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and also provides sync services for devices like Apple TV. When you enable iCloud Photo Library, it uses your iCloud storage space to upload all.
Reader Celia Drummond had a Mac crash so severe, she had to upgrade her system from Mavericks to El Capitan—I didn’t ask about Sierra—although she was able to recover her data from Time Machine.
However, after using the iPhoto Library Upgrader, Apple’s recommended path for converting iPhoto 7 and earlier libraries to a newer format that iPhoto 8 and 9 can use, “The result is photos a fraction of their original size—most were between 1MB and 7MB each—and all are pixelated.”
I never used the utility, so I don’t know what went wrong, but something did if that’s the outcome, or something is missing in the Time Machine backup. Because she can’t run the older version of iPhoto, she can’t simply rebuild the library, which is the usual suggestion. (I’d make sure you had version 1.1 via the link above, as older versions are out there, too.)
Hold down the Option key and open Photos. One of the photo libraries is already designated as YourLibraryName (System Photo Library). Choose the library you want to designate as the System Photo Library. After Photos opens the library, choose Photos Preferences from the menu bar. Apr 27, 2017 Faces from the Past: A collection of old family photographs by Marge Rice. Rice has spent years collecting old photos from various sources and reuniting them with the proper family. You can search her collection of names online and connect with her to claim a photo. 12 Billion Genealogy Records Are Free for 2 Weeks.
FotoSearch has historical and vintage photos available by download or disk. You are given around 50 to 90 images per disk and the prices range from $129 to $799 per disk. There is a large catalog of various types of images and covering various cultures, as well. Historical Stock Photos provides a place to find free images for email and personal. The Historic Photograph Collections include over 10,000 photographs and descriptions from the holdings of the Salem Public Library, the Oregon State Archives, and the Marion County Historical Society. Images date from the mid-1800s to the 1990s and depict subjects such as Oregon towns, homes, businesses, occupations, scenic vistas.
I’d normally suggest for forward version compatibility to try to find an intermediate version of software, which has been useful for folks with various older releases of the iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). However, the only course of action with an iPhoto 7 library is apparently to run it through the upgrader; you can’t just try to open it in iPhoto 8 (or 9). (I don’t have older libraries to check this out, so I’m relying on Apple and forum posters.)
If the upgrader just won’t work with the old library, the only real solution is to crack open the library and extract ones photos.
Old Photo Archive
- Control-click the iPhoto Library.
- Choose Show Package Contents from the contextual menu.
- Drag (to move) or Option-drag (to copy) the Masters folder to the Desktop or to another drive.
- Launch the latest version of iPhoto 9 and import that Masters folder. Or launch Photos and do the same.
Unfortunately, you’ll lose a lot of information associated with photos and video that’s stored within the library, such as metadata, potentially some edits, albums, and other organizational elements. But this is better than losing the high-resolution versions of your media.
After importing the images and videos and making sure they’re the high-resolution ones you want, you can then use a de-duplication program, like PowerPhotos or Photosweeper 3 (review coming), which can clean up the low-resolution images and possibly help fix the missing metadata.
Old Photo Border
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How To Retrieve Old Iphoto Library
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