Preparing Photo Libraries for Catalina

hans_s

Member
My understanding is that multiple photo libraries have to be merged together before upgrading from Mojave to Catalina. Is this true? If so then I am looking for advise as to the best way of doing this without loss in quality of the merged images? Are there other options or if anyone has abetter approach to all this?
Thanks.
~ Hans ~
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
It's not true. I have several Photos libraries available under both Mojave and Catalina.

Now if you are referring to **iPhoto** libraries, you will need to import them into a Photos library before you move to Catalina (or Big Sur, which should be announced Tuesday and available shortly afterward). iPhoto was the predecessor to Photos.

Here's an article that explains the procedure (scroll down to the "Manually Migrate a Library Into Photos" part of the article:
 

hans_s

Member
Thank you Chas that is wonderful to know. It saves me the headache I thought I'd have to go through trying to merge 3 different photos libraries. I guess most people don't use iTunes to sync their devices & pictures anymore but I still do. Can you point me to an article/documentation that explains how to sync my pictures from my iOS devices into different Photos Libraries on my laptop in Catalina with iTunes gone? Also does the option to change which Photos Library the Photos app uses when opened remain the same as before? Thanks.
 

hans_s

Member
Hi Chas. A further question regarding these multiple Photos Libraries. Did your multiple libraries get converted to the proper format for the photos version in Catalina from Mojave or did you create your multiple libraries in Catalina afterwards?
I have 2 Photos libraries under Mojave which were created using Photos V4. I believe Catalina's Photos is V5 and on the net I have read where some people can't open a V4 library because of compatibility issues in Photos in Catalina. When I install Catalina would it automatically convert my 2 libraries under pictures to Photos V5? These are not in iCloud ... I am not using iCloud for photos. Thanks to anyone who can help out here.
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
There is no compatibility problem that I'm aware of in Photos from the Mojave to Catalina versions. However, unless Catalina is the last version your Mac can run, you can no longer upgrade to Catalina -- you'll be moving to Big Sur. Again, there should not be any compatibility issues, though you might see a message that Photos in Big Sur is updating your library.
 

hans_s

Member
Great, thanks again Chas for the info. I have a late 2016 15" MacBook Pr. I also did some research on the net and I am good to go.
 
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