Life has plenty of great moments to capture, especially if you're a parent as I've learned in the past several months. Honestly, I was never much of a video person before having a kid, but now I'm taking more videos than ever before.

Sometimes, however, those videos need some tweaks before they're ready to go on social media. While you could download a third-party app to make some adjustments to your photos and video, Apple also made it possible to edit video right in the Photos app, no extra downloads required. Here's how to edit videos on your best iPhone or iPad in the Photos app.

Using video editing tools on iPhone and iPad

The following directions are intended for those using devices running at least iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 and later. So if you have a compatible iPhone or iPad, especially with iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, then you are able to edit video without needing a third-party app. Supported devices include the first-generation iPhone SE and later, 7th Gen iPod touch, and iPad Air 2 and later. However, keep in mind that the editing tools will only work if the video is in the proper format.

Once iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 come out in the fall, some older devices will no longer be supported. Make sure to double check your iPhone compatibility with iOS 16, as well as iPad model for iPadOS 16 when you can. Notable cuts include the original first-generation iPhone SE, 7th Gen iPod touch, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 4. However, those devices will still be able to edit video in the Photos app as long as you have at least iOS 13 up to iOS 15.

How to trim your video on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap and hold on the left or right side of the timeline to engage the trimming tool.
7. Drag the anchor left or right to trim.
8. Tap and hold an anchor to expand the timeline for more precise editing.
9. Tap Done on the bottom right of the screen.

Note: You can go into the Photos app at any time and undo the trimming of any video.

How to resize a video on iPhone and iPad

You can also now resize a video without needing a third-party app!

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the crop icon.
7. With your finger, choose Straighten, Horizontal, or Vertical.
8. Move your finger left/right to resize. Any changes you make are shown automatically.
9. Tap Done to save.

How to flip and rotate a video on iPhone and iPad

To flip and rotate a video on iOS 13 and later:

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the crop icon.
7. Choose the flip icon at the top left to flip your video.
8. Select the rotate icon at the top left to rotate your video. Repeat as necessary.
9. Tap Done.

How to adjust the brightness of your video on iPhone and iPad

During post-processing, you can change the brightness of your clip just as you would with photos.

1. Launch the Photos app from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the Adjustment icon.
7. Choose the Brightness circle.
8. Scroll left and right to select a brightness level.
9. Tap Done.

How to adjust the saturation of your video on iPhone and iPad

You can change the chromatic intensity, or saturation, of your video similarly as the brightness.

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the Adjustment icon.
7. Choose the Saturation circle.
8. Scroll left and right to select the saturation point.
9. Tap Done.

How to adjust your video even further on iPhone and iPad

The brightness and saturation aren't the only ways you can adjust videos on iOS and iPadOS. Following the same steps, you can edit a video's exposure, highlights, shadows, contrast, black point, vibrancy, warmth, tint, sharpness, definition, noise reduction, and vignette.

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the icon representing the solution you want.
7. Scroll left and right to select a setting you wish to change.
8. Tap Done.
9. Repeat Steps 6-8 as needed.

How to add a filter to your video on iPhone and iPad

During post-processing, you can add a filter to your video. Here's how:

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Tap the Filter icon.
7. Directly below, scroll left and right to change the filter setting.
8. Tap Done.

How to mute the sound on a video on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Photos from your device's Home screen.
2. Select Albums at the bottom of the app.

3. Choose Videos.
4. Tap the video you wish to edit.
5. Choose Edit at the top right of the screen.

6. Choose the sound icon at the top left to turn it on/off.
7. Tap Done.

Anyone can edit video on iPhone like a pro!

As you can see, it's incredibly easy to edit your videos directly in the Photos app without ever needing a third-party application. These tools cover the basics and will make your videos shine! However, they are still fairly barebones, so if you are looking for something more advanced, you'll want to check out something like LumaFusion on the App Store.

Updated June 2022: Updated for the latest versions of iOS and iPadOS.

What you need to know

• Apple has updated its iMovie iPhone and iPad app to make it easier to create home movies.
• Storyboards and Magic Movie are two features added in the new update.
• iMovie is a free download from the App Store.

Apple today released a new version of iMovie for iPhone and iPad that is designed to make it easier for people to create gorgeous movies at home. The new update adds two features designed specifically to help with that; Storyboards and Magic Movie.

The new features are part of the iMovie app that can now be downloaded from the App Store, with those who already have the app installed able to get the update via the usual mechanism. It's an update worth installing as well, with both new features making the movie creation process smoother than ever.

In terms of storyboards, Apple says that "creators can choose from 20 different storyboards featuring a variety of popular video types, including cooking tutorials, Q&As, product reviews, news reports, and more." Each one of those storyboards includes a shot list that helps people tell a story.

The Magic Movie feature is designed to help people create videos with titles, transitions, and even music with just a few taps of their iPhone or iPad. People can select an album or collection of photos and then have Magic Movie do the rest.

The update iMovie is ready to rock now and is one of the best iPad apps for creating home movies. You can download it for free from the App Store now.

If you have an iPhone, then you probably use it a lot for taking photos. After all, no matter which model you have, the iPhone always has a pretty great camera, and it's always there for those spontaneous moments. Over time, this means you have a lot of photos. But what if you want to edit a bunch of them on your Mac, rather than your iPhone or iPad, so that they look the absolute best they can? You need to get them over from your iPhone to your Mac somehow. Fortunately, there are a few ways to go about this.

Whether you're using the iPhone SE or the iPhone 13 Pro, here's how to transfer photos from your favorite iPhone right to your best Mac.

Use iCloud Photo Library

One of the easiest methods to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac, with no cables required, is to turn on iCloud Photos. When this is enabled, you should be able to access all of the photos and videos that you have across all of your devices — including the best iPad, iPhone, and Mac.

However, you will need to have enough storage space in your iCloud account, which you may not have. Apple provides 5GB of free space for every iCloud account, which is like nothing these days. If you want to use iCloud Photos, you may need to consider which iCloud storage plan you should get, which start at $0.99 a month for 50GB, $2.99 for 200GB, or you can get 2TB for $9.99 a month. There are also Apple One bundles, which get you iCloud storage on top of other Apple services like Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness, and more.

The 2TB option can also be shared with up to six others through Family Sharing. For most individuals, the 200GB should suffice. However, you should keep in mind that this iCloud storage is not just for iCloud Photos — it's for everything you store in iCloud, including iCloud backups, which can take up quite a bit of space.

To use iCloud Photos for importing your photos over to your Mac from your iPhone, you'll first need to make sure that all of your devices have iCloud Photos enabled.

1. Launch Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Scroll down and tap on Photos.
3. Tap the toggle for iCloud Photos to ON (green).

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click Photos in the upper left corner of the menu bar.
3. Click Preferences (you can also easily access the Preferences by pressing cmd and , on your keyboard).
4. Click on the iCloud tab.
5. Click the checkbox on iCloud Photos to turn it on.

Once iCloud Photos is enabled on all of the devices you want to use it on, your images should sync automatically across everything. However, it may take up to 24 hours after turning it on for everything to get synced over, so you'll have to be patient. After that, though, everything should be rather seamless when it comes down to how to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac.

Import via the Photos app on Mac

If you use the Photos app on your Mac to manage your photos and edit them, but you don't want to use iCloud Photos, then you'll need to manually plug your phone in and import it the old fashioned way. Here's how.

1. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac via a USB cable.
2. Open the Photos app on your Mac.
3. The Photos app should automatically be on the Import screen with all photos and videos on the connected device. If not, just click on the device name in the sidebar.
4. Select the photos you want to import.
5. Click Import Selected. If you did not select photos, click Import All New Photos.

6. Photos app will begin the process. Once it's completed, you can disconnect your iPhone or iPad from your Mac.

Before iCloud Photos was a thing, this was probably the best and most straightforward way on how to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac.

Transfer the photos with AirDrop

Don't use the Photos app on Mac? No problem. Another quick way on how to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac is to utilize AirDrop. With AirDrop, you're using Bluetooth Low Energy to basically create a point-to-point WiFi network that can transfer data between two Apple devices, such as an iPhone and a Mac, an iPhone to another iPhone, an iPhone to an iPad — you get the idea. AirDrop is fast, power-efficient, and secure.

It's also incredibly easy to use!

1. Launch Photos on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Find the photos and videos that you want to send to your Mac. You can do it for individual images or a batch of multiple photos.
3. Tap the Share button in the bottom right corner.

4. Tap AirDrop.
5. Select the Mac device that you want to send the images to.

6. On your Mac, the AirDropped image should appear in a Finder window.

If you use AirDrop enough, it will begin to show up as the first choice in the top row of sharing options. You can just tap it to send to your most frequently AirDropped device, which may be your Mac.

I honestly use AirDrop every day to complete work here at iMore. It's the fastest way to for me to get iPhone and iPad screenshots, product review photos, and more, without having to deal with iCloud Photos or the Photos app on Mac.

Utilize the Files app

If you want to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac, but don't want to use iCloud Photos and Photos on Mac, then you could use the Files app instead. Importing a file into the Files app on your iPhone means you can access that photo or video file from your Mac via iCloud Drive, or even another third-party syncing service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive.

If you prefer to use a third-party service, such as Dropbox, you'll need to turn that on first.

1. Launch the Files app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the Browse tab.
3. Tap the "..." button in the upper right corner.

4. Tap Edit.
5. Under Locations, tap the toggle for the third-party service or app you want to enable.
6. Tap Done.

Now that your service or app is enabled in the Files app, you should be able to browse all of your stored files directly, without having to use a separate app.

Of course, third-party services like Dropbox also have standalone apps that can handle your Camera Roll uploads automatically as well.

1. Launch Photos on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Find the photos and videos that you want to send to Files.
3. Tap the Share button.

4. Scroll down and tap Save to Files.
5. If you have multiple locations saved, choose the location you want to save to.
6. Tap Save.

Once you have imported your photos and video to the Files app in your specified location, it should be easy to find them on your Mac.

1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Click iCloud Drive in the sidebar. If you chose a different location, like Dropbox, click Dropbox in the sidebar.

3. Your photo or video should be there. It may be easier to sort by Date Added or Date Modified if you have a lot of files.

Send 'em to your Mac right from your iPhone!

While you may use your iPhone for all of your photo-taking needs, getting them on your Mac may not be so obvious. But now that we've shown you all of the different ways that you can accomplish this, it's pretty easy! Plus, there are some amazing photo editors on the Mac that help you achieve the perfect photo. And don't forget, you can transfer photos from your Mac to your iPhone as well, you know, so you can post those edited photos on Instagram.

Updated March 2022: These are still the best ways to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac.

What you need to know

• Apple has released updates to Logic Pro, MainStage, and Garageband.
• Logic Pro now supports spatial audio monitoring with AirPods models and is optimized for the new Mac Studio.
• MainStage received a redesign as well as support for the new Mac Studio.

If you're into music creation on your Mac, today was a good day.

Today, Apple released updates to Logic Pro, MainStage, and Garageband for the Mac. While some of the updates were your standard "performance improvement," some brought some notable new features to Apple's music creation software.

One example is Logic Pro, Apple's professional music production app for the Mac. Today's update, version 10.7.3, brings spatial audio features to Apple's headphones and optimizes the software for the upcoming Mac Studio. You can check out all of the new updates to Logic Pro below:

• Enables spatial audio monitoring with dynamic head tracking on AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, AirPods (3rd Generation) and Beats Fit Pro*
• Monitor through the Apple binaural renderer, which provides a more accurate preview of spatial audio playback on Apple Music*
• Optimized performance for M1 Max and M1 Ultra on the new Mac Studio
• Includes stability improvements and bug fixes
• Requires macOS Monterey version 12.3 or later

Even MainStage, Apple's live performance software, got a big update today. Version 3.6 brings a new design, expanded sound library, and optimization for the new Mac Studio.

• Refined new design
• Expands the Sound Library with 120 Patches, 50 kits and 2800 loops from today's biggest hitmakers including Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Mark Ronson, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch, and TRAKGIRL
• Adds Korean language support
• Optimized performance for M1 Max and M1 Ultra on the new Mac Studio
• Includes stability improvements and bug fixes

Unfortunately, not every update can be that exciting. Garageband, while updated to version 10.4.6, only contains the usual "stability improvements and bug fixes."

All of the updates are available to download for free right now. If you have any of these pieces of software, you can open up the App Store on your Mac and get downloading.

Family Sharing is one of the best Apple iCloud services for family groups. It allows you to share storage space, purchase accounts, subscriptions, Apple Music plans, Apple Arcade and much more between multiple iCloud users. This includes managed accounts for young children. 

Besides all those benefits, Family Sharing also integrates with Shared Albums -- a free feature that provides your family with a secure shared album so you can easily share images and videos in one place. Each family member in your circle has their own separate iCloud Photo Library but they can choose to send media to the Family album, providing everyone with a communal space. It's perfect if you want to share your latest vacation snaps or photos of the kids with everyone in a secure environment.

Here's how to use iCloud Photo Sharing alongside Family Sharing. Once it's set up, you can easily access the Family album on your shiny new iPhone 14 Pro, one of the best iPads, or the latest MacBook Air M2, and everything in between.

Note: Before following these steps, make sure you've enabled iCloud Shared Albums. It's not possible to use the Family album unless it's switched on. There's no need to use iCloud Photo Library to enable sharing if you prefer another syncing alternative.

How to view the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

If you want to see which of your family members have already added to the album, you'll need to open the Shared section of your Photos app. That's also how you view the Family album. Here's what to do.

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the Albums tab.
3. After scrolling down to Shared Albums, tap the Family album. (If you can't see the album, tap See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Look under the Shared section of the Sidebar, and click Shared Albums.
3. Click the Family album.

How to add new photos or video to the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

Adding new photos to the Family Album is pretty much as easy as adding photos or videos to any other album. If you're not sure though, here's what to do.

1. Tap the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. After scrolling down to the Shared Albums section, tap the Family album. (If you can't see it, tap See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

4. Tap the plus sign.
5. Tap the photo or photos you want to share, then tap Done in the upper right corner.
6. Type a description if you'd like to add some context, then tap Post in the pop-up window.

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Click on the photos you want to share with your family members (shift-click or command-click to select multiple).
3. Click the share button on the upper right of the window. It's a box with an upward arrow.
4. Click on Shared Albums to find the right album.
5. Click Family. The images will then sync over to your family member's device near instantly, depending on everyone's internet connection.

How to remove photos or video from the Family album on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

If you want to remove any photos or videos from the Family album, you're only a couple of clicks or taps away. All members of the group can delete content they don't want to share any more. Here's how to do so.

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the Albums tab to find the album.
3. Scroll down to Shared Albums and tap the Family album. (If you can't see it, tap on See All and browse through the shared albums until you find it.)

4. Tap Select in the upper right corner.
5. Tap the photo or video you wish to delete from the shared album. It won't remove it from your device -- only the shared album.

6. Tap the Trash icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
7. Tap Delete Photos to confirm that you definitely want to delete the selected photos.

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on Shared Albums in the sidebar of the app.
3. Click the Family album.
4. Select the images you want to delete from the shared album.

5. Tap the Delete key on your keyboard.
6. Click Delete on screen to confirm that you want to remove the photo from the shared album. Again, this will only remove the image from the shared album, not the original on your device.

Share your favorite memories with Family Sharing

It's simple to use Family Sharing and iCloud to share your favorite moments and memories with your loved ones. More convenient than trying to set up a private Facebook or Instagram account (and liaising with who shares what), you get all the benefits of the security that iCloud brings with an effort-free experience for all. 

Providing everyone in your family group knows how to use their Apple devices (and why wouldn't they?), Family Sharing means they can figure things out just as easily as if they were saving to their regular Camera Roll.

You also get the benefits of receiving a notification any time someone shares a new photo or video, which can make updates fairly exciting when there's lots going on in your circle.

What you need to know

• Apple has announced that it is releasing a new version of iMovie.
• The new version includes two new features: Magic Movie and Storyboards.
• It will be released in April.

Earlier today, Apple hosted its "Peek Performance" special event where the company unveiled a new generation of the iPhone SE and iPad Air as well as two completely new products: the Mac Studio and Studio Display.

During the iPad Air segment of the keynote, the company revealed that it will be releasing a new version of iMovie in April and gave us a sneak peek of what is to come with the new version.

One of the things coming with the new version of iMovie is Magic Movie, a new feature that will, with little effort, intelligently assemble "styled, edited videos complete with titles, transitions, even music."

The other feature coming to iMovie is Storyboards which will offer users "premade video templates [to] guide you through the movie-making process."

Apple says that the new version of iMovie will be released in April, but did not specify exactly what day the version will be available.

When you use your digital camera to take amazing photos, you're going to want to import those photos onto your Mac to edit, share, and store them. You can even set up the Photos app on Mac to import photos automatically from that specific device. In macOS Monterey, you can also select which album you want those photos to go to. If you're trying to import a bunch of pictures from a specific event, you can also create a brand new folder and move them directly to it for better organization.

Here's everything you need to know about how to import photos from your best digital camera to your Mac.

How to select a folder to add new photos from your digital camera in the Photos app on Mac

In macOS Monterey, after you prepare your digital camera to import to the Photos app, here's how to select a specific folder to relocate to.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac if it doesn't open automatically.
2. Click on your digital camera from the sidebar if it isn't already selected.

3. Select the photos you want to import to a specific folder.
4. Click on Library at the top of the Photos app window.
5. Select the folder you want to import the selected pictures directly to.

The pictures will be imported directly to the folder you selected. If you want to import multiple photos to different folders, follow the steps above and select which photos you want to import to each folder until you've imported them all.

How to create a new folder to import photos from your camera to Mac with the Photos app

If you're just about to dump all of your vacation photos into the Photos app on your Mac but haven't created a dedicated folder for it yet, no problem; you can do so right before importing.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac if it doesn't open automatically.
2. Click on your digital camera from the sidebar if it isn't already selected.

3. Select the photos you want to import to the newly created folder.
4. Click on Library at the top of the Photos app window.
5. Click on New Album.

6. Enter an album name.
7. Click on OK.

The pictures will be imported directly to the folder you created. If you want to import multiple photos to different folders, follow the steps above and create new folders for each until you've imported them all.

How to find the photos you've just added to a folder in the Photos app on Mac

After you've created or selected a specific folder to import your photos to, you can find them under My Albums.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on My Albums in the sidebar.
3. Double-click on the Album.

There they are!

Where your pictures go if you don't select a specific folder to import photos from your camera to Mac with the Photos app

If you don't select a folder to import your photos to, you can still find them easily. They will always be delivered to your Photos library (it's the one right at the top of the sidebar) whether you send them to a specific folder or not. You can also find them in your Imports section, where you will find all of the photos that you have imported from your camera to Mac (unless you've deleted them).

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on Imports.

You can filter your imported content by favorited, edited, only photos, only videos, or keyword (if you've tagged your photos).

Click on Showing in the upper left and select a filter.

Transfer those photos to your iPhone

Now that you know how to import photos to the location you what, learning how to transfer photos from your Mac to your iPhone is an excellent way to post your favorite shots to your social media accounts. Happy shooting!

Updated March 2022: Updated for the latest version of macOS Monterey.

The Mac has long been regarded as an excellent tool for creative endeavors. Video editing is a natural on the Mac, but you'll need editing software in order to do anything beyond the basics. Here are some of our favorite video editors for your Mac, whether you're working on a desktop or laptop.

Adobe Premiere Pro

The leading video editing software for film, TV, and the web, Adobe Premiere Pro CC is also one of the most expensive. Plus, it's now only available through monthly or yearly subscriptions. Video editing tools powered by Adobe Sensei, Premiere Pro works with other Adobe apps and services, including After Effects, Adobe Audition, Adobe Stock, and hundreds of third-party extensions. Currently, it's our favorite video editing software for Mac.

Adobe Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 2022

Considered a less powerful (and cheaper) sibling to Premiere Pro, Premiere Elements is available on both Mac and Windows, and allows you to do basic and intermediate edits. With intelligent editing Adobe Sensei AI technology, Premiere Elements lets you edit, create, organize, and share photos and videos. You can also add motion to your static images, colorize photos, and select a subject with one click. And yes, you only have to pay for it once — until a new version is released, of course.

Apple Final Cut Pro

If you're looking for an option that is not owned by Adobe, you should consider Apple's Final Cut Pro. Ideally suited for professionals, this software combines video editing and media organization. Extend your capabilities by adding third-party workflow extensions.

Apple iMovie

Free in the Mac App Store, Apple's iMovie features classic themes, chroma-keying, audio tools, and a brilliant yet simple interface. You can enhance your iMovie experience by using the mobile version on the iPhone and iPad.

DaVinci Resolve

The free version of DaVinci Resolve 18 offers editing, visual effects, motion graphics, color correction, and audio post-processing. If you love it but want more, you can pay for the studio version, which adds multi-user collaboration, 3D tools, FX, and more. This software is available on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Blender

With Blender, you receive a free and open-source 3D creation suite. Tools are available for video editing, modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, and game creation. If you're looking for something a little bit different that is supported by professionals and hobbyists alike, this is the one to check out.

Camtasia

Camtasia allows you to combine or split clips, trim, and speed up or slow down the footage with both a screen recorder and video editor. From there, you can preview your masterpiece through the video editor and add effects to add polish to your videos. Camtasia is available for Mac and Windows and is available for free through a 30-day trial.

The best video editing software for your Mac

You can't go wrong with any of these titles. They'll all work great on macOS Monterey, and should also work fine on macOS Ventura as well. If you're working on the go, all of the best MacBooks on the market, including the M2 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro really like these titles. Adobe Premiere Pro is top-notch, and just about the most computer editor out there. Of course, you'll have to pay a monthly subscription in order to use it. We also highly recommend Apple's extensive Final Cut Pro, which you can pay for just once, and its free consumer offering, iMovie. Both let you stay in the Apple ecosystem. If you're just starting out, I'd certainly start with iMovie, since it's free and fully integrated into your Mac's operating system. As you advance, you'll have a better idea of what you need and what's worth paying a premium for.

No matter who you are, everyone loves to take pictures. These photos are memories that we want to preserve for a lifetime, or they can even be artistic ways that we express ourselves and want to show off around the home. This is why we like to get photos printed out, turned into books, turned into cards for special occasions, or even put them on mugs and other accessories.

Apple used to offer their own in-house photo printing service with its Photos app, but that was discontinued sometime in 2018. While Photos for Mac still has the option to get photo prints, it must be done through a third-party extension that you can get in the Mac App Store.

• How to set up and start using Photos on your Mac

Let's go through the new way of getting photos printed on your Mac.

• How to install a Photo Extension for Photos on Mac
• How to use a Photo Extension to print photos from Mac
• My personal method for photo printing from my Mac

How to install a Photo Extension for Photos on Mac

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Select one or more photos that you want to print.

3. Click File in the menu bar, or right click to bring up a menu.
4. Hover over Create, then select what you want to print.
   • Options include: Book, Calendar, Card, Wall Decor, Prints, Slideshow, and Other.
5. Click App Store to go straight to available apps that offer Photo Extensions.

6. Click Get on an app to download it.

You are able to download as many apps as you want or need and use the extension with Photos. These apps will simply appear in the list of apps available when you select the Create option next time.

How to use a Photos Extension to print photos from Mac

Once you have some apps installed that support Photos Extensions, it's easy to use them.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Select one or more photos that you want to print.

3. Click File in the menu bar, or right click on the selected photo to bring up the menu.
4. Hover the cursor over Create, then select what you want to print.
5. Click the app you want to use.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions for that particular app to complete your photo print.

You can also click on the App Store option from the Create menu to once again bring up the section in the App Store with available Photo Extensions apps if you want to try out more.

My personal method for photo printing from my Mac

I take a lot of photos with my iPhones. Whenever I'm out and about, I end up taking photos whenever I can if it's something interesting, or just those moments with friends and family that I want to remember. I usually just use those photos in my Day One journal entries, but sometimes there are significant life events that deserve something more. Here's how I get my important photos printed from my Mac.

Currently, I use a combination of Dropbox and iCloud Photo Stream for keeping backups of my iPhone photos on my Macs.

I like Photo Stream because it's automatic and fairly seamless, and I use this over iCloud Photos because I still have albums on my iPhone that were synced from my Mac, and I don't want to remove those. Photo Stream lets me access my photos from the last 30 days, which is fine for me.

My permanent photo backup solution, which I use as a failsafe in case something goes wrong with Photo Stream, is Dropbox. Sometimes I end up forgetting to upload my photos for a few days, but I try to launch Dropbox at least once a day so my photos automatically upload to my 2TB Dropbox Plus account. I have years of photos in my Dropbox, so I can always browse it for what I need.

For my wedding last year, I was given digital copies through Google Drive. I saved all of the photos to my hard drive, and then uploaded them into Dropbox in appropriately labeled folders.

When I need to get these photos into Photos on Mac, I simply import them from their source folder.

• How to import images and folders into Photos

As I said, I have a ton of photos. When they end up in Photos on Mac, it's kind of a big mess. I'll have to go through each Day to see what happened or go through a ton of photos in a folder, which I may not want all of them printed.

When I go through my pictures in Photos, I think about what I want to be printed. Whether it's just prints, or a photo book, or something I want to send my mom for the holidays, I think the photos I choose should tell a kind of story. Or just look good. I mean, why else would anyone want to print out photos?

To make it easier, I select the photos I want to print and create a new album for them. I label this album with what I want to do, such as "Wedding Book," "Family Prints," "Christmas Cards," etc. That way, these photos are already set aside, and I can quickly select them for printing.

For my wedding, I wanted to have my favorite wedding photos arranged in a book to tell the story. While there are plenty of photo printing services out there, for this I chose to use Motif.

With Motif, it's easy to make a photo book in minutes. Just select your photos, then choose the size and format (hardcover or softcover) of your book. Then Motif loads up your photos in print-ready resolution, and you're off! As you pick a theme, it will give you some sample pages underneath the theme selector. If you want to go the easy route, just select Autoflow Book. With Autoflow, Motif goes through and picks out your best images and removes duplicates. You can always go back and add more photos, reduce the number of pages, and Motif will do all the heavy lifting for you.

If you want to have complete control, select Don't Autoflow. You'll then be able to design each page by choosing what photos should be shown, and you can add text to tell your story. Each page's layout can be changed if you aren't satisfied with it, you can add text along the bottom, or increase the size of a photo space if needed.

Personally, I like to put my photos in my book in chronological order. This way, it tells the story I want it to tell. I go with Don't Autoflow and it may take a while to get everything in the place I want it to be, but the result is my own creation, and it's well worth the time and effort. Motif is pretty easy to work with, as far as dragging photos around, resizing, swapping, etc. It also saves your work every few moments, so your work is safe.

Source: iMore

If I am looking for individual photo prints, I prefer using Shutterfly, as I've used them before for several projects. With Shutterfly, you're able to choose the size and finish, put a message on the back of all prints, and select how many you want. They start at $0.12 for 4x6 and go up to $12.74 for a 12x36 print. The prices are decent, and there are often promo codes and deals. Shutterfly is also great for putting your photos on other items, such as travel mugs, totes, cards, canvas, ornaments, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

For designing things like mugs and totes, I like to pick out photos that hold a special meaning to me, or would just look good on some merch. Shutterfly's drag-and-drop interface on the web is intuitive and easy to use.

Personalize and print

While Apple may not be doing the printing themselves anymore, they made it easy to work with third-party photo printing services directly in the Photos app on Mac. Some (like Motif) are integrated directly into Photos, and others (Shutterfly) will need you to go to the website to complete your order, but it's all a seamless process.

Are you using a Photo Extension to print out your photos from Mac? What service do you like using? Let us know in the comments.

The Photos app on Mac is one of the most popular features of macOS Monterey. It's here where your cherished memories are kept in image and video formats. When the time comes, you can move your photos from one Mac to the other. How you do this depends on whether you're using iCloud Photos. The steps below work on all of the best Macs.

Transferring using AirDrop

The quickest way to transfer a small number of photos or videos from the Photos app to another Mac is by using AirDrop. This assumes both machines are close enough together to use Bluetooth LE.

To get started:

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac from either the Applications folder or Mac Dock.
2. Choose the photos you wish to send to a new Mac.

3. Click on the Share Sheet icon at the top right.
4. Select AirDrop from the pull-down menu.
5. Confirm the transfer on the other Mac.

Using Mac Migration Assistant

If you want to transfer your entire Photos library from one Mac to other, you can do so using the Mac Migration Assistant.

Before starting, be sure both machines meet the following requirements:

1. Upgrade both Macs to the latest macOS version.
2. Make sure both machines are on the same Wi-Fi network.
3. On your old Mac, choose the Apple menu at the top left.

4. Select System Preferences from the pull-down menu.
5. Click Sharing.
6. Make sure that a name appears in the Computer Name field.

7. Follow the the Mac Migration Assistant directions.

With iCloud Photos

You will find the easiest way to transfer photos from one Mac to another is when using iCloud Photos. During the Mac setup process, you're asked to sign in to your Apple ID. When you do, the Mac will automatically sync with your iCloud content.

To confirm iCloud Photos are synced:

1. On your new Mac, choose the Apple menu at the top left.
2. Select System Preferences from the pull-down menu.
3. Click Apple ID at the top.

4. Click iCloud on the left side.
5. If necessary, check the Photos box on the right. Once checked, the Mac will begin syncing your photos from iCloud.

It's always a good idea to delete content you no longer need before you move your photos from one Mac to another from the Photos app. Yes, this can be a tedious process, depending on how many images you have. However, it's always nice to start fresh on a new Mac. A smaller Photos library also means it's that much quicker to transfer the content.

Regardless, enjoy your new Mac!

What you need to know

• Apple has a new version of iMovie.
• Version 10.3 brings support for editing Cinematic video shot on iPhone 13.
• It also brings performance enhancements for Apple's new MacBook Pro models.

Apple has rolled out a new version of iMovie for Mac that features support for Cinematic video editing and performance enhancements for Apple's new MacBook Pro (2021) models.

Version 10.3 was released quietly alongside the new MacBook Pros, AirPods 3, and colorful new HomePod minis. Release notes indicate that the latest edition brings with it support for editing video shot in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13, although you'll need macOS Monterey to do this. The newest macOS software is currently in beta and is due to be released on October 25.

With iMovie on Mac, you can control cinematic mode to modify how intense the depth effect is in the video. You can also choose to focus on faces or objects by selecting them in the viewer, and you can view and delete focus points on the timeline.

Apple added Cinematic video support to iMovie for iPhone and iPad last month.

10.3 also adds support for the new MacBook Pro and its spicy new Apple silicon, the M1 Pro and M1 Max. The new chips boast staggering performance gains over the first-generation M1 featured in the MacBook Air with M1 and 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1. Apple's new MacBooks also feature a 120Hz Liquid Retina XDR display, as well as the return of MagSafe and the HMDI port, as well as the SD card slot.

What you need to know

• Apple has released new versions of iMovie and Clips.
• The latest versions add support for the iPhone 13's new Cinematic mode and ProRes video codec support.
• It also adds support for ProRAW images.

Apple is getting its video editing apps ready ahead of the iPhone 13 launch.

The latest release of iMovie, version 2.3.3, adds a number of new features that Apple announced with the iPhone 13 lineup at its "California Streaming" event last week. The update includes support for editing Cinematic mode on all iPhone 13 models as well as the ability to edit ProRes video from the iPhone 13 Pro. It also adds the ability to bring ProRAW images into your project. You can check out the latest updates for iMovie below:

• Import and edit video captured in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13
• Add, adjust, and delete focus points and modify the depth of field effect in video recorded in Cinematic mode*
• Import and edit ProRes video**
• Add ProRAW images to your movies and trailers
• Stability updates and improvements
• Requires iPhone XS or later, iPad mini (5th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later) ** Requires iPhone 13, iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)

Apple has also released a new version of the Clips app. Version 3.1.2 also adds support for Cinematic mode and ProRes video editing as well as ProRAW images.

• Import and edit video captured in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13
• Apply effects like filters, stickers, and emoji to video recorded in Cinematic mode
• Add videos or photos from your Photos library with a single tap, without having to record each one into your project
• Import and edit ProRes video*
• Add ProRAW images to your videos
• Stability updates and improvements
• Requires iPhone 13, iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)

Both updates are available to download now for free on the App Store. You will need an iPhone 13 to take advantage of Cinematic mode and specifically an iPhone 13 Pro for ProRes video. The iPhone 13 will officially launch on Friday, September 24.

What you need to know

• Apple is adding new Sound Packs to GarageBand.
• It includes sounds from famous artists and producers.
• Big names include Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa.

Apple has today announced that it is adding new Sound Packs to GarageBand from famous artists and producers.

The company stated:

Apple's Bob Borchers said, "GarageBand continues to be a catalyst for music creation — making it easy for novices to get started and for seasoned pros to develop their ideas on the go."

The new update includes new in-app remix sessions from Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga, which include videos from both artists telling the stories behind their hit songs 'Break My Heart' and 'Free woman'. It also features step-by-step instructions on how to remix a song using GarageBand Live Loops. There are also new Producer packs from Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch, and TRAKGIRL featuring royalty-free loops, beats, instruments, and more. You can check out a sample in the video below:

There is even a new producer pack as a companion to Apple TV+ documentary Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson.

The new packs and remix sessions are available free from the Sound Library in GarageBand 2.3.11 right now!

What you need to know

• LumaTouch has released LumaFusion 3.0.
• The new update adds a ton of new features to the popular video editor for iPad and iPhone.

LumaFusion, the popular video editor that brings Final Cut Pro-like features to the iPad, has released a major update to its app.

LumaFusion 3.0 adds enhancements to video stabilization, the ability to edit footage directly from an external drive, a new graphic audio equalizer, and support for third-party audio units. You can check out all of the new features below:

• Video stabilization. The award-winning Lock & Load video stabilization technology from CoreMelt is fully integrated in the new Stabilizer tool in the clip editor.
• External drive editing. Media is now accessed directly from external drives in the Files library source on iPads with USB-C and Thunderbolt ports. You can now edit on the timeline without copying media to device storage. This feature is turned ON by default but can be turned off in Preferences, allowing media to be copied into LumaFusion when external drives are used.
• Direct external drive export. Export directly to an external drive without LumaFusion writing to internal storage using the Files destination. Available on USB-C and Thunderbolt iPads.
• Graphic Equalizer. With the beautiful new graphic audio EQ, it's easy to tune audio in your projects
• 3rd-party audio units. Add and organize 3rd party audio units in the Audio Tool. LumaFusion supports editing parameters both in our control stack and in 3rd-party custom UI.
• Numeric keypad for sliders and rotation controls. Tap on the pencil button to use the new numeric entry for accurate animation. The nudge buttons have been moved to the numeric keypad.
• Resizable UI. Drag the handle to adjust the preview, library, and timeline to get exactly the workspace you want in each layout.

The company has announced a number of improvements to the app as well, including a better user interface and quicker integration with Storyblocks:

• Press-and-hold on insert button (or use keyboard equivalents) to insert-to-main, overwrite-to-main, and place-on-secondary.
• Selection in library and timeline are now separate. Library selection shows selected items with white border, currently previewed item with yellow border.
• Improved user interface styling.
• Quicker response when searching Storyblocks.
• Import/export sources have been simplified. Use 'iOS Share and Airdrop' for most iOS destinations (Files app, iCloud Drive, other app, AirDrop). Use the Files destination to write directly to external drives.
• FCPXML export adds markers to indicate unsupported features.
• Improved stability and performance

LumaFusion 3.0 is available now as a free upgrade to existing users. If you'd like to purchase it, the software is currently $30 on the App Store.

What you need to know

• Apple has released updates to its video editing apps for the Mac.
• iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Compressor, and Motion have all received updates.

Apple has released some notable updates to its video editing apps for the Mac. All of its video editing apps, including iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Compressor, and Motion, have received an update over the weekend.

iMovie, the company's consumer-friendly video editing app that spans across the Mac, iPad, and iPhone, has received an update for its Mac version that adds compatibility with the latest iOS version as well as some new customization features.

• Import projects created with iMovie for iOS version 2.3
• Use sixteen new solid and textured backgrounds with adjustable colors
• Includes stability improvements

Final Cut Pro, the company's professional video editing application, has added a new column editor as well as some enhancements to search and sorting.

• Create and edit custom column views with the new column editor
• Search for media in the browser using expanded criteria including clip names, markers, and notes
• Sort clips in the browser according to type, including proxy, optimized, and missing media
• Includes stability improvements

The Compressor app will now send users notifications and also allow you to embed audio descriptions.

• Receive notifications for completed, failed, and canceled encoding batches
• Embed audio descriptions when encoding a variety of video file formats including MOV, MP4, M4V, and MXF
• Includes stability improvements

The update to the Motion app is the least exciting - there are only stability improvements.

You can download the latest versions of iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Compressor, and Motion from the Mac App Store now.

When it comes to digital creativity, having the right tools is crucial. Wondershare, an internationally renowned software developer and winner of the Future Tech Awards 'Best Creative Software Suite', offers low barrier creative solutions that will free up more of your time to do what you love most: create.

Wondershare: For Creatives by Creatives

Having been in the software development business for nearly two decades, Wondershare is a pioneer in the field of digital creativity. Wondershare offers a wealth of solutions for its customers' problems, from video editing, diagramming, photo editing, prototyping and more. Wondershare's digital creativity suite has the solution for you.

Wondershare's video editing software, which makes creating videos fun and easy, (freeing up your time to make even more videos), includes:

• Filmora X — for beginners and users wanting the easiest video-editing experience
• FilmoraPro — for editors looking for a simple way to create video projects with more advance functions
• Filmii — allows you to style your videos instantly, access smart templates that add effects, steady footage, sharpen blurry images, and cut to music beats, and
• FilmoraGo — a mobile video editor that has easy-to-use editing features that gives you all the essential tools you need to make amazing videos on your smartphone.

Some of the other creative software solutions Wondershare offers include:

• VidAir — Wondershare's video maker allows users to quickly and easily create video templates and take advantage of intuitive video editing resources, including text effects, imagery, video clips, and background music.
• Fotophire — Wondershare's photo editing software has all the tools you need to get the most out of your photos.
• Filmstock — Wondershare's massive library of stock photos, film clips, animations, music, and sounds make your videos stand out.
• DemoCreator — Wondershare's screen recording software is an intuitive tool for capturing footage for your next video.
• UniConverter — Wondershare's video converter software makes the otherwise tedious process of converting files quick and easy.
• EdrawMax — Wondershare's powerful all-in-one diagramming software makes creating any kind of diagrams, from flowcharts to layouts, fun and easy.
• MindMaster — Wondershare's versatile mind mapping software helps organize your thoughts to plan out your next creative project.
• EdrawProj – Schedule, manage and track your projects with an intuitive Gantt chart tool.
• EdrawInfo – A beginner-friendly tool to help you create infographics from scratch.
• Mockitt — Wondershare's collaborative prototyping software lets your entire team work across the same project to design interactive and animated prototypes.

These are just a few of the creative solutions Wondershare has to offer and what earned the company's spotlight in the Future Tech Awards. To help celebrate this award, you can win an annual subscription to Wondershare Filmora X, the latest upgrade to Wondershare's video editing software.

Filmora X: Take Your Videos to the Next Level

Whether you're setting out to make your very first video or your hundredth, every creator knows how important it is to have the right tools. The creative team behind Wondershare know this from personal experience and it's that personal experience that drives each and every feature of Wondershare Filmora's video editing software.

Wondershare developed Filmora to make the process of editing videos quick and easy, freeing up more time for you to create. Last year, Wondershare Filmora9 wowed creators with its user friendly, low barrier video editing tools. Filmora9 even won Videomaker's Best Enthusiast Editing Software award in 2019. In his review of Wondershare Filmora9, TechRadar's Mark Wycislik-Wilson said it delivered, "Astonishing results at a truly astonishing price." and with this latest upgrade, Wondershare has added even more tools, effects, features, and more to give your videos a professional feel.

Launched in October 2020, Wondershare Filmora X builds upon the foundation of Filmora9 and adds some incredible updates that make video editing even easier, as well as a lot of fun! Some of the new features in Filmora X include:

• Motion Tracking — intuitive tracking allows you to set text to follow any subject in your video.

• Keyframing — easily apply one-click presets or animate freely to create more dynamic videos and animations.

• Color Matching — adjust for color differences across multiple clips, to give your whole video a uniform color palette.

• Audio Ducking — with one click, one audio clip can fade into the next, allowing dialogue to stand out from background music.
• Keyboard Shortcuts Editor — new hotkey commands speed up the editing process.
• New UI featuring a Dark/Light Mode Switch — switch between Dark and Light mode and go easy on your eyes.
• Touch Bar Support (Mac) — using the Touch Bar, Mac users can preview their timeline even easier.

FTA Filmora X Celebration Sweepstakes

Wondershare Filmora X is an ideal choice for any video creator. You could win a year subscription by entering the FTA Filmora X Celebration Sweepstakes. Complete any of the following tasks to earn a chance to win a year of Filmora X:

Wondershare Giveaway

What you need to know

• Apple is retiring the Music Memos app.
• It is encouraging users to transfer their recordings to the Voice Memos app.

Apple has announced that it will be shutting down the Music Memos app and is encouraging those who have used the app to transfer their recordings to the Voice Memos app.

In a new Apple Support document, Apple points to the Voice Memos app as the new place to capture music ideas with your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch. The company also notes that those recordings will be able to be imported into Garageband, the company's free music creation software.

Because of this, Apple has announced that the Music Memos app will not be updated after version 1.0.7 and that it will no longer be available to download after March 1, 2021.

Apple has also provided instructions on how to export Music Memos to Voice Memos, how to record with Voice Memos, and how to import your Voice Memos into Garageband. You can find all of these instructions on the Apple Support website.

What you need to know

• Apple has rolled out a new update for iMovie.
• The update adds support for HDR, including Dolby Vision, the format supported by the new iPhone 12.
• It also now supports 4K footage shot in 60 fps.

Apple has released a major update to iMovie on iOS and iPadOS ahead of tomorrow's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro launch. Each update brings new features like support for 4K at 60 fps, HDR, Dolby Vision, and more.

The update for iMovie on iOS, in addition to a host of handy new features, now allows users to import and share 4K videos shot at 60 frames per second and also adds support for viewing, editing, and sharing videos shot in High Dynamic Range.

Here are the release notes from today's update.

• Customize any title by selecting from dozens of built-in fonts
• Adjust the color of any title by selecting from a grid or spectrum of presets, adjusting numerical sliders, or using the eyedropper in the viewer
• Quickly change a title's default style, capitalization and duration
• Pinch and drag to adjust the size and location of any title
• Choose from three new animated titles: Slide, Split and dual-color Chromatic
• Add solid, gradient, and patterned backgrounds to your movie
• Use the color picker to customize the colors of any background
• Drag the slider to change the intensity of any filter applied to your photos and videos
• Import and share 4K videos at 60 frames per second**
• View, edit, and share High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos from your Photos library**
• Tap the new options button at the top of the Share sheet to share a project or video file and choose properties including resolution, frame rate, and HDR**

** 4K at 60 frames per second requires iPod touch (7th generation), iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 7 or later, iPad (6th generation) or later, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad Air 3 or later, 10.5-inch iPad Pro or later

** Editing and sharing HDR video requires iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X or later, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad (7th generation) or later, iPad Air 3 or later, 10.5-inch iPad Pro or later

According to technology YouTuber Jonathan Morrison, the update also adds support for importing, editing, and sharing in Dolby Vision. Though Apple did not specifically call it out in the release notes, the iPhone 12 lineup will be the first smartphones ever to shoot in the format.

Apple has also updated Garageband for iOS with faster ways to start audio recordings and a new keyboard collection sound pack.

• New audio recordings can be quickly started from the Home screen by touching and holding the GarageBand app icon
• Maximum song length at default tempo has been increased from 23 to 72 minutes
• The ruler now offers an option to switch from musical bars and beats to minutes and seconds
• New downloadable "Keyboard Collection" sound pack includes over 150 keyboard loops and 50 instrument patches like pianos, organs, and electric pianos

You can download the new versions of iMovie and Garageband from the App Store for free now.

If you want your Mac's photos to wirelessly sync to all your other iOS devices and computers, you want to set up iCloud Photo Library: Apple's photo sync service lets you back up your images on all your devices, as well as access them — online or offline — on said devices. If you're willing to pay for the extra iCloud storage space, you can store an incredible amount of photos and videos, all accessible at the touch of a button or multi-touch screen. Here's how to set up iCloud photo library on Mac!

Using a PC instead? Here's how to set up iCloud Photo Library on Windows

Here's how to set it up on your Mac and get everything configured to your liking!

How to set up iCloud Photo Library on your Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Select the Photos menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Go to Preferences.
4. Click on the iCloud tab.

5. Check "iCloud Photos." This will begin uploading any and all images you have stored in the Photos app to iCloud.

How to optimize your photo and video storage

If you routinely shoot 4K video or high-quality images on your iPhone, iPad, or DSLR, you may run out of storage space fast. (I have a 1TB iMac, but also have almost a terabyte of 4K video stored in iCloud — it gets unwieldy, fast!) This is especially true if you have a Mac laptop with limited hard drive space: It's nice to look at your iPhone's gorgeous Portrait mode photos, but not necessarily always practical to store all of them locally.

Thankfully, Apple offers an Optimize Storage option, which lets you store full-resolution photos and videos of only your most recently shot and accessed imagery; all older photos and videos are available to download via iCloud and are stored as low-resolution previews on your device to save space. You can switch between optimizing your Mac's photos storage or storing your full library locally: Here's how!

Note: If you plan on using Optimize Storage, we suggest having at least one device that stores your entire library locally (usually a Mac with a large local or external hard drive), so you have multiple backups of your photographs and video.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click Photos in the App menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Select Preferences from the drop-down menu.

4. Click the iCloud tab.
5. Click Optimize Mac Storage.

Full-resolution versions of your photos and videos will be uploaded to iCloud.

How to share photos with iCloud Photo Library

Apple's photo service doesn't just provide online backups and sync for your images and video: The company also offers a free sharing service that allows you to send shared albums to friends and family (or create a publicly-shared website). Here's how to turn it on for your Mac.

How to set up and use iCloud Photo Sharing

Questions?

Do you have any questions on how to set up iCloud photo library on Mac? Let us know in the comments below.

Updated September 2020: Refreshed.

What you need to know

• Mimeo Photos is launching new wall decor products.
• The wall decor comes in canvas, metal, and acrylic options.
• All wall decor options can be in portrait or landscape orientation.
• Wall decor comes in four sizes: 8x10", 11x14", 16x20", and 20x30".
• Wall Decor products start at $34.99.
• You can order your own through the Mimeo Photos Mac app or from the website.

Mimeo Photos, the No. 1 photo product extension in the Mac App Store for premium photo books, prints, calendars, cards, and more, has launched a new line of wall decor products. Users of Mimeo Photos can now turn their photos into unique acrylic, metal, or canvas wall decorations, which range in size from standard 8-by-10-inches up to 20-by-30-inches.

If you've never heard of Mimeo Photos, the company has been handcrafting photo books, cards, and calendars for Apple for over a decade. In 2017, Apple ended its in-house photo printing services with Mimeo, resulting in Mimeo Photos launching as a macOS app extension.

With these new wall decor products, customers will have three options to choose from:

The classic gallery wrapped canvas wall decoration comes with hinged hardware so you can hang it up anywhere to warm up the surrounding space. The 8-by-10-inch size even comes with an easel back so you can display it easily on a tabletop. The gallery-grade canvas is carefully stretched over a perfectly-cornered frame and has a special coating that keeps your images looking as stunning as ever.

The premium metal wall decor arrives ready to go with an easy-to-display mounting block. Images are infused onto a lightweight metal panel with a glossy finish, and this decoration adds a modern touch to any room in the house.

The acrylic option arrives ready to display, with a mounting block for the 8-by-10-inch size, and a french cleat for all other sizes. This decoration adds a delightful, upscale element to any home. With the acrylic, you get an optically clear digital grade acrylic pane that measures .220-inches thick with polished edges. The clear layer's depth creates a distinctive 3D effect that is unlike any of the other decor options.

No matter which option you choose, all of the wall decor can come in portrait or landscape orientation, and you have four sizes to choose from: 8x10", 11x14", 16x20", and 20x30". They can also have varying themes, including single, double, and even four image displays. All wall decor can also be enhanced with text, borders, background colors, and patterns if you wish.

Mimeo Photos Wall Decor will start at $34.99 and go up from there, depending on which option you choose and the size. To begin creating your own wall decor, make sure to download the app on the Mac App Store or head on over to www.mimeophotos.com.

What you need to know

• Apple has added mouse and trackpad support to iWork and iMovie for iPad.
• iPads runnings iOS 13.4 will be able to take advantage of the new feature.
• The apps have also been updated with support for iCloud Folder Sharing.

Earlier today, Apple updated its suite of productivity apps like Pages, Numbers, Keynote with support for iCloud Folder Sharing. Now, Apple has also updated its productivity apps for iPad with support for a mouse and trackpad.

Mouse and trackpad support came to iPads capable of running iOS 13.4 last week, but barely any apps supported the feature at launch. Today, Apple has added support for the accessories for Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and even iMovie on iPadOS.

All three apps have also gained the support for iCloud folder sharing, something its Mac companions had received earlier today. It also provides full support for the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro which is expected to ship this May.

You can check out all of the new features for Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and iMovie below:

Pages

• Use Pages on an iPad with Magic Keyboard, a mouse, or a trackpad for a new way to work with your documents. Requires iPadOS 13.4.
• Select from a variety of gorgeous new templates to help you get started.
• Add a Pages document to a shared iCloud Drive folder to automatically start collaborating. Requires iPadOS 13.4 or iOS 13.4.
• Add a drop cap to make a paragraph stand out with a large, decorative first letter.
• Apply a color, gradient, or image to the background of any document.
• Touch and hold, then drag across multiple objects to select them.
• Easily access recently used templates in a redesigned template chooser.
• Print or export a PDF of your document with comments included.
• Edit shared documents while offline and your changes will upload when you're back online. Requires iPadOS or iOS 13 or later.
• Enhance your documents with a variety of new, editable shapes.

Numbers

• Use Numbers on an iPad with Magic Keyboard, a mouse, or a trackpad for a new way to work with your spreadsheets. Requires iPadOS 13.4.
• Create spreadsheets with more rows and columns than ever before.
• Apply a color to the background of a sheet.
• Add a Numbers spreadsheet to a shared iCloud Drive folder to automatically start collaborating. Requires iPadOS 13.4 or iOS 13.4.
• Edit shared spreadsheets while offline and your changes will upload when you're back online. Requires iPadOS or iOS 13 or later.
• Touch and hold, then drag across multiple objects to select them.
• Easily access your recently used templates in a redesigned template chooser.
• Print or export a PDF of your spreadsheet with comments included.
• Add a drop cap to text in a shape.
• Enhance your spreadsheets with a variety of new, editable shapes.

Keynote

• Use Keynote on an iPad with Magic Keyboard, a mouse, or a trackpad for a new way to work with your presentations. Requires iPadOS 13.4.
• Add a Keynote presentation to a shared iCloud Drive folder to automatically start collaborating. Requires iPadOS 13.4 or iOS 13.4.
• Edit shared presentations while offline and your changes will upload when you're back online. Requires iPadOS or iOS 13 or later.
• Select from a variety of gorgeous new themes to help you get started.
• Touch and hold, then drag across multiple objects to select them.
• Easily access your recently used themes in a redesigned theme chooser.
• Print or export a PDF of your presentation with comments included.
• Add a drop cap to make text stand out with a large, decorative first letter.
• Enhance your presentations with a variety of new, editable shapes.
• New "Keyboard" text build in and build out animation

iMovie

• Use iMovie on iPad with Magic Keyboard, a mouse, or a trackpad for a new way to create movies and trailers (requires iPadOS 13.4)
• Use keyboard shortcuts to toggle between the five inspector modes when a clip is selected: Action, Speed adjustments, Volume, Titles, and Filters
• Use keyboard shortcuts to quickly rotate video 90-degrees clockwise or counterclockwise
• Tap the Download All button at the top of the soundtracks list to download all bundled soundtracks at once
• Add PNG, GIF, TIFF, and BMP files to your movie
• Performance and stability improvements

You can download Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and iMovie for free on the App Store now.

What you need to know

• LumaFusion has been updated to version 2.2.
• The update adds the ability to export to Final Cut Pro X.
• New keyboard overlays are also coming.

The popular iPad video editing app LumaFusion has been updated to version 2.2 and it can now be downloaded from the App Store.

The update brings with it a few changes, one of which comes right out of left field. The more mundane improvements come in the form of new support for the exporting of projects to Final Cut Pro X, as well as being able to edit what appears in certain menus, including sources and destinations for content.

But things get truly interesting in the form of keyboard overlays. According to Luma Touch, they'll be available for iPad Smart Keyboards – and presumably, the Smart Keyboard Folio – and will come with keyboard shortcuts printed onto them. When you place them over your keyboard you'll be able to see exactly what all the shortcuts are, and more importantly, which keys they are bound to.

These overlays aren't yet ready, so we can't buy them just now. But you can get a peek at them in the LumaFusion 2.2 announcement video embedded above. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more information on those when it becomes available.

You can download Luma Fusion from the App Store now. The version 2.2 update is free for existing users, while those new to the app will need to pay $29.99 to get on board. If you aren't seeing the update just yet, try again in a little while. The App Store can take a couple of hours to update properly.

Apple's iCloud Photo Library makes it possible for you to store all of your photos and videos in iCloud. Once uploaded, you can view them on all of your iCloud-connected devices, as well as via iCloud.com.

My Photo Stream automatically uploads new photos and sends them to all of your iCloud-connected devices. It stores the most recent 30 days' worth of photos (up to 1,000 photos). So what's the difference between them and why would you want to use one over the other? We've got the answers to your questions right here.

• What's the difference between iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream?
• What happens to My Photo Stream when you enable iCloud Photo Library?
• How do I access my pictures on Mac and PC with iCloud Photo Library?

What's the difference between iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream?

The short and most important answer: My Photo Stream doesn't count against your iCloud storage. That said, it also majorly restricts what you can sync to the cloud and your other devices. Whether that trade-off matters to you depends on your needs.

• Do you have a lot of photos that you want to access across your devices at any time? - You should use iCloud Photo Library to store and access your photos and videos. My Photo Stream only gives you access to your most recent 1,000 photos (or the past 30 days) across your devices.
• Do you have the lowest tier iCloud storage? - If you're still using up less than 5GB of iCloud storage and don't ever want to pay even $0.99 per month for more, you should stick with My Photo Stream. It doesn't count against your iCloud storage capacity. Photos tend to take up a lot of space, and you can easily max out your 5GB of free storage space if you switch to iCloud Photo Library. In fact, you'll probably get a notification as soon as you try to switch asking you to upgrade your storage plan.
• Do you want to sync your videos across all devices? - You definitely need iCloud Library, then. My Photo Stream doesn't support video at all.
• Do you use another photo storage app that works just fine? - If you've already got your cloud-based storage needs taken care of, then you probably don't want to fill up your iCloud storage with another version of the same photos. If you keep your pics and videos in Dropbox or Google Photos, or some other storage app, you could stick with My Photo Stream and only use it on occasion for pics you've recently taken.
• Do you want to access your photos from anywhere you have a web browser? - iCloud Photo Library is the only Apple Photos service that lets you view your entire photo library from anywhere you have internet access and a web browser through iCloud.com.

In short, My Photo Stream is for people that don't take a lot of photos, don't need to access them across all of their devices on a regular basis, or use another cloud storage service to regularly access their photos. It is also for people that refuse to upgrade from the free 5GB iCloud storage tier but have more than 5GB of photos.

iCloud Photo Library is for people that do take a lot of photos and want to be able to view all of their pictures across their devices (including very old ones) and want to stick with the Apple ecosystem. It's for people that are willing to spend at least a dollar every month to have that access. It's for people that also take at least some videos that they want to be able to access on all of their devices. Lastly, it's for people that want to view their photos from any device with a web browser (because icloud.com).

What iCloud storage plan should you get?

What happens to My Photo Stream when you enable iCloud Photo Library?

If you've decided to finally make the switch from My Photo Stream to iCloud Photo Library to share your content across devices, you should know a couple of things before you get started.

When you switch over to iCloud Photo Library, you'll notice that the My Photo Stream album no longer appears on your device. Don't worry: Those photos haven't disappeared. They've just been folded into your "All Photos" section. That's because iCloud Photo Library stores, well ... all your photos. If any of your devices don't have iCloud Photo Library switched on, you'll still see a My Photo Stream album, but once iCloud Photo Library is enabled, that album disappears.

Note: If you have an iPhone or iPad that only uses My Photo Stream, any new photos synced via that service won't upload to iCloud Photo Library — with one exception: if you have iCloud Photo Library enabled on your Mac, it'll automatically grab your My Photo Stream uploads (because they sync to your Mac) and upload appropriately via iCloud. Bottom line: Unless you're trusting your Mac to do the heavy lifting, you should probably enable iCloud Photo Library on all your devices to make sure no images get lost.

Even if you have iCloud Photo Library enabled on all your devices, you can use My Photo Stream to serve a different purpose: A quick-sync method for transferring screenshots and the like ASAP. Because iCloud Photo Library has to upload all your videos and photos in order, it sometimes takes a while for your newest images and screenshots to appear on your other devices. Not so for My Photo Stream: It can skip the video queue and let your recently-snapped screenshots show up on your devices with little delay.

It should also be noted that Apple seems to be phasing out My Photo Stream. In macOS Catalina, the feature is nowhere to be found in the Photos app, and anyone signing up for a new Apple ID won't have access to the feature from the get-go. It is still present in iOS 13 and later, but it seems clear that it's on the way out.

How do I access my pictures on Mac and PC with iCloud Photo Library?

Your pictures are more accessible than ever once you switch to iCloud Photo Library to store them: You can find them in the Photos app on a Mac. And if you're on a PC, you can download and install the iCloud app and find them there. If you're on anyone's computer or phone (or tablet), you can navigate to iCloud.com and sign in to view all of your photos from any web browser.

• How to set up iCloud Photo Library on your Mac
• How to set up iCloud Photo Library on Windows 10
• How to use iCloud Photo Library on iCloud.com

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about the difference between My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Updated January 2020: All of this information is up-to-date for the latest version of Photos and iCloud Photo Library, including a note that Apple is phasing out My Photo Stream.

It's been a little over a year since Apple removed the photo print products service from their Photos app, pointing users, instead, toward several third-party applications that use app extensions to use your pictures from Photos to create cards, calendars, books, and prints, and other tchotchkes.

Mimeo Photos is one of those third-party apps and offers a set of features that most closely matches what was previously available as a part of Apple's iPhoto and Photos applications. It even includes all of Apple's templates and with the additional option of printing photos.

Mimeo Photos is a free download from the Mac App Store. Even though Mimeo Photos is downloaded as an app from the App Store, you don't actually create your photo projects within the Mimeo Photos app. Instead, as an app extension, Mimeo Photos changes the behavior of the Photos app, giving you new options within photos for creating a variety of projects within the Photos app itself. Since Mimeo Photos is an app extension, you may need to open the Extensions preference in System Preferences and enable Mimeo Photos in the Photo Projects section of the Extensions preference.

Once enabled, Mimeo Photos will appear under Photos' File->Create menu, where Mimeo Photos offers options for creating projects. You'll also find it in the My Projects heading in the sidebar of the Photos app. When you create a new project, Mimeo Photos does its magic without leaving Photos to create and edit the project. If this sounds familiar, it should, as everything you create with Mimeo Photos works the same way it did when you created a new project in Photos when Apple was handling photo projects.

In addition to creating new projects Mimeo Photos can also convert any of your existing Apple Photos/iPhoto projects to Mimeo Photos projects.

Mimeo Photos offers a variety of project options:

• Photo Books: Both hard and softcover versions in a variety of sizes, ranging in price from $10-$40.
• Custom Calendars: $20 for a 12-month calendar.
• Cards: Both flat and folded in two sizes, $1/$1.50 respectively.
• Prints: Standard prints in a variety of sizes from 20 cents to $20 per print.

As was the case with Apple's tools, you have a couple of options available for creating projects:

• Create a blank project, choose a project style, drag photos to the project, arrange photos within the project
• Select pictures individually or from an album, create a new project, arrange photos within a project

One thing missing from the project, as far as I could tell, was a way to have Mimeo Photos add all of your photos to your project automatically, which is something that was available in Apple's project tool.

For every project you create there are a variety of layouts, although none of those layouts are freeform. Which is to say that you can't create a collage of photos and arrange them in any way you want to. Each project page has predefined boxes for you to put photos into and you can't diverge from that plan.

The same is true of text. You can add text to anything—BONUS!! you can add individualized text to specific dates on a calendar, even if the date has a photo on it—but text formatting is very limited. So it's not easy, say, to create a book of photos with your poetry in it and have it look like you've used a page layout program to create your book. While there are many font options, your cannot change formatting within an individual text box. So, no bold and standard text within a single text box. Although you can put two text boxes on a page and have them each have different fonts, sizes, and formatting.

Once you've created your project ordering it is as simple as a single click. Mimeo Photos will ask you how many items you want to order, will collect your shipping and credit card information, which, optionally, you can save for future use, and upload your photos.

With regard to ship times, Mimeo Photos, in my experience, under promises and over delivers. I ordered several calendars that arrived 2-3 days earlier than their expected arrival date.

Mimeo Photos is a solid addition to the Photos app with excellent project options, a simple interface, and better-than-promised ship times. However, I would like to see more options for formatting text and creating free-form picture layouts, as it is it's an excellent option for all your photo projects.

What you need to know

• Photographer Tyler Stalman has put the 16-inch MBP through its paces.
• He compared it to a 2018 15-inch model.
• He found huge speed increases depending on the app being used.

All of the buzz surrounding the 16-inch MacBook Pro has been about that new keyboard. Even the new, bigger display has been largely ignored in favor of keyboard tests. But there's more to this machine than that, and photographer Tyler Stalman has been comparing it to his 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro. And it turns out, it's pretty damned fast.

The whole comparison takes place in a 10-minute YouTube video that is well worth watching. During that video we learn that Stalman has a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.6GHz 6-core i7 processor and 32GB of RAM. The 16-inch MacBook Pro that he's been testing for a while now features a 2.4GHz 8-core i9 processor and the same 32GB of RAM. So how did the two compare?

Depending on what apps are used, the new machine absolutely smokes the old one. And not just by a little bit. Tests using photography workflows and Adobe Lightroom saw improvements in export time compared to the older notebook, but it's video handling where things really get out of hand.

As an example, Stalman exported a 10-minute Final Cut Pro X H265 and ProRes video. The process took 12 minutes 29 seconds on the 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro and just 5 minutes 09 seconds on the new 16-inch model. It was a similar story when Stalman exported RAW video files in DaVinci Resolve with a time of 3 hours 21 minutes on the older computer. That time fell to just 48 minutes on the new one. That's a huge time savings.

There's no doubting this new MacBook Pro is quick and with eight cores, it should be. Be sure to check out Tyler's full video for the rundown on all of his tests for both photographers and videographers. If you do this kind of thing for a living, you're probably going to want to upgrade.

I've had a multi-Mac household pretty much since college, rocking a laptop and desktop in addition to miscellaneous iOS devices throughout the years. Dropbox and iCloud sync made most of the pains of using several Macs disappear, but iPhoto was always a problem. My laptop is tiny! My iPhoto library, not so much.

Thankfully, Photos for Mac — paired with iCloud Photo Library's Optimize Storage feature — makes working with and syncing multiple Macs a breeze. Here's how you can do it.

How to use Photos and iCloud Photo Library with multiple Macs

Here's a quick, simple breakdown on setting up your Macs to support Photos and iCloud Photo Library.

I recommend starting with your biggest iPhoto library; it'll usually be on your desktop Mac. When you open Photos for the first time, your library should import automatically; if it prompts you to create a new library, your Photos library may be stored in another location on your Mac, and you may need to manually open it.

Once you've imported your biggest library on your Mac, make sure iCloud Photo Library is turned on and syncing. You can do this by following these steps:

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Click Photos in the menu bar.
3. Select Preferences (or do this quicker by pressing ⌘,).

4. Click on the iCloud tab.

5. Check off the box for iCloud Photos.
   • You can also check off the box for Download Originals to this Mac if you have the space.
   • You can check off Optimize Mac Storage to save space on your Mac by only saving a percentage of images and video locally — the rest will be thumbnails that you can click on to download when you want to.
   Source: iMore

• How to back up your iCloud Photo Library

Now, open your other Mac, and launch Photos. If you have an iPhoto library on that secondary Mac, follow the same steps as above — import your library, then turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you have duplicates of the same photo on each computer, iCloud should automatically resolve those conflicts when it syncs, providing you with just one version of your photos when the sync process finishes.

If you don't have an iPhoto library on your secondary Mac, create a new library in Photos and turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you want to save storage space on this secondary Mac, make sure Optimize Mac Storage is selected: This will save a certain percentage of images and video locally to your device, while providing thumbnails of all the others for you to download at your leisure.

• How to create a new library with Photos for Mac

After you've set up all your Macs with Photos and the sync process has finished, you're now good to go. From here on out, any time you add photos, they'll sync to every computer you've set up with Photos.

Photos for Mac syncs a lot more than just your original photos and videos. According to a support document on Apple.com, here's what else you should expect to see sync:

• All folders and albums
• Smart Albums
• Keywords
• Memories
• Searchable keywords
• Key photo selections

There are a few things iCloud Photo Library won't sync, however. Here's Apple's list:

• Books, cards, calendars, and slideshows
• Keyword shortcuts
• Unused keywords
• Last imported album on the Mac in question
• Names and faces in the People album

If you've chosen not to enable iCloud Photo Library, Apple still offers you free syncing of your last 1000 photos via My Photo Stream, which doesn't count toward your iCloud disk space.

This will sync and download images you've imported or taken on other devices, but you won't have the option to optimize your storage or sync your albums.

Octoober 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

We take a lot of photos with our iPhones and even DSLRs and other cameras. Photos are great for capturing memories with others, or when you just want to get a snapshot of something beautiful. Photos on Mac can help you keep all of your photos in one place, and even help you organize them.

• How to add pictures and videos to albums
• How to organize albums and folders
• How to use smart albums
• How to navigate Photos for Mac faster with the sidebar
• How to navigate moments, collections, and year views
• How to navigate through Years, Months, and Days in macOS Catalina
• How to create a new library
• How to switch between libraries in Photos for Mac
• How to move your Photos library to an external hard drive

How to add pictures and videos to albums

If you have a lot of photos and videos, one of the simplest and easiest ways to start organizing everything is to make use of albums, especially when you give them good names. And if you use iCloud Photo Library, all of your albums in Photos for Mac get synced to your iOS devices too.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.

2. Click on Photos in the sidebar, under the Library section.
3. Pick out the photos you want to add to an album, either new or existing.
   • Hold down the command key on your Mac and click to select multiple photos.

4. Right-click on your chosen photos and videos.
5. Move the cursor to Add to.
6. You can choose an existing album, or create new album.
   • If making a new album, give it a good, easy-to-remember name.

Optionally, you can make a new album at any time by clicking the + button that appears in the sidebar next to My Albums. Drag-and-drop the albums in whatever order you want to rearrange them in the sidebar.

How to organize albums and folders

When you have a lot of albums, it may be better to clean it all up by organizing albums into folders, which are like collections of albums. It's easy to do.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Either right-click on My Albums in the sidebar, or hover above and then click on the + button that appears next to My Albums.

3. Click New Folder.
4. Give your folder a name.

5. Drag the albums that you want into that folder.

How to use Smart Albums

Smart Albums are like regular albums, but smarter, obviously. They're great for helping you quickly organize images without the need of manually adding each one to an album because it's all automated.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Right-click on My Albums or click the + button that appears next to My Albums.

3. Select New Smart Album.
4. Give your Smart Album a name.
5. Choose the parameters for your Smart Album.

6. Click OK to confirm.

Smart Albums have a large number of different parameters, such as photos, faces, aperture, ISO, Live Photo, RAW, Portrait, and more. With all of these options, you can create many different Smart Albums to suit whatever it is you need.

If you're not satisfied with the Smart Album, you can always tweak the settings by clicking on the gear icon that's next to the Smart Album's title, then re-select the parameters you want to use.

Unfortunately, Smart Albums do not sync to your other devices through iCloud Photo Library, as they're only available on your Mac.

How to navigate Photos for Mac faster with the sidebar

The Sidebar in Photos is a great way to quickly jump between various areas in Photos quickly and easily. Plus, it helps you find albums that may otherwise be hidden, so this was a design choice made by Apple.

However, if you are running macOS Sierra and older, you can actually hide or unhide the sidebar as you wish.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Click on View in the menu bar.
3. Select Show Sidebar in the menu.
4. The sidebar will appear on the left side of the screen.
5. Follow the steps above to hide it (make sure Show Sidebar is unchecked).

How to navigate moments, collections, and year views in macOS Mojave and earlier

One of the coolest things about Photos is that it intelligently groups all of your photos and videos into moments, collections, and years.

This means that your photos appear in a timeline and are grouped by things like location, or even event. It's a great way to take a look back at your memories and relive those specific moments in time.

The Moments, Collections, and Year views are only available in macOS Mojave and older.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Make sure that you're in the Photos view from the sidebar.
3. Click on Photos, Moments, Collections, or Years buttons at the top of the window.

4. Click on a section of a Year to move to that Collection, or a section of a Collection to drill down into that Moment, or an item in a Moment to view that image or video in closer detail.

5. You can also use your keyboard's arrow keys to move between photos and videos in a Moment.
6. A single click on an item selects it, while a double click takes you to view it.

In the Year and Collections views, thumbnails can be small. You can click-and-hold and then drag the cursor in any direction over the thumbnails to get a larger preview. Letting go will take you directly to the image that the cursor was last on.

How to navigate through Years, Months, and Days in macOS Catalina

To replace the previous Moments/Collections/Years view, Catalina changed it to Years, Months, and Days for simplicity.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Make sure you're in the Photos section in the sidebar.

3. Click the Years, Months, or Days buttons at the top of the window. The default view is All Photos.

4. Clicking on Years lets you see each year as a block. Double-clicking the year takes you into Months.

5. When you double-click on a Month, you'll drill down into the Days view.

How to create a new library with Photos for Mac

You can create a new library for your photos at any time with Photos for Mac. To do so, make sure that you quit Photos and reopen it with the following method to get the Library options.

1. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard.
2. Double-click on Photos on your Mac.
3. Click on the Create New button in the Choose Library window.
4. Name your Library.
5. Click OK.

You've now created a brand new Photos Library. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to migrate over photos and video, so you will need to export the content you want, and then import it back into the new library.

• How to import images and folders into Photos

How to switch between Libraries in Photos for Mac

When you create a new library, you may still want to go back to a previous library for something. Fortunately, it's easy to switch between multiple libraries.

1. Make sure that Photos is not open (quit if it is).
2. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard.
3. Double-click on Photos.
4. Click on the name of the library you want to open.

Voilá! Just make sure to repeat this process each time you want to switch to a different Photo library.

How to move your Photos library to an external hard drive

If you're low on storage space on your Mac, you can just move your Photos Library to an external hard drive. Keep in mind though, that you will need to have this external drive plugged in to access your Photos Library, even if you have iCloud Photo Library enabled. And you aren't able to create a second Photos Library that has iCloud Photo Library enabled on your Mac, so be wary.

1. Launch a Finder window on your Mac.
2. Click on the Mac hard drive (Macintosh HD) in the sidebar.
3. Double-click on the Users folder.
4. Double-click on your username.
5. Double-click on your Pictures folder.
6. Click on the Photos Library file and then drag it to your external hard drive in the sidebar.

This process may take a while, depending on how big your Photos library is.

A note on reference libraries

The Photos app technically supports the management of images that aren't locally stored within its library — that is, you can keep a set of images in a folder called "October Trip" and manage them within Photos without having to make a separate copy of them. You can do this by navigating to Photos > Preferences from the menu bar, selecting the General tab, and unchecking the "Copy items to the Photos library" box under Importing.

That said, reference libraries won't play nicely with iCloud Photo Library users; you may run into problems when syncing, or not be able to sync at all. So if you plan on using a reference library, you'll have to opt out of iCloud Photo Library.

I also didn't have any luck getting referenced files to sync properly with Photos — I'd delete a photo, but the reference file would stay in its original location, even after deleting it from the "Recently Deleted" folder. Not sure if that's a bug or just not how Photos wants us managing referenced photos, but worth noting.

Questions?

Sound off in the comments below!

October 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

What you need to know

• The new Terror Jr music video was filmed entirely on iPhone 11.
• No special lighting, gimbals, or lenses were used.
• It looks amazing!

We've already seen that a new Selena Gomez song has a music video shot on an iPhone 11 Pro, which is pretty cool. But what about iPhone 11? Turns out, that's pretty capable as well.

The iPhone 11 starts at just $699 but it's still a very capable video recording tool and YouTuber Jonathan Morrison has proven exactly that by filming an entire music video on one. And he didn't have to use any special "pro" accessories to make it possible, either.

While Morrison does say that he used a $22 accessory to help handle the iPhone, there were no gimbals used. Nor were there any additional light sources or huge lenses. Just an iPhone, some way of holding it, and someone who knew how to use it.

The video was for Terror Jr's new track, "Straight From The Bottle" and the results speak for themselves.

Morrison also ran through how the video was made, including the use of FiLMiC Pro on the iPhone and Final Cut X on a Mac.

This is a great example of what a so-called budget iPhone can do when in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. Apple's iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro both support 4K video recording at up to 60fps, something that allowed Morrison to create some impressive slow moton video by recording in 48fps. I'll let him explain it in the video, but it sure does look cool!

Apple's Photos for Mac has built upon the reliable foundations laid out by iPhoto and Photos for iOS to offer users like you a speedy and functional way to manage, edit, and share all their images (without any of the stress).

Plus, with the Markup editor, you can really get creative with your memories and make something awesome!

Whether this is your first time using a photo management app, you're upgrading from iPhoto, or you're exploring a non-Aperture or Lightroom avenue, here's what you need to know about Photos for macOS!

• Getting started
• How to import images and folders into Photos
• How to copy imported files to your Photos library
• How to import your iPhoto Library into Photos for macOS
• How to import your Aperture library into Photos for Mac
• How to bring up EXIF, location, and other metadata information in Photos for Mac
• How to add a title, description, and keywords to a picture or video in Photos for Mac
• How to manage keywords with Photos for Mac
• How to search for your pictures and videos in Photos for Mac
• How to search for a specific category in the Photos app
• How to use smart albums as "advanced search" in Photos for Mac

Getting started with Photos on the Mac

The first time you open Photos, you're shown an overview of what exactly the app will look like once you upload all your pictures, videos, and memories. You'll get a quick rundown of what you can expect.

One option with the Photos app is being able to make physical memories, like calendars, collages, mugs, and more, but they're only available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and certain European and Pacific Asian countries.

The introduction will show you how you can organize and categorize your photos.

• Should you use iCloud Photo Library?

From here, your path diverges a bit depending on whether you're new to photo management or a former iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom user.

Do you have folders of unorganized images glaring at you from your desktop? Have you never used one of Apple's other Mac photo programs like iPhoto or Aperture? Photos makes it simple to get that content off your desktop and iPhone and into Photos on the Mac and in the cloud.

Once you've finished the initial setup process, you can get started by uploading your pictures and videos or by taking a tour. If you are unfamiliar with Photos, then the tour is the best way to go!

Once you're finished the tour, you can go ahead and either...

• Connect a camera or memory card
• Drag pictures directly into Photos
• Choose import from the file menu
• Turn on iCloud Photo Library in Preferences

... And just like that, you're good to start uploading photos!

As of macOS Catalina, Aperture is no longer compatible. You will still be able to use Photos to choose your Aperture library as demonstrated below, but this may only show the original photos and not any edits you've made. Apple will be releasing an update to macOS Catalina that will address this issue. Until then, you should keep your Aperture library and expect to migrate it to Photos again.

Apple announced in 2014 that it would no longer continue developing for iPhoto or Aperture, its older photo storage and editing programs for the Mac. Instead, the company launched Photos. If you've been resisting the transition, but have finally decided to switch to Photos on the Mac, it isn't as painful as you might think.

If you only had a single iPhoto library on your Mac, it should upgrade automatically as soon as you open the Photos app. Your old iPhoto library will still remain if you need to use iPhoto for whatever reason, but changes made to those older images won't automatically sync to your new Photos library.

If you had multiple libraries on your machine, Photos will ask you to select which library you'd like to import. Unfortunately, you can't consolidate multiple libraries into a single Photos library — you have to pick which one you want to use. If you need to do this, you can use Aperture first to consolidate libraries, then import that unified library into Photos. However, there is no real good way to import an existing Aperture library into Photos aside from a manual migration.

If you switched to Lightroom a while ago but now want to make the move to Photos, your best bet is to load your Lightroom folders and files directly into Photos. Just note down where they're stored on your hard drive, and then import away.

How to sync your Lightroom exports with Photos on Mac

How to import images and folders into Photos

After you've gotten Photos set up, the next step is to import your images. Here's what you need to know about bringing your older pictures and libraries to Photos for Mac.

1. Open Photos from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click on the File menu.

3. Select Import (or type command-Shift-I).
4. Find and select the image(s) you're looking to import.

5. Click Review for Import.

6. Confirm your photos by clicking Import All New Photos in the upper right corner.

The file will now be added to your Photos library.

In the Finder, you can also simply drag and drop the images you want to import onto the Photos icon; Photos will import them.

Bear in mind, though, that Photos' default behavior is not to include original images in imports. It keeps links to them, so you can use Photos to edit or catalog them but still keep them where they are.

This is a double-edged sword: It reduces the size of Photos' library but if your goal is to clean up folders and disks with lots of photos on them, it can get confusing. To put everything actually in your Photos library, make sure to modify Photos' preferences to copy imported files to your Photos library. There's another important reason to do this if you plan to share those imported images on other devices: Only items copied to Photos' library will be uploaded to iCloud Photo Library.

How to copy imported files to your Photos library

1. With Photos open, click on the Photos.
2. Click Preferences...

3. Check Copy items to the Photos Library.

Doing this means only items copied to the library will be uploaded to iCloud Photos.

How to import your iPhoto Library into Photos for macOS

If you're upgrading to Photos for Mac from iPhoto and you've only ever had a single iPhoto library on your Mac, your upgrade path is easy: After you open the app for the first time, Photos will automatically import all your iPhoto images into the app.

Your old iPhoto library will still remain if you need to use iPhoto for whatever reason, but changes made to those older images won't automatically sync to your new Photos library. If you don't need your old iPhoto library, you can toss it in the trash — your images are now safely in Photos (and, if you've turned on iCloud Photo Library, in iCloud as well).

Photos for Mac is only compatible with one primary library per Mac: This means that you can't combine multiple old iPhoto or Aperture libraries into one master library.

As such, if you have multiple libraries on your machine, Photos will ask you to select which library you'd like to import when you first launch the app. Once you've selected the library you want to use, Photos will prep and import those images.

1. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard while clicking on Photos until a pop-up menu appears.
2. Click on the Library that you want to open in the Choose Library pop-up.

3. Click the Choose Library button.

You can still upgrade your other older libraries to separate Photos libraries; you'll just have to individually import each one by option-clicking the Photos icon when starting the app.

These other Photos libraries function identically to each other, with one exception: Only one library can be synced with iCloud Photo Library at a time. Your others will be locally (or externally, if you have them on a hard drive) siloed from iCloud's sync service.

How to import your Aperture library into Photos for Mac

As of macOS Catalina, Aperture is no longer compatible. You will still be able to use Photos to choose your Aperture library as demonstrated below, but this may only show the original photos, and not any edits you've made. Apple will be releasing an update to macOS Catalina that will address this issue. Until then, you should keep your Aperture library and expect to migrate it to Photos again.

If you want your existing Aperture library to be your main Photos library, simply select it as part of the initial setup of Photos for Mac.

If you want to import your Aperture library as an additional Photos library, here's how.

1. Locate your Aperture library in the Finder and Control-click or right-click on it. The default location is in the Pictures folder.
2. Hover over Open With.

3. Click Photos where it appears in the menu.

Photos will now launch and will import the Aperture library. Once it's completed, all your Aperture library photos will be there, and you'll be able to find your stacks, projects, and events in the sidebar on the left.

How to bring up EXIF, location, and other metadata information in Photos for Mac

1. Launch Photos on your Mac
2. Select the picture or video you want to find out about

3. Click on Window.

4. Click Info (or just hit Command + I).

The info pane will present all the data you need, and you can even edit title, description, keyword, faces, and other data right there, right away.

How to add a title, description, and keywords to a picture or video in Photos for Mac

1. Launch Photos on your Mac
2. Select the picture or video you want to find out about

3. Press Command + I to pull up the photos info.
4. Click on Add a Title at the top and type in your title.

5. Click on Add a Description and type in a little about the picture or video.
6. Click on Add a Keyword and enter some words that'll help you find the picture or video later, like "family", "Bob's birthday 2014", "Apple Watch event" — whatever works for you.

How to manage keywords with Photos for Mac

If you're more of a power keyword user, Photos for Mac has a more powerful keyword tool for you.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac
2. Press Command + K to pull up the keyword box.

3. Click on a Keyword to apply it to the currently selected picture or video. (Or just type its shortcut.)
4. Click again on a Keyword to remove it from the currently selected picture or video. (Or just type its shortcut again.)

5. Click on Edit Keywords to change the current keywords.
6. Click on + to add a new keyword and shortcut, - to remove an existing one, or Rename to change it.

How to search for your pictures and videos in Photos for Mac

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Click on the Search bar in the top right corner.

3. Enter the terms you want to search for. You can enter multiple terms, e.g. "Cupertino Lory March 25 2019 apple".

4. Choose the picture or video you want from the list Photos populates.

How to search for a specific category in the Photos app

The Photos app has an AI feature built-in, which scans your photos and places them into categories of its own making. It's somewhat hit and miss (I have a ton of pictures of phones, but typing "phone" yields no results), but if you're looking for dog, cat, sunset, or other photos that might fall under a fairly generic category, this type of search can help you out!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Click the Search bar in the upper right corner.

3. Type the category you would like to search for; for example, "coffee".

4. Click the option you would like to select. All of the photos and videos related to that keyword will appear.

How to use smart albums as "advanced search" in Photos for Mac

The smart folder system in Photos for Mac is really clever and allows for a lot of options. If you need something more complex than standard search, especially if you think you might run it even semi-frequently, a smart folder might be a good alternative.

• How to use smart folders in Photos for Mac

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

October 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina. Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

What you need to know

• Apple has released a new update for GarageBand on iOS and iPadOS.
• The update features support for Dark Mode and external drives.
• There's also a new downloadable "Skyline Heat" sound pack.

Following the release of iOS 13, Apple on Thursday rolled out an update for GarageBand, and you can download it now for iPhone and iPad.

The biggest change in the latest update is support for Dark Mode, which gives GarageBand a sleek new look. It will make putting together tracks late into the night a little easier on the eyes.

The update also introduces the ability to access files from external drives and search for Apple Loops by Sound Library, and more. There's also a new "Skyline Heat" sound pack.

Here are the release notes (via 9to5Mac):

• Support for Dark Mode and new Share sheet in iOS 13
• Access files from external hard drives, SD card readers, and USB drives
• Improves audio fidelity of Apple Loops when making tempo and key changes
• New downloadable "Skyline Heat" sound pack with a collection of over 350 new Hip Hop loops and 6 drum kits
• Search for Apple Loops by Sound Library pack name
• Provides performance and stability improvements

The GarageBand update is available now for iOS and iPadOS.

What you need to know

• It was originally believed that the issue lay with Avid Media Composer software.
• However it appears that a rogue Google Chrome update is at fault.
• Google has shared steps impacted users can take.

We shared a story yesterday in which a number of Mac Pro users were reporting that their machines would not start correctly after being shut down. At the time it was thought that the presence of Avid Media Composer was the cause, although now it seems that isn't the case at all. Instead, Google has confirmed that its Chrome update corrupted some macOS file systems.

Google confirmed the issue in a Chrome support thread, saying that "a Chrome update may have shipped with a bug that damages the file system on macOS machines with System Integrity Protection (SIP) disabled." SIP is designed to prevent apps from modifying system files, but it needs to be disabled to allow apps like Avid to have a direct connection to a Mac's graphics systems. That's where the link to Avid came from.

Google says that it has now ceased the rollout of Keystone 1.2.13.75 – the Chrome updater software that caused the issue – while it works on a fix. In the meantime it has also shared details on steps impacted users can take in order to get their machines back up and running.

We've reached out to Avid for comment on their stance following this news after it confirmed yesterday that it was aware of the ongoing issues. At that time Avid gave the impression that the issue was related to its own software. We'll update this post if and when we receive a response.

Skylum Software on Thursday released a new plugin for photographers who want access to unique photo adjustments and effects, but don't want to switch software titles. Luminar Flex is a plugin that adds the popular Luminar engine and filter set to existing photo-editing workflows. At launch, Luminar Flex is compatible with third-party such as Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop Elements, and Photos for macOS.

Available to purchase through the Skylum Software website, Luminar Flex offer over 50 filters for corrections and enhancements not found elsewhere. Among these is the introduction of Luminar Looks. Using artificial intelligence, this tool provides more than 70 one-click Looks which you can use as a starting point to create unique projects.

There's also the Accent AI that automatically analyzes and corrects photos using more than a dozen controls at once; AI Sky Enhancer, which adds color to images featuring dulls skies; and Golden Hour, which brings a warm-toned sunlit effect to photos; and much more.

Luminar Flex also offers a new set of workspaces including:

• Expert: All essential tools that professional photographers need for image processing.
• Black & White: Optimized for creating black and white masterpieces.
• Image Aware: Smart Workspace for fast and high-quality image-aware processing thanks to the power of AI.
• Intensify: Boost the details and structure in the photographs to get very clear and detail-rich image.
• Drone & Aerial: Essential tools for quick edits of drone photos.
• Film Lab: Tools for emulating the style and effects of film photography.
• Relight and Color: Essential tools for creative photography.
• Portrait: Optimized for creating beautiful portraits shot under any light.

The Luminar Flex plugin is fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop CC and Photoshop Elements, and also ties into Adobe Lightroom Classic CC's external editing system and Photos for macOS's extensions. Also, as a Photoshop user, you can benefit by using Luminar Flex with Smart Objects, allowing you to revise edits even after closing a document.

Up until this point, many of the tools provided in Luminar Flex were limited to Skylum Software's Luminar 3 standalone title. With the launch of Luminar Flex, those tools are finally available to users of other photo-editing software.

Alex Tsepko, CEO of Skylum explains:

Luminar Flex looks very interesting; you can download a tree trial copy through the Skylum Software website. Luminar Flex is $59 and comes with a 60 day money back guarantee.

Whether you're trying to free up storage, battling duplicates, eliminating personal photos no one else ever needs to see, or just cutting out the bad shots, Photos for Mac makes it easy to delete single or multiple pictures or videos in a snap!

If you're using iCloud Photo Library, anything you delete on your Mac will also be deleted on all your other iCloud Photo Library-enabled devices, including your iPhone and/or iPad. Deleted pictures and videos can be recovered for up to 30 days (unless you have zero storage space on your computer), or can be deleted immediately and forever. Here's how!

• How to delete pictures or videos in Photos for Mac
• How to delete an entire Album in Photos for Mac
• How to recover deleted pictures or videos in Photos for Mac
• How to permanently delete pictures or videos in Photos for Mac

How to delete pictures or videos in Photos for Mac

You can select one picture or video by clicking on it, a range of pictures or videos by clicking on the first one and then shift-clicking on the last one, or a number of arbitrary pictures or videos by command-clicking on each of them in turn.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Select the picture(s) or video(s) you want to delete

3. Right-click on an image or shift-click on a bunch and then right-click and click Delete. (You can also click on an image and press delete on your keyboard, or command + delete to skip the confirmation dialog.)
4. Click Delete to confirm, if prompted.

How to delete an entire Album in Photos for Mac

You can also delete some or all of the pictures or videos intelligently grouped by Photos into an Album.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the the Album you would like to delete.

3. Right-click on the album you want to delete and click Delete. (You can also click on an album and hit the delete key on your keyboard, or command + delete to skip the confirmation dialog.)
4. Click Delete to confirm.

The Album will no longer appear in your sidebar.

How to recover deleted pictures or videos in Photos for Mac

If you delete a picture or video by accident, or later regret it, you have 30 days to reverse it.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click the Recently Deleted folder in your sidebar.

3. Click on the pictures or videos you want to recover. A blue check-mark will appear to indicate that they've been selected.
4. Click on the Recover button at the top right.

How to permanently delete pictures or videos in Photos for Mac

If you want to make sure a deleted picture or video is eradicated immediately and can't be recovered, you can do that as well.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click the Recently Deleted folder in your sidebar.

3. Click on the pictures or videos you want to permanently delete.
4. Click on the Delete button at the top right. A prompt will appear on screen: just hit delete, and you're good to go!

Any Photos for Mac questions?

If you need help deleting pictures or videos, or have any questions at all about Photos for Mac, drop them in the comments below!

Updated March 2019: Updated steps and made sure everything is up to date for the latest version of macOS.

Apple's photo management software for the Mac, Photos, has grown to be a fairly competent all-purpose storage locker. But as your photo and video library grows — and especially if you've taken advantage of iCloud Photo Library — you may find that your Photos library strains to fit on your Mac's hard drive.

While there are options to keep your Mac from running out of space, like optimizing your photo storage if you use iCloud Photo Library, it comes at a cost: Without a fully-stored Photos library, you won't be able to create secondary backups of your images and video. (And as good as iCloud has become, your photos and video are precious enough that they're worth keeping backed up in multiple places.)

There is an alternative: Moving your Photos library to an external drive (or creating an entirely separate library and syncing it with iCloud). Here's how to do it, and some reasons why you should — and shouldn't! — consider it for your needs.

Why you should (and shouldn't) use an external drive with Photos for Mac

There are a number of reasons why an external drive might make sense when you're working with Photos for Mac:

• You have a giant Photos library (and, if you use iCloud Photo Library, you want to ensure you have a secondary backup of everything in that library)
• You frequently swap computers and want to work on your images from any Mac
• Your library isn't huge, but you'd prefer to save space on your Mac for other files
• You share a computer with other users and you have limited drive space
• If you're working with space constraints on your primary computer, it's one of the easiest ways to back up your full iCloud Photo Library

That said, there are some downsides, too. Here are some reasons you might not want to use an external drive:

• You don't have a big enough library to warrant moving it off your Mac
• You don't want to have to worry about always having your external drive connected to view and edit your images
• You use a laptop frequently and can't afford an SSD, and you don't want to risk breaking your disc-based hard drive by constantly moving it
• You don't want to accidentally create duplicate libraries that can't be connected to iCloud Photo Library (because your offsite library is connected)
• Unless you purchase a speedy drive, working externally is almost always slower than working on your default hard drive
• You don't want to spend the money on an external drive
• If you use an automated backup service for your computer, you'll have to set up a second set of rules for backing up your hard drive

Best external drives for storing photos

Okay, so you've decided to move your Photos library over to an external drive. What next? If you already have an external drive, you can always use it for storing your Photos library (and save on cash). But if you're considering getting a new drive for this endeavor, here's what I suggest:

• Get a drive that's at least 1-2TB in space, preferably 4TB. With the iPhone able to save 4K video, our space needs aren't shrinking anytime soon: The bigger hard drive you can afford, the better.
• If you're buying a stationary hard drive, buying a disc-based hard drive is great, but buy good brands — don't try and save $50 on an off-brand hard drive. It's rarely worth the HDD failure.
• If you're buying a portable hard drive, consider SSD: It's very pricey in comparison to a disc-based drive, but if you know you'll be frequently moving around — especially if you plan to move around with the drive connected — you want a drive that can take a little rumble and tumble without skipping or failing.
• Hard drive speeds are important, too: The faster a drive's write speed, the quicker your images will copy; the faster a drive's read speed, the easier it will be for you to view images or video and edit them, too.

Want some recommendations for specific external hard drives? We've got those, too.

• Best USB-C Hard Drives for Mac
• Best External Hard Drives for Mac
• Best Shock-Resistant Hard Drives for Mac

How to move your current Photos library to an external drive and use it as your primary library

As with creating a new library, moving your library to your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.

1. Connect an external drive to your Mac via USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt.
2. Open a new Finder window.
3. Open your external drive in that window.
4. Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to your external drive), as you'll need it shortly.

5. Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
6. Select the Pictures folder.
7. Select your old library.
8. Drag it to your external drive in the other Finder window.

Your library will begin to copy over to your external drive. Depending on the size of your library and speed of your drive, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so be patient. Don't unplug your drive or turn off your computer during this process.

Before you open your copied Photos library on the external drive, you have to disassociate the library on your Mac from iCloud. (If you don't use iCloud Photo Library, you can skip these steps.)

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Click on the iCloud tab.
5. Uncheck iCloud Photos.

6. Press Remove from Mac to remove any undownloaded low-resolution items from this library.
7. Quit Photos.

Now, it's time to make your newly-copied Photos library your system default.

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Click Use as System Photo Library.

Your external library is now set up to be your system default, but it's not currently connected to iCloud. If you use iCloud Photo Library and want to keep that connection active so that you can continually download items you've stored, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.)

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click on the iCloud tab.

5. Check iCloud Photos.
6. Click Download Originals to this Mac.
7. Wait for your Mac to download your images from iCloud. (Depending on the size of your iCloud library and your internet connection, this may take up to 24 hours; don't disconnect your external drive or turn off your Mac during this time.)

Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.

A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your library is fully copied and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!

1. Open a new Finder window.
2. Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
3. Select the Pictures folder.
4. Select your old library.

5. Drag it to the Trash (or press Command-Delete on your keyboard).
6. Empty the Trash.
7. Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to the Pictures folder), as you'll need it later.
8. Select your external drive.
9. Right-click (or control-click) on your copied Photos library on your external drive.
10. Select Make Alias.
11. Drag the alias to the Pictures folder.
12. Rename the alias to remove the "alias" part of its name.

Now you have a direct link to your copied Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.

Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.

How to create a new Photos library on your external drive and use it as your primary library

Creating a new library on your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.

Before you create a new Photos library, you have to disassociate your current library as your system default. (If you don't use iCloud Photos, you can skip these steps.)

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click on the iCloud tab.

5. Uncheck iCloud Photos.
6. Press Remove from Mac to remove all low-resolution items from this library.
7. Press Remove from Mac once more to confirm.
8. Quit Photos.

Once you've done this, it's time to create a new library.

1. Connect an external drive to your Mac via USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt.
2. Option-click (and continue holding down option) when launching the Photos app on your Mac.
3. When it asks you to choose a library, click on Create New….
4. Name your library.

5. Press the Down arrow to expand the File picker and choose your external drive as the new location.
6. Press OK to save it to your external drive.

You'll now have an empty library on your external drive. Next up: Making it your system library.

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click Use as System Photo Library.

Your external library has now been set up from scratch. If you use iCloud Photos and want to download all the items you've stored there to have an external backup, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.)

1. Open Photos on your Mac.
2. Go to the Photos menu.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click on the iCloud tab.

5. Check iCloud Photos.
6. Click Download Originals to this Mac.
7. Wait for your Mac to download your images from iCloud. (Depending on the size of your library and your internet connection, this may take up to 24 hours; don't disconnect your external drive or turn off your Mac during this time.)

Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.

A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your new library is live and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!

1. Open a new Finder window.
2. Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
3. Select the Pictures folder.
4. Select your old library.

5. Drag it to the Trash (or press Command-Delete on your keyboard).
6. Empty the Trash.
7. Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to the Pictures folder), as you'll need it later.
8. Select your external drive.
9. Right-click (or control-click) on your new Photos library.
10. Select Make Alias.

11. Drag the alias to the Pictures folder.
12. Rename the alias to remove the "alias" part of its name.

Now you have a direct link to your Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.

Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.

Running a cleaner Mac

Moving your Photos library to an external will free up valuable space on your internal hard drive. Just make sure you connect the external hard drive whenever you plan to use the Photos library, to avoid confusion or multiple libraries. Now your Mac will have less files and photos weighing it down! If it's still running tight, you may need to look for other solutions to free up space, or upgrade to a newer Mac with more storage space. 

Updated December 2022: Updated for the latest version of macOS.

Whether you're cropping your photos, importing them into Photoshop, or adjusting your color and saturation, there are tons of different ways that you can successfully edit pictures and videos in Photos for Mac. Photos for Mac has everything you need to make your pictures look exactly how you want, and what's more, all the edits are non-destructive, so if you don't get something perfect the first time, you can change it again whenever you like or even go right back to the original.

Combine that with the large screen, and editing photos on the Mac isn't just easy; it's accessible to everyone. Here's how to use it!

• How to adjust brightness with Photos for Mac
• How to adjust color saturation in Photos for Mac
• How to convert an image to black and white with Photos for Mac
• How to access white balance, noise reduction, and more in Photos for Mac
• How to adjust Sharpness with Photos for Mac
• How to adjust Definition with Photos for Mac
• How to adjust Noise Reduction with Photos for Mac
• How to adjust Vignette with Photos for Mac
• How to use Selective Color in Photos for Mac
• How to quickly retouch an image in the Photos app on your Mac
• How to correct Red-Eye in Photos for Mac
• How to add a filter to a picture in Photos for Mac
• How to automatically crop and straighten in Photos for Mac
• How to manually crop in Photos for Mac
• How to manually straighten in Photos for Mac
• How to rotate in Photos for Mac
• How to flip in Photos for Mac
• How to trim a video in Photos for Mac
• How to reset the trim on a video in Photos for Mac
• How to edit a video from Photos for Mac
• How to move an image out of Photos and into Photoshop, Pixelmator, Acorn, or other external editor
• How to bring and edited image back into Photos for Mac

How to adjust brightness with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Drag the Light slider left or right to adjust the brilliance in the photo.

5. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to adjust color saturation in Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Drag the Color slider left or right to adjust the brilliance in the photo.

5. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to convert an image to black and white with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Drag the Black & White slider left and right to activate and adjust the photo's black and white intensity. You can also adjust a photo's black and white Neutrals, Tone, and Grain.

5. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to access white balance, noise reduction, and more in Photos for Mac

Histogram, sharpen, definition, noise reduction, vignette, white balance, and levels can all be added to your photo adjustment options; that elevates Photos for Mac from a basic photo editing tool to something more advanced.

The histogram, for example, lets you see the distribution of light and dark, as well as red, blue, and green pixels within your image. Sharpen and definition can help make the blurry aspects clearer. Vignette darkens images around the edges, and white balance and levels let you change casts, crush blacks, and more. All you have to do is turn them on!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click the arrow next to any adjustment you'd like to expand on the right. There's everything from Retouch to Vignette.

5. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to adjust Sharpness with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click the arrow next to Sharpen on the right.
5. Drag the sliders left and right to adjust your photo's sharpness. You can optionally click Auto to let Photos automatically sharpen the image for you.

6. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to adjust Definition with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click the arrow next to Definition.
5. Drag the slider left and right to adjust your photo's definition. You can optionally click Auto to have it done automatically.

6. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to adjust Noise Reduction with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click on the arrow next to Noise Reduction.
5. Drag the slider left and right to adjust your photo's noise reduction. You can optionally click Auto if you want it done automatically.

6. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to adjust Vignette with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click on the arrow next to Vignette.
5. Drag the sliders left and right to adjust your photo's vignette. You can optionally click Auto if you want it done automatically.

6. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to use Selective Color in Photos for Mac

Selective Color allows you to adjust the Hue, Saturation, Luminance, and Range of certain colors, meaning you can choose how the colors look and how prominent they are compared to the other colors in the photo.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Double-click the photo you want to edit.
3. Click Edit.

4. Click on Selective Color in the sidebar.
5. Adjust the sliders to your liking.

6. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to quickly retouch an image in the Photos app on your Mac

Ah, the controversial act of retouching a photo, but let's face it: we've all done it. Luckily, retouching a photo is a lot easier than going and retaking it!

Photos for Mac offers a retouch tool that lets you quickly remove small imperfections such as skin blemishes or even a small object that wasn't supposed to be in the image to begin with. It may not be as powerful as spot healing tools in software editing programs like Photoshop, but in a pinch, it gets the job done!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click on the arrow next to Retouch on the right.
5. Drag the slider to adjust the size of the retouch tool in the right hand menu if you need to before clicking on the area that you need to retouch.
6. Click and drag on the photo to retouch the areas that need it.

7. When you're happy with the results, click Done in the upper right corner.

You also have the option of holding down the option key on your keyboard and clicking to select a pattern. If you ever need to Undo a retouch, just hit Command-Z on your keyboard to step back.

How to correct Red-Eye in Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Double-click the photo you want to edit.
3. ClickEdit.

4. Click Red-eye in the sidebar.
5. Adjust the size of the brush with the slider.

6. Click the brush.
7. Click on the eye you want to fix.

8. Click Done on the top right of the Photos window.

How to add a filter to a picture in Photos for Mac

Photos for Mac brings the same kind of damage control to the Mac. Whether it's by adding a color overlay, boosting or flattening contrast, it lets you take pictures that look wrong and make them look artistic instead.

They're the same subtle filters Apple introduced for the iPhone and iPad, while they may not have the same punch as some others, they're consistent and even more importantly — they're non-destructive. That means you can change your mind and even revert to normal at any time.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo you'd like to add a filter to and double-click on it to open it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the upper right corner.
4. Click on Filters in the top navigation.

5. Click the filter you'd like to apply by clicking on it.
6. When you find one you like, click on Done in the upper right corner.

How to automatically crop and straighten in Photos for Mac

Whether the horizon or a building looks oddly angled, or extra people or space are stealing focus from your subjects, Photos for Mac has just exactly the tools to help you line up what you want and cut out what you don't so that even if you didn't frame the perfect photo, you can still end up with it.

Also, if you need to rotate or flip a picture, you can do that too!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click on Crop in the top navigation.

5. Click on Auto towards the bottom right of the screen.
6. Click on Done in the upper right corner.

How to manually crop in Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation panel.
4. Click on Crop in the top navigation.

5. Click on the arrow next to Aspect on the right.
6. Choose the aspect ratio you'd like. Alternatively, you can grab the corners of each photo and free crop if you'd like or click Custom to create a custom aspect ratio.
7. When you're happy with the crop, click on Done in the upper right corner.

How to manually straighten in Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo in your photo library that you'd like to edit and double-click on it.
3. Click on the Edit button in the top navigation.
4. Click on Crop in the right navigation.

5. Click the dial and drag up and down to adjust it.
6. Click Done in the upper right corner when you're finished editing.

How to rotate in Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo you'd like to straighten and open it.
3. Click Image in the menu bar.
4. Click Rotate Counterclockwise (or Clockwise) to turn it 90 degrees.
5. Repeat to turn another 90 degrees, for a total of 180 degrees.

You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Command-R for counterclockwise or Option-Command-R for clockwise.

How to flip (mirror) in Photos forMac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the photo you'd like to straighten and open it.

3. Click Image.
4. Click Flip Horizontal (or Vertical) from the menu to mirror.

How to trim a video in Photos for Mac

Whether you synced them from your iPhone or iPad using iCloud Photo Library or imported them manually, all your movie moments are right there alongside your images. Editing, however, is a different story.

While you can trim videos in Photos for Mac, that's about all the editing you can do. For more, including titles, traditions, and other effects, you have to escalate to iMovie #sadtrombone.

If you started or stopped recording a little too early or late, it's easy to remove the excess from the beginning or ending of your video. Here's how!

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Find a video you want to edit.

3. Double-click on the video to make it fill the Photos app.
4. Hover your mouse over the video to reveal the control overlay.

5. Click on the gear icon to show options.
6. Click on Trim.

7. Drag the yellow handles on either side to trim from the beginning or end of the video.
8. Click Trim to confirm the change.

How to reset the trim on a video in Photos for Mac

If you trim a video and later regret it, don't worry, the edit is non-destructive, and the original video can easily be restored.

1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
2. Find the video you want to revert.

3. Double-click on the video to make it fill the Photos app.
4. Hover your mouse over the video to reveal the control overlay.

5. Click on the gear icon to show options.
6. Click on Reset Trim.

How to edit a video from Photos for Mac

If you want to add transitions, titles, or other effects to your video, or if you want to cut or mix it up with other videos, you'll need to use iMovie.

1. Launch iMovie on your Mac.
2. Click Create New and select Movie.

3. Click on Photos Library in the sidebar.
4. Find the video you want to edit.

5. Click on the video to select it.
6. Click on the + icon to add it to the clips in the current movie.

Then start editing away!

Once you're done, you can share the video right from iMovie or save it out and drag it back into Photos for Mac for syncing and safekeeping.

How to move an image out of Photos and into Photoshop, Pixelmator, Acorn, or other external editor

1. Launch Photos from the dock or Finder.
2. Click on the photo you want to edit.
3. Click on File.
4. Click on Export
5. Click on Export Unmodified Original.

6. Click Export after you fill out the photo information and choose where you would like to save it.
7. From your desktop, drag the photo into your favorite image editor. (Or control-right-click the icon and choose "Open with..." and then your favorite image editor.)

How to bring an edited image back into Photos for Mac

1. Save or Export the edited image back to your desktop from the photo editing app.
2. From your desktop, drag the image back into Photos for Mac (or choose the File > Import menu item and then select the image to import.)

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Updated March 2019: Updated for macOS Mojave.

The Pixelmator Team latest addition to its Mac app lineup is called Pixelmator Pro and it's a significant improvement over the already-awesome Pixelmator for Mac. Here's everything you need to know!

What's new with Pixelmator Pro?

With a very minor update, Pixelmator Pro can now do something awesome with just a shift and a click. You can replace the entire background of a photo that was taken using Portrait Mode on iPhone. Just drag and drop a new background into your layers. Then, drag the background to the layer below and shift + click on the first layer to blend them. Bam! Magic! Here's a video to show you just how easy it is.

Pixelmator Pro — How to replace the background in a Portrait photo from Pixelmator Team on Vimeo.

Attention, photography lovers: Pixelmator Pro is back at it again. The Pixelmator team announced today in a blog post that a new update is currently rolling out for the popular non-destructive photo editing app for Mac, officially bringing it to version 1.1. The update, dubbed Monsoon, offers a multitude of new features like Touch Bar support, super easy web export, tutorials, and more. Pixelmator 1.1 will ideally making your editing workflow — no matter your style — more streamlined than ever.

Here's a list of some of the cool new features and improvements Pixelmator Pro 1.1 offers, according to the company's release notes:

• Export for Web: This feature allows you to prepare your photos for and export them to the web with minimal effort.
• Touch Bar support: Pixelmator Pro has finally added support for the MacBook Pro Touch Bar, giving you easy and quick access to all your tools.
• Auto Color Adjustments: Powered by machine-learning, this feature will automatically hone your photograph's white balance, lightness, hue, and/or saturation.
• Slice: The new Slice tool allows you to split your designs up into individual images, giving you the freedom to edit each section as a separate entity.
• Advanced Compression: With Advanced Compression, you can shrink image's file to the smallest possible size without losing any quality.
• Quick Export: This allows you to quickly export images with your frequently used export settings settings.
• Export Presets: With Pixelmator Pro 1.1, you can now save your go-to export settings for whatever project you're working on, speeding up the process of exporting images.
• SVG support: Pixelmator Pro finally allows you to open, edit, and export resolution-independent vector images.
• HEIF: You now have the option to export images in the High Efficiency Image file format.
• Live Previews: When you're formatting the text or adjusting layer blending within a piece, you'll now be able to see live previews before you commit to making any actual changes.
• Select Color Range: If you need to make sure your color scheme is consistent, Pixelmator Pro's got your back: you can now select both precise colors or entire color ranges.
• Tutorials: Stuck? Looking for new ways to work with your images? Just interested in picking up a few new skills? You can now learn the ins and outs of using Pixelmator Pro to its full potential with easy-to-follow video and text tutorials on the new Tutorials page.
• UI and functionality improvements: On top of adding a bunch of new features, the Pixelmator team has also made a few of the older features even better. For instance, when moving image guides, their position will now be shown in the current ruler units rather than pixels, and dragging a guide while holding the Shift key will now snap the guide to each ruler tick mark.
  • Customizable toolbar: You can now configure your toolbar so it shows you only what you need, allowing you to hide whichever buttons you choose.

In addition, Pixelmator Pro 1.1 also brings a cornucopia of bug fixes for many pesky problems that have been plaguing editors, like unexpected crashing and issues with painting. For a full list of features and improvements, check out Pixelmator Pro's updates page.

The Pixelmator team announced in a blog post today that the newer and more powerful iteration of Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, is finally available on the App Store. First announced along with a Pixelmator update back in September, this premium version is rumored to be "the world's most innovative image editing app." That's right — Pixelmator is coming for you, Photoshop.

Saulius Dailide, one of the founders of the Pixelmator team, noted the app's strengths in a statement:

Pixelmator Pro's interface was made for new users. It's simplistic and accessible — i.e., tools are really easy to find because there's no visual clutter — and it's dark, making it less stressful on your eyes if you work with it for long periods of time. It was also built using Swift 4, so it offers an effortless, native-to-Mac experience. It is a bit different from the Pixelmator interface though, so if you're used to the original, you will have to warm up to the Pro version a bit.

In addition to a redesigned UI, Pixelmator Pro uses machine learning integrated via Apple's new Core ML framework, allowing the software to detect and understand what's in your image. This brings a plethora of groundbreaking features, including automatic horizon detection, more realistic object removal, and intelligent quick selections. Again, this futuristic touch just shows that the Pixelmator team is definitely looking to replace Photoshop as every Mac user's go-to image editor.

As for editing and painting tools, Pixelmator Pro offers nondestructive adjustments and effects, meaning if you're not digging the direction your art is going in, you can revert to the original image or modify and delete individual changes whenever you like. You can also do things like create editing presets (and share them with others by simply dragging and dropping), experiment with new paintbrushes, choose blending modes, and so much more.

You can get Pixelmator Pro by heading over to the Pixelmator team's website or by grabbing it from the App Store here.

• Pixelmator Pro - $59.99 - Download now

The Pixelmator team has shared another video of its newest Pro photo editing app. This one explains what automatic layer naming is. Guess what? It's automatically naming a layer based on the content of the image. Nuff said. Just kidding. It's actually really awesome. Pixelmator Pro is [built with machine learning](https://www.pixelmator.com/pro/experience/), so the app can figure out what's in a photo or new layer and give it a name so you don't have to. There are even alternate similar names you can choose from. Check out the video to see more! ### October 11, 2017: Get a first look at Pixelmator Pro in action

The Pixelmator team just shared a new video showing off the newest addition to its Mac app lineup. You can get a better impression of the look and feel of Pixelmator Pro ahead of its launch sometime this fall! You can learn more about the Pixelmator Pro experience [on its site](https://www.pixelmator.com/pro/experience/). ### September 4, 2017: Pixelmator team officially announces Pixelmator Pro! Pixelmator Pro was officially unveiled today with details on what the app is, what features it has, and details about its design. Though we don't have a specific launch date at this time, Pixelmator Pro is due out this Fall.

So what is Pixelmator Pro?

Pixelmator Pro is a layer-based image editing app for Mac from the Pixelmator Team, which is the development company behind one of the best photo editing apps for Mac, and one of our favorite photo editing apps on iPad.

It's been built from the ground up with the user in mind. Whether you're an experienced photo editor or just starting out, Pixelmator Pro works with you, making it easy to learn or simple to master.

There are dozens of editing tools to help you create your perfect picture project. With things like an advanced zoom engine for ultra-close editing, Smart Scrolling so you can work outside the parameters of your immediate view, and wide color image support so you see the colors you're meant to see on the screen.

Pixelmator Pro was designed specifically with the Mac user in mind. That's why it supports iCloud syncing, multiple tabs, special gestures for the Magic Trackpad (with Force Touch), and the Touch Bar on the Macbook Pro.

Pixelmator Pro works with split-view, so you can work on your photo edits while using another supported app at the same time.

It supports all the standard image files, like JPEG, TIFF, and PNG, and it also supports Apple's new HEIF format, so you can edit photos taken on your iOS 11 and newerr iPhone or iPad.

Thanks to nondestructive editing, you can retain the original image, no matter how many changes you've made over time, including after you've closed the program.

There's now a robust set of painting tools with more than 100 dual-texture brushes, a customizable eraser, dozens of color options and shades, and a whole lot more.

There are more than 40 filter effects so you can quickly change the look and style of an image with a single click. There are also dozens of unique effects, like blur, distortion, tiling, and more.

Pixelmator Pro has an advanced layout tool that includes Alignment Guides, Smart Spacing, and Smart Sizing, which makes it incredibly easy to create graphics with different shapes, text, and more.

One of the most interesting features of Pixelmator Pro is it's use of machine learning for enhanced editing, making your editing process faster and more efficient. It makes it possible to automatically name layers, straighten photos, and remove objects from a scene while adding matching landscapes.

What's the difference between Pixelmator Pro and Pixelmator?

The most noticeable difference is the design. Pixelmator Pro is a complete redesign from its predecessor, using a single-window interface that is much more intuitive to Mac users than Pixelmator's floating window design.

It has a more streamlined toolbar, which makes it easier for you to access the editing tools you need much more efficiently.

Less noticeable, but the most notable difference is all the additional editing tools that Pixelmator Pro comes with. It's like Pixelmator extreme.

How can I get it? How much does it cost?

Pixelmator Pro is available in the Mac App Store for $59.99. You can grab it for yourself by clicking the link below.

• Pixelmator Pro - $59.99 - Download now

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about Pixelmator Pro? Put them in the comments and we'll update this article with everything new we learn about it.

The Photos app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac is fast, convenient, and chock full of great features to help you manage your images. But if you don't have your devices on you, it can be hard to show off your latest vacation photo or 4K video exploration.

Luckily, if you use Apple's iCloud Photo Library service, you can access every image or video you've ever uploaded or taken straight from a web browser. You can even organize and arrange photos in great detail: All you need is a connection, your Apple ID, and iCloud.com!

• How to access and view photos in iCloud Photo Library on the web
• How to hide the sidebar in Photos on iCloud.com
• How to upload photos to Photos on iCloud.com
• How to add a photo or a video to an album in Photos on iCloud.com
• How to share images or video in Photos on iCloud.com
• How to download a photo or video from Photos on iCloud.com
• How to delete a photo from Photos on iCloud.com
• How to recover old photos and videos from Photos on iCloud.com

How to access and view photos in iCloud Photo Library on the web

You can view your entire iCloud Photo Library on iCloud.com: You need only to sign in.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

Note: The first time you load iCloud Photo Library on the web, it might take some time. If you see Preparing Library..., be patient and come back a bit later once Apple has finished processing your photos. Once you've opened your Photos library for the first time, you can leave iCloud.com and your library will continue to populate to the web, so don't worry. Once it's done, your entire photo library will appear and subsequent load times will be much faster.

How to hide the sidebar in Photos on iCloud.com

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in to your iCloud account first).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the sidebar icon in the upper left corner.
4. Click it again to make it re-appear.

How to upload photos to Photos on iCloud.com

If you need to, you can manually upload photos to your iCloud Photo Library using iCloud.com.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the Upload Photos icon in the upper right corner. It looks like a cloud with an arrow in it.
4. Click on the photos or videos you would like to upload.

5. Click Choose.

How to add a photo or a video to an album in Photos on iCloud.com

iCloud.com also lets you manage your photo and video albums, just as you would on Photos for iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the Add to an Album icon in the upper right corner. It looks like a plus sign.
4. Click on the album you would like to add your photos or videos to.

How to share images or video in Photos on iCloud.com

Just like on your iOS device or Mac, Photos for iCloud.com lets you share images and video with your friends and family.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the Share icon in the upper right corner. It looks like a box with an arrow coming out the top of it.
4. Click the platform you would like it shared with, ie Facebook, mail, etc.

How to download a photo or video from Photos on iCloud.com

If you need a standalone copy of an image or video you took, you can grab it from iCloud.com at any time.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the Download selected item icon in the upper right corner.
4. The photo or video will begin downloading automatically.

How to delete a photo from Photos on iCloud.com

When you delete photos from iCloud.com, they'll also be deleted on your other iCloud-connected devices.

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on the Photos icon from the main menu.

3. Click the Delete icon in the upper right corner. It looks like a trash can.
4. Click Delete on the prompt that appears on screen.

How to recover old photos and videos from Photos on iCloud.com

1. Go to iCloud.com in any web browser (you might need to sign in).
2. Click on Photos.

3. Click on Recently Deleted in the sidebar.
4. Click on the photos or vidoes that you want to recover. Hold down the Command key on your Mac's keyboard while clicking if you want to select multiple items.

5. Click Recover.

Other questions about iCloud Photo Library on the web?

Let us know in the comments below!

Updated February 2019: Updated information regarding how to recover photos on iCloud.com. Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

For the absolute basic video editing — when you only want to stitch together a few clips — iMovie is more than enough in most cases. When you fancy diving into the deep end and making some serious videos with effects, export to various formats, and use cool transitions, you'll want to check out Adobe Premiere Pro.

Battle of the video editors

Choosing video editing software to use depends on what you need to do. Not everyone will need to purchase and use Premiere Pro (and not everybody will have the skill), but free options like iMovie may not have all the features and format support required. Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple iMovie are similar in design but different in available performance.

Adobe Premiere Pro is the more powerful suite of video editing tools, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering it's the only commercial option here. iMovie just doesn't compare, but it's also available at no additional cost after picking up a new Mac and is incredibly easy to learn.

Lights, camera, action!

Adobe Premiere Pro is the company's flagship video editing software, used by numerous professionals and enthusiasts. Adobe has been working on Premiere Pro for a decade and it shows. The software is well built, runs well, and offers all the advanced features you'd expect from a tool that costs you a monthly subscription.

iMovie is not competing against Adobe Premiere Pro. It's not meant to be as powerful, nor will it allow you to create content that matches the quality possible with Premiere Pro (Apple's own Final Cut Pro is the company's competitor for matching Adobe's offering). iMovie, however, is a great place to start, especially if you're not certain what you need in terms of video editing features or even what you're doing.

You get the familiar timeline feature where you can easily drag and drop files, cut and paste clips together, and make a quick video or few, but in order to really dive into multi-channel editing with better format support, as well as integration with other design apps, you're going to want to consider Premiere Pro, part of the Creative Cloud suite of apps.

Start small, aim high

As a free application direct from Apple with the most basic of functionality, iMovie is a no-brainer if you're just starting out. Diving into the deep end with Adobe Premiere Pro without considering just what you need in terms of software can result in you paying out for functionality available in iMovie.

We encouraged you to begin your editing journey with iMovie, see how the software performs for the videos you wish to create, and go from there. When ready to take the next step and go professional, Adobe Premiere Pro will be a great investment.

When only the best will do

Adobe has spent many years perfecting Premiere Pro and the current version is used by countless professionals and enthusiasts to create killer content. It's expensive, takes a while to learn everything, but offers incredible features and format support.

Start with iMovie

If you're not sure about what software you need and haven't tried iMovie yet, it's worth it to give Apple's free suite a try. Not only does it cost nothing, but it's also easy to obtain from the Mac App Store and will allow you to test all the functionality and see if you need more from a video editor.

The Photos app for Mac lets you easily and conveniently organize and search for your images and videos, and the People album and Places let you find the folks you live in the places you love.

Here's how to use People and Places in Photos for Mac!

• How to create a new People profile
• How to merge People into one profile
• How to manually add a picture to a People profile
• How to name or rename a People profile
• How to favorite a People profile
• How to view a slideshow of a People profile
• How to select a specific key photo for a People profile
• How to remove a picture from a profile
• How to un-favorite a People profile
• How to remove a People profile entirely
• How to find Places in the Photos app
• How to view photos in Places in the Photos app
• How to change a specific photo's location in the Photos app

How to create a new People profile

If you don't see a profile that you want to add, you can do so manually on Mac.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Select the picture that has the person's face you want to create a profile for.
3. Click on the Info button on the top right side of the Photos window. It looks like an i with a circle around it.

4. Click the Add button next to Add Faces.
5. Relocate the tag circle to the face of the person you want to create a profile for.
6. Click on Click to Name.

7. Name the person. If the name is in your contacts, it will appear in the suggested list.
8. Click the Close button in the info window when you're done.

9. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
10. Select the new People profile.
11. Click on Confirm Additional Photos to see if the Photos app has automatically registered any additional pictures with that person in it.

You may have to wait a bit for the Photos app to update before you can confirm additional photos. If, after updating, the Photos app still doesn't recognize a person's face to add to their profile, you can manually add a picture to a People profile.

How to merge People into one profile

You might have already noticed that there are multiple profiles for the same person in your People album.

If you created a profile on Mac and on your iPhone, they may not properly merge when you sync both devices. You can manually merge profiles.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Click on one profile to select it.

4. Command-click on another profile so you've selected both.
5. Right- or control-click to open the option menu.
6. Click on Merge [number] People.
7. Click Yes to confirm that these are the same person and you want to merge the profiles into one.

How to manually add a picture to a People profile

The Photos app may not have been able to identify pictures with the same person in them that are in your People album. You don't have to wait for the Photos app to identify and add a picture to a People profile. You can do that manually!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Select the picture that has the person's face you want to add to a People profile.
3. Click on the Info button at the top left side of the Photos window. It looks like an i with a circle around it.

4. Click the Add button next to Add Faces.
5. Relocate the tag circle to the face of the person you want to create a profile for.
6. Click on Click to Name.

7. Name the person. If the name is in your contacts, it will appear in the suggested list.
8. Click the Close button in the info window when you're done.

Once named, the photo will be added to the person's profile in the People album.

How to name or rename a People profile

If a profile is unnamed or has a name but it's the wrong one, you can manually name or rename it.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Double-click on the profile you want to name or rename.

4. Click the name or Unnamed at the top right corner of the profile window.
5. Type in the name you want to use. If the person is in your contacts, it will appear as a suggested name.

6. Click on Next.
7. Click on Done to confirm that this is the new name you want associated with that person.

How to favorite a People profile

Got a favorite person you want to see pictures of all the time? You can put them at the top of the People album section so you can find them super easily.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Click on the heart on the profile you want to favorite.

The favorited profile will move to the favorites section at the top of the page.

How to view a slideshow of a People profile

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Double-click on the profile you want to view the slideshow for.

4. Click on the Play button at the top left of the Photos window.

5. Select the style of slideshow you want.
6. Click Play Slideshow.

How to select a specific key photo for a People profile

Apple automatically selects a photo as the key image for a person's profile, but you can always pick a better one.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Double-click on the profile you want to change the key photo for.
4. Select the photo you want to use as the key photo (don't double-click it). Remember, it will only show the face of the person, not the entire picture.
5. Right or Control-click on the photo.
6. Click on Make Key Photo from the drop-down menu.

The face tagged as the person in the profile will now be the key photo in the People album.

How to remove a picture from a profile

Sometimes, Apple gets it wrong and will assign a photo to a person's profile when the person is not actually in the photo. These steps are also good for pictures when a person is not the focus of a photo, so you don't want it in the profile.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Double-click on the profile you want to remove a photo from.
4. Select the photo you want to remove (don't double-click on it).
5. Right or Control-click on the photo.
6. Click on [name] is not in this photo.

Unfortunately, you can't remove all of the names from a photo at once; you'll have to follow the steps above in each profile a photo is associated with.

How to un-favorite a People profile

So, your BFF is no longer your BFF, and therefore no longer your favorite. No problem!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Click on the heart on the profile you want to un-favorite.

The person's profile will move back down with the rest of the not-so-special People profiles.

How to remove a People profile entirely

So, not only is your BFF not your BFF, but you really don't want to look at their face anymore. You can get rid of a profile you or the Photos app has created.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on the People album in the sidebar under Library.
3. Select the profile you want to remove (don't double-click on it).
4. Right or Control-click on the profile.
5. Click on Remove this Person.

That profile will ... poof ... disappear from the People album. The photos won't be deleted from your Photos app, though. You'll have to delete the photos from your library.

How to find Places in the Photos app

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click Places in the left menu bar.

A map will appear showing all the photos you have taken around the world.

How to view photos in Places in the Photos app

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click Places in the left menu bar.

3. Click on the photo location you would like.
4. Double-click on the photo if you would like to see a larger version.

How to change a specific photo's location in the Photos app

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click Places in the left menu bar.

3. Click on the photo location you would like to change.
4. Right click or hold Control and click on a photo .

5. Click get info.
6. Click the location that appears at the bottom of the menu.

7. Type the new location of the photo. Your photo will now appear in Places on a different area of the map.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Apple will be discontinuing its first-party photo printing services for photo projects. The service allowed you to order photo prints, albums, photo books, and calendars directly from the Photos app on your Mac. While you can still place orders, a message that pops up in macOS 10.13.6 suggests that users download a project extension to order prints and albums in the future, as Apple's service will end after September 30, 2018.

To fill the void you can use apps like Mimeo Photos, WhiteWall, and Shutterfly all offer support for Photo Projects, and allow you to order photo books, prints, and more with the images in your Mac's photo library. You can find all of these apps on the Mac App Store right now.

• Mimeo Photos - Free - Download Now
• WhiteWall - Free - Download Now
• Shutterfly Photo Books - Free - Download Now

Today, Apple launched the latest version of GarageBand for Mac, the company's popular music creation program. However, it's more than just a few bug fixes: GarageBand 10.3 is chock full of awesome new stuff, including free Artist Lessons, new loops, and more.

Sound-wise, GarageBand now features 1,000 (yes, 1,000) new electronic and urban loops overing Reggaeton, Future Bass, and Chill Rap, allowing you to more easily achieve the vibe you're looking for. If you're in the market for more weird sound effects (because, let's face it, there are only so many times you can incorporate the loon), Apple has added 400 new animal, machine, and voice samples. There are also two new Drummers that play in Roots and Jazz-influenced brush styles, and if you prefer to take the drumming into your own hands, you can now play and record using more traditional instruments from China and Japan like the incredibly cool Taiko drum. And, for those of you out there who wanna get real King Crimson with it, there are even five vintage Mellotron patches you can work in.

Arguably, though, the best thing about today's release is that users can get access to GarageBand's entire library of downloadable Artist Lessons for everyone's favorite price: free. If you've never checked them out before, Artist Lessons are tutorials in which the actual artists behind hit songs show you how to play them on piano and guitar, and they used to cost a whopping $4.99 a pop. Now though, you can learn all the intricacies of "Roxanne" from Sting himself without needing to shell out a single dime. Ah, the future.

Apple also noted that 10.3 updates compatibility with the iOS version of GarageBand, as well as providing a few stability improvements.

So, are you ready to be the next vaporwave phenomenon? If so, you can download GarageBand for free (if you don't have it already) by clicking on the link below. If you do already have GarageBand on your Mac, the update is free as well, and should happen automatically unless you have automatic updates disabled.

• GarageBand - Free - Download now

Thoughts?

What do you think of the additions to GarageBand? Share your favorite new features with us in the comments below. And, if you want, send a tweet our way sharing a song you've created using the app!

WWDC 2018 brought a lot of fun, new announcements to the table (or to your iPad, iPhone, and Mac, really), but what about Photos specifically?

If you're wanting to learn a little bit more about what's coming for Photos, then keep on reading: here's what you need to know about Photos and RAW import!

What's new with Photos?

One thing that was announced at WWDC was Improved import, making it easier than ever to import photos and videos from your professional camera on the go.

There haven't been a ton of details as to how it'll technically be improved, but we'll update you once we know more.

You can soon import and manage RAW photos on your iPhone and iPad, and even edit on your iPad Pro!

This is fantastic if you're someone who wants more creative control over your images, or someone who likes to edit with more accuracy and control while on the go.

It is worth noting that RAW photo support isn't necessarily new for iOS: it was introduced back in iOS 10.

What do you think?

Are you excited about all the new updates coming with iOS 12? Let us know what you're most pumped for in the comments down below!

Sometimes, we don't always film video on our iPhone or iPad the way we intend: Whether the video clip ends up sideways or upside-down, trying to reorient it can be a frustrating exercise.

Lucky for us all, there are a number of apps that help save sideways video from being in the upside down forever. Here are my favorite ways fix a sideways video clip.

How to use the iMovie extension to quickly fix a sideways video clip

This one's easy to miss, but a must-have for filming fiends: iMovie for iOS is a free app for more complex video editing projects, but it also offers a quick-fix extension in Photos for iOS. This extension lets you trim a clip, silence it, or add filters, text, or music — but it also lets you flip video with a gesture.

1. Make sure you've downloaded iMovie for iOS (it's free!).
2. Open the Photos app.
3. Navigate to the sideways video in question.

4. Press the Edit button.
5. Press the Extensions button (looks like an ellipses).
6. Select iMovie.
7. Use two fingers to twist the image on the screen (like you would turn a knob) clockwise or counter-clockwise.
8. Press Done. Your movie will then save in the correct orientation.

Note: Unlike other Edit options in the Photos app, any iMovie extension changes saves over the file in place — it doesn't create a new clip.

Other options for fixing sideways video

If your video is a bit more problematic than mere rotation, consider an app like Video Rotate And Flip, which not only gives you rotation controls but mirroring controls, too, so that you can flip an accidentally (or intentionally) mirrored image.

You can also fix video in just about any full-fledged video-editing app — both iMovie and LumaFusion have options inside their apps for rotating and changing your images (though iMovie's, again, is slightly hidden, in that you have to use a two-finger rotation gesture).

Any questions?

What's your favorite way to sideways video on your iPhone or iPad? Let us know in the comments.

These days, I edit more video on my iPhone or iPad than I ever did in my years as a film student. Between making reviews on iOS, testing the iPhone's cameras, and numerous roller derby how-tos, it sometimes feels like I live in my videography apps.

After making my iPad review, I had a number of questions (and more than a few sarcastic remarks) about the video editing process: How easy was it to put together, really? Why torture yourself with iOS's limited feature-scope when you have a Mac at your disposal? How many hours did this take you?

I had a nice chat with my pal Stephen Hackett on our podcast Query about some of the finer details if you're curious about those specific questions, but I wanted to talk in this article about video editing on the iPhone and iPad in general: I'll explain why I prefer it to working in Final Cut (gasp!) for my needs, but also why it still has a long way to go to be a great tool for everyone.

The pros of editing video on iPhone or iPad

When I edit on my iPhone or iPad, I use a few core programs to get the job done.

• iMovie: Apple's video editing software has been my go-to for snipping together video long before Clips or Instagram came to light, and while it has (many, many) flaws and limitations, it's still a solid app for cutting video and audio together quickly.
• LumaFusion: I can't say enough good things about this third-party video editing app's feature-set. Though its UI leaves a lot to be desired and it occasionally runs into app-stopping bugs, you can create incredibly advanced projects with its tools (which include color and image correction, keyframes, custom title cards, linked clips, and a whole lot more).
• VideoGrade: Though I wish it could interlink with LumaFusion and iMovie, VideoGrade is still invaluable for more advanced color correction of clips (or portions of them).
• Typorama: I mostly just use this to create Youtube video thumbnails, but it's also useful for still interstitials.
• Videoshop: I use this solely for making Portrait-mode Instagram stories, as it's one of the only apps that will easily let you combine portrait video without partially cropping it.

Apps I've tried but haven't found a place for in my workflow include Clips and Adobe Spark (fun, but far too simplistic and hard to control), Pinnacle Pro (its UI is similar to LumaFusion, but without as many tools), and ten million other quick-hit video apps that are largely designed for making Instagram snippets.

But by and large, when I turn to make a quick-hit video, I'm going for iMovie or LumaFusion. Why?

This is the biggest reason I edit natively on my iPhone or iPad — I shoot on it, too. Unlike iMore's editor-at-large Rene Ritchie, I don't have a bunch of fancy DSLRs at my disposal: When I shoot, I do so primarily with my iPhone.

I do have a nice Canon DSLR, but more often than not I've put it aside for my iPhone — its small size, lengthy battery life, 128GB hard drive, 4K camera, and online connection make it the ideal shooting device for most of my events.

And here's the thing: If you're shooting 4K on your iPhone or iPad, it's dead-simple to start editing that video after you've taken it. There's no rendering time or uploading necessary — I've taken roller derby clips and thrown them into iMovie or a gif-making app like GifToaster on the spot to showcase highlights on Twitter. With a Mac and a DSLR, that's simply not possible without a much larger rig and dedicated internet connection.

On the flipside, filming with an iPhone and transferring that footage to your Mac is slow-going — especially if you're filming in HEVC and haven't updated your Mac to support working with the new H.265 codec. Final Cut doesn't recognize your iPhone as an external drive (you can't connect to your smartphone and use its clips without first downloading them to your computer), which means that if you want to edit a fair amount of 4K video, expect to download it all to your Mac first.

But do you even want that footage on your Mac? My iPad Pro (a bit sadly) smokes my MacBook Pro when it comes to dealing with 4K footage. Granted, I can't do as much with it in iMovie or LumaFusion as I could with Final Cut Pro, but that comes with the trade-off of never having to wait. My apps don't stall, drop frames, or stutter — they churn through 4K 60FPS footage with ease. And once I'm ready to export, that process is traditionally faster than Final Cut on my Mac, too.

Non-linear editing programs took cutting and splicing footage out of the editor's hands and put them in control of a mouse and keyboard, with keys to swap between different kinds of tools. The iPad, in a way, is giving tactile fine-grained control back to the editor — though it still has a ways to go.

Even with the controls slightly frustrating (I'd love to be able to hold onto a clip for a moment to jump into a frame-by-frame view, for example), it's still an exhilarating feeling to be able to use my hands to scan through footage and slice with a finger swipe. Even if it's not actually the case, iMovie makes me feel like I have far more control over my projects on the iPhone and iPad.

While this is ironically also a problem I have with iMovie, I appreciate at how simple the app makes some of its more basic editing tools — specifically where picture is concerned. While it'd be nice to have keyframe-specific editing windows that allow for precise zoom positioning, I appreciate that all I need to do when resizing a video clip is to tap on the zoom button and pinch (or use my fingers to rotate a sideways clip).

Final Cut, while incredibly powerful, makes simple cropping and flipping of images far more tedious than required. This is in comparison, mind you: It might only save me 1-2 seconds per clip, but that adds up when you're trying to quickly cut together something to push to Twitter or Instagram.

I took my iPhone X, stabilizer rig, iPad, and a few battery packs to the Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester this winter, deliberately leaving my laptop at home. I filmed and edited clips and gifs with only my iPhone and iPad as computer company, along with some venue Wi-Fi and the occasional GigSky mobile plan.

And it was fantastic. Never again do I want to attend a multi-day tournament with a heavy bag — shooting with just the iPhone and editing with iPad was such a comfortable experience that I've sworn off trying to haul my laptop to something like this in the future.

Better still, the iPhone and iPad have the benefit of being able to share video or gifs to your platform of choice as soon as you've exported them. You don't have to wait to AirDrop your video from your Mac to your iPhone to upload it to Instagram; just open your app of choice and go.

Purely mobile video rigs aren't best in every situation, but for the jobs and hobbies where I spend my time — conferences, derby events, and the occasional work trip — they make the most sense for my needs.

The cons of editing video on iPhone or iPad

As with any platform, when you use it enough you'll run up against bugs and limitations. Video editing on iPhone and iPad is no different, and in the last few years I've come across a number of issues that make this experience less than perfect.

Let's put this right out there: iMovie is good at the basics, but terrible at sticking more advanced landings.

There are a fair number of more advanced tricks you can pull in Apple's mobile editing app, including detaching audio from video, adding picture-in-picture video, layering background music, and slowing/speeding/freezing clips. But for every clip you augment, you run the risk of crashing the app or otherwise finding yourself in a situation the developers may not have anticipated.

Here's one of the more egregious examples: If you're working on a timeline that has all audio detached from their video clips and you attempt to add in a clip anywhere but the end of the timeline, there's a good chance that your entire project will de-sync and those audio clips will lose their original anchor points. Yeah. I've only run up against this bug intermittently (2-3 times in the last three years), but every time I do, I've had to ditch the entire project and start from scratch. I wish it were repeatable so that I could properly file it to Apple's Radar system — I just need to remember to take lots of screenshots when it happens again.

There are lots of little weird issues like that. Freeze-frames losing their position by a frame or two in a slowed-down clip. Not being able to create a new project if your Photos library is over 5000 files or connected to iCloud Photo Library. (My 75,000-file library uses the Video tab as a work-around, but it's not great.) You can only add picture-in-picture video from the browser, rather than drop existing clips in the timeline atop the primary image. There's only one video channel and three audio channels.

All of these things can and likely will be fixed. But they've been and will continue to be pain-points until the pro apps team at Apple steps up and makes iMovie as great as it could be on the iPad platform.

Many editors (myself included) turn to LumaFusion when iMovie's bugs become too frustrating to handle or when its features are too limited, but even this app has its frustrations. It offers a ton of customization for your videos and multiple editing streams, but basic cuts and interactions are far less pleasant than they are in iMovie. It reminded me a lot of working with Premiere on the Mac —  functional enough, but the workflow occasionally makes you want to defenestrate your computer.

Stephen Hackett brought up this pain point during our conversation on Query, and I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner. While Apple's file management system has gotten bette over the years, working with third-party video is still a giant mess, and requires you to import it locally to iCloud Drive or the Photos app if you want to use the footage.

I'm waiting (and likely will continue waiting) for a system that allows iOS to take advantage of external USB-connected drives and run projects off them, but time tells me that the company is likely less interested in physically connecting than coming up with a system to edit remote files. Honestly, I'd take that, too. Either way, having to import files one-by-one into Photos or iCloud Drive adds a pain point to the workflow, especially when it's not as clean as the import process for Final Cut on the Mac.

Here's the part of this article where I just overtly call for Final Cut on the iPad. Apple's tablet is incredibly powerful. It handles 4K video better than most of Apple's mid-range laptops and desktops. But the software provided is pedestrian at best; it's limited in a way that felt constrained in 2010, and looks like a joke in 2018 — especially when you compare it to Apple's other mainstream creative juggernaut, Garageband.

I hadn't touched the music creation app in a few years until my iPad review, and I was shocked by how much it had evolved and changed on iPad. It's a genuinely useful piece of software, and I found myself engrossed within minutes of tinkering around with it.

In contrast, iMovie has barely changed: It still has many of the same core features, and its last major feature update (4K video support in version 2.2) was over two years ago, in September 2015. There have been minor tweaks since then, but we've seen none of the more advanced features from its desktop counterpart make their way over to iOS — let alone any of Final Cut's features. Heck, you can still only speed up video at 2x. We've got phones that can shoot at 240FPS now; we deserve better speed ramping controls.

And that's a shame, because iMovie seems like the kind of app that could be a banner showcase for Apple alongside iWork and GarageBand. (Especially if it integrates some of the drawing and Pencil features in Keynote — drawing over video would make this an incredible educational tool, and it might open the app up to becoming a great option for animation, as well.)

We've seen some of Apple's more interesting video experimentation show up in the Clips app, but it's not designed as a successor to either iMovie or Final Cut — more of an experiment in social video.

At the end of the day, for iMovie to truly be a must-have app on iOS, it needs a major feature-set update, and badly. Its basics and LumaFusion's advanced tools are a band-aid in the meantime, but even the convenience that comes with editing on iPhone and iPad won't keep me here forever if the software slowly falls into obsolescence.

Bottom line

For all my complaints, video editing on iOS works for me and my needs. I love being able to shoot, edit, and share on the same device, and I've gotten good enough at the work-arounds that they (mostly) no longer bother me. But iMovie and the third-party landscape could be so much better. Apple has the A10X Fusion chip. Metal. The Pencil. iOS 11's multitasking interface and keyboard support.

The company has every piece it needs to build an incredible piece of software. Maybe Apple's rumored Marzipan framework is the solution; maybe there's a new app waiting in the wings.

Whatever the case, I hope we'll see a solid video editor come to the platform soon. There are a lot of features and workflows to love about editing on iPhone or iPad — and if we get the right app for the job, it might pull a lot more editors over to a mobile workflow.

What's new with iMovie?

Check back here for the latest updates in iMovie for iOS news.

Today, Apple finally brought iPhone X support to the mobile version of its video editing app, making it one of the last few first-party apps to to be optimized for the new flagship device (and its infamous notch).

The new update takes full advantage of the iPhone X's gorgeous 5.8-inch OLED display, getting rid of those pesky black bars that used to appear on either side of the iMovie app's interface due to the device's unusual screen shape. Now, when users are editing or sharing their cinematic masterpieces on the iPhone X, they'll have much more space in which they can perform multitouch gestures, apply filters, trim videos, and do anything else they need to do to make their 4K creations perfect.

Today's update isn't just limited to adding iPhone X support, however. It also brings integration of Apple's Metal API, pretty much giving the app direct access to an iPhone or iPad's graphics processing unit. This is beneficial for everyone, no matter your iPhone, because it essentially means rendering speeds will be much faster (so video production will be quicker and more efficient overall.)

In addition to the aforementioned large changes, version 2.2.5 of iMovie also provides improved localization for Simplified Chinese and a handful of bug fixes for a more stable editing experience.

What is iMovie for iOS?

iMovie for iOS is the mobile version of Apple's first-party video editing software, iMovie. Though iMovie originally debuted all the way back in 1999, the video editing program didn't make it to mobile devices until June 24, 2010, when it was released for the launch of the iPhone 4.

What can you do with the iMovie app?

At its core, iMovie for iOS is a fun little app that allows you to view, edit, and export video. However, it goes a bit deeper than that. According to Apple, with iMovie, you can:

• iMovie features a video browser, allowing you to enjoy your videos easily and in full-screen.
• If you're just trying to share a portion of a video with a friend, you can send it via Mail or iMessage quickly within the app.
• If you stumble on a favorite moment you've recorded, you can save it so you can find it — and, if you like, use it in a project — later.

Make Hollywood-style trailers - iMovie offers 14 trailer templates to choose from, complete with graphics and original scores by some of the world's top film composers. - To really make your trailer yours, you can add a custom movie studio logo, cast names, and credits. • Trailer mode allows you to easily pick the best videos and photos for your trailer with the help of animated drop zones. • If you like, you can even record video for your trailer right in iMovie, so you don't ever need to leave the app.

• iMovie allows you to use the 3D Touch capabilities on iPhone 6s and above to quickly start a new project from the Home Screen or Peek at a movie from the Projects browser.
• You can choose from 8 unique themes for your movie, all of which have matching titles, transitions, and music.
• If you're not about that #nofilter life, iMovie offers 10 Apple-designed video filters so you can give your film just the right vibe.
• Want to add in a great Baywatch-esque slow-mo moment? What about an intense split-screen scene à la Kill Bill? With iMovie and compatible iOS devices (that's the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air, the iPad mini, and all later models), you can enhance your movie with slow motion, fast forward, picture-in-picture, and split-screen effects.
• How about a score? Narration? iMovie allows you to create a soundtrack using built-in music and sound effects, or, if you've already recorded some pieces yourself, you can add them from your music library.
• If you're using an iPad, you can connect a keyboard and use simple shortcuts to edit movies quickly.

• iMovie for iOS allows you to easily transfer projects between your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch using AirDrop or iCloud Drive on iPhone 5, iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), and later devices.
• If you'd like to really polish up your project, you can send it to your Mac via AirDrop or iCloud Drive to finish editing with desktop version of iMovie.
• Once you're ready to debut your project, you can share it to iMovie Theater and watch them on all your devices that have iCloud capabilities, including Apple TV. (To view iMovie Theater on Apple TV, you must download the iMovie Theater app from the App Store.)
• If you prefer, you can also use AirPlay to wirelessly stream your movie or trailer to your HDTV with Apple TV (2nd generation or later).

• Ready to share your cinematic venture with the world? With iMovie, you can upload your creation to YouTube in 4K (4K support is available on iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, and later devices) or in 1080p60.
• Depending on your preferences, you can also share directly to Facebook and Vimeo.

How do I get iMovie for iOS?

iMovie for iOS is completely free of charge, and you can download it on the App Store for both iPhone and iPad by clicking the link below.

• iMovie - Free - Download now

Where can I find more tips for using iMovie for iOS?

Check here back for more how-tos as we add them.

Okay, so you've got iMovie mostly figured out, but you don't just want to know the basics — you want to use the app to its full potential, right? Thankfully, we've got you covered. To really get your iMovie on, you can check out Apple's dedicated support pages or head to one of our in-depth how-tos below.

• How to use Clips soundtracks on your iMovie for iOS project
• How to add royalty-free music to iMovie for iOS with iCloud Drive

Questions?

Still have some burning Q's about iMovie for iOS that you desperately need answered? Share them in the comments and we'll do our best to help you out!

With Photos for Mac, all the pictures and videos you've taken on your iPhone or iPad, or imported into iPhoto or Aperture, will always be available to you on any of your Macs, as will any future pictures and videos you take or import, including your DSLR images, even in RAW!

Add to that automatic, intelligent grouping based on time and place, and face detection, non-destructive editing, and the ability to order prints, books, and more, and Photos for Mac makes for the ultimate picture and video app for the mainstream.

Here's your ultimate guide to setting up and using it!

How to get started with Photos for Mac

Photos is your one-stop shop for just about everything you'd want in a photo organization app. You can store, edit, share, and more in Photos for Mac, and all you have to do is dive in and get started. Here's how!

• What's new in Photos for Mac in High Sierra
• How to set up and start using Photos for Mac
• How to import your Lightroom library into Photos for Mac
• How to import pictures and folders into Photos for Mac
• How to set up and use multiple libraries in Photos for Mac
• How to use Photos for Mac with multiple Macs
• How to set up and use external libraries with Photos for Mac
• How to save space with "optimize storage" in Photos for Mac
• How to import photos from your digital camera to a specific folder on Mac

How to get started with iCloud Photo Library

iCloud Photo Library aims to deliver on the promise of having all your photos available on all your devices all of the time. To accomplish this, iCloud Photo Library works with Photos for Mac as well as with Photos for iOS and iCloud.com, as the glue that holds everything together. Shoot a video on your iPhone, take a picture with your iPad, import from your DSLR on your Mac, and all of it goes up to Apple's servers and is made available on all your other devices. Part backup, part sync, part storage optimizer, if you let it, iCloud Photo Library can make micromanaging your pictures and videos a thing of the past.

• iCloud Photo Library: Explained
• iCloud Photo Library and Photo Stream: What's the difference?
• Should you use iCloud Photo Library?
• What iCloud Photo Library storage plan should you choose?
• How to set up iCloud Photo Library on your Mac
• How to back up iCloud Photo Library
• How to delete pictures and videos from iCloud Photo Library
• How to use iCloud Photo Library while offline
• How to use iCloud Photo Library with iOS and iCloud.com

How to find and manage your pictures and videos in Photo for Mac

Photos for Mac uses the same hierarchy as Photos for iOS — intelligently grouping images and videos into moments, collections, and years. That lets Photos for Mac show you small moments in time and space, like yesterday at the park, but also collections of moments marked by larger changes, like that party across town or that week at the beach, and even an entire year all at once. That way you can quickly zoom out, drill down, or scrub through to find exactly the photos and videos you want to look at, edit, or share. And all it takes is a few clicks and swipes! Of course, you can also find by faces, location, keywords, and more!

• How to use memories in Photos for Mac
• How to use Places in the Photos app on Mac
• How to use Faces in Photos for Mac
• How to add pictures and videos to albums in Photos for Mac
• How to organize albums and folders in Photos for Mac
• How to search for pictures and videos in Photos for Mac
• How to use smart folders in Photos for Mac
• How to get EXIF, location, and metadata info in Photos for Mac
• How to add and edit title, description, and keywords in Photos for Mac
• How to delete, recover, and eradicated pictures or videos in Photos for Mac

How to edit your pictures and videos in Photos for Mac

From magic wand, to basic color, light, and black & white tweaks, or full, granular control over exposure, saturation, intensity, and more. You can also rotate, flip, crop, and straighten, remove redeye, touch up blemishes, and more. Photos for Mac has everything you need to make your pictures look exactly how you want. What's more, all the edits are non-destructive, so if you don't get something perfect the first time, you can change it again whenever you like, or even go right back to the original. Combine that with the large screen, and editing photos on the Mac isn't just easy, it's accessible to everyone.

• How to adjust light, color, and more in Photos for Mac
• How to access histogram and advanced adjustments in Photos for Mac
• How to apply filters in Photos for Mac
• How to automatically crop and straighten in Photos for Mac
• How to manually crop in Photos for Mac
• How to manually straighten in Photos for Mac
• How to rotate in Photos for Mac
• How to flip in Photos for Mac
• How to retouch pictures in Photos for Mac
• How to use external image editors with Photos for Mac
• How to edit and trim videos in Photos for Mac
• How to use Markup in Photos for Mac

How to share pictures and videos from Photos for Mac

Share directly via iCloud, Mail, Messages, or AirDrop, or socially with Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, or Flickr. Either way, you can do it quickly and easily right from Photos for Mac. Simply find the picture or video you want to share — or multiple pictures or videos — choose the way you want to share them, and you're good to go. Thanks to sharing extensions, other services can plug in as well. It's the fastest, easiest way to get your pictures and videos from where they are to where you want them to be.

• How to set your desktop picture in Photos for Mac
• How to share pictures and videos from Photos for Mac
• How to use iCloud's Family Sharing with Photos for Mac
• How to access iCloud Photo Sharing in Photos for Mac
• How to add people to a shared photo album with Photos for Mac
• How to like or comment on pictures and videos in a Shared Photos Stream with Photos for Mac
• How to order prints in Photos for Mac
• How to create books, cards, and calendars in Photos for Mac

Questions?

Do you have a question about Photos for Mac? Let us know in the comments below!

Got a family photo that you'd love to look at every time you turn on your Mac? You can use Photos for Mac to set your desktop picture for you!

Setting your desktop is as simple as selecting the photo you want to use and clicking the Share button in the toolbar, then selecting the "Set Desktop Picture" option.

How to set your desktop picture in Photos for Mac

1. Open Photos on your Mac
2. Click the Share Selected Photos icon in the upper right corner

3. Click Set Desktop Picture
4. You can adjust the layout of the desktop photo from your System Preferences.

What's your desktop background?

Are you someone who prefers to set your desktop background picture as a photo with pals, or do you prefer a super cool design you found online or a screenshot from your favorite video game? Let us know what your desktop background in the comments below!

Updated February 2018: Everything's current for the latest version of Photos for macOS High Sierra!

Photos for Mac lets you share photos and videos with pretty much any social network and app you can find. Whether you're looking to post something on Facebook, share directly to Macs, iPhones, or iPads with AirDrop, or add to a shared Photo Stream, Photos makes it easy to share with just a couple of clicks.

Here's what you need to know about sharing pictures and video in Photos for Mac.

• How to share a single image or video with Photos for Mac
• How to share multiple images and videos at once with Photos for Mac
• How to use iCloud Photo Sharing and create a shared photo album with Photos for Mac

How to share a single image or video with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Find the image or video you want to share and open it.

3. Click on the Share button in the upper right hand corner.
4. Choose the method you'd like to use to share it.

5. Fill out any necessary info and send it on its way!

How to share multiple images and videos at once with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Select the images and videos you'd like to share. Select multiples by holding down the command key.

3. Click on the Share button in the top menu bar, it's off to the right.
4. Choose the method you'd like to use to share it.

5. Fill out any necessary info and send it on its way!

How to use iCloud Photo Sharing and create a shared photo album with Photos for Mac

Apple's iCloud service includes iCloud Photo Sharing, which lets you share images and video with friends, family, and colleagues on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, or Apple TV. While technically considered part of iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Photo Sharing exists outside of the service: You don't have to use iCloud Photo Library to share your images, and shared albums don't count toward your iCloud storage.

Best of all, creating shared albums is simpler than uploading images to Facebook or Instagram, and safer, too: Your images and video stay private between your group, and you can take the album down at any time. If you want to reach a wider range of people, you can even create a public iCloud.com website to host your images for anyone with the link to view them.

iCloud Photo Sharing: The ultimate guide

Questions?

Let us know in the comments if you have any more questions about sharing pictures and videos using Photos for Mac.

Updated February 2018: All steps and screenshots have been updated for the latest version of Photos for macOS High Sierra.

Markup is Apple's extension for adding text, callouts, shapes, and more to images and documents and, with macOS Sierra, it's now built right into Photos for Mac. That means you can quickly take a snap shot, add an arrow, circle an area of interest, drop in some text, and then send it to a friend, co-worker, or post it up on the internet. All in just a few seconds!

• How to find the Markup editor in the Photos app
• How to draw on your photos with the Markup editor
• How to change the thickness or texture of your lines with the Markup editor
• How to change the color of your lines with the Markup editor
• How to add shapes to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to add a border to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to adjust border color with the Markup editor
• How to add a callout to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to add text to your photos with the Markup editor
• How to change your text format with the Markup editor

How to find the Markup editor in the Photos app

Markup is a bit hidden in the Photos app. Here's how you can find it and start editing!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. You can now make your markup edits on your photo.
7. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to draw on your photos with the Markup editor

Add your own shapes and flair to your photos by doodling a little! If you draw certain shapes, they will also re-form into a cleaner cut version of that shape. Try drawing stars, hearts, arrows, and more!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click and drag on the photo to draw or write on it.
7. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window if you're happy with your markup. Remember that this will save changes to the original photo. You can, however go back into Markup and remove your markup, but it's best to make a copy of the original and mark it up.

You can now draw and add your doodles to your photo.

How to change the thickness or texture of your lines with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shape Style button. It looks like three horizontal lines that get bigger.
7. Select the thickness or the texture you would like to use.
8. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

You can then go about drawing or writing on your photo.

How to change the color of your lines with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text Style button, which looks like an uppercase A.
7. Click the colored bar.
8. Click a color to select it.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

Then go about drawing or writing on your photo.

How to add shapes to your photos with the Markup editor

You can either draw your shapes, or add them to your photo with just a few simple clicks. You can also adjust the color and size/shape of the image by clicking and dragging to edit.

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button from the menu. It's next to the pen button.
7. Click the shape you would like to select. It will automatically be added to your photo.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to adjust the shape until you're happy with how it looks.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add a border to your photos with the Markup editor

Add a faint black or a colored border to your images to switch up your regular editing routine!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button in the menu. It looks like a square and circle.
7. Click the rectangle inside a rectangle option at the bottom left of the menu.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to adjust the borders to your liking.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to adjust border color with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button on the left of the menu. It looks like a square and circle.
7. Click the rectangle inside a rectangle option at the bottom left of the menu that appears.
8. Click the Fill Color button. It's a white square with a red line through it.
9. Click the color you would like your border to be. Your border will automatically become that color.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add a callout to your photos with the Markup editor

Callouts are a great way to add an emphasis to a certain area of your photo. Markup editor makes adding callouts easy-peasy, rending the use of a third-party editing app useless. Here's how to use them in the Photos app!

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Shapes button on the left side of the menu. It's a square and circle.
7. Click the callout button on the bottom right of the menu that appears. It looks like a lowercase 'a' with a circle around it.
8. Click and drag the blue dot to adjust the size of the callout.
9. Click and drag the green dot to adjust the magnification.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to add text to your photos with the Markup editor

Adding a little bit of text can be a really great way to edit without cluttering up your photo with additional bells and whistles.

You can also change your font type and color to match the rest of the photo better.

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text button. It looks like an uppercase 'T' in a box.
7. Click inside the text box to type in it.
8. Click and drag the blue dots to change the size of the text box.
9. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

How to change your text format with the Markup editor

1. Launch the Photos app from your dock.
2. Double-click on the photo you would like to edit.
3. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the Photos window.
4. Click the more button on the upper right of the photos window. It's a circle with three dots in it.
5. Click Markup.

6. Click the Text button. It looks like an uppercase 'T' in a box. This will create a new text box.
7. Click the Text Style button. It looks like an italicized uppercase A.
8. Click the font name and click a font to change it.
9. Click the colored bar and click a color to choose your text color.
10. Click Save Changes on the top right of the window when you're happy. Your edited photo will appear in your library.

In this menu, you can also adjust font size, alignment, and bold, italics, and underlining.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Updated February 2018: Redid every screenshot and rewrote some instructions to reflect the latest version of Photos for macOS High Sierra.

Apple's smart learning integrated system in iOS and macOS works fantastically in the Photos app. It identifies landscapes, animals, colors, and people's faces. It's quite incredible how well the facial recognition software works. Even if someone is in costume, the software is able to determine who it is.

You can add faces to your People album, where you can easily find them when you're looking for just the right pictures for your photo collage. In iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, you'll have to use a workaround to get your people to sync across devices, but in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, the process becomes automagic.

• How to sync faces between devices in macOS High Sierra and iOS 11
• How to sync faces between devices in macOS Sierra and iOS 10
• How to remove faces from your People album in macOS High Sierra and iOS 11
• How to un-sync people between devices in macOS Sierra and iOS 10

How to sync faces between devices in macOS High Sierra and iOS 11

Apple has finally solved the face syncing problem in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. No longer will you have to go through 20 steps for each face in order to sync between Macs. No longer will you have to perform keyword searches to find those faces on your iPhone. Thanks to a robust update to iCloud Photo Library. People albums will be synced across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac automagically.

So you literally don't have to do anything. All of your faces will begin syncing automatically when your device is plugged into power and the Photos app is not in use (Mac) or your device is locked (iPhone and iPad).

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

How to sync faces between devices in macOS Sierra and iOS 10

In older versions of Photos on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, syncing between devices has been a problem. It's not an actual feature of iCloud Photo Library or any other iCloud syncing. You have to manually create Smart albums and sync keywords in order to be able to view specific people on your various devices. It's a complicated workaround, but it does the trick.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Click on People under Albums section in your sidebar.

3. Select a person that you want to sync across your devices.
4. Click on Show All in order to see all photos identified as that person.

5. Select all photos in the person's album.
6. With the photos still selected, click on Window in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
7. Select Keyword Manager.

8. Select Edit Keywords.
9. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom left corner of the Keyword Manager window.

10. Select the newly created Untitled keyword.
11. Click on Rename.
12. Enter the person's name.
13. Click OK.

14. Click on the person's name now listed in the Quick Group section. All of the photos that were selected will be tagged with the keyword.
15. Click on the Add tool at the top right side of the Photos window.

16. Select Smart Album in the drop down menu.
17. Name the Smart Album after the person.

18. Select Keyword in the first section of the conditional rules.
19. Select Is in the second section of the conditional rules.
20. Select the Name in the third section of the conditional rule.
21. Click on OK.

The photos, filtered by the person's name as a keyword, will appear in the Albums section in the sidebar of your Photos app on all other Mac computers. You can repeat these steps with every face you want to sync across your devices.

Smart Albums are not supported in iOS 10. In order to find the faces you've added on your Mac, search for the keyword you created for the name.

1. Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the Search icon in the upper right side of the screen. It looks like a magnifying glass.
3. Type in the first few letters of the name of the person you are looking for.
4. Tap the search result for the keyword of the name.

Note: In my experience, if you type in the person's entire name, the keyword search disappears. Just type in the first few letters.

It's not perfect, but it will do until you can update your operating systems to macOS High Sierra and iOS 11.

How to remove faces from your People album in macOS High Sierra and iOS 11

Oh, it's so easy to do. Since everything syncs across all devices, you only have to do it once per face on one device.

1. Launch the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
2. Select People from the Albums section.
3. Select a person.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the album and select Remove from People Album.

This will sync across all of your devices and the person will be hidden in your People section.

How to un-sync people between devices in macOS Sierra and iOS 10

If you decide that you don't want to have a particular person's face saved as a Smart Album or keyword in Photos anymore, you can un-sync their pictures by removing albums and keywords.

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Right or Control + Click on the Smart Album of the person's name you created.
3. Select Delete Smart Album.
4. Select Delete to confirm that you want to delete the Smart Album.

5. Select Keyword Manager.
6. Select Edit Keywords.
7. Select the Keyword name you want to remove.
8. Click the Remove (-) button in the bottom left corner of the Keyword Manager window.
9. Click OK to confirm that you want to remove the keyword.
10. Click OK to close the Keyword Manager window.

If you want to remove a person from the People section of the Photos app on Mac, Command + click on a face. The face will automatically become hidden.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about syncing faces across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac in macOS Sierra and iOS 10 or macOS High Sierra and iOS 11? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.