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How to export photos from iPhoto to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive

Samuel Marc

Samuel Marc

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Having been a Mac user for almost 10 years, I’ve always trusted iPhoto to keep my pictures organized. But, after having a computer and two Android phones stolen, I decided to find a solution that was more flexible.

That’s when I decided to try storing my pictures in Google+ Photos via Google Drive, a solution for saving, organizing, editing, and sharing photos.

How to export photos from iPhoto to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive

Because all my photos were previously stored in my iPhoto library, I had to find an easy way to export my collection without losing my metadata (GPS position, date picture taken, etc.) or photo organization by albums and events. Unfortunately, the export photo function in iPhoto is not designed to export entire libraries, and it destroys metadata files in the process.

On the verge of giving up, I came across Phoshare, an app designed specifically for this situation.

Note: This tutorial can be used to export an iPhoto library to any cloud storage service like Box, Dropbox or OneDrive.

1. Download Phoshare

First you need to download Phoshare. The app works with iPhoto ’06, iPhoto ’08, iPhoto ’09, and iPhoto ’11 on Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger.

Download Phoshare for Mac

2. Unzip and run

Once you download the file, unzip it into a folder of your choice. Then, run the application. To learn more about decompressing files and launching applications, see the Apple help articles.

Warning: If you use Mountain Lion, you may have to disable GateKeeper to launch the application. Find out how in this tutorial.

3. Go to Library

Click on the Files tab. Phoshare will automatically select the default location of your iPhoto library, but if you want to export more than one library, or if you’ve changed the location manually, you can select the correct file by clicking the Browse button. Otherwise, go to the next step.

4. Go to Files

Click on the Files tab, then click the Browse button to choose the location your photos will be exported to.

Tip: You can check the box marked Export originals so that Phoshare exports your original files without any modifications made in iPhoto.

5. Go to Metadata

Click on the Metadata tab.choose what metadata to export. Check the box marked Export metadata to export date picture taken, descriptions, keywords, and notes.

If you want to export GPS data, check the Export GPS data box. To save the information about recognized faces in your photos, you can tick the boxes marked Copy faces into metadata and Copy face names into keywords.

Warning: the duration of the extraction depends on the number of files and the size of your iPhoto library. Allow about 2 hours for every 10,000 pictures.

6. Export

You can now click on the Export button to start the extraction from your iPhoto library.

Warning: the duration of the extraction depends on the number of files and the size of your iPhoto library. Allow about 2 hours for every 10,000 pictures.

Phoshare Export iPhoto to Google+, Google Photos, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive

7. Copy the Folder

Once your iPhoto library is exported, you can copy the folder of exported to your favorite storage space. The time it takes to upload your photos onto your storage space depends on the size of your library and the speed of your internet connection

Tip: You can check in advance that you have enough online storage space by displaying the information of the folder your library has been exported to: Select the folder containing your photos by clicking on it. Then click on File and click Get Info.

Whether or not you’re a fan of iPhoto, it might still be a good idea to get your photos out of the app: Apple might be about to abandon it.

If you want to stop using the app but you prefer to keep your photos on your hard drive instead of in the cloud, you can also try one of these five alternatives to iPhoto.

Follow me on Twitter: @SamSoftonic

Samuel Marc

Samuel Marc

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