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  • Import, sort and edit your photos on the MacOS photo app.

    Sorting and Editing Your Photo on MacOS Photo App

    Digital photography allows you to capture a wide range of motifs from different angles. People enjoy taking pictures and even photos that didn’t turn out too well can be transformed into fantastic pictures. Photo management programs can help you to keep track of your numerous pictures. This also applies to the pre-installed MacOS Photos app. We will give you an overview of this app and show you the most important features.

    Quickly and Easily Import Photos Using the MacOS Photos App

    Once you insert a memory card into the card reader of your iMac or MacBook, your memory card will appear under “Devices” in the Photos app. The app recognises all folders created on the camera and it will display all images inside the folders.

    You will get an overview of all your images. Select all images you want to import. If you only want to import a few individual photos into the media library on the Photos app, you need to select them by clicking with the mouse or touchpad. To select several photos, hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse over the area with the photos to be imported. Alternatively, you can use the Shift key to select an entire section. Select the first and then the last photo of the section while holding down the Shift key. This marks all photos between the two selected images. If you want to import all photos unsorted, you can click directly on “Import all new photos”.

    Importing pictures using the MacOS Photo software.

    If on the other hand, you only want to add a certain pictures to your media library, select the corresponding images and then click on "Import". The photos are then uploaded onto the media library. If you would like to delete some of the pictures from the library after you have imported them, place a tick in the top right-hand corner under "Delete after import".

    The media library is the default setting on the Photos app. However, by changing the location in “Import”, you can select a specific album or create a new album or library to import them to.

    The Different Albums on the MacOS Photos App

    Besides the default album, in which the photos can only be stored by individually selecting them the Photos app also offers a smart album feature.

    A smart album automatically groups together all the photos that meet the criteria you specify. On the left sidebar you can create a smart album by clicking on "My albums" and then on the "+". Immediately afterwards, a window will open where you can define your criteria. You can create one or more requirements and at the same time select whether the photos should only fulfil certain or all requirements in order to be included in the album.

    Creating photo albums on the MacOS photo software.

    You can not only assign criteria to the photo, but also define fixed keywords or specify the parameters for which photos should be included in the smart album. In contrast to metadata, which is automatically provided with the photo, you will need to choose the keywords for your individual photos. You can add these to the image information by right-clicking on the image. The location of the image can also be entered in the same place. If you want to add the same information to several images, you can select several images before right-clicking and then adding the information.

    Sorting and Rating Photos

    Unfortunately, there is no automatic feature to rate images on the Photos app. However, this feature can be added quickly and easily with the help of keywords and smart albums.

    Start by going on the ‘’Menu’’ window and then select "Keyword Manager". There you can choose which keywords you would like to add to your photos as a tag.  To add a new keyword, first click on the plus sign and then enter your keyword, for example "1 star". In addition, you have also created a shortcut called 1. You can use this keyword and shortcut later to find and rate your images.

    Rating and sorting photos on the MacOS Photo app.

    Leave the keyword manager open when you view your photos. Select one or more photos and press the number corresponding to the number of stars on the keyboard.

    You can create smart albums to sort photos according to star ratings. You can assign a requirement to each album. The first album will have the following requirement: “keyword – is – 1 star”. Repeat this step with the different star ratings. Your star ratings will then be automatically sorted into albums.

    Image Editing Options on the MacOS Photos App

    After you have imported and sorted through your images, you can edit your pictures on the Photos app with the various edition options. Select the photo with a double click and click on the edit button in the upper right corner. At the top in the middle of the edit mode you can choose between three different areas. A distinction is made between “Adjust”, “Filter” and “Crop”. You will also find a magic wand on the same toolbar that you can use if you would like the program to improve the quality of your picture for you.

    Editing photos on the MacOS photo software.

    In the Crop area, you can mirror, rotate, and resize your photo. Some formats such as square, 16 to 9 and others are suggested. Under “Own” you can enter a ratio of your choice. On the "Filters" section you will find a variety of coloured and black and white filters which you can use to give every image the same look.

    Select ‘’Customise’’ if you would like to view all the individual edited photos. In this mode, you will have a wide range of options to optimise your shots. At first glance, it offers a rough adjustment of the light and colour settings, as well as a setting for black and white. If the arrow next to the setting has been selected then further fine adjustments will be shown. Now you can set the brilliance, exposure, highlights and more individually on the “Light” option.

    Scroll down on the Edit toolbar to find more settings like a retouch brush, red eye correction, white balance, and other settings as well as curves to put your shots in the right light.

    Adjusting and editing photos on the MacOS Photo App.

    Once you have finished editing your photo, you can exit the editing mode by clicking on "Done". Your edited photo will now be saved. However, if you would like to edit the photo again you can always go back to the original in edit mode.

    Creating and Ordering Photo Products with the MacOS Photo App

    Most image editing programs only allow you to edit an image. You will usually have to open another program if you would like to turn your pictures into photo products such as prints, photo books or calendars.

    On the Photos app you have the option of designing and ordering photo products via ifolor. To integrate ifolor Designer into the app, simply click on the plus symbol on the toolbar on the left-hand side under "Projects" and select "More". You will now be taken directly to the App Store. There you can download the ifolor Designer app free of charge and integrate it into the Photos app.

    Design and order your own individual ifolor photo products directly on the MacOS Photos app.

    Now simply select an album that you would like to use for designing a photo product. Then right-click on the album and select "Create" and the photo product you want. Finally, click on the ifolor Designer and you can use the Photos app to design and order a photo book, calendar or other photo products.

    Conclusion

    It's a good idea to use photo management tools because most people have dozens and dozens of digital photos on their PCs, hard disks and the like. For all Apple users the pre-installed “Photos App” is a great way to store and keep track of all your pictures. In addition, you can edit your photos in the same app and create and order individual photo products.

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