Want to know how to manage photos on iMac?
It’s hard to organize your iMac photos.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! With these 7 simple tips, you’ll never feel overwhelmed by the chaos of your digital memories again.
Keep reading for 7 ways to organize your iMac photos and make them easy to find when you need them in a flash.
The Big Problem With File Organization On iMacs
The big problem with file organization on iMacs is that they can quickly get cluttered and disorganized. There are thousands of files, images, videos, and other media that sit in folders all over the hard drive.
This can be a major inconvenience for anyone who wants to find an old photo or video because you have no idea where it is until you start searching through all of those folders one by one. You may even end up having to buy software like iPhoto or Aperture just to organize your photos into albums if you don’t want pictures scattered everywhere on your computer’s hard drive.
The Solution For Organizing Your iMac Photos
What you’re going to learn today is how to organize your iMac photos without buying any software. This is the best way to do it because you’re not wasting money on expensive photo sorting programs, and your iMac photos are still organized enough for you to find them without too much hassle.
The best part about these different methods of organizing your iMac photos is that you can use one, two, three, four, or all seven at no additional cost!
1) The Default Folder Location
iPhoto is the default folder location for photos that are taken on an iPhone or saved from other applications such as Preview or Safari. You can find this in the Users > username > Pictures folder. Photos were taken with an iPhone camera also go into this folder by default. They can be accessed through Finder if necessary:
Just click on Go in the menu bar and select either ‘Go to Folder’ or press Command + Shift + G and type in ~/Pictures.
2) The Photos Library
If you’ve imported photos from a digital camera or saved them from the internet, they will be saved in the Photos Library. This is found in the Pictures > Library folder. To get there on Finder, select Go and then ‘Go to Folder’. Type in: /Users/username/Pictures/Library/.
If you need to delete photos, go here.
3) Albums
Albums are a great way to keep your photos organized by event, trip, person, or any other category that makes sense to you. You can create an album by going to File > New Album and typing in a name for it.
After creating the album, you can drag and drop your photos into it. You can also add captions and other information. Albums can be shared with others by sending them a link or embedding the album on a website.
iPhoto has the option to create “smart” albums that group photos into different categories automatically. For example, you could have a smart album that only includes photos taken in the last week or photos that are tagged with a certain word. To create a smart album, go to File > New Smart Album.
4) The iPhoto Library
If you want to keep all of your photos in one place, the best way to do this is by using the iPhoto Library. This is found in the Pictures > iPhoto Library folder. To get there on Finder, select Go and then ‘Go to Folder’. Type in: /Users/username/Pictures/iPhoto Library/.
5) Smart Albums
Smart Albums are albums that are automatically updated whenever new photos that meet certain criteria are added. For example, you could create a Smart Album that includes all photos taken in 2015. To create one, select File > New Smart Album and then enter your parameters. You can also choose to have the photos included automatically added to an existing album of your choice.
6) The Desktop Folder
The Desktop folder is found in the User’s folder at ~/Desktop/ or /Users/username/Desktop/. It contains any files that are saved on the desktop. These files are not stored anywhere else by default, but you can change this option if necessary. Files on the desktop will be lost if you restart your computer unless they’re saved elsewhere as well.
7) The DropBox Folder
A very easy way to keep track of important photos that you want others to access is by creating a DropBox account and saving them to your DropBox folder. This is found at /Users/username/Dropbox/ and it will remain there even if you restart your computer or delete files.
Want to Learn More About Organizing Your iMac Photos?
The key to organizing your iMac photos is starting with what matters most. What do you want people to see when they look at your photos? Do you want them to be able to find a specific person or event? Is it important for the organization of the images on your screen to make sense chronologically, geographically, or by theme?
Once you’ve figured out what really matters in terms of how people should view and interact with these pictures, then think about which organizational system will work best for that purpose. There are plenty of different ways you can organize digital photographs, but this article has highlighted 7 popular methods we recommend trying!
If you’d like to learn more about how to get photos from iCloud to iMac, or what the best iMac for photo editing is, please check out our blog!
