How to import your Lightroom library into Photos for OS X

Posted April 8, 20159 yr

If you flirted with Adobe's Lightroom as an iPhoto or Aperture replacement, but ultimately decided it wasn't for you, it's never too late to give Photos for OS X a shot.

Lightroom is great for professional photographers, but prosumers can occasionally get lost in the shuffle. If all those features add up to confusion instead of a good workflow, if you want to benefit from iCloud Photo Library, or if you don't like the way Adobe's app works, Photos for OS X might better fit your needs, especially if those needs are decidedly more casual. Whether you changed your mind about Lightroom quickly, or if it's been a while, it's simple and straight forward to switch to Photos instead.

How long-term Lightroom switchers can move to Photos for Mac

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.

Read how to import images and folders into Photos for OS X

How recent Lightroom switchers can move to Photos for Mac

If you only just switched from iPhoto or Aperture to Lightroom and immediately decided it wasn't for you, moving to Photos instead is as easy as importing your previous iPhoto or Aperture library into Photos.

Photos for OS X