If you’re an Apple user, you probably already have the Apple Photos app on your device.
It’s a powerful tool for organizing and managing your digital photos, but it can be overwhelming if you’re not familiar with how it works.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Apple Photos to organize your digital photos, no matter how many you have.
Getting Started
This guide is for anyone who wants to get more organized with their digital photos.
Whether you’re a professional photographer or just someone who takes a lot of pictures, Apple Photos can help you keep everything in one place and make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
Before we get started, make sure you have the latest version of Apple Photos installed on your device.
You can find it in the App Store, or it may already be installed on your device if you’re using a newer version of iOS or macOS.
How to Use Apple Photos to Organize Your Digital Photos
- Create a new album: To create a new album in Apple Photos, click on the “File” menu and select “New Album.” Give your album a name and then drag and drop your photos into the album. You can also select multiple photos and then right-click to create a new album.
- Organize your photos by date: Apple Photos automatically organizes your photos by date, so you can easily find photos by day, week, month, or year. To view your photos by date, click on the “Photos” tab and then select the date range you want to view.
- Add keywords and tags: Keywords and tags can help you quickly find specific photos in Apple Photos. To add a keyword or tag to a photo, select the photo and then click on the “Info” button. You can then add a keyword or tag in the “Keywords” field.
- Use facial recognition: Apple Photos has facial recognition technology that can help you quickly find photos of specific people. To use this feature, click on the “People” tab and then click on “Add People” to start identifying the people in your photos. Once you’ve identified someone, Apple Photos will automatically group all photos of that person together.
- Search for specific photos: Apple Photos has a powerful search feature that allows you to search for photos by keyword, tag, location, or even by the type of photo (e.g. panorama, screenshot, etc.). To use this feature, click on the “Search” bar and then enter your search term.
- Use iCloud to sync your photos: If you have multiple Apple devices, you can use iCloud to sync your photos across all of your devices. To enable iCloud syncing, go to the “Photos” tab and then click on “Preferences.” From there, you can select the “iCloud” tab and then enable iCloud syncing.
Best Practices
- Create albums for specific events or themes: Instead of having one big album with all of your photos, create smaller albums for specific events or themes (e.g. “Vacation 2019” or “Family Christmas”). This will make it easier to find specific photos later on.
- Use keywords and tags consistently: Make sure you use the same keywords and tags consistently across all of your photos. This will make it easier to find specific photos later on.
- Regularly back up your photos: Make sure you regularly back up your photos to an external hard drive or a cloud storage service like iCloud or Google Drive. This will ensure that you don’t lose your photos if something happens to your device.
- Delete duplicates and blurry photos: To keep your photo library organized, regularly go through your photos and delete any duplicates or blurry photos. This will help you save storage space and make it easier to find the photos you actually want to keep.
Examples
Let’s say you just got back from a family vacation and you want to organize your photos in Apple Photos.
Here’s how you could do it:
You: Hey Siri, open Apple Photos.
Siri: Apple Photos is now open.
You: I want to create a new album for our family vacation photos.
How do I do that?
Siri: Click on the “File” menu and select “New Album.” Give your album a name and then drag and drop your photos into the album.
You: Great, thanks.
How do I organize my photos by date?
Siri: Apple Photos automatically organizes your photos by date.
To view your photos by date, click on the “Photos” tab and then select the date range you want to view.
You: Cool.
Can I add keywords to my photos?
Siri: Yes, you can.
Select the photo and then click on the “Info” button.
You can then add a keyword in the “Keywords” field.
You: Awesome.
And how do I use facial recognition?
Siri: Click on the “People” tab and then click on “Add People” to start identifying the people in your photos.
Once you’ve identified someone, Apple Photos will automatically group all photos of that person together.
You: That’s so cool.
Thanks for your help, Siri!
Siri: You’re welcome!