Manage and back up your Mac & iOS albums

The days of enjoying memories by flicking through a photo album that has been sat on a shelf for years are long gone, and today we find ourselves potentially battling an ever-growing library of digital snaps that can be extremely difficult to manage. The battle between preserving all of the photos you want to keep and organising them in such a way that you can actually enjoy them is not easy, but there are tools and techniques you can use to gain control over your library. It will not be a quick task, particularly if your library is very large, but some time spent building a process to deal with your photos will pay dividends in the long run and it could save you money, disk space and valuable time. Apple does provide all of the tools you need to manage a large photo library and we will concentrate on these, but for some of you, third-party options can slot into your workflow to ensure that every area is covered. This is an area that is often put off time and time again, but it will need to be dealt with at some point. It may as well be now.

How big is your library?

If you have owned multiple generations of iPhone and used them all as your main camera, then it is likely that you have built up a huge library of photos that will, at some point, need to be managed. You need to consider backing them up and working through just how many of them you need to keep. This will save you a lot of time in the long run.

Is iCloud the obvious choice?

iCloud is obviously the best choice in some areas, but not in others. First, you should consider all of the features and the cost of using it, to decide whether you want to use it for your photo library. Apple has, however, done well to build the cost into other services as well.

1 One safe space

iCloud can work as a safe space for almost everything you do with your Apple devices. It is likely that your photos and videos will take up the most space.

2 A little more

You may need to pay a little more to get enough space to store all of your photos. Remember that an alternative backup is also a very good idea.

3 Other iCloud advantages

iCloud is about much more than mere storage. The ability to use one iCloud account for all of your devices and connected family members is massively advantageous.