I have two Macs: an iMac (20-inch Early 2008) with Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 and a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) with OS X Yosemite 10.10.3.
Both computers back up to a 2TB Time Capsule.
I need to copy all of my photos from the iMac to the MacBook Pro.
I tried this by copying the iPhoto library file located in the Pictures Folder on the iMac to the Pictures Folder on the MacBook Pro. It doesn't copy over entirely: photos and thumbnails are missing among other things.
I believe the that having different versions of OS X may be the cause of this.
What can I do to correctly migrate my pictures?
Best Answer
OS X 10.10.3 introduced the Photos app, which replaces iPhoto. You have to copy your old iPhoto library and migrate it to the new Photos app, not just move it to the Pictures folder.
Check your iPhoto version on the iMac, if it is older than 8.0 (<=7.0) you have to use the iPhoto Library Upgrader
If not, or after upgrading it, you can follow Apple's instructions: