Photos for Mac: A Take Control Crash Course

Make a smooth transition to Photos for Mac with help from Jason Snell, former lead editor at Macworld. As of 10.10.3 Yosemite, Photos has become Apple's core photo app on the Mac, replacing both iPhoto and Aperture.

Jason helps you decide whether to transition to Photos right away, walks you through importing photo libraries from iPhoto and Aperture, helps you understand the Photos interface and organize your images, gets you going with the editing tools (including Adjustments), helps you sync with iOS devices or an Apple TV, and looks at creating books, cards, calendars, and slideshows.

Particularly helpful is Jason's explanation of how Photos works with iCloud, including using iCloud Photo Library to create a centralized photo library for all your devices and sharing photos with friends and family via iCloud Photo Sharing.

Jason answers a bunch of burning questions, including:

If I import a library into Photos, can I still edit photos in Aperture or iPhoto?
Will Photos require a huge amount of disk space to import my iPhoto library?
What should I do about iPhoto or Aperture metadata that doesn't map to Photos?
Where's the sidebar?
What is the System Photo Library, and why is it important?
What should I expect if I turn on iCloud Photo Library?
Can I delete iPhoto? What about my old iPhoto library?
How do I interpret (or turn off) the icons that overlay my photos?
You'll find directions for editing photos, including help with:

Using basic editing controls, like rotation and crop.
Taking advantage of the blue checkmarks on the Adjustments pane.
The utility of each of the special adjustment controls.
Creating a default set of adjustments.
Applying a specific set of adjustments to more than one photo.
Removing a blemish from a face in a photo.
Editing a raw file (instead of the JPEG).
You'll also find advice about:

Why the search field is so important in Photos.
Working with keywords, and using the heart-icon Favorite button.
Training Photos to recognize a particular face.
Setting up albums and smart albums.
Sharing an album online via iCloud Photo Sharing.
Configuring the Ken Burns effect in a slideshow.
Exporting a slideshow as a video file.
Using Apple's print service for printing photos.
Editing a photo while working in a book, card, or calendar.