"I got a new iphone yesterday and I put my itunes library into it, but I don't know how to get my pictures from iphoto onto the phone. I tried dragging them, but it didn't work. HELP."

iPhoto is a photo application that runs on Mac OSX. It allows you to create and organize digital photo albums on your computer. You may, however, want to transfer those photos to your iPhone so you can share them with others when you are not at your computer. And the post will show you how to get photos from iPhoto to iPhone.

Part 1. Transfer Photos from iPhoto to iPhone with iTunes

With iTunes installed on the Mac computer, iPhone users are able to sync photos from computer. The photos will be saved in the Photo Library on your iPhone, and they can be viewed and edited on your iPhone. To sync your photos from your iPhoto library to your iPhone, follow the steps below:

  1. Install and start iTunes on your Mac computer, and go to "Edit > iTunes > Preferences > Devices", and check "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically".
  2. Plug iPhone into computer via the USB cable, and iTunes will launch automatically. If not, you will need to manually open it.
  3. iTunes will recognize your iPhone. Click the iPhone icon at the upper right corner, and then choose "Photos" in the summary panel.
  4. Check "Sync Photos from" and then select the folder that you have saved the photos. Then click "Sync" at the right bottom.

Then iTunes will sync the folder with your iPhone. When the sync is done, you will get all the photos from the folder to your iPhone. This is a very helpful way to get photos from iPhoto to iPhone.

Note: The photos you have synced before will be erased and replaced with the photos in this folder. The photos synced from computer will be saved in the Photos app, and you are able to view the photos within the app. Synced photos are separated from the photos in Camera Roll, so you don't have to worry about losing the photos they shoot after the sync of iTunes.

Part 2. Import Photos from iPhoto to iPhone with Leawo iTransfer for Mac

Of course, users can take advantage of the third-party iPhone transfer software for Mac to move photos from Mac to iPhone. Among all the transfer programs for iOS devices on Mac computers, Leawo iTransfer for Mac is regarded as one of the best. This software enables users to transfer files among iOS devices, iTunes and mac computers without the sync of iTunes, and users are able to transfer various kinds of files easily. The following guidance will show you how to transfer photos from iPhoto to iPhone, and you can free download this software to have a try. Note that the trial version has limited transfer times.

Download Windows Version
Download Mac Version

Tips: Leawo iTransfer only works with iTunes installed on your PC.

Step 1. Run Leawo iTransfer for Mac and connect iPhone to computer with the USB cable. The software will automatically detect the libraries of iPhone, and then show the libraries in the left sidebar.

Step 2. Click the name of iPhone and choose Photos library in the left sidebar. The synced photos on your iPhone will display in the right part of the software window.

Step 3. Choose "Photos" library and then the contents will be shown in the right part of the window. If your iPhone Photo Library is empty, you will see an "Add File" button in the middle of the window, you can click it to select the photos from your iPhoto. If not, click "File > Add > Add File/Add Folder" to choose photos from your iPhoto.

After selecting your photos, Leawo iTransfer for Mac will start importing photos from iPhoto to iPhone. The progress bar in the pop-up dialog will show you the percentage of the transfer process. When the photo transfer is finished, you will get the photos in your iPhone Photo Library.

Leawo iTransfer for Mac has a Windows version called Leawo iTransfer. Both of the programs are helpful for the data transfers of iOS devices, for example, you can back up iPad data to computer with the help of this software. If you are interested in Leawo iTransfer, just free download it to have a try.

Part 3. How to Transfer Photos from iPhoto to iPhone with iCloud Drive on Mac

Besides using iTunes, you can also take the advantage of iCloud Drive to move photos from iPhoto to iPhone. You first need to make sure you have downloaded and installed iCloud Drive on your iPhone. The steps below will tell you how to transfer photos from iPhoto to iPhone without iTunes.

Step 1: Open the website "iCloud.com" on your computer, and then input the same Apple ID account on your iPhone to enter into iCloud.com.
Step 2: When you are in the account of iCloud.com, you can tap the iCloud icon to go into the iCloud Drive space.
Step 3: When you are in your iCloud Drive space, you need to choose the Cloud shaped upload icon to tap, then you can select the photos that you would like to transfer from Mac to iCloud Drive.
Step 4: Launch the iCloud Drive app on your iPhone after you upload the photos to iCloud Drive. Then, you will see all the transferred pictures on your iPhone.
Step 5: Then, you can tap the picture file to open it and invoke the panel at the bottom of the interface. After that, a share icon will display. Tap the share icon, and then the pictures will be downloaded to your iPhone successfully.

tap the picture file to open

You can have a try to solve the problem of "how to get photos from iPhoto to iPhone" easily with this method. Besides using iCloud Drive, if you have no idea on how to transfer photos from iPhoto to iPhone without iTunes, you can also use iTransfer for Mac to help you. Let's check it out in the third part.