How to edit pictures in Photo for mac without importing ?

Apple support has published a few tutorial videos. You may want to search this page for "Photos": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYFQ33UIPERYx8-ZHucZbDA/videos?view=0&sort=da

I prefer the user guide, however to the video clips: Photos User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

Photos is a non-destructive image editor, but you have to import the photos to Photos, see: Overview of importing .

The edits will be saved in the library and the original will remain unchanged:

• Where are the photos I imported? https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/where-are-the-photos-i-imported-pht12e7a8015/mac

Theoretically, you could import the images as referenced files, keeping the full resolution raw originals on an external volume and only the edited version in your Photos Library, but it is not easy to fix broken references. You will have a hard time to reconnect the original files to the edited versions, if you ever have to replace the external volume or restore the originals from a back-up. There are also some bugs, for example, the referenced images will not appear on the maps in the Places album.

The easiest way to use Photos would be to keep the complete Photos Library on your external volume, together with the RAW files, and to import the RAW files as managed files, copied into the library.

The Photos.app is not exactly a freebie, or is it 😀? We cannot get Photos without buying an expensive Mac and paying for it. It is a part of the package deal, advertised as a built-in app on the into page for a Mac (Mac - Apple). Given the price of a Mac including Photos, I expect Photos to be up to Apple's quality standard and worth the money.

But, I want to use a non-destructive image editor same as lightroom

And that's exactly what Photos is, though it is not as capable as Lightroom - but then it is a freebie.

Like Lightroom, images have to be imported - that's the cost of using a on-destructive editor. These apps leverage the database in the library to record your changes.

The Photos.app is not exactly a freebie, or is it 😀? We cannot get Photos without buying an expensive Mac

Ever tried buying and using Lightroom or CaptureOne without first purchasing a computer/phone/tablet? Perhaps it might be more accurate to say that purchasing a Mac or Apple device gives you access to Photos for no extra cost. Or you could call that a freebie for short.

As for the app being up to the Apple standard, well most Apple software is 'good-enough-for-consumer-use' and Photos definitely doesn't exceed that. And given that you get it for no extra cost, it's worth the money. I'm just not sure it's worth any more.

Yes, it is simply coming preinstalled as a part of the system software, like Mail, Contacts, etc. I just wonder how much of the money we are paying for the Mac is covering the development costs of the system software.

I suspect that's one of the most closely guarded secrets in Cupertino.