Can i put my photos on my external hard drive and still open them in iPhoto

I am an amateur photographer and an art teacher and i have thousands of photos and music files on my computer that i would much rather put on my external hard drive so they dont take up so much room on my computer. I would like to extend the life of my computer as long as possible and want to keep as much memory free on the actual computer as i can. is there a way for me to put my pictures and or music on my external hard drive and still have it open regularly like it does now in iphoto or itunes?

they are backed up but there are thousands of them i have a small business selling my photos online and i was wondering if i could put them on the external hd and still have them open in iphoto or put my music on the hd and have it open in itunes so i dont have all of it on the computer. i take hundreds of photos a week and my photo gallery is not shrinking by any means any time soon so the more i can put in places other than my hard drive the better but i need them accessible at all times through my iphoto and other programs like photoshop illustrator etc.
DR.

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How do I save just my photos to an external hard drive and still access them in iphoto

I have a lot of photos that take up space on my hard drive. It is now full and I need to continue to use them but i need to load new photo also. How do i save the old photos onto an external hard drive and then still access them in iphoto?

This is where iTunes stores backups for different operating systems: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946
I do not use a Windows machine, have a Windows Vista Dell I rarely startup now. But, from what I remember with Win boxes is, you will have to create on the external hard drive a file system like that one iTunes normally uses, and then in the iTunes preferences or control panel edit the location for the storage to specify the name of the external hard drive, or its letter code, with the name of that file system you created on the exernal drive.
I would also move all of the files from the internal file system to the external since you have now told iTunes that is where they are...before deleting from the internal drive, test iTunes to see that it goes where you want it to go.

Can I put my library on an external hard drive and use it between two computers?

Can I put my library on an external hard drive and use it between two computers? I have two MBP; I will refer to one as computer A and to the other as computer B. I would like to be able to plug in my external hard drive, boot up iTunes, and if there were any changes made to the library previous to its last time accessed on this compluter, they show up on that computer, regardless of being imported on the other.
A hypothetical example: I import three albums called 1, 2, and 3 on computer A over a week or so. I take the external hard drive and plug it into computer B. The entire library which was visible on A, is visible on B, including albums 1, 2, and 3.
Is this possible? If so, what files need to be copied onto the external? I'm trying some different combinations, trial and error basically. Hopefully someone knows and can answer before I mess up my library. I also want to do this to free up space on my computer. All importing will be done from disc.

iTunes/Preferences/Advanced : point your iTunes to the new location of the Library.
Set "Share on local network" in the Sharing tab, and you or everyone on the local network can play your music.
You make a backup first of the Library.
Move the follwing to the new location:
/Users/your username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music
have fun.

Iphoto: How to safely delete or move photos. I have over 7000 photos. When I deleted some, I found that the event still shows up with a blank frame. Can I move some photos to an external hard drive but leave the pointer in iphoto?

iphoto: How to safely delete or move photos. I have over 7000 photos. I would really like to move tsome of the older photos to an external hard drive. (They are backed up in Time Machine, but I like the immediacy of having them available.) So question 1 - is it possible to split the iphoto library so that the directory tree points to an external drive in some cases? And if that doesn't work--I am willing to export and delete some of these photos. However, an earlier delete left me with events that have a name in the event folder, but no photos. Question 2 -- How do I properly delete photos so that all references disappear?
example:

Warning: Time Machine is not an Archiving application. It keeps rolling back ups. That means if you delete something from the source Mac it will eventually be also deleted from Time Machine. How long that takes depends on the amount of disk space TM has. So, remember, backing up in Time Machine is not the same as Archiving.
For the blank thumbnails: This can happen if you try delete too many photos at one go. Experienced users suggest you should delete in batches of 100 or so.
Yes you can split the Library, where some of the Masters are stored locally and some on an external disk, but really, you don't want to do that. iPhoto's file management tools are limited at best, and if the path to the files changes then you could find yourself repairing the links to the files - all of them, one by one.
Better: Have your entire Library on an External Drive.
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
If you want to have a smaller library on your internal disk:
Here's one way to do what you want:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

How can I store photos on an external hard drive and still manage w IPhoto?

The hard drive on my MacBook is almost full and I want to move my photos to an external hard drive. Can I do this and still manage and organize the photos using I Photo? I can export the photos, but when I do I lose the organization (Events, Albums, etc.) that are in I Photo. With my new DSLR camera the photos (JPEGS) are really big and I am quickly running out of storage on the MacBook. Thanks in advance for you help.
Jim in Seattle

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

My macbook memory is nearly full, how can I export older photos to an external hard drive, and then delete to free up some memory?

I do not want to move whole iphoto library to an external hard drive as this will be a bit of a pain. I just want to moves older photos out of my iphoto library, and save them on an external hard drive to save for the future. I have heard that if you copy and move/paste from iphoto then it only copies a small version of the file, not the original full sized version. I would not want to lose any quality of the pictures I have currenty saved.
I would appreciate if anyone could advise what is the best possible way of doing this. I am very nervous about not being able to use my photos in the future due to file size, or even worse, losing them.
many thanks,

In iPhoto, Select All the Photos you want to move... Then goto > File > Export >
Choose the settings as seen here
Click Export and select your External Drive
Best to create a Folder to put them in... and away you go...

How do I store photos on an external hard drive and then delete them from my MacBook hard drive

I am sure this info is on the support site. But I can't seem to find it.
I want to move photos and movies (I'm using iphoto '11, 9.1.3) from my Mac Book hard drive to an external hard drive.
What are the steps to take to move the photos and movies, and then safely remove them from the MacBook Pro hard drive?
As an aside, are there any suggestions on external hard drives that work better with Mac (brands, size, Firewire vs USB, etc).
Nothing sophisticated. They're family photos, so they are important to me.
Thanks
AS

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
The faster the connection the better,- Firewire or USB II would be the best
THere are many good ones - I like Other World Computing products or Apple products
LN

How can I keep iTunes on my Mac but the Movies on an external hard drive and still have them accessible to my Apple TV etc through Home Sharing?

I have a 2TB external hard drive that I want to store my ripped movies on and free up space on my Mac. How can I do this?

Is there a reason you don't want to keep your entire iTunes folder on the external.
Everything will work just fine and it is simpler if everything in iTunes is in one location (the iTunes folder).
Copy entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to external.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
That is all you need to do.

Can you file your iTunes movies on an external hard drive and still access them from itunes?

Can you move your Itunes movies from the hard drive on hte computer (C drive) to an external hard drive in order to free up space on your main hard drive (C drive)?

Yes.
I have a 5TB iTunes library stored on a Drobo 5D.
http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/a/Itunes-External-Hard-Drive.htm
It works perfectly.

Can I move all my photo that I can see on iPhoto from my Mac hardrive and put them on an external hard drive and still be able to see them as thumbnails in iPhoto? Thanks! The reason, I need to know if I can do this is b/c I am running out of HD space!sp

can I move all my photo that I can see on iPhoto from my Mac hardrive and put them on an external hard drive and still be able to see them as thumbnails in iPhoto? Thanks! The reason, I need to know if I can do this is b/c I am running out of HD space!sp

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Can I keep photos on external hard drive and still use iPhoto?

I have virtually no space left on my eMac's 80GB hard drive. For a long time, I have kept my sizable iTunes library on an external hard drive connected to the eMac. It takes a bit of extra time to open up the iTunes library and to upload music from newly purchased CDs, but generally the external hard drive and eMac perform well together. My question is: Can I do the same with my photos (put them on the external hard drive) and still use iPhoto to access them and edit them? I have checked some of the Apple knowledge base documents, and there seem to be warnings against this. I am currently using iPhoto 6.0.6. I have purchased iPhoto 7.0 (with iLife '08) but haven't put the new software on the computer because there is not enough space. I would like to straighten out this space problem and get the benefits of the new software. (I have backed up quite a few of the photos onto CDs, but I like to have them handy--therefore on the eMac or on a hard drive connected to the eMac.) Thanks ahead to anyone with some good ideas on this topic.

winesmile
Yes it is, but you cannot access the at the same time as iPhoto can only open one library at a time.
So, a solution might be to have the entire library on the external, and to carry the smaller subset on the laptop.
To do this, follow the instructions above to move the library, but instead of deleting the library on the laptop (in the final step), put the pics from the earlier years into the iPhoto trash and empty it. (iPhoto Menu -> Empty Trash. Hint: Don't so them all at one go! Better a few a a time.)
Now you have the full library on the external (and if you want to access the full library, use that) and the 07 & 08 years on your laptop.
To switch between libraries, simply hold down the option (or alt) key when launching.
As you add photos to the Library you can use iPhoto Library Manager to move pics and albums /events between libraries, and so keep them up-to-date with each other.
Please note this is the only way to sync the libraries, there is no app that can do this automatically.
Regards
TD

I have so many photos I only have 1G of memory left. How can I move the photos to my external hard drive that is connected to my iMac?

I have so many photos on my Mac I only have 1G of memory left. How can I move the photos to the external hard drive that is plugged into my iMac.

1GB? It's a miracle your Mac is running at all!
This is our resident iPhoto guru, Terence Devlin's, advice:
You can move your iPhoto Library to an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library Folder as an entity from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.

HT5260 Hi, my name is Gerard and my iphoto library is getting very large I would like to know if I can store all or most of my photos in a external hard drive and access them from Aperture?

Hi, my name is Gerard and my iphoto library is getting very large I would like to know if I can store all or most of my photos in a external hard drive and access them from Aperture?

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

Can I export my itunes movies onto an external hard-drive and then remove them from my computer, but still watch them when I plug in my external hard-drive?

I am running out of space on my macbook. What is taking up the most room is my movies. Can I put them on an external hard-drive and then watch them later after I remove them from my library?

tothatc wrote:
Hello,
I recently purchased a new laptop because my old computer wwent on the fritz. Luckily I backed up my library on my external hard drive. My question is can a) connect my itouch and ihone to my nex computer and b) run my library strictly from my hard drive and not import everything to my new computer?
thanks for the hep!!
On Windows, hold Shift (not alt), launch iTunes and select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external drive.

How can I store my music files on an external hard drive and listen to them through iTunes that way?

How can I store my music files on an external hard drive and listen to them through iTunes that way? At the moment they're both on the external hard drive and also stored on the computer but I'm quickly running out of memory on my iBook G4 so I'd like to only keep them on the external hard drive and, if possible, delete them from my computer's hard drive. At the moment, when the hard drive isn't plugged in a lot of the files won't play and I get the exclamation mark next to the particular song in iTunes, but everything plays fine when the hard drive is plugged in.
Thank you.

Sounds like your files are playing from the external drive already. To check go to iTunes - Preferences - Advanced and check the Media Folder Location. Change it to the external drive if you need to.

Can i put my photos on my external hard drive and still open them in iPhoto

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