Use iPhoto library from a external hard drive

Hey folks, I've just bought a brand new external harddrive only to help me out freeing my available space which was pretty much all consumed by my photos and videos stored in iPhoto. So my problem is:
All my stuff on iPhoto is stored on the 'Macintosh HD', so this morning I've made a self-backup of all photos&videos to my external HD. Okay, all my stuff are there and here is the fact, whenever I delete them to get my desired free space on 'Macintosh HD', I will, no longer, have access to them by iPhotos.
I've already searched and tried somehow changing [or exporting again (which would be also better for me due to the infos already set, events, for exemple) and changing] the main storage location, but didn't have any success.
Is that possible to do that? Hope I've cleared explained.
Just one more thing, if someone's got any other tip to save storage space, would be extremely appreciated.
Thanks for the attention.
Erick Vitoriano

I have not idea what youhave actually done
But the correct way to move your iPhoto library to a new external drive is
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

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How do I move my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to my new Mac?

Hi guys!
I recently bought a new MacBook Air as my MacBook Pro was on its last legs... I have my backup for my old MacBook Pro on an external hard drive and I'm trying to put a selection of albums from my old iPhoto onto my new MacBook Air iPhoto. I can't simply click and drag it over as I get an error message "The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library...". I've tried to reopen iPhoto while holding option and selecting my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to open... AND I get the same message.
If anyone could help me out that would be amazing!
FYI: The hard drive I am using is a G|Drive mobile with Thunderbolt 1 TB.
Thank you very much in advance!
Cheers,
Kendall

I may sound like a real rookie here, but on my new MacBook Air there isn't a "Pictures" folder under "Users/kendallwilson" like there used to be on my old MacBook Pro (Early 2011). I'm still working out the new software on my MB Air, so where exactly should I open this new window to start following the steps you just provided me.
Thanks again!

How do I move my iphoto library from one external hard drive to another?

how do I move my iphoto library from one external hard drive to another?

Drag it there in the Finder and then launch iPhoto with the Option key held down. Point it to the new instance of the library.
(58012)

I am not able to delete a backup copy of iphoto library from my external hard drive.

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I figured it out just now.
I unplugged the drive from Airport Extreme and connected directly to the Imac via usb. Dragged the file to the trash and now it is gone.

How do I recover my iPhoto library from an external hard drive?

I have an ancient iMac (2006!) that has housed my photos in iPhoto ever since. I have the iPhoto library backed up (using Time Machine) on an external hard drive . Well, my computer has finally given up the ghost and won't turn on. The repair shop says it's not worth the money to repair it any longer, which I don't doubt. Before I let them dispose of it, I want to make sure I can move my iPhoto library to my husband's (2013) laptop. When I click on the iPhoto library that shows on the external hard drive menu, iPhoto opens but tells me that it cannot use a backup library as a main library. What do I do? How can I move the backup library onto another device? OR do I need to retrieve the photos somehow from my kaput desktop computer?

You can restore the library file from the Time Machine backup to a hard drive. Please visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine where you will find out how that is done. Or you can simply copy your iPhoto Library file from the computer's /Home/Pictures/ folder to any external device in order to move it to another computer. Do not forget the preference file(s) located in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder: com.apple.iPhoto.plist. Also, from the same location copy: com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist if it is there.

How do I backup my iphoto library from an external hard drive to an online storage service?

I moved my iPhoto library from my iMac to an external hard drive because I was running low on memory on my computer. I decided I wanted to backup my computer files with an online service since I no longer have the external hard drive as a backup. I am using ZipCloud and have tagged my iPhoto library to be backed up (it is called "Rebuilt Library"). I can see "Rebuilt Library" on my online backup files but it doesn't contain my pictures, just a few folders and some random data files.
I started using ZipCloud before I deleted my iPhoto library from my hard drive so all of my pictures except the ones from the last month or two are backed up online under the files of my main hard drive; indeed they show up under "Rebuilt Library" there in nice folders separated by year and then event. I would feel better if I could get the newer pictures on there as well.
Does anyone know how I can get these files backed up to an online service?
Thank you.

What version of iPhoto are you using? Is your library a package when on your Mac? Does that package remain a package when backed up to ZipCloud or is it just a folder? How big is your library? What's the library size as determined by the Finder?
The photos will be stored in subfolders inside the Originals folder or Masters folder inside the library folder/package. You are running a Managed library, right?
I'm not familiar with ZipCloud but it might not handle OS X packages properly.
OT

How can I back up an IPhoto library from one external hard drive to another?

Hey Folks, WIth your help I have consolidated my IPhoto libraries using IPhoto Library Manager. I'm storing it on an external hard drive because I have run out of space on my Macbook Pro. Now I'd like to back it up. I have another large external hard drive that is set to perform Time Machine backups on my Macbook. Is there a way to ALSO use it to perform occasional backups of my IPhoto library which, as I mentioned, is not kept on the Macbook itself? Thanks in advance, David

I do not understand your question
The basic answer is that TM backes up everything that is not excluded - it backsup to the TM backup - it can not backup any files that are on the TM backup volume - only those on other volumes
To remove an item form the excluded list select the item and click the "-" button
See te FAQs for many more details - http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Se the Apple article for basic set up and details - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
LN

Issues with using my iPhoto library on my external hard drive. Very slow to open and pictures disappear in thumbnail view.

I have recently transferred my iPhoto Library to my external hard drive (WD MyBook Live) and have some questions. Since I have done this and used the "alt + option" to select it as my default library I have been having some issues. When using the library on the external drive as my default drive it takes a very long time to load compared to when it was on my macbook's hard drive. Is this normal? Also, once it does load the thumbnails are only viewable when scrolling quickly through the photos and they are very blurry. However, if I were to select one randomly (because of this problem I have no way of knowing which one I'm selecting) it brings it up in the edit view and it is a crystal clear picture.
Is there a way to fix these issues? I'd love to be able to use the iPhoto Library off the external drive to free up space on my macbook but if it isn't going to work as streamlined as it would on my macbook hard drive. I have not yet deleted the original iPhoto Library from my macbook because I did not want to do so until I knew the new iPhoto library on the external drive was working properly. Does this make a difference?
Please help!

The problem lies with occasional dropouts that can corrupt the library's database files if they are being written to as the time of dropout. It's the nature of wireless networks. If you have a very strong signal throughout and are willing to take a chance then go for it.
But as for the speed, it must be iPhoto 11 and it's complexity causing the slowness. I had tried using a library on an EHD connected to my iMac from my laptop wirelessly with iPhoto 7 or 8 and it was pretty fast. I think it was 7 before faces and places came into being.
Send a feature request to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html to improve wireless performance, etc.
OT

I was trying to move my photos from the iPhoto library to an external hard drive. I now have a desktop display of thousands of cascading photos. How do I remove them from my desktop screen?

I was trying to move my photos from the iPhoto library to an external hard drive. I now have a desktop display of thousands of cascading photos. How do I remove them from my desktop screen?

Strangely enough we can not see you so it really helps if you share with use exactly what you have, exactly what you did and details about the problem
what version of iPhoto and of the OS? What exact steps did you do? where are you seeing these "thousands of cascading photos" now and using what software and what exactly did you want to accomplish
The correct way to move your iphoto library to an external drive is to verify the drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journal) and then drag the iphotl library intact as a single entity to is
The correct way to move some or all of your photos is to select them in iphoto and export 9file menu ==> export -- https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921 ) to the external drive
LN

Importing an iphoto 08 Library from an external hard drive

I'm trying to migrate my old library from my old MBP to my new one. I've backed up a copy to an external hard drive and then i have tried creating a new library on my new MBP and importing from that hard drive. The file is around 50GB and when it get to 3GB of transfer im getting an error 36 code saying some of the files are locked and cant be moved.
I even tried deleting the default library and then creating a new one, but using the one from the external hard drive instead of a fresh install. This actually appeared to work. I could view all my photos and see all the smart folder etc all within iphoto. However the library wasnt actually moved to the MBP all i was doing was viewing it on the external hard drive.
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Sorry its my description thats confusing here. If i follow your instructions then the software is trying to repair from within the iphoto library on my machine. Which currently contains no photos. How do i get it to pull the photos across from the backup. Ive tried simply dragging the backup library across to my photos folder, but it only allows 3GB and then reports the code 36 error.

I upgraded MacbookPro 2009 from 10.6.8 to Yosemite. Beforehand I made a backup copy of my Iphoto library onto an external hard drive. Lets call it BU. I also deleted half of my photos from the default library on my laptop, lets call it DE. I then in

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I have also installed since a long time Iphoto Library Manager 3.8.6. (this may be the cause of the problem as it was not upgraded and perhaps thus not compatible with iphoto 9.6 which I have now after the upgrade to Yosemite) It all worked fine before the upgrade, switching in iphoto between the two libraries DE and BU.
It also worked fine after the upgrade for a few days. At one stage Iphoto asked me to upgrade the iphoto version as it otherwise could not read the photos when I tried to load the BU library into iphoto. I did click yes to upgrade iphoto. As a result I became a brand new but totally empty library, no photos.
BU was still on the external disc, however the "Master" file was empty. We fortunately discovered all photos were in another file called Old Master, also under BU. We made another copy of the Old Master file onto the external disc. Lucky we did, because shortly afterwards we could not open anymore the BU file thus had no access to anything in there. Now I have 17000 photos in a file called Old Master on my external disc and another smaller library DE on my laptop. When I tried to import the photos from Old Master into a new iphoto library it was very messy. All events dates were mixed up, many photos were imported twice. I have no idea whether all my 17000 photos have been imported.
Can anyone suggest what is the most time efficient way? How do I best import my 17000 into a new library ensuring I don't loose any in the process. I do not wish sorting through 17000 photos for a week or so. Shall i also get a new iphoto library version now? Thank you for anything that may work.

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

I am trying to transfer my photos from old mac to new mac. I copied the iPhoto library to an external hard drive, then imported it to the new iPhoto. It turned my 2000 photos into 12,000!! What happened?

And how do I turn off FACES?

I copied the iPhoto library to an external hard drive, then imported it to the new iPhoto. It turned my 2000 photos into 12,000!!
According to you youo did not do what I instructed - you said you imported the old library into th enew library which can easily take a 2000 photo library and turn it into 12,000 including two ro three versions of each photo pus all the face thumbnails
The correct procedure has NO importing involved
drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity from the old Mac to the pictures folder of the new Mac - launch iPhoto on the new mac
That is it
LN

I'm trying to transfer my pictures from my iPhoto library to my external hard drive. I dragged the iPhoto Library folder into the drive and after waiting a while it says Error Code -36. I need to free up space asap, what should i do?

I'm trying to transfer my pictures from my iPhoto library to my external hard drive. I dragged the iPhoto Library folder into the drive and after waiting a while it says "Error Code -36 The finder cannot complete the operation because some data in 'iPhoto Library' could not be read or written". I need to free up space asap, what should i do??

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

How do I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

How can I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

I have attempted to make sure my iPhoto library has been backed up on the external hard drive and that it is safe to delete some events from my internal hard drive
You need to think this through.
Time Machine is a back up application. It keeps a rolling back up of the data. It's called rolling because it means you can revert to the data you had on a specific date and time. But that's not eternal, and as time goes by, and your drive fills up, older backups are deleted. So if you delete Events on your Mac they will - eventually - also be deleted from the Time Machine back up.
If you wan tot archive data hendon't use Time Machine for that job. Here's how you might archive an iPhoto Library:
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

How can i move my Iphoto library to an external hard drive?

How do I move my Iphoto library to an external hard drive?

Here's a worflow for that:
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

Use iPhoto library from a external hard drive

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