Archive photos in iPhoto

Easiest way to Archive photos in iPhoto. With tads included.
One idea is to export the photos as the smallest version possible, and save the full size ones on DVD

Brian:
It's like the old saying, penny wise, pound foolish. When you replace the full sized files is a reduced file size version, and pixel size if that's what you intend, all you're doing is limiting your options to use those photos.
As Terence suggested an external FW hard drive can server two important functions: 1 - house your full sized library (and iTunes library if desired); 2 - serve as a backup for other important files. The cost of external FW hard drives are at a point that they are very cost effective insurance against loss of important files. With your library(s) off the boot drive, the system and applications will function more effectively since they will have plenty of space for virtual memory, cache and swap files.
If you're going to replace your original files with reduced size (and quality) do as Terence suggested and use the Share->Burn menu option. That will produce a disk that iPhoto can mount and view and keep your keywords, titles and comments intact. If you need a photo back as a full sized file for printing then you cancopy photos, rolls or albums back to the working library as needed. (Note: although the screenshot is for V7 it will be the same for V6.)
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Similar Messages

How can I archive photos in iPhoto to a hard drive and retain the Album folders and the Events?

How can I archive photos in iPhoto to a hard drive and retain the Album folders and the Events? I tried to Export the Albums but just transferred the files individually.

If you want to maintain the iPhoto organisation then back up the iPhoto Library.
If you want to export to the Finder, well you need to create a folder for the contents of an Album and expot to that.
If you have an older version of iPhoto: Apps like iPhoto2Disk or PhotoShare will help you export to a Folder tree matching your Events. This feature is built in to iPhoto 11.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

Best way to archive photos from iPhoto?

I have 463 events and 18,177 photos in my iPhoto with photos dating back to 2004! I'm running iPhoto '08 and I would like to know if there is a good way to archive these photos so I can clear out the oldest photos (at least 80% of them) and allow iPhoto to run at a faster speed (I assume that's why it's slow at this point in time). I spoke with a sales rep in an apple store and she suggested burning the photos to DVD and then deleting from iPhoto. I have done this once before in my last batch from years before 2004 and the pictures were not organized in any way on the DVD. Is there a way to preserve the events or albums from iPhoto when moving to a DVD? Is there a better way to archive the photos in general? I could not possibly sort through the 18,177 pictures on the DVD and start regrouping. Any advice is much appreciated!

You can bring those photos back from the DVD - how to do this depends on how you made the DVD.
To speed issues: As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?
Archiving photos to an external:
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 drive.
Now you have two full copies of the Library. To choose between them: Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
3. On the Internal Library, remove the pics you don't want with you all the time.
Now you have one full library on the external and another smaller sub-set on the Internal.
A couple of comments:
a. The external disk needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
b: When you're removing the unwanted pics from the Internal Library you need to delete them in batches of about 100 or so. Trashing more at one time can cause problems with the database.
c: Managing Multiple Libraries - including moving pics/albums/rolls and metadata between them - is greatly facilitated by using iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

Archiving Photos from iPhoto

I move all photos directly from my camera chip to iPhoto. I then generate album that organize those photos. My images are the full size from 10 megapixel camera, in JPEG format at about 3-4 MB each. It is easy to quickly overload my laptop hard drive with photos.
Is there an easy way to archive these images off the computer at full size, while leaving small versions (maybe 500 x 800 pixels) in iPhoto, so I can still view them and sync them with my iPad?
I am now using iPhoto 6, but will upgrade if appropriate.
Thanks,
Dave

You can run an entire Library from an external disk easily -
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.
However, to have a second Library with smaller versions of the pics isn't easily done. It would involve exporting each pic at a reduced size and then creating a new Library and starting over with them.
Regards
TD

How can I archive 5,000+ photos in iPhoto

i have managed to accumulate over 5,000 photos in iPhoto and i think they are slowing down my mac mini. they slow down opening iPhoto.
is there a way to archive them so i can access them if i want but don't have to have them all show up in iPhoto?
i have an external hard drive and am tempted to move them onto that although i don't know how i would get time machine to stop overriding them.

Jane,
The size of your library doesn't sound like it would be a problem, but to try to give you a suggestion to the premise of your question...
This probably won't help you on your immediate issue, but you may want to consider occasionally closing a library and starting a new one. This keeps the size manageable and easy to backup to a dvd size disc.
Of course it depends on each user and how and what they are doing, but for example, I shoot my son's rugby team each year. Each year I start a new iphoto library (ie: rugby09, rugby10, etc), separating last year from this year, etc.
This gets the old picts off your computer as you are finished with them.
Only rugby pictures go into these libraries. I have other separate libraries for other topics (grand-daughter, race cars, etc).
I can justify my method since I don't ever run into a project where I would need to be working with rugby, grand-daughter, and car picts at the same time.
This method may not work for you or everybody, but it works for me and allows me to keep topics/libraries to a manageable size and easily backed up. It's not perfect, but it works for now.
Of course with today's larger MP cameras, images and libraries are forever growing larger and larger, so even using my method, a dvd is very much out dated in regards to it's capacity. Hopefully BluRay burners will become mainstream soon and allow daily backups of 25GBs of data per disc.

Since loading Lion I can no longer burn photos form iPhoto on a dvd for archive purposes

Since loading Lion on my MacBook Pro, I can no longer burn photos form iphoto for archarving purposes. I used to load the dvd and it would showup on the screen then drag highlighted photos onto the dvd. Now, dvd only shows up sometimes and when it does, it tells me the new disk is full. How can such an easy task become obsolete with this update. I have also tried using idvd for archiving purposes but this process will only allow viewing. I want to be able to reload photos back onto the computer at a later date.

I habe the same problem and cant find a helpful post on the web!
How can i get it back to work???

What is the best method for backing up photos in IPhoto?

I have over 10,000 photos in IPhoto and am looking for the best method for doing a backup (or an archive?). I'm now using ICloud and it appears it's just photo streaming and does not have storage capability. External hard drive, copying to a DVD, other suggestions?

Most Simple Back Up
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex:
Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate
My Routine
My Library lives on my iMac. It’s Backed up to two external hard disks every day. These disks are permanently attached to the iMac. These back ups run automatically. One is done by Time Machine, one is a bootable back up done by SuperDuper
It’s also backed up to a portable hard disk when ever new photos are added. This hard disk lives in my car. For security, this disk is password protected.
I have a second off-site back up at a relative’s house across town. That’s updated every 3 or 4 months.
My Photos are backed up online. There are many options: Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug etc. However, check the terms of your account carefully. While most sites have free uploading, you will often find that these uploads are limited in terms of the file size or the bandwidth you can use per month. For access that allows you to upload full size pics with no restrictions you may need to pay.
Every couple of months I test the back ups to make sure they are working correctly. It’s very easy to mis-configure a back up application, and the only way to protect against that is to do a trial restore.

I cannot delete photos in iphoto

Suddenly I am unable to delete photos in iphoto with either the delete button, dragging to trash, or clicking on the trash icon. I am now ONLY able to delete by holding down option + command + delete buttons at the same time. I've combed these archives also and found a number of solutions to this problem:
Open disc utility and fix permissions
Go into safe mode, fix permissions, indices, etc. in disc utility
Go into safe mode, open iphoto, delete photo, empty trash. Close, reopen as usual, delete, empty trash.
Remove iphoto, remove pkg files, reload from system disc
NONE of these solutions has worked! Does anyone have any suggestions? I am running OSX 10.8.5.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

I am not able to duplicate photos in iphoto. How can I accomplish it.

I am not able to duplicate photos in iphoto. I have tried the two finger click and then went to duplicate... no luck. Went through photo and duplicate... no luck. Used command D... nothing. How can I fix this?

Can you import new photo's?
If not that means something is wrong with your iPhoto files someplace or possibly your .plist file.
As you know, you can right click "show package contents" of the iPhoto Library and get a copy of your Originals out. I would do that immediately so you have a copy safe out of iPhoto's clutches, stick them on a external drive, along with all your other files just in case.
Then next download and run ALL of the free OnyX initial checks, cleaning and maintenance tasks (except the log files) and reboot at the end (in between tasks reboots can be canceled)
http://www.titanium.free.fr/
What this will do is sort of check things out, then clean out all your caches so they rebuild, repair permissions and other tasks that the computer normally does itself, the machine may act a bit slow until the caches and Spotlight are rebuilt, sort of a nuclear cocktail of fixing everything.
If OnyX gives any warnings then state them so here please, you could have a more serious problem that will need addressing like a Repair of your boot drive or failed SMART status etc.
If OnyX comes up clean, and your still having trouble with iPhoto, you can choose to remove (from Pictures), rename and/or archive the iPhoto Library, reboot and restart iPhoto to create a new iPhoto Library, then in iPhoto, import a copy of your Originals from backup.
You can also delete the com.apple.iphoto.plist file from your ~/Library/Preferences folder, reboot and restart iPhoto, reset your preferences again, sometimes that clears issues up.
If your STILL having issues with iPhoto, log into another user and try iPhoto there, if no issues then it's something unexplained in the other user. You may want to just switch users transfering files via the Users/Shared folder.
If your having problems with iPhoto in the other user, the program iPhoto ITSELF, is likely the cause. You can resintall it from the bundled 10.6 install disks, or simply install 10.6 again (does a overwrite of exisiting OS X and bundled iLife programs) and immediatly Software update until clear to 10.6.8. This method also kicks out kext and other OS X installed "hacks" from other third party program installers, you wlll need to run those installers again.
If you upgraded 10.6 over 10.5, then you will need to use Pafacist to extract iPhoto from the 10.5 disks, as the 10.6 white disks doesn't have the free iLife, only the grey disks do.
There are also some tricks to rebuild the iPhoto Library, I forget what they are, but if you ask in the iPhoto forum you will get a answer from several of our regulars who are familiar with the subject better than I am.

Archiving photos- What is the best way?

I would like to copy my photos from iPhoto to a DVD to create a permanent record that can be accessed many years in the future. I have a few ideas but I'd like to hear what solutions others have found.
I bought some Kodak Preservation DVD's, which are supposed to last at least 100 years, and burned my images from within iPhoto 5 to DVD's. I noticed that this records folders as in the iPhoto Library. There are no readily visible thumbnails to browse for individual images. I suppose this would be good to restore iPhoto if needed.
I then highlighted all of my images in the iPhoto main window and burned them to archival DVD using Toast. This seemed to work well other than a few of the thumbnails displaying only as a generic "JPEG" icon ( Why is that?).
I can open these files in Preview and the file sizes seem right and the EXIF data seems to be intact.
It appears that my kids would not need iPhoto to view these images 30 years from now.
Does this seem like a viable approach ? What am I missing?
Thanks in advance.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7) Nikon D50

wild bill
Select the Photos you want to archive in iPhoto and use the File -> Export command. In the dialogue, you can specify many things, including using the iPhoto titles as names etc.
Export the files to a folder on the desktop, then burn the files using the Finder.
This will give you a DVD of photos that will require iPhoto for viewing, and not require third party apps.
Regards
TD

How to throw off photos with iPhoto (Mac) on Windows PC?

I have more than 1000 photos in iPhoto which I would like to throw off on windows to process them there. I copied photos on a flash card, copied on the hard disk PC. But my computer (windows 7) can't open these photos! ! ! They, for some reason gray, translucent. On Mac everything opens well. I formatted a hard drive already by means of standard windows of the utility, but then I with Mac on a flash card can't throw off anything. Help, please. To archive and send option on an e-mail not to offer - the Internet very slow.
iMac, Late 2012 21,5', OS X 10.8.5
Windows PC, windows 7
All photos of the.JPG format

Select the Photo(s) in iPhoto and export to a desktop folder - see the user tip on exporting for details on the options available - drag that folder to the transfer media and thake it to th ePC
LN

How can I Copy/backup photos in iphoto to external drives smaller than iPhoto library

How can I Copy/backup photos in iphoto to external drives smaller than iPhoto library? I have several 128 GB SSD's that I want to use to copy/backup all my iPhoto photographs for a permanent archive due to stability...but my iPhoto library is larger than the drives (about 234 GB) so it would require two of the SSD's...how best to get the original photos onto the SSD's? I'm running Yosemite and iPhoto 9.6...thx.

Terrence - Can you explain what you mean by data loss? In the iPhoto Library? Or on the copy?
Larry - In what way is each photo "degraded"? Quality? Isn't it simply making an an exact copy, in this case a jpeg, as would happen if I dragged and dropped a different file type? Is there another type of degradation?
I am working on trying to create a correct backup as well (per your instructions) but I wanted to use this as a "put in a fireproof safe" archive on very small SSD's that would never have a mechanical hard drive problem (we've lost a couple over time so aren't real confident in their staying power)...I also recognize that I I won't have newer photos in this archive group but at least it would have 98% of our photos in another off-site location...at least that's the thought...
Thx for your input and look forward to more in your reply...

Archive photo's

I am looking for a white paper our step by steps instructions to take all my 2008 photo's out of iphoto and back them up on an external. thus starting iphoto fresh eachyear. help please.

Mike:
Do you want to have iPhoto access to those archived photos? What you can do is just copy the entire iPhoto library package to the external and name it iPhoto-1 or iPhoto 1990-2008 or whatever will represent the time frame of the photos in it.
Next create a new library on your boot drive and name it iPhoto-09. You can then use iPhoto Library Manager to manage those multiple libraries. I use it to manage multiple libraries. I have separate libraries for each book I create so that I can order a copy at a later date without worrying that I may have delete some of the photo in it. Old Toad's Tutorial #9 and 9a describes ways to archive a book that's currently in a larger library.
Click to view full size
With it you can copy photos between libraries as you need them.

I delete photos from iPhoto but after backing up my computer they are back! How do I stop that?

I delete photos from iPhoto but when I back up my computer the library rebuilds them!

After I do a backup it rebuilds the iPhoto.
How do you back up and what is the "it" that rebuilds iphoto? Do you mean this process of arching/deleting? It may have damaged your Library.
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
Going forward: another way of archiving:
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
TD

Copying photos from IPhoto to File Folders

After I rename a photo in iPhoto, I drag it and/or copy it to a an external HD to archive. Problem is: the caption does not copy over. Instead, the original DSCNxxxx number transfers. Does anyone know how I can transfer everything?

Use the file -> export command. In the resulting dialogue you have losts of options, including writing the metadata to the file.
the caption does not copy over. Instead, the original DSCNxxxx number transfers.
That's not the caption, it's the filename. Check out the options to use the +Title as filename+ on the Export dialogue.
FWIW: While this does back up your photos it's not a back up of your Library and you will suffer dataloss with out one.
Regards
TD

Archive photos in iPhoto

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