Archiving iPhoto Libraries
Is there any way to archive a large iPhoto library (15GB) onto DVD, so that it can be recreated, complete with albums and folders? I used the Burn function within iPhoto 5, selecting different folders and albums for each volume, to put it on 4 DVDs, and I can see the folders and albums when I open the partial libraries on each DVD disk in iPhoto. But when I try to transfer the archived library to a newly-created library on the hard drive using AddToLibrary, it loses all the folder and album info, requiring me to reorganize the whole thing.
If you've burned the disks using the Share -> Burn the trick is to pop the disks into your Mac. They will show up on the Source Pane. Select the disk there and then you can drag the rolls/albums over to the Library proper.
Regards
TD
Similar Messages
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Methods/Workflow for archiving iPhoto Libraries
So, I've got decades (and many gigs) of iPhoto data. Unfortunately, Apple no longer support the old CD backups.
Migrating these backups is a pain, but doable. The question is: What's the best approach for doing so?
Here's are the different methods I've found. If anyone has other suggestions, please reply - let's see if we can come up with a good "best practice".
Keep it all in one massive iPhoto library possibly on a dedicated HD.
In the past this didn't work well because iPhoto didn't deal with large libraries, but now iPhoto and Aperture use the same file format so maybe it works better?
Pros:
Easy access to old photos.
External hard drives are cheap.
Cons:
You still need a backup mechanism. If the library goes corrupt, or you accidentally delete a photo, you're out of luck.
Hard drives also have a limited life time, generally only a few years, so backups have to be moved every few years.
Maintain project or year based iPhoto libaries
Pros: Natural extension of old burn-to-disc model
Cons:
Same limitations as any HD based mechanism. Still need secondary backup mechanism.
No way to move photos between libraries for special projects (such as scrapbooking).
Can't protect photos from deletion or corruption.
Export to folders on a NAS or external HD.
Pros: Relatively easy. Folders can be sorted.
Cons:
Strips out meta data (tags, descriptions, face recognition, etc..).
Same limitations as any HD based mechanism: drives wear out, become unreadable.
Export to HTML via built-in tools or a plug-in (Better HTML export, Export to Piwigo)
Pros: Easy to browse. Straight HTML export can be burned to read-only media.
Cons:
Can't search straight html via photo meta-data. Exporting to a web hosting tool such as piwigo leaves you dependent on piwigo software.
Also, export tools may not be full featured and may require custom coding.
Anyone have any other suggestions?Seems obvious ot me
1 is the clear answer
Every other solution had more cons and less pros - and no other solution allows you to actually find your photos unless you can remember which archive they are in
Looks like the Franklin method has asnsered your question quickly
LN -
Hullo all,
I run a smallish studio at a University, and I have inherited multiple Macs (2 Powerbooks, 2 Mac Pros) running multiple OS (2 on Mavericks, 2 on 10.7) and multiple versions of iPhoto. These have been used for photo and video work over the years, and each has its own stash of content, project files, etc. In an effort to organize, I wish to consolidate all the various iPhoto and Aperture libraries into a single library. I have a 16TB Pegasis RAID available via Thunderbolt to hold the material. Can anyone tell me the best way to go about this? My background is 20 years production work in film and video and I am rather new to still photo work and as such, do not know much about maintaining archives etc.
If I read correctly from other questions, I need to update all versions of iPhoto to be the same, establish the library on the Pegasus, then export all the files to that library? Is this correct? I am not sure I can update all computers to the current version (one is a late 2009 MacPro) Is there any easier way to do it? I am happy to purchase software if that makes the process easier.
Cheers! Thanks for any info!iPhoto does not support to merge libraries into one.
The utility iPhoto Library Manager can merge libraries -
download here: iPhoto Library Manager
If you have access to Aperture, you can also use it to merge your libraries (see: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), but if you need to buy a tool, iPhoto Library Manager would be the more economic solution, and it is a must-have with iPhoto anyway. -
Can I store my iPhoto Libraries on an external Hard Drive?
Hello All:
I am using iPhoto v5 along with an eMac700 with a tiny hard drive. It appears I cannot import/store all my iPhoto images and projects onto an external hard drive. Or can I?
Does anyone know if v6 allows this?
My plan is to place the IPhoto libraries onto a LaCie Ethernet Drive that could be shared on a small network (along with iTunes)
Any help would be appreciated, Right now, when done with a cook, I save it as a PDF file and then export it to an external Drive, but to print extra books, I still have to reload all the individual photos as the PDF file doesn't work for book printing through Apple.
MikeHi mlk,
Here are all the ways to backup your library.
Backing up your iPhoto Library
1. Burn the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder to a CD or DVD
This method will give you a burned iPhoto Library folder that can be copied back to your computer to replace a damaged library. You can also use this method to backup an old library when you want to create a new Library to use as your current library.
insert a blank CD into your internal or external CD-RW drive and copy the iPhoto library to the CD icon on your desktop. When you drag the CD icon to the Trash/Eject button in the Dock, you are given the option to burn the CD. Click Burn and the CD is created. To burn a DVD backup of your digital images, use a DVD and a SuperDrive-equipped Mac
The easiest way to burn an iPhoto Library folder in the Finder that is larger than 4.7 gig to fit on one DVD is to burn sections of the folder.
Drag the iPhoto Library folder to the desktop
Double click the folder to open it.
Drag each Year folder to the desktop.
You should be left with the iPhoto Library folder containing all the data files, and the Year folders.
Combine whatever year folders that amount closest to a DVD burn size on one DVD. Make sure that you have burned all the Year folders, then the iPhoto Library folder with all the data files.
If you ever need to use this backup, insert the DVDs into your computer and copy the folders to the desktop. Put all the Year folders back into the iPhoto Library folder. Then put the iPhoto Library folder back into the Pictures folder.
You can also check out applications for disc spanning:
Disc-spanning software
DropDMG
Toast
Dragon Burn 4
BackityMac
Retrospect Express-comes with some external drives
Retrospect for Macintosh Desktop Edition
2. Copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library to an external drive formated for a Mac. Do not use this as your only back up as the external can also go bad.
3. Copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library to your iPod in disk mode
4.Creating your own CDs and DVDs for viewing in iPhoto
This method is a great way to back up Albums of older photos or even your entire library if it is small enough to fit on a DVD. This method will give you a library that will mount within iPhoto in the source column to be viewed. To import any images from this library they need to be dragged into your library in the source column.
If you just want to backup the images in your library:
1) Within iPhoto select the images, albums or rolls you want to backup. Go to Share>Export and export them to a newly created folder on the desktop. Follow the directions in the next link.
Creating a CD or DVD to be viewed in Windows or by a photo processing company
1.. If you backed up the entire iPhoto Library by burning within iPhoto or burning the folder in the Finder, make sure the burned copy is a good working copy before you delete the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder. You delete the iPhoto Library in the finder by dragging it to the trash when iPhoto is closed. When you next launch iPhoto it will create a new empty library for you to start anew.
2. If you burned just the images, be aware that that is all you are archiving. No metadata will travel with the images such as comments, keywords, etc.
You can then delete those images within iPhoto by highlighting them and hitting the delete key, then empty iPhoto's trash. Do this often and in groups so iPhoto will not choke on too many images. -
I want to archive my thousands of photos to get them off my only computer, a MBP. I'm new to managing iPhoto and Aperture libraries. I want to drag and drop an iPhoto library into an external hard drive to serve as an archive. If I do, there will be something called iPhoto Library on my external drive. When I shoot and add more photos to my MBP iPhoto library, I will want to also move that newly-added-to library off to the external drive. Then I may have two things called iPhoto Library. Is it possible and OK to rename an iPhoto Library and call it, for example, John's 2009 iPhotos, and John's 2010 iPhotos? Or must I preserve the name iPhoto Library? BTW, I also use Aperture and work on images via iPhoto as referenced files.
I want to archive my thousands of photos to get them off my only computer, a MBP. I'm new to managing iPhoto and Aperture libraries. I want to drag and drop an iPhoto library into an external hard drive to serve as an archive. If I do, there will be something called iPhoto Library on my external drive. When I shoot and add more photos to my MBP iPhoto library, I will want to also move that newly-added-to library off to the external drive. Then I may have two things called iPhoto Library. Is it possible and OK to rename an iPhoto Library and call it, for example, John's 2009 iPhotos, and John's 2010 iPhotos? Or must I preserve the name iPhoto Library?
You can have multiple iPhoto libraries and each can have any name (and be on any Mac formatted disk) - and iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - is a good tool for managing multiple libraries
BTW, I also use Aperture and work on images via iPhoto as referenced files.
I think you are saying that in Aperture you reference the iPhoto photos - if you have changed iPhoto to reference your photos you will not be able to relocate your libraries easily
LN -
Laptop and Desktop iPhoto Libraries
I'm hoping for some sage advice as I pull this all together. I am currently importing photos from a PC, which means that the organization is a mess and there are duplicate duplicate duplicates.
I have a Mac Pro (500 GB HD) and a MacBookPro (250 GB HD). I have not found an easy way to "sync" the data between these two machines as there is a large amount of data and it gets reorganized dependent upon what is going on at the office at the moment.
Currently I have "segregated" some information onto the Laptop and other information onto the Desktop. I am just finishing up the process of importing all the photos on the Desktop into iPhoto and will likely archive the images that were in the folders on this hard drive off of the hard drive to free up some space and get more organized. It appears to me this is something on the order of 20K images.
Does anyone have any advice as to whether I should get all the images from the Laptop into the Desktop iPhoto Database (I can do this via ethernet connection)? Alternatively, I could simply have an iPhoto Database for the Laptop. Does anyone have great suggestions on how to share this information between these two machines as I go forward? What does this look like and how would it work?
I have not figured out whether I plan to buy a 500 GB HD for the laptop so that I can try and "mirror" the same data on both machines, whether I will keep things as they are, or whether I will try and start using an external HD as a server/syncer in some way.
Thanks!
JonathanI have a Mac Pro (500 GB HD) and a MacBookPro (250 GB HD). I have not found an easy way to "sync" the data between these two machines as there is a large amount of data and it gets reorganized dependent upon what is going on at the office at the moment.
There is no way to automatically sync two iPhoto libraries (ie changes in a sync to B and changes in B sync to A)
Currently I have "segregated" some information onto the Laptop and other information onto the Desktop. I am just finishing up the process of importing all the photos on the Desktop into iPhoto and will likely archive the images that were in the folders on this hard drive off of the hard drive to free up some space and get more organized. It appears to me this is something on the order of 20K images.
That is a relatively small iPhoto library - iPhoto will handle up to 250,000 images in a library (although I have not heard of anyone actually testing that limit)
Does anyone have any advice as to whether I should get all the images from the Laptop into the Desktop iPhoto Database (I can do this via ethernet connection)? Alternatively, I could simply have an iPhoto Database for the Laptop. Does anyone have great suggestions on how to share this information between these two machines as I go forward? What does this look like and how would it work?
Most people keep their entire library on the desktop and a smaller library on the laptop if space is an issue - then use iPhoto library manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - to move photos between the systems
I have not figured out whether I plan to buy a 500 GB HD for the laptop so that I can try and "mirror" the same data on both machines, whether I will keep things as they are, or whether I will try and start using an external HD as a server/syncer in some way.
Note that the iPhoto library must be on a drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) - and putting it on an external drive will not help the "syncing" issue
LN -
HT1229 I have several iPhoto libraries. How can I combine them to make one?e new library?
I have several iPhoto libraries. How can I combine them to make one?
iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -
or the current version of Aperture can merge libaries from the current version of iPhoto
LN -
Have THREE iPhoto Libraries...How can I combine them? Plus most ALIASES!
I have read some of the forum topics that I hope can help me. I have iPhoto 2 and when I messed up my iBook OS 10.2.8, I lost the iPhoto ( about 2K pictures :-()
Now i have the 'puter back but still missing the iPhoto. I have found Three(3) iPhoto Libraries with "Find"...all are just labeled "iPhoto Library".NONE have numbers after the iPhoto Library...each has a different amount of "items" listed as being in the folder. 156 items, 126 items, and 30 items . ALL have photos NOT in the other Library folders.
All three have different pathways:
156 items:(user name)/Desktop 2/iPhoto folder-12/07**/iPhoto Library;
127 items:(user name)/Desttop 2/iPoto folder1/26/08**all alias/ iPhoto Library;
30 items: (user name)/Pictures 2/iPhoto 2/iPhoto Library.
My question is:
1. Is there a simple way to combine these so I have ONE iPhoto Library with ALL the photos in it???
2. Most, not all, of the photos are "Aliases" but I can see the photos in "Preview"..but can't move them into an iPhoto blank folder.
I gather I need to solve the "Alias" problem FIRST? right?I need to match the "Aliases" with their originals...
Then hopefully move photos into the largest iPhoto Library with the 156 items in it. Is there a simple way to do this???OK...so I now have the MAJOR iPhoto Lib. I thought I'd lost (thanks to all your help steerin' me in the right direction).:-)
I want to get the photos FROM the other two smaller Libraries and switch them to the BIG Lib. I now have....Is there a KB that will tell me how to do that...without having to move the BIG Library I have retrieved???
Like, can I move the smaller Lib.s to the desktop and take out the photos by dragging them into the BIG iPhoto Lib.?...as there are many duplicates in the two smaller Lib.s that I don't need to add to the BIG iPhoto Library.
The iPhoto Help " Switching between photo libraries"sez
"1. Quit iPhoto;
2. Rename your current Photo Library folder in the Finder or move it to a new location on your HD.;
3 Open iPhoto;
4 Click Find Library;
5.Choose the library you want to display.;
6. Click open.
The library appears in the iPhoto viewing area."
I DO NOT want to switch between lib.s, I want to MOVE photos FROM the smaller lib.s to the BIG iPhoto Library, so I will have only ONE iPhoto Lib. to deal with.Consolidation NOT switching....
Am I making sense here????? -
I have over 25,000 photos and use several iPhoto libraries to manage and organize them. One library lives on my Powerbook 17" hard drive and the others are on external FW800 drives.
Because I take so many photos away from home, I usually import photos to my Powerbook library temporarily, then transfer them to one of the libraries I have on the external HDs in my studio and delete them from the PB.
One library consists only of photos I have taken for a client, another contains family photos, a third one is abstract and artistic photos, a fourth is all antique cars, a fifth all nudes, etc...
I would like to be able to include some photo albums from each library on my 60G iPod Color. Is there a way to do this without combining all of my photos into the same library?
I guess what I am asking is: is it possible to get photos from multiple libraries on the same iPod at the same time? if so, how?
If not, is there a way for me to create an iPhoto library that consists of photo aliases (I don't want to import duplicates of the photos to include on the iPod) and then use that library to sync with the iPod?
PB G4 17, G3 Pismo, Yosemite, iMacDV Mac OS X (10.4.1)you should probably post this question in the iPhoto Forum
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=143 -
I am migrating to a new iMac via TimeMachine back up. My iPhoto libraries are on an external drive. Both drives are backed up on Time Machine. I'd like to migrate only the old internal hard drive data to the new internal Drive and then just plug in iPhoto library drive to the new iMac. This would save having to transfer several hundred GBs of data. Will this work using Set Up Assistant?
Your user account on the new Mac must have a different UID than on the old one. See the pink box in Problems after using Migration Assistant for an explanation.
You'll need to change the permissions on the iPhoto library on the external HD. Do a Get Info on it, click the padlock at the bottom of the Sharing & Permissions section of the Info window and enter your Admin password.
Then click the plus sign, select the user account you want on the next screen, and click Select. Then change Read only to Read & Write for that user via the little arrows. Finally, click the "gear" icon and select Apply to enclosed items. That may take a few mintutes on a large library. -
While trying to copy one of my iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive I get the following error message "You can’t copy “iPhoto Library old” because it has the same name as another item on the destination volume, and that volume doesn’t distinguish between upper- and lowercase letters in filenames." There is no other file on the external drive with this name. I have asked this question before and was told that there are some duplicate photos (files) in my library and I needed to go to "show file contents" and look at certain files to find duplicates and delete the duplicates. I did all of this and the library will still not copy and always stops copying in the exact same place on each attempt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You've been deleting your actual Photos.
Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Best way forward now is to recover the surviving Originals from this library and start over from scratch.
Regards
TD -
How do I rename the iphoto library on one computer before importing it to another location with other iphoto libraries?
How do I rename the iphoto library on one computer before importing it to another location with other iphoto libraries?
Quit iPhoto.
Select the Library in the Finder, click the name, and edit the name like for any file. -
How do i set up a slideshow with pictures from multiple iphoto libraries?
How do i set up a slideshow with pictures from multiple iphoto libraries? One library is in my Macbook Harddrive, the other 2 libraries are in an external harddrive. Thank you!!
You can't, simply. An iPhoto Slideshow can only draw from a single library, so you'll need to get all the images into one.
Alternatives to iPhoto's slideshow include:
iMovie is on every Mac sold.
Others, in order of price:
PhotoToMovie $49.95
PulpMotion $129
FotoMagico $99
Final Cut Pro X $299
It's difficult to compare these apps. They have differences in capability - some are driven off templates. some aren't. Some have a wider variety of transitions. Others will have excellent audio controls. It's worth checking them out to see what meets your needs. However, there is no doubt that Final Cut Pro X is the most capable app of them all. You get what you pay for. -
How can I import multiple iphoto libraries into Photos beta
I have successfully imported a single iPhoto Library into the Photos Beta app. However I have several other iPhoto libraries that I would like to import into the Photos library. Think of is as merging everything into one now that there's iCloud backup.
I started with iPhoto back in 2005 and have created a separate library every three years ever since. Each one is quite large, ~40 gigs.
What is the best means to import additional libraries into my new Photos library. Unfortunately the File import option on Photos does not allow for a selection of iPhoto Library file type.
Thanks,
BrianMerge all iPhoto Libraries into one before migrating them to the new Photos.app.
You cannot add additional libraries to a Photos library, only additional photos. Or have several Photos libraries, but only one of them can sync with iCloud.
To merge your iPhoto Libraries into one, use either Aperture, if you have it (see: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), or the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager: Download it here: iPhoto Library Manager -
Can I combine two iPhoto libraries?
Following on from my previous post - "Missing Photos" - (what an idiot I am).
I now have two iphoto libraries with approx 10% differing content, ie they have about 90% the same. The largest is around 36GB.
How do I combine the two libraries?
One way I guess, would be to dump the smaller into the larger, and then run a program to eliminate the duplicates.
(iPhoto only rejects duplicates with the same name, many of mine have been renamed.)
Or is there a better way?You can use iPhoto Library Manager and it’s Merge feature.
Regards
TD
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