Backing up Photo Library

After backing up a large iPhoto Library to a flash drive, what happens when you want to back up additional pictures? Does the entire library need to be recopied, or does the program allow you to skip any duplicate events?

You can use a backup application that does "incremental" backups, i.e. backing up only those new or modified files. The one I use is Synk Pro. Chronosync is another similar app.
OT

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How do I access my backed up photo library?

I want to see my photo library backup.
I have delete the original photos from my phone, how do I access the backup?

Sorry can't view your backups.
Back up and restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support
YOu would need to restore your phone from your backup

Help! switched off icloud photo library and back on and now reuploads 35k 180GB photos!

I have already uploaded 35,000pics and videos totaling 180GB to icloud but as the last items upload seeemed stuck I went to settings and i turned off and back on photo library. That was it! After opening again photos app, aftera scan of my photos, it started REUPLOADING AGAIN 180GB 35,000 photos!!! Please help, I'm desperate!

I've tried this too, but it wasn't uploading them all again, it was just checking every photos and only uploading new ones ... but it checked each and every photo! I have a problem with duplicates instead, and it is the duplicates that get uploaded!

Can i get my Photo Library back?

I backed up my old iPhone 4 and then restored everything to my iPhone 5 for the most part a very successful back except Photo Library was not restored. The Camera Roll however was restored. I have a folder on my Windows computer with all the photos that were in my Photo Library, how can I get them to a new separate album on my phone without wiping out my camera roll or placing them in my camera roll? Thanks

Are you still able to connect to your iTunes library under the computers feature. Have you checked your photo sharing options from the advanced menu in iTunes on your computer.

IPhoto 8.1.2 - Rebuilding Photo Library - Photo Library is unreadable

Hi,
I am using iPhoto 8.1.2 and have had no issues with iPhoto for many years. However, when I tried to access iPhoto yesterday I obtained the following message:
"You can’t open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto.
You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Please quit and use the latest version of iPhoto. QUIT"
I then tried to restart and re-install the iPhoto 8.1.2 update. Afterwards I got the following message:
"Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable
Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your photo library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup. QUIT"
I backed up my photo library and went ahead and restarted the computer again and then proceeded to try and rebuild my photo library. After looking at several discussion threads in this forum, I hoped for the best and checked the following boxes:
- Rebuild the photos' small thumbnails
- Rebuild all of the photos' thumbnails
- Recover orphaned photos in the iPhoto library folder
- Examine and repair iPhoto library file permissions
- Rebuild the iPhoto library database from automatic backup
It took a long time, however in the end it seems like iPhoto was once again able to access my photos. However, there are 3 things that make me feel concerned:
(1) I don't think all my photos were present. Originally, if I am not mistaken, there were around 22,000 photos and now only 20,000 are present.
(2) During the process of rebuilding the library, iPhoto gobbled up another 5GB of hard disk space. I don't know why, but I think iPhoto might have doubled at least some of my photos.
(3) Afterwards it seemed like iPhoto froze during "building thumbnails" (the blue bar was about 80-90% complete) - possibly because of lack of hard disk space - and after letting it work over night, I decided to force quit iPhoto this morning.
I then decided to throw away the new "rebuilt library" because of the missing photos and the extra 5GB. After throwing the library away, I placed once again my previous backed up photo library in the pictures folder. So, essentially (I think), I am back to square one.
I would appreciate any help and advice on what I should do. I am afraid of doing the wrong thing and irremediably doing damage to my photos and photo library.
Thank you in advance.

Hi TD,
Thank you for your quick reply and support.
My HD has a capacity of about 320GB. When I received the error message I had about 24 GB free space. The actual Photo Library is about 19GB in size.
I did the back up on my hard disk, after duplicating the Photo Library I had about 5 GB left over space during the Photo Library Rebuild.
However, after I did the rebuild, the Photo Library size jumped up to over 24GB! Leaving me with only 100MB of HD space left, at this point the thumbnail rebuild seemed to stall. This is when I decided to eventually force quit iPhoto.
Now that I have thrown away the bloated Photo Library and returned to the original one, I am back at about 25GB free space.
I think I know the source of my issue, I don't know if this will help you in advising me on how to get myself out of this mess. I foolishly did a clean up of my hard disk with a clean up / space freeing program. I think one of the little files that was accidentally cleaned up was linked to / related to my iPhoto library.
Thanks for the link to iPhoto Library Manager. I realize that this is definitely an option, but if possible for me only as a last resort (I would like to keep all the books, and calendars data, etc. if possible).
Are there any other solutions? Why did iPhoto double some photos during the rebuild? Why did my Photo Library bloat up in size during the rebuild?
Did I check too many check boxes? Can I attempt another rebuild and if so, what can I do to do it properly?
Thank you again for your help.

I just downloaded Yosemite and all my iPhotos have disappeared! I tried importing them from the photo library but it said there wasn't enough space on my hard drive which is rubbish, because they were there before. How do I get them back to iPhoto?

I just downloaded Yosemite and all my iPhotos have disappeared! I tried importing them from the photo library but it said there wasn't enough space on my hard drive which is rubbish, because they were there before. How do I get them back to iPhoto?

There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on 9 different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary depending on the version of iPhoto and the version of the OS. So to get help you need to give as much information as you can. Include things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. As full a description of the problem as you can. For example, if you have a problem with exporting, then explain by describing how you are trying to export, and so on.
- History: Is this going on long? Has anything been installed or deleted? - Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
- Anything unusual about your set up? Or how you use iPhoto?
Anything else you can think of that might help someone understand the problem you have.

My iPhoto won't open. It says "Your photo library is either in use by another application or no longer readable." Please tell me I haven't lost all my pics?! I do not have them backed up. I have tried restarting my mac. Please Help!

My iPhoto won't open. It says "Your photo library is either in use by another application or no longer readable." Please tell me I haven't lost all my pics?! I do not have them backed up. I have tried restarting my mac. Please Help!

What haven't you backed them up? You should always have a back up of any important material on your Mac. Make one now:
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
What version of iPhoto do you have?

How do I re-open and get back into my iPhoto if this message appears: "Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable"? What do I do?

How do I re-open and get back into my iPhoto if this message appears: "Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable"? What do I do?

Rebuild your iPhoto Library:
iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library

How can I safely migrate my photo library from Photos 1.0 back to iPhoto 9.6.1?

When I updated to the 10.10.3 update, it removed iPhoto from my dock, replacing it with the new Photos icon. I assumed wrongly that I could no longer use iPhoto & allowed Photos to migrate my photo library to itself. My photo library is huge, over 25K photos, and I've since realized I'd prefer if I'd kept the library in iPhoto, starting a new library with the Photos app, but I don't know how to put things back safely. Any suggestions?

Thank you. The original warning message about launching iPhoto had put me off, the language suggesting any iPhoto edits not being viewable in Photos a little concerning, but now I understand better.
Also, the Create New Library shortcut very helpful, so thanks again.

My iphone storage is full due to my large photo library. As I want to go on taking more photos, if I back up my phone to icloud, can I then delete all my photos from my iphone to make room for new photos?

My iphone storage is full due to my large photo library. As I want to go on taking more photos, if I back up my phone to icloud, can I then delete all my photos from my iphone to make room for new photos? Or will the next time I back up lose all those previously backed up as it is a 'new' set of data?
I just want to find the easiest and safest way of not losing all my photos while being able to take more than my iPhones storage worth as it is already full - can someone help me please? I thought icloud was the solution to not uploading my photos to the mac but I'm not sure if the way it's going is working and don't want to delete photos or lose my phone and then find out what I'm doing isn't actually storing my photos permanently. Thanks

Hey EmilyEliza,
As you are clearly aware, it is important for you to have backups of your important data, including all of these photos you are currently keeping on your iPhone. While it is possible to use iTunes or iCloud to do backups of your iPhone, the problem becomes how to access those backups if you have deleted the photos from your iPhone. Once you have done the backup and then removed the photos from the iPhone, the only way to access the photos is by restoring the backups to the phone. See this article for information about backups made from the iPhone -
Back up and restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support
If you want to easily access the photos once they are off of the iPhone, another approach to this would be to import your photos from the iPhone into an application on your Mac, such as iPhoto. To learn how to do this, use the steps in this article -
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac or Windows PC - Apple Support
Once those photos are on your computer, it is still important to back up those photos to somewhere else, so you can be sure of their safety before removing them from the iPhone. Your Mac’s Time Machine application is one method of doing this -
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Happy computing,
Brett L

I have suddenly become unable to access photo library iPhoto (vers 9.5) on my external drive. And time Machine will no longer back up to the same external (LaCie) drive. Appreciate all suggestions. The drive does show up on my desktop....

I have suddenly become unable to access photo library (iPhoto vers 9.5) on my external hard drive. Also time machine isnt backing up to same external hard drive (LaCie). The drive does show up on the desk top, but when i open iPhoto the library isnt listed, so I cant option click.

First, one should not try to run an iPhoto library from the same volume/drive that is being used by Time Machine for backups. TM will continue to fill up the drive thus squeezing out iPhoto from being able to be opened and used. Also that doesn't allow you to let TM backup your library as it does with other files on your boot drive.
If you partition the EHD into two separate partitions you can run the library from it but that won't let TM backup the library which is important.
Are you able to see the library on the EHD via the Finder? If so copy it back to your boot drive and open it there. You may have to do some fixing on it.
Solution is to either run the library from the boot drive or get a second EHD to run the library from and let TM back it up along with your boot drive.
OT

The memory on my MAC is full. It holds 4GB of RAM of which 79GB are photos. I would like to back up my photos to an external drive but just don not know how. I do not wish to use time machine. How do I back up my photo library, then delete the them t

The memory on my MAC is full. It holds 4GB of RAM of which 79GB are photos. I would like to back up my photos to an external drive but just do not know how. I do not wish to use time machine. How do I back up my photo library, then delete them from my MAC to free up that 79GB? Thank you.

Hi
Just to clarify a couple of points in your post.
RAM (memory) is different from hard drive space. You have 4GB of RAM, but that has no bearing on the amount of drive space you have, of which we know that 79GB are photos.
If those photos are in iPhoto, you should be able to move the entire iPhoto Library, from the Pictures folder, to your external hard drive. You can just drag and drop. Do not have iPhoto open while you're doing this. Once it's done, you can double-click on the moved iPhoto Library file to associate it with iPhoto, so that the app remembers where the library is for next time.
One more thing. When you move a file to a different location, and then delete the original, you don't have a backup. You still only have one copy. So if that external drive dies, you will lose all your photos. Time Machine is a very good way to prevent this from happening. You should dedicate a different drive for Time Machine backups.
Matt

IPhoto asked to upgrade library and has now come up empty even though my iPhoto file is over 130GB. How do I get back my photos?

iPhoto asked to upgrade library and has now come up empty even though my iPhoto file is over 130GB. How do I get back my photos? I am using OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 with Mavericks. My iPhoto is 9.6. I am very concerned as this file has all my photos for the last 15 years!

If the iPhoto Library is still 130 GB large, your photos are probably still inside; perhaps the library has a corruption.
Or the iPhoto Library is on drive, that is incompatible with iPhoto. Where is your iPhoto Library stored?
To check for a library corruption: Ctrl-click or right-click the iPhoto library and select "Show Package Contents". This will show the folders inside the library package.
Are there folders called "Masters" or "Old Masters"?
If there is a folder "Old Masters", you are having a problem with recent bug, that corrupts iPhoto Libraries when upgrading. In that case, it would be best to restore your iPhoto Library from a backup you made before you upgraded to Yosemite.
Or, if no backup is available, copy the "old Masters" folder to a folder on your Desktop and create a new iPhoto library and import the Old Masters folder.
If there is no folder "old Masters" try to rebuild your iPhoto Library with the First Aid tools :
Make a backup copy of your iPhoto Library, but don't overwrite any older backups.
To launch the "First Aid Tools" hold down the options-command keys ⌥⌘ while double clicking your iPhoto Library.
Keep the keys held down firmly until the First Aid panel appears.
Select "Rebuild Database".

I recently upgraded to Mavericks and now don't have access to iphoto. I cannot find my iphoto library to back the photos up before upgrading the iphoto but see the photos when I try to change screensaver? Where are my photos so I can back them up?

I recently upgraded to Mavericks and now don't have access to iphoto. I cannot find my iphoto library to back the photos up before upgrading the iphoto but see the photos when I try to change screensaver? Where are my photos so I can back them up?

The iPhoto library should be in your user folder/Pictures unless it was moved.

Want to "move back" my iPhoto library +photos

Hi,
I am new to this forum and after reading a lot of pages I canot find any answer to my question !!
I changed my HD on my MBP (I have now a 320Go) and wanted to "get back" from an external HD, my iPhoto library and my files with originals photos wich have not been "imported" into iPhoto : menu "prefs/advanced/Import/copy in the iPhoto library is not checked".
I hope my explanations are OK !!
thanks
Jacques

James
Welcome to the Apple user to user assistance forums
my iPhoto library and my files with originals photos wich have not been "imported" into iPhoto : menu "prefs/advanced/Import/copy in the iPhoto library is not checked".
You are running a referenced library - which is not recommended for a number of reasons including it makes things like new hard drives and computers more difficult
One way to accomplish your desired move is to use alias herder - http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/downloads/aliasherder/ - to convert your library to a managed library - then you can simply quit iPhoto and drag the library where ever you want it and launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key and point to it
Since the key to a referenced library is that the path to the photos does not change it may be possible to move the referenced library to your internal drive leaving the original photos where they are - I've not seen this but it seems that it might work - easy to give a try - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library to the pictures folder on the internal drive and launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key - if it works you have a partial solution - if it does not simply launch iPhoto with the option key and point back to the library that still exists on the EHD and delete the one you just moved to the internal drive
And note that you have imported your photos into iPhoto - you simply have not copied the originals to the iphoto library - the importing process is much more than just copying the photo - it involved updating all of the iPhoto database pointers
LN
Message was edited by: LarryHN

Backing up Photo Library

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