Backup iPhoto Library to iDisk

I tried to backup my 2.4 gig iPhoto library to iDisk via the finder. It was so slow as to be unusable. I tried to backup via the browser but it has a 1 gig limitation. Is there any way to split up the iPhoto library to get under the 1 gig limit? It appears on the onset that using iDisk via the Finder for uploading large files is not a viable option. Other than the 1 gig limitation and the inability to backup anything other than a file (no folders), the browser option of uploading seems fine.
Ken

Have you tried Apple's backup utility Backup 3.1.2? It's on your iDisk in the Software folder.
Also once you get the library on the iDisk you can use a backup application like Synk Standard to make incremental backups to it. It will copy only those new or changed files making the incremental backup much faster.
Another possibility is to use Transmit. It uses the WEBDAV process for uploading files and can back items also. It's much faster than using the Finder. But always be sure to not sync but to backup. You don't want to copy both ways, only from your Mac to the iDisk.
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

Best way to backup iphoto library to another computer

Hi,
I am looking for most efficent method to backup iphoto library from one iMac27(running Lion) to another iMac21(running Snow Leopard).
My iPhoto library is approx. 20GB. So I am also concerned with performance too.
Also, I only want to backup if iphoto library on iMac27 changes. There is no point to keep backing up all the time if the library has not changed.
I would also like to be able to schedule backup at certain time of the day. (Primarily overnight when I am not using the computer)
I have looked at Chronosync. It looks like it has the features I am looking for however I am concerned if it performs well.
What would you recommend for a solution to this process?
Thanks and I look forward to your reply.
...Bruce

Let me inform you of some things if I may.
A lot of people "run out of room" or want to make a backup and naturally look to their other machine as a source of space they are not utilizing, this isn't the best approach.
So let me inform you of your options.
1: You can backup your entire boot drive contents in a rotating in time fashion with Apple's built in TimeMachine, which only restores, it's not bootable. You use a external storage drive for this. Just hook it up and go.
2: You can make a hold option key bootable clone backup of your entire boot partition contents (not Lion Recovery Partition) in a permanent fashion that only changes if you change it or schedule it to change making a clone drive. Carbon Copy Cloner and you use a external drive for this. (best method as it's bootable in case your computer fails to boot normally)
3: You can manually or automatically use software that "syncs" the contents of two folders to a storage drive (even in either direction). SyncTwoFolders
What your asking to do is publish a shared folder on your network that resides on the Snow Leopard machine, you access it from the Lion machine over the Local Area Network and save your Lion iPhoto Library there using SyncTwoFolders like software.
You can do this, however it's not advised, first off network transfers are slow and cumbersome to setup and maintain. Second your taking up precious drive space on the other computers drive.
If this is what you want to do, then repeat your question again in a new topic, as my other machine is down and haven't done that in quite some time to remember the details exactly.
The larger picture I see is it appears to me you have no backup plan at all, and I think a separate storage drive for each computer, which if you hook it up to OS X, will ask to make a TimeMachine drive, will then do so, copying and backing up your entire drive so you have a constant backup of everything.
Also you should maintain a extra separate storage drive for each machine to keep a extra copy of your files in a permanent fashion, or to free up room on oyur boot drive, like what your trying to do with the other Mac.
With each computer with it's own backup, they are not so dependent with each other if your needs change for instance and the machines have to be separated.
The golden rule of backups is to maintain two seperate, easy accessible, hardware backup copies of your data at all times.
TimeMachine is ok and works mostly, but not if it gets messed up if your machine gets messed up, or if your TM drive mechanically or software fails without your knowledge. So maintaining a another copy of your data on a storage drive in a pernament fashion is also advised.
You can learn about TimeMachine here
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
And I've written a rather complicated advanced post here as a rough draft, but packed with information
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201
A bit much, but I hope that helps.

How to Time Machine backup iPhoto library stored on external drive

Hi Mac users.
Can you kindly teach me how to backup iphoto library stored on an external drive to my external time machine drive. My internal drive is full so I moved my iPhoto library to a separate drive and deleted the library to create space. Thank you.

Actually there's nothing to do. TM backs up all connected volumes automatically. One has to exclude a volume or folder(s) to keep them from being backed up in the TM preferences.
If you find that the EHD is not being backed up exclude it and the "unexclude" it and force a new backup.
OT

I want to save my iphoto library to idisk.

I have iPhoto '11 [v9.1.3]. I have a MobileMe account. I am already using Time Machine on my Time Capsule to backup my iMac. I would like to store my pictures on my iDisk account. I do NOT need to sync the photo's [already doing that on MobileMe to iPad].
How do I do this?

Do you want to just store the original files to disk or your whole library? How big is the library as reported by the Finder?
If it's just the original image files you want to copy to the iDisk then open the library from the Finder as shown below:
Click to view full size
Next, mount your iDisk on the Desktop, open it and go to the folder where you want to copy the image files to.
Click to view full size
Locate the "Masters" folder inside the iPhoto Library package and drag it into the selected folder on your mounted iDisk on the Desktop.
WARNING: Do not move the Masters folder out of the library package or move/rename any item inside the library package.
You do know that copying files via the Finder to the iDisk is very slow. Also if you want to backup again due to new photos in the library you'll have to copy the entire Masters folder again. You could try using a backup application like Synk which can do incremental backup, i.e. only copying new or modified files. That would greatly reduce your subsequent backups if you plan on doing so. There are several apps that can do incremental backups. Go to MacUpDate.com and search for "backup" to get a list of possible candidates. Just be sure they can do incremental backups. The Apple MobileMe Backup application should do incremental backups and it's designed to work efficiently with the iDisk.
OT

How to organize and backup iPhoto library

I'm a slob anyway, and then there were the hard drive troubles, and now I have an iPhoto library on my internal HD, and an external drive (not the same libraries) and loose photos here and there on the internal HD and both externals.
How can I clean up this mess? I want the main library on one extHD and a backup on the other extHD and to not have a library on the intHD at all, and of course, I don't want to loose a single frame!

I did download and pay for iPhoto Library Manager and started to merge libraries as you suggested. But iPLM listed the current Library as "iPhoto Library_2." So, I wondered where was _1, and did a Find file search. There are three iPhoto libraries in my internal HD in my user folder in the "Pictures" folder, and there is a smaller Library on an external HD with only one annual folder in it.
On the internal HD, "iPhoto Library" has folders marked 2000, 2001,...2004, a folder marked "Albums," and 4 documents: Dir.data, Library.cache, Library.data, and AlbumData.xml which seems to be some Real Basic thing. Within the folders marked as years are folders for months and days and then the .JPG photos. The folder Albums contains a bunch of Album folders (with a data doc for each) and in each a bunch of docs that look like JPG photos with an arrow in the lower left corner. These albums don't appear in iPhoto Library_2
In iPhoto Library_1 are folders for 2005 and 2006, a folder marked "Albums," and 3 documents: Dir.data, Library.data, and AlbumData.xml. The month and day folders contain only 1 to a few photo JPGs.
In iPhoto Library_2 are folders for 2003...2006, and foldera marked "Albums", "Data", "Modified", and "Originals", as well as documents: Dir.data, iPhoto.ipspot, Library.data,Library.iPhoto,Library6.iPhoto,Thumb32Segment.data,
Thumb64Segment.data, ThumbJPGSegment.data, and AlbumData.xml. The year folders that overlap with those in "iPhoto Library" above, have different month and day folders, and contain only "data" folders containing numbered documents in pairs, one with a number and one with same number and the suffix .attr, but no photo JPGs.
So, what is all this, what should be preserved, and what can be thrown away?
733 G4 Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Can't backup iPhoto library to external drive

I've tried three times today to backup my iPhoto libray to an external hard drive. The file is 22.2 GB in size. Using Firewire the transfer is supposed to take about 45 mninutes. Each time at around :25-:30 it suddenly stops and I get an error message that it can't complete the transfer due to corrupted data. But it doesn't say where in the file the corrupted data is located. Any ideas on how to get around this problem? Do I need to export every photo I have and then re-import and even then how will I know that the new file won't be corrupted? I tried to open the backup iPhoto file to see if I could see which photos didn;t tarbsfer and work back from there. Unfortunately I think it opens the original library on the computer instead since all the photos can be seen. Any ideas/help?

What version of iPhoto?

Backup IPhoto Library

I appologize for the basic nature of this question......but....
How do you backup the IPhoto library to an external HD or CDs? Do you need a backup utility or is there some piece of software in the basic OS somwhere?
Can IPhoto use these backup files without importing the file back into the original library?
I need the confidence of backup, and more HD space on the computer.
Thanks

Hi JGGiant38,
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.
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.
Moving your iPhoto Library to an external to use as your working library:
Copy the ENTIRE iPhoto Library folder to a Mac formatted external drive.
Launch iPhoto while holding down the Option key.
At the prompt, choose to open another library.
Navigate to the library on the external and highlight it.
Hit the "open" button
iPhoto will open the library on the external and from now on will use this library to import images too. This will now be your working library. Make sure everything is working correctly and everything is fine in the library.
You can then delete the library on the internal if you wish.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93037

Need to reinstall my system, how do I backup iPhoto library?

I have a very large iPhoto library and now need to reinstall my system. I dodn't want to loose the library but how can I make a save backup that I can import later again?

Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. The disk should be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) This will make a copy on that disk.
Test this to make sure it works. Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and open the copied Library.
Really, the amazing thing is that you say you have a "very large library" and claim you don't want to lose it but you don't already have a back up?

HT4927 What if I can't restore the backup iPhoto library because I get an error message that there's not enough free space?

After iPhoto crashed, it automatically tried to rebuild and ten repair itself. iPhoto opens and all my albums are there, but no thumbnails. I've tried rebuilding the thumbnails twice, to no avail. So I tried restoring from backup (Time Machine) to the last version before the crash, but I can't because it says there's no enough free space to do so. What else is there left to try?

That is the file I tried to restore, /Pictures/iPhoto Library (I only have one library package). In Time Machine, I had choose "Restore to" and then manually select the Pictures folder again, not sure if that makes a difference. According to the finder, the package is 396gb in size, far more than the free space I have on the boot drive or backup drive. Time Machine seems kind of useless in this case, unless I go out and buy a new external drive just to restore the backup library file. But rebuilding hasn't worked yet.

MyPassport won't backup iPhoto Library

How do I get a WD MyPassport Essential to backup my iPhoto Library? I have over 13,000 photos and the drive is 500GB. It sees documents but not the photo library. Pls Help.

Michael
There are few anomalies turning up with iPhoto libraries on NAS shares.
See here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1100543&tstart=0
here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5326685&#5326685
here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5235933&#5235933
Some of those solutions may work.
Be sure to let Apple know of your issue: iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback
Regards
TD

If I backup iPhoto library am I backing up my picture files?

To simplify my photo backup I backed up my Iphoto library. Will thre backup file I created contain my photos?

If you are using the default settings (in the iPhoto preferences the preference to "copy imported items to the iPhotolibrary" is checked) then all imported photos are copies to the iPhoto library and are backed up when you backup the iPhoto library
LN

Error trying to backup iPhoto Library

I recently had a backup drive fail and is unrecoverable. Thus I am trying to create a new backup for my 130GB iPhoto Library. I'm using iPhoto '09 version 8.1. I'm using Mac OS X version 10.5.8. My library is currently on an external hard drive and I'm trying to create backup onto a different external hard drive. I keep getting the same error message when I try to copy/paste the library from one drive to the other: "The operation cannot be completed because the item "iPhoto Library" is in use." Nothing is running on my laptop except for the two Finder windows open to complete the copy. Any thoughts on how to proceed. Keep in mind I am running without a backup at this point. Thanks!

Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Also of note: I was not using Time Machine previously. I attempted to set up and run a first volume Time Machine backup. It failed without any detailed error message. It appeared that it might have failed during backup of iPhoto library. I had a partial iPhoto library of approx same size as where my iPhoto backup attempts have been failing previously on my backup disk.

Finder Error -36 when trying to backup iPhoto Library

I am unable to backup my iPhoto Library to another drive. This is the error I get in the Finder "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36)". I have done a complete rebuild of the iPhoto library, but the Finder won't identify the corrupt data inside the iPhoto library. Since the Finder is telling me "some data" can't be read or written, any suggestions on how to find the corrupted file(s) inside the library so I can remove them from the library?

Solved the problem. I browsed the iPhoto Library/Originals folder to determine which photos I imported today, since I was able to back up the library file yesterday. I exported the 56 various photos that I imported today, then deleted them from iPhoto. Afterwards, I was able to copy the iPhoto Library file. So one or more of the 56 files is corrupted, even though they all open fine with a graphics program, such as GraphicConverter.

Backup iPhoto library to cloud

Hi
I now use iPhoto to put all my photos in, treasured memories. I do use Time Machine on my iMac, and also manually backup the iPhoto library file manually to a separate external HDD as well, so that makes a copy on the iMac, copy in TM, and copy on external HDD, enough I think..except.
What happens if the worse happens and I get my iMac and external HDD stolen, lost etc? I do keep my external HDD in a different place in the house but worse could happen and the house could get trashed etc.
So, does anyone backup their iPhoto library to the cloud somewhere? To be honest my photos (and probably my music-iTunes library) are the 2 things I treasure most. Anything else I could get back I think.
I wont be running the iPhoto (or iTunes) library from the cloudl, its just for a backup.
1) So is this a viable option? to backup the iPhoto (and iTunes) library to the cloud for safe keeping
2) Is it security safe? I don't want others looking at my pics etc
3) I realise it will take an age to upload to the cloud, as the iPhoto is a "one lump of data" kind of file, eg not a folder of pics at a time
4) what happens when you add more pics to your library, how can you just upload what's needed and not the whole library everytime?
5) where is the best? I'm in UK, but obviuosly the cloud is anywhere.
hope someone does this, or what other options is there please?
cheers

I don't think it's really feasible to back up a large library to the Cloud unless you have a enormous bandwidth. I would make two suggestions to your back up routine:
1. You need an off-site back up.
2. Back up your Photos to the cloud, not your Library.
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.

Wich is best way to backup iPhoto library?

Hi everyone...
i want to know wich is the best way to backup all iPhoto library...
should I just copy everything that is in "iPhoto Library" folder to my extern hard drive? will i have any kind of problem if i want to restore my data?
thanks

sauble
A friend suggested I backup all the photos I already have in iPhoto before I start playing around any more
Good advice
Do I use a disc instead and burn them?
If you don't have a HD, this is the next option.
If I do that, are the photos still accessible if I want to use them again?
Yes. Depending on how you burn them: If you select all of them and go File -> Export and the burn them from the Finder, your pics will be backed up, but you will have to reimport them to iPhoto on restore.
If you use the Share->Burn feature within iPhoto it will preserve te he iPhoto library structure.
Regards
TD

Backup iPhoto Library to iDisk

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