Can I delete my iphoto library?

Folks, I upgraded from Iphoto to Aperture. Ive moved the Iphoto library to Aperture...can I safely delete the iphoto library now so as to save space on my hard disk? thank you.

As Kimmba alluded to it depends on how you imported the masters into Aperture.
When you run File->Import->iPhoto Library you are given a few choices of what to do with the masters. The most import option is Store Files:, this determines where the masters go.
If you chose In the Aperture Library then it should be safe to delete the iPhoto Library.
I always recommend to new users that they keep there iPhoto Library for some period of time after switching just to make sure everything went as expected. This way if you should need to, you could wipe the Aperture library and start from scratch (except of course for any new images imported only into Aperture). It's very rare that you get the desired Aperture structure right on the first attempt and while you could rearrange things in Aperture it sometimes is easier to just start over.
Of course it's always best to make a backup of the iPhoto Library and keep it safe before deleting it no matter what else you do.
regards

Similar Messages

Can i delete my iPhoto library (since I have Photos)?

Now that I've upgraded to Photos, can I delete my iPhoto library in User/Pictures? With Photos, it created a parallel (same size) Photos library next to my iPhoto library. Not sure I want two of the same photos on my HD and backups (since the size is considerable). It made my SugarSync go over its limit, for instance. I know that keeping the iPhoto library enables me to click on it specifically and open up the photos in iPhoto (instead of Photos). If I delete my iPhoto library, just keeping my new Photos library with the same photos and movies, will it be detrimental in any way to my seeing the photos in Photos? Does Photos have any dependence on the iPhoto library, or is the iPhoto library just an archive at this point? Thank you!

With Photos, it created a parallel (same size) Photos library next to my iPhoto library.
The size you are seeing in the Finder is misleading. The new Photos Library and the iPhoto Library are sharing the image files and each photo is stored only one, see: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support
Also: http://sixcolors.com/post/2015/02/the-hard-link-between-photos-and-iphoto/
You could delete the iPhoto Library and the Photos library will continue to work, but deleting the iPhoto Library will not free much disk space, because of the hard links from Photos. I would wait a bit, before taking this step and deleting the iPhoto Library. Check your photos library thoroughly, before you delete if.
If you should discover later, that the migration of your libraries has been faulty and you need to repeat it after repairing your libraries, you will be out of luck.
Remember, it is is just a few days after the first release of Photos as version 1.0. There are very likely some bugs and I would not burn all bridges before the library has been thoroughly tested and you are very confident, that this early Photos release is working well on your Mac.

If I use a backup machine that has a folder of my iphoto library, can I delete my Iphoto library without the machine updating and deleting the photos as well?

Hey everyone, I have a Lacie 1 TB back up machine that I use to backup every once in a while everything I have in my macbook pro.
I don't know if there's a difference between a hard disk in which you save whatever you want or a back up machine that backs up whatever you have in your computer once you connect it, so, My question is the following:
Having backed up my Iphoto (I checked if there's a folder in the machine with all my photos), can I now get rid of all my photos in the laptop so there's more space? If I delete my photos (in Iphoto), does the back up machine automatically update its folders and delete my saved iphoto contents as well?
Thank you!
I'm doing this because my laptop is running really slow lately and makes a lot of noise (like an airplane getting ready for take off) even though I've used it for a year.
I use a Macbook pro 15''
OS X Version 10.8.4
processor: 2.2 GHz intel core i7
Memory 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Startup disk : macintosh HD

Okay:
Except an arrow turning in circle near the ''wireless'' or ''sound'' symbols on the top of the screen. If I click on it, I see ''enter time machine'', ''back up now'', ''open time machine preferences''.
You're using Time Machine to back up to the External Disk.
Back to your first question:
Having backed up my Iphoto (I checked if there's a folder in the machine with all my photos), can I now get rid of all my photos in the laptop so there's more space?
No.
Time Machine keeps a rolling back up of your data. Eventually, anything you delete from your Mac will be deleted from iPhoto too.
If space is an issue then get another HD. They're not expensice and you can put your iPhoto Library on it.
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.
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.
Regards
TD

HT204476 Can I delete my iPhoto Library after migrating to Photos?

My iPhoto Library is about 450 GB in size. This morning I migrated it to Photos. After a reboot my Mac started complaining that I have no disk space left (I have a 1 TB drive in my MacBook Pro). It appears that the Photos migration process duplicated my iPhoto Library and I now have two photo libraries, each measuring 450 GB, based on looking at the Finder's Info windows for each library. But I understand there's some fancy, convoluted new file storage methodology being used with the new Photos library, so I'm not clear on precisely where my actual, precious photo files are.
My compulsion is to just delete the old iPhoto Library, since I've migrated to Photos and I won't be using iPhoto anymore. But there's this niggly feeling that Apple had made it more complicated than that, that I now must have an iPhoto Library and a Photos library taking up space on my hard drive and totally confusing my file management practices. I was hoping this transition would be easy, clear, and safe but Apple has made it complicated and worrisome for some reason.
Bottom line: can I delete my old iPhoto Library? Or would this be a catastrophic action?

I have the exactly the same problem. But when upgrading it created in total three libraries?!!!? This is very unlike Apple to do this. What to do?

I can not delete an iPhoto library album on iPhone 5

on my iPhone 5, in photos, I have under 3 albums, the Camera RollI with 2613 pix, an Photo Library folder with 522 pix and a Iphoto Library folder with 518 Pix. The contents of the Photo Library folder and Iphoto Library folders are almost identical except for 4 pictures. I would like to delete the entire two library folders on the phone to safes pace but do not know how to. There is no delete/waste basket button when I open any of the pictures in htese folders. Pictures from the camera roll folder have a delete/waste basketet button to delete any of picture, but not such button in the library folders. How do I get rid of pictures in these twolibrary folders?

the problem is that these two library folders do not show up in iphoto on the desk top when i sync the phone via cable connection. they are on my phone only. The pictures exist in iphoto on the desk top but the folders Iphoto library and Photo Library do not exisit in iPhoto on the desk top nor are they visible in Iphoto on the desk top when I sync the iphone via cable.

Imported iPhoto library, can I delete the iPhoto events?

Hi,
I'm very new to Aperture, so far I'm impressed.
I have imported my iPhoto library and now I see a folder called 'iPhoto Lirary' that contains 'Events' and then events (that look like Aperture projects).
The question is, can I delete the 'iPhoto Library' folder?
and also, can I, delete the Aperture projects without impacting the actual pictures?
Thanks!!

Gecko,
The library is the humongous collection of files and relationships between the files -- it is the Aperture database, stored in a Mac OS "Package". It's the thing you "open", like you open a document or spreadsheet to see what you've previously stored in it.
A Project is a logical group of photos within a library. Aperture allows you to create as many projects as you like within your library, and you can store as many photos as you like within each project (although some users here have found poor performance with 2000+ photos in a single project).
What I wasn't clear with was, are the photos stored in the library and files I see in a Project are 'sortcuts' to the photos in the library?
I suppose that depends on your point of view concerning referenced versus managed. I prefer to think that all my photos are part of the Aperture library, but only the managed masters are actually stored within the library. With that line of thinking, all of my photos in a project are the actual photos - some of them are stored within the library (managed) and some are stored outside (referenced). When I think of "shortcuts", I think of albums. Albums in Aperture are like playlists in iTunes. A photo lives in one project in your library, but you can point to that photo in a many different albums. Aperture doesn't take up extra space in each of the albums; rather it just points back to (is a short cut to) the photo in a project.
If I Import into a Project, are the photos stored in the Library?
You should make sure you read about masters versus versions. It's hard to talk about how Aperture works (with even an innocuous sounding question like yours) without understanding masters versus versions. Master photos are stored in the library package if they are managed; they are stored where you tell Aperture to store them if they are referenced. Versions aren't really stored anywhere -- they are virtual, merely a set of instructions on how to manipulate (adjust) a master. However, thumbnails and previews for all photos are stored within the library.
Aperture tries to minimize the necessity to know if your photos are references or managed -- it really should not matter since Aperture is keeping track of them all. With Aperture, that distinction between managed and referenced is relevant in only 2 conditions: only managed masters are backed up when you create a vault; and only masters which are immediately accessible can be edited with adjustments. For the latter, that means that 1) all managed photos, and 2) only referenced photos which are on a drive which is currently connected to your system, are available for adjustments.
nathan

Can I safely delete my iPhoto library?

As the subject says, is it safe to delete my 1.69gb iPhoto library file? I have all my pictures in various folders elsewhere. So my question is, if I delete this, it won't delete any of my pictures in those other folders.
I assume that an iPhoto library file is basically imported pictures copied into a self-contained file.

Deleting the iPhoto Library will delete just that, and not affect files in other locations.
Regards
TD

How can I access my iPhoto library folder?

My hard drive recently had to be replaced, and when they replaced it, they updated to OSx 10.9. I had not backed up my photos before my hard drive crashed, but they backed up all my files for me. I went to open my iphoto library from the backup files and as a new (to me) version of iphoto 11 opened, I got a message saying that it had to update the photos in my library in order for them to be compatible with this version of iPhoto and that after updating them, I'd no longer be able to read them on an older version of iphoto. I clicked ok. It only imported 9 photos (out of several thousand). I went to finder and tried to open the iphoto library folder (which contains the library file and the cache, etc.), but the folder will not open. Instead, when I click to open the library folder, it brings up iphoto, as though to indicate that my library is there. Did I somehow unknowingly overwrite my library or something?? Any ideas why I can't access my iphoto library? Are my photos gone?
I'm stupid so I don't have copies of the photos anywhere else. I don't have Time Machine or anything. Did I irreversibly screw up??

I didn't think to check what photos were there or what the library size was before trying to import at first. How do I restore my backup of the iphoto library? (sorry if that's a stupid question). I checked in the Masters folder and only saw a few of my photos (the same ones that were imported to iphoto).
I definitely know it was a mistake not to have a backup of the photos. It'll be the first thing I do if I can get them back. The mistake I was referring to in my initial post was clicking "ok" when it asked to update---but from what you're saying it sounds like that wouldn't have deleted anything.
I'm thinking maybe the backup is not complete (even though I asked the tech people 5 times if it was!), because I checked the imovie events folder, and it's also empty (and it definitely shouldn't be)! If this turns out to be the case, I may have to go back to the repair place to see if they can still pull files off.

Can I copy the iPhoto Library to a different user on the same computer?

I have spent a lot of time organizing my iPhoto library.
My wife also has a user account on the iMac. She would like the iPhoto library I currently have, but (for many reasons) we do not want to share the same library.
Another words, I want to copy my iPhoto library to her side, then both maintain independent libraries.
Can I copy the iPhoto Library icon (in the Pictures folder) on my side to the the shared folder, then delete and replace her iPhoto Library file with mine in her Pictures folder? Or is there something about how the library is set up that will cause problems if I copy my iPhoto Library to her side as well?
Thanks,
-Lee

TD,
Thanks. I deleted her iPhoto Library, and replaced it with mine. I did hold down option and command the first time I opened iPhoto as you suggested. However, it did not ask me anything. It just opened as I might normally expect it to.
The library works perfectly, it is definitely my library that copied over.
Should I be worried that it did not ask me anything (like about rebuilding or repairing library permissions)?
Thanks,
-Lee

Can I store my iPhoto library on an external hard drive?

My iPhoto library has become very large and I would like to tranfer it over to my hard drive.
Can I copy my iPhoto library over to the drive and then delete it from my system hard disk without loosing my photos? And, when I import photos, where will they be imported to?
Thanks a lot.

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.
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. - and this is where new additions to the Library wil go.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Help! I can't open my iphoto library

Hi, I've just had my hard disk upgraded and now I can't get my library to open. What shall I do?
Steve

Steven
Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and point it at this Library. If iPhoto sees a valid library there it will open it.
IF it doesn’t open it then you have a damaged database file:
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords 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.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD

Can't see my Iphoto Library

Just updated Iphoto. Now I can not see my Iphoto Library.

Restore from your back up.
For anythign else you need to explain more:
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.

I have deleted the iphoto library and lost my photo's......

i have deleted the iphoto library and cleared my trash and now all my photo's are gone. I have bought software to retrieve deleted data but not sure what file I am looking for. Can anybody help?

best solution is to restore yoru backup form before you made this error - that is the reason you must always have a good backup
If you don't you should start backing up immediately
to use the photos you recovered you look for photos (typically they have a .jpg or .jpeg extention to the name - and select the largest version of each photo and import it into iPhoto
Note that for not much more that the cost of the data recovery software you could have had an extrnal hard drive and been running TimeMachine so none of this would be required
LN

I can't get iphoto to launch anymore. Can't get into iphoto library either

We have iphoto 7.1.5. I can no longer get iphoto to open at all. It immediately tells me there was a problem launching the application. We recently added dropbox and I wonder if that is interfering in some way. In an effort to fix the problem, I disabled the automatic connection between dropbox and my computer (I think.) Also removed Mackeeper as mentioned in other posts. Any suggestions?

Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
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.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new iPhoto 08 library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.

Can I move the iPhoto library to my iDisk

- Can I move the iPhoto library to my iDisk and by doing so being able to share it between several computers (only one editing at the same time is OK.
Sharing means adding, editing, deleting ... photos.
- if yes can I use it with the local copy mode of iDisk?

I doubt very much that you'd be able to access the library at any speed fast enough to make it viable solution. iDisk access is way too slow to make using a library on it possible.
And if you did, using the local iDisk copy and then have another computer access the actual iDisk version would only mess up the library when they were synced because you can't just file sync libraries. There are database files whose contents must be updated and there are not syncing applications that can do that. It would be the kiss of death for the library.
If you want to share a library between multiple computers on a LAN add an external FW hard drive to one of the Macs and locate the library there as Apple suggests: iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users. Although written for uses on one computer it will work with multiple computers on a LAN that can log onto the host computer.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto 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), 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 08 libraries 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.

Can I delete my iphoto library?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for