Cleaning up iPhoto Library "package"

I've been using iPhoto, probably since it first came out, and the iPhoto Library seems to have some legacy folders and files and it. I'd like to clean it up as much as possible. Which files and folders should I keep?
Thanks,
Tony

Well the bad permissions were 777 when I think they should be 755. Anyway, as I said, I ended up restoring an old version and the permissions in the backup were 777, but when I restored them they were 755, which is weird, but is also exactly what I wanted.
Also, I understand that many of the files in the package are important (although a lot of them have also been deprecated in previous versions and have been renamed to other things). The only item I deleted was the "2006" folder, which has no contents (besides .DS_Store), its total size was 8 kb, and it was created in March 2006 and last modified in May 2006. I don't plan on touching the package anymore. I am still also able to open iPhoto, see that my thousands of photos are in there, and was able to transfer them to my iPod just now as well. I assume this means the database still works, and hopefully it won't die on my in the near future after what I did to it, although I don't think it will.

Similar Messages

Can't Import iPhoto Library "package" into Aperture 3

Hi there, I've recently made a backup of all my data and did a clean reinstall of Lion, so the problem is that I won't be using my iLife 11 Suite, so as for my photos I want to take advantage of my recently purchased copy of Aperture 3 but when I ever try to import my iPhoto Library Package, it won't let me, this message pops:
Invalid iPhoto Library
Importing libraries from versions earlier than iPhoto 7.1.5 is not supported. Please upgrade your iPhoto library with iPhoto 7.1.5 or later.
So, searched into some discussions and realize I had to upgrade or restore my library using iPhoto.
Is there any other way to get all my photos and videos in that package, into my aperture library?
One thing to consider is that I can right-click this package and open its contents and then I can get individual files and view everything, but since there's this function for importing all of the library, I would really love to do it this way, not individually.
NEED HELP PLEASE!

Ii you are sure that all of your iPhoto images have been transferred safely, you can remove the you iPhoto Library from your system drive. But keep a backup copy of it on an external drive or thumbsdrive- sometimes you'll notice only later that some images could not be imported properly because of some corruption in the iPhoto library, and then it will be very helpful to still be able to open your old iPhoto Library.
Regards
Léonie

Can the iPhoto Library package file be recreated?

I recently moved my iPhoto library to a new LaCie solid state external hard drive, because it had reached 130GB in size and was taking up too much space on my hard drive. My iPhoto library has 30,000 photos with lots of events, smart albums and metadata (faces, keywords, etc.). Unfortunately the external hard drive failed and I had to pay for data recovery services. When I got the external hard drive back, the Masters folders were all there with my photos, but the iPhoto Library package file seems to be missing. Is there anyway to recreate the iPhoto Library package to include all the files AND the associated metadata?
I found instructions on how to start from scratch by importing the Masters...but this method does not retain metadata. Any ideas would be really appreciated. Worst case scenario, I can go back to a Time Machine back-up from June 2014 and use that as a starting point, but I'd much rather not have to take that route.

but the iPhoto Library package file seems to be missing.
You cannot recreate the iphoto library package from your Masters folder. It is an intricate web of linked files. Use your most recent backup as a starting point, and then add the newer files from your recovered Masters folder.

Determining folder sizes inside iPhoto Library Package, eg Originals/2009

In iPhoto '09 is it possible to determine (in an automated fashion) the size of the folders inside the Originals folder inside the iPhoto Library Package.
I'm working on a MacBook Pro with limited space so I wanted to identify the folders that are taking up the most space and try to remove them.
Specifically, I'm looking at the following location:
Originals/2008/...
Originals/2009/...
Those seem to be the largest folders, so removing some of the largest ones will really help for a trip I have coming up.
Thanks for the insights.

Thanks for the info on DiskInventoryX. Unfortunately it cannot look inside of the iPhoto Library Package, so I guess I need to keep looking into the true format of a package... Is a package similar to a tgz file?
It is unfortunate that the Mac doesn't automatically list the size of the contents of folders in the finder. Having that information listed in the finder would be very beneficial...
Since it sounds like iPhoto is so sensitive about folder structure modifications and does not have the ability to adapt to changes, I may need to look into another program that is a bit more forgiving for working with large numbers of photographs that are only temporarily on the MacBook Pro before being moved over to the Desktop. My workflow requires that most photos and videos are temporarily stored and worked on the MacBook Pro and then (a few weeks over) moved off and over to a desktop for permanent storage and further editing.
Thanks again for all the thoughts and insights, as it is much appreciated...

IPhoto '08 - can I browse "iPhoto Library" package with Terminal?

I have a need to access via Terminal the files and subfolders of the "iPhoto Library." As we know well, Apple made the iPhoto '08 library into a "package." I can right-click on the package, select "show package contents" and then browse via Finder as normal. Can I do the same in Terminal? I try to open the iPhoto Library package and I get an error that it is not a folder. Is there a command to open Apple package files?

In the Terminal, enter 'cd' without the quote marks, type a space, and then drag the package into the Terminal window.
(23659)

How do I clean-up iPhoto library in iMovie '08 and make my new ones appear?

I'm a graphic designer and I use Adobe Bridge to add metadata (keywords) to my pictures so they're searchable on the Internet - not just iPhoto (and iLife?) and after transferring all the image files from iPhoto onto my Time Capsule (external hard-drive) and deleting the Photo Albums from iPhoto, I created a new Album to import still frames/images to use in my new iMovie project. I cleaned out (emptied) my iPhoto trash to help free-up space on my hard-drive, too.
The problem I'm having is that my iPhoto library as viewed from iMovie - still shows all the old photo albums that I've already deleted and the new .PNG I imported doesn't appear; however, the old .JPG files I once had still appear with exclamation marks as the thumbnail images and I can't select or delete them. When I right-click on the iPhoto photo albums library within iMovie, I only get the option to open in iPhoto. I imagine there is some back door manipulation required to fix this. The iMovie and iPhoto software came pre-installed in my computer and I'm not so sure that re-formatting my computer with the start-up disc is the safe or correct answer.
I've been researching the iMovie forum to see if there is a file I should be able to access to fix a Cache file somewhere; however, I couldn't find any .xml files, cache files, or anything anywhere yet. Thanks in advance to anyone willing and able to share some knowledge. I look forward to resolving this troubling experience. My final goal is to use the .PNG file (which contains transparent data, unlike .JPG files which fill transparent data with white pixels) as a frame image if not as a floating graphic (i.e. picture-in-picture).

Sean in the iMovie technical support area (thanks to my lovely Apple Care plan purchase) answered my question about how to delete the iPhoto library, which I no longer use (because I use Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS3 to browse my photos and update their Metadata to make the images searchable not only on my computer, but others who don't have iPhoto, or iLife as well; even PC users and Internet search engines - when the images are uploaded as-is - without compression and changes that occur when uploaded to image hosts such as Photobucket.com, etc.):
Go to: *Finder >* (click on) *Pictures >* (and on the right, see iPhoto Library, Aperture, etc.? Select those files and...) *Move to Trash*
Now when you look at the Photos Browser in iMovie (⌘2) the folder, files, blank thumbnails and junk are (thankfully) gone!
As for using images located elsewhere for use in iMovie - I just have to locate them via the Finder, then select the file, then drag-and-drop the image for immediate placement into the part of My Project where I want to use the image and repeat this method for each incidence I want the graphic to appear.
Unfortunately, I must upgrade to iMovie '09 if I want to be able to take advantage of the Picture-in-Picture feature, which would enable me to place a logo or image graphic in a video project while other parts of the production are playing, but I can still use the title feature to embed text information such as a business name and phone number or (website) URL pertaining to the project as a surrogate stamp, watermark, or creative signature, but no other graphic image files may be used here.

Best workflow for cleaning up iPhoto library?

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a workflow to clean up a large iPhoto library. Up until now, I have kept every photo I took. Now I want to go through and trim it down to the best photos. I know iPhoto can "hide" photos, but I want to delete them to reduce space, and make it easier to go through my "faces" and "places" updates. I was thinking of adding a "deleteme" tag to the ones I want to trash, then creating a smart album to collect them. Any other ideas?
Thanks!

Personally I prefer going through and dragging the unwanted photos to the trash doing it in one step rather than making it a two step process
You could do it with key words -- or flagging photos and then creating an event from flagged photos and deleting that event.
Remember to empty the iPhoto trash every 100 or so photos - if you get too many n the trash it will not empty
LN

Freeing memory space by cleaning up iPhoto library

I would like to free some space from my macbook so I plan to transfer the photo files generated by iPhoto to an external drive. how do i do it? will removing the photos from the iphoto library affect its performance?

Are you running a Managed or a Referenced Library?
A Managed Library, is the default setting, and iPhoto copies files into the iPhoto Library when Importing. The files are then stored in the Library package
A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing because you made a change at iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced. The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.
If you're running an Managed Library:
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

IPhoto Library package HUGE!

Hi, I'm new with iPhoto, I've install the 09 version but I already have my pictures organized and want to keep it that way on my external hard drive so I didn't select the copy option in the advanced preferences panel. When I finished the import of my 137Gb picture collection The size of the iPhoto library was 52Gb!!!! I think it too big. Am I right? Is it supposed to be THAT big (almost half of the original folder)?
If there is any way I can minimized the size of this library please let me know... maybe I'm doing something wrong when importing...
Thanks, nae

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
This sounds too big all right. Do you have many photos that have auto-rotate flags?
When you use a Referenced Library, iPhoto creates an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file. It will still create a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder. So if you have many auto-rated photos that will cause this issue.
Can I caution you strongly about the dangers of running a Referenced Library when the Library is on your Internal and the Files are on an External.
If you lose the link between the alias in the Package and the File on the external the only way to correct this is to re-link each alias one by one.
You can quickly recreate your current structure in iPhoto. Simply start at the bottom of your hierarchy and drag a folder of images to the iPhoto Source Pane (that’s the left hand pane) and iPhoto will create an Album of these pics. You can then create the enclosing folders in iPhoto (File -> New Folder and drag the album to it.
Mind you, if your folder hierarchy is based on date then that’s rather pointless with the Calendar tool in iPhoto and date based Smart Albums.
Some general comments on running a Referenced Library
There are a number of potential pitfalls using this system.
1. Import and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
Always allowing for personal preference, I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers.
If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library as an entity from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
If you're concerned about accessing the files, there are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 Only*
You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Apple-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and 10.5* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
Regards
TD

IPhoto Library package changes

Time Machine looks for files that have changed since the last backup. Since the iPhoto Library file is a package, does adding, deleting, renaming or editing a single photo result in Time Machine creating a backup of the complete package or just the files and folders within the package that changed? Or does the package just act like a folder?

Just the changes.
When you update an application (also a package), only the changes are backed-up.
Do note, however, that if iPhoto is open when a backup is running, the changes may not get backed-up: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116
It will "catch up" on the next backup when iPhoto isn't open.

IPhoto Library package deleted

Mac; OSXYosemite 10.10.13. Didn't realize this until my college son was home, asking where are all the pictures, he couldn't find on iPhoto. I showed him i saved them on a drive in different file folders, a few months ago...maybe in March 2015. When we opened those folders, the pictures looked lighter, and not all my pictures were there. He was looking for the iPhoto Library. Couldn't find it, anywhere. When I moved my pictures over, I also deleted everything I thought I didn't need..... then...I deleted the trash....

Thanks for sharing this example of why everyone must always have a good backup and anytime you move things around you just verify each step before going to the next one - sorry about your photos but thanks again for sharing and hopefully saving others from losing their photos
LN

Cleaning up iPhoto Library folder?

Once I learned the hard way not to "move, delete, rename, or otherwise tamper with files or folders in the iPhoto Library folder" in the case of photos I wanted to keep in iPhoto, but what about the pics I've long ago deleted and now just want to go away?
I've recently come across a bunch of old images in this folder that I trashed through iPhoto, but they're still hanging around in the folder taking up space. Can I delete them through the folder? Or will this mess with the current pictures in iPhoto? Does anyone know?
Thanks!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

If you've trashed them from inside iPhoto, you're probably OK. However...
My suggestion is to use the Finder to duplicate the existing iPhoto Library folder. Call the dupe "Backup" or some other clever name. Trash these photos from your original library folder and then open it using iPhoto. Check it out as much as you feel is necessary to build your comfort level. If all is OK, trash "Backup." If any problems, trash the original and rename "Backup" appropriately.

Pictures missing, but are inside iphoto library package

I have all my photo's on an external drive. My pictures where imported and showing up in iphoto, but it crashed and now some photo's are missing. Using finder I can see them, but they don't show. What can I do to make them show up. I tried a repair but that didn't seem to work.
Thanks
Robert

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 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, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

Use Automator/AppleScript to clean iPhoto Library

Hello,
Having read a lot of posts about the use of AppleScript and Automator to do things with iPhoto, I think it's possible to create a script or a processus to clean the iPhoto Library (let say, a copy of it) to eliminate "zombie files" (photos which have not been deleted of the iPhoto Library when emptying the iPhoto trash).
The script should simply verify, for each file in the "master" folder, il the path of this file is known in the iPhoto database (the data base is in the "AlbumData.xml" file). If it is, the file is kept. It it's not, the file is moved to trash (or to a temporary folder).
Should anyone create this script ? I should try, but I would need two weeks to do it correctly, and I'm sure someone can do it in 5 minutes... Some help here ? Thanks !

Hi,
Try this AppleScript:
repeat
    set r to (choose file with prompt "Select an iPhoto Library package" default location (path to pictures folder)) as string
    try
        (r & "AlbumData.xml") as alias
        (r & "Masters") as alias
        (r & "Previews") as alias
        exit repeat
    on error
        activate
        display dialog "This package does not contains \"AlbumData.xml\" file or the \"Masters\" folder or the \"Previews\" folder." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
    end try
end repeat
set iPhoto_Library to quoted form of POSIX path of r
set AlbDataXML to quoted form of POSIX path of (r & "AlbumData.xml")
tell application "Finder"
    set newFolder to (make new folder) as string
    set dest to (make new folder at folder newFolder with properties {name:"Images qui ne sont pas dans AlbumDataXML"}) as string
end tell
set destF to quoted form of POSIX path of dest
set file1 to quoted form of POSIX path of (newFolder & "filesPath.txt")
set file2 to quoted form of POSIX path of (newFolder & "PhotosDataPath.txt")
do shell script "dest=" & destF & "; tFile=" & file1 & "; tFile2=" & file2 & "; iPhotoLib=" & iPhoto_Library & ";
grep -A1 '\$\\<key>OriginalPath<\\|\\<key>ImagePath<\$' " & AlbDataXML & " | sed -n '/<string>/s/^.*<string>\$.*\$<\\/string>$/\\1/p' | sort -o \"$tFile2\"
find \"$iPhotoLib\"Masters -type f \\! -name '.*' >\"$tFile\"
find \"$iPhotoLib\"Previews -type f \\! -name '.*' >>\"$tFile\"
sort -o \"$tFile\" \"$tFile\"
diff -ab \"$tFile2\" \"$tFile\" | sed -n '/> /s/^> //p' | while read f; do
   name=${f##*/}
   if [ -e \"$dest$name\" ];then
        i=1
        while [ -e \"$dest$name $i\" ];do
            ((i++))
        done
        name=\"$name $i\"
   fi
   /bin/mv -f \"$f\" \"$dest$name\"
done"
tell application "Finder"
    activate
    reveal folder dest -- select the folder which contains moved files
end tell
This script move every files in the ("Masters" and "Previews") folders which it's path is not in the "AlbumData.xml" file to a new folder on the desktop.
The grep command get all path in "AlbumData.xml" from the (OriginalPath and ImagePath) keys and put the result in file2.
The find command get all file's path in the ("Masters" and "Previews") folders and put the result in file1.
The diff and sed command get all file path in text file1 which is not in text file2
Before moving file:
This script check name of the file to not overwrite any file in the destination folder.
If a name already exist in the destination folder, the script add a space and a number to the end of the filename.

IPhoto Library is a Package / Missing Pictures

Hello,
I migrated my data from my old Mac to my new one and iPhoto doesn't seem to work anymore. When I open it, it says the library should be upgraded and when I click, "upgrade", iPhoto closes.
My iPhoto library is now a package; when I try to open it, it opens Terminal, with the message
MacBook albertine: albertine (some other signs I don't know how to type, but you get the gist)
I downloaded iPhoto library manager and I can see all my files but many of them appear as white pages - if I click on them, I get the name, the info, the size, but when I open them with preview I get a blank sign and the name is always "missing.tiff". I tried to rebuild the library with Manager, but there are still entire albums and the pictures they contained that are missing.
I also downloaded iPhoto Library upgrader and it says my library doesn't need to be upgraded - I cannot open it with upgrader anyway.
If anyone has any suggestion, that'd be grand

The following will create a library with all of the orignial files that are in the Masters/Originals folder of your library. You can then compare the number of photos and photos themselves to see if this new library has all your photos:
Starting over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Open the library package like this.
2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.
This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

Cleaning up iPhoto Library "package"

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