Export Pictures Folder or iPhoto library to an external drive.

Hi
I am unable to copy the Pictures folder to an external hard drive. I receive an error message saying there is insuffience disk space to perform this function.
I had a MacBook Air stolen and backed up to an old eMac which has proved useless. I now want to remove all 10 000 photos from the eMac and place them
onto an external drive.
I have read the posts from TD and fromedinborough about iphoto Library manager and sync. I am hoping to try something else please.
I will be most grateful for any help.

Drag and drop the IPhoto Library file from your Pictures folder onto the new drive. It will copy by default. Before you delete the original, double-click the library in its new location and iPhoto will launch. Doing it this way tells iPhoto to use this library in future. Make sure it works correctly (and that you have a backup elsewhere, of course) before deleting the original.
Matt

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I'm trying to transfer my pictures from my iPhoto library to my external hard drive. I dragged the iPhoto Library folder into the drive and after waiting a while it says Error Code -36. I need to free up space asap, what should i do?

I'm trying to transfer my pictures from my iPhoto library to my external hard drive. I dragged the iPhoto Library folder into the drive and after waiting a while it says "Error Code -36 The finder cannot complete the operation because some data in 'iPhoto Library' could not be read or written". I need to free up space asap, what should i do??

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

I want to copy my iPhoto library to an external drive but I cannot find the folder on my Mac Air. When I open Finder there is no Picture folder showing so I cannot find the iPhoto library.

I want to copy my iPhoto library to an external drive but I cannot find the folder on my Mac Air. When I open Finder there is no Picture folder showing so I cannot find the iPhoto library.

Choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu and provide ~/Pictures/ as the path. If that doesn't work, control-click a photo in iPhoto, show it in the Finder, and Command-click the folder's name in the window's title bar to find the path.
(112151)

What is the best way to copy my iphoto library to an external drive?

I want to free up space on the internal drive by copying the iphoto library to an external drive and then either deleting the library entirely from the internal and using the external as my working library or continuing to use the internal as my working library, but deleting lots of old pictures. I have TC and use TM for backups and have a Seagate HD that I want to use for extra storage. Thanks,

To move the 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.
To have two libraries:
1. Quit iPhoto.
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the external drive.
Now you have two full copies of the Library. To choose between them: Hold down the <b>option (or alt)</b> key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
3. On the +Internal+ Library, remove the pics you don't want with you all the time.
Now you have one full library on the external and another smaller sub-set on the Internal.
A couple of comments:
a. The external disk needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
b: When you're removing the unwanted pics from the Internal Library you need to delete them in batches of about 100 or so. Trashing more at one time can cause problems with the database.
c:
Managing Multiple Libraries - including moving pics/albums/rolls and metadata between them - is greatly facilitated by using
iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

I have Mavericks and I want to transfer my iPhoto library to an external drive

I have Mavericks and I want to transfer my iPhoto library to an external drive to free up a ton of space on my hard drive. Can't transfer the whole thing. It says part of it is being modified. When it started it said it would take 56 days also. Is there an easy way to transfer it? In older versions of iphoto It had a lot of folders in the pictures folder under users. I could transfer bit by bit each day if I wanted. Seems that there is only one gigantic iphoto Library now and I can't transfer the whole thing. Can you please help?

Hi Terence,
My OS version is Version 10.9 My iPhoto version is 9.5 (9027)
I was trying to bring it to my external drive that I use for placing random files (not a TimeMachine backup). It's a USB connection and it has a 2T storage capacity with plenty of room.
So I dragged it into the icon of the external drive and it "prepared" to transfer for a long time. Then at the end of that, it said it couldn't tramfer because part of it was being modified. (I can try it again to get the exact wording of this error message if you need it). Then I clicked ok, then there was a small window that looked like a small part of the iphoto library was transfered with the timeline there and the beginning portion blue with the rest of the line empty. At the right it said 56 days remaining. =) But that little window was frozen and wasn't doing anything. I tried it three times and it did the same thing each time exactly as I've described.
Thanks for your help!

How can I transfer my iPhoto library safely to external drive?

How do I transfer pictures from iPhoto library to external hard drive without losing information? What hard drive would work best for this? I have no more space available on iMac hard drive.

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

How do i manage 1 iphoto library on 2 external drives?

I'm trying to find the most efficient way to manage 1 iphoto library across 2 external drives. In case one of my external drives dies, I'll have a backup.
I know how to copy my iphoto library onto another drive, but my question is how to manage the 2 drives when i add photos/videos to them from my iphone.
Currently, I import photos/vids from iphone onto 1 drive. Then unmount the external drive and hook up another drive. I direct iphoto to use the new drive as it's library and then import the photos/vids again onto the second drive. I make sure the event is named the same, so I have the same iphoto setup across both drives. Then i delete the photos/vids from my iphone.
Is there a more efficient way to do this? Or software that can do this in one step?
Thanks in advance for any help!

You want to have a backup of your working library on your MacBook Pro on each of two external HDs, correct?
If yes then use a backup application like Synk or Synk Pro that can incrementally backup the library, i.e. copy only those new of modified files. If you go to MacUpdate.com and do a search for "backup" you'll get a list of potential candidates.
Then all you need to do is connect EHD#1 and run the backup app to update the library then connect EHD#2 and do the same. It only takes several seconds to make the incremental backup. Synk Pro can be configured to automically start the backup when the external drives are connected. I'm not sure but believe some of the other backup apps could do the same.
OT

Moving iphoto library to an external drive

i want to move my iphoto library to an external drive to free up space. i've copied my library to the new drive. i hold down the option key when launching iphoto and when i try to select the new librbary, iti isn't highlighted/clickable. any suggestions?

but when i hold option key, the only photo library that comes up is the one on my internal hard drive.
In that case try clicking on the Choose button, navigate to the USB drive and select the library there:
OT

I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

Exactly what did you do?
The correct steps are
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
My guess is that that you have not switched iphoto to use the external drive yet - opttion launch and select libary
LN

Moved my iphoto library to an external drive and now I can't import photos from my camera or iPhone - will only import previously impoted photos - why?

Anyone else had this problem? Anyone know how to fix it?
I haven't deleted my photos of my computer's hard drive yet so can go back to using that if it will fix my problem
Thanks

No that is not a problem and no one has reported it here
to change the library depress the option key and launch iPhoto and use the select library command - see if the behavior is the same on both frives
How did you move the iPhoto library to the external drive?
What format is the external drive?
LN

How do you get Photos to recognize the "old" iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

How do you get Photos to recognize the “old” iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

Launch Photos while holding down the alt/options key.
This will show the Library Chooser panel. Select the library on the external drive. Photos will create a Photos Library on the same drive.
Photos may not be able to open the library, however, if your external drive has an incompatible file system. It needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) and locally mounted, not a remotely mounted volume, as described here: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

Sorry folks, I did something bad, I was looking how to save my current iphoto library to my external drive and I hit a wrong button, lost my current iphoto and now have only the backed up version from 2007, Woops I never was the quick witted one... PLEASE

I switched my current iphoto library out for the saved one on my external drive by mistake. It said, Switch Libraries.... Do you want to switch the current iphoto library from AAA iphoto library (what I called the old one I guess - in my OWC) toOWC Mercury on-the-go and relaunch iphoto? cancel or relaunch
Sorry, I was looking for a way to save my current iphoto images to my hard drive. Yeah, I guess just drag something over right? Anyway, now I cannot retrieve my last 2 or 3 years of photos, Can You HELP me?
Mac os X version 10.6.8
2.66 GHz Intel core 2 Duo
etc

Depress the option key and launch iPhoto = use teh select library option and select the correct one
yes to move your library to an external drive
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

I have iPhoto 11 on my macbook. I want to export photos to another iPhoto library on an external hard drive. How can I do this.

I have run out of space on my internal hard drive on my macbook and I want to create another iPhoto library on an external hard drive using most of the photographs already on the hard drive.
I did this easily on an old G4 mac and an old version of iphoto. I simply imported the photographs from the library already on the hard drive to the new library I created on the external hard drive.
It does not seem to be possible to do the same thing using iPhoto 11.
I have no idea where to find the files on the mac to do it the more direct way by just importing the files.
Any ideas?

Here's one way to do what you want:
1. Quit iPhoto.
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the external drive.
Now you have two full copies of the Library. To choose between them: Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
3. On the Internal Library, remove the pics you don't want with you all the time.
Now you have one full library on the external and another smaller sub-set on the Internal.
A couple of comments:
a. The external disk needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
b: When you're removing the unwanted pics from the Internal Library you need to delete them in batches of about 100 or so. Trashing more at one time can cause problems with the database.
c: Managing Multiple Libraries - including moving pics/albums/rolls and metadata between them - is greatly facilitated by using iPhoto Library Manager

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

My pictures folder and iphoto library have disapeared

I recently came to use iphoto and got the message that it could not find the library. I did not create a new library for fear of overrighting something that may actually there. I did look at the iphoto discussions to get some help. As a result, I did search the MAC HD for the iphoto.db, jpg files, and various album names, but found nothing. I did notice however, that the pictures folder has disapearred. I checked out the trash, but nothing was there. I am not the only user of the computer (wife and kids use it as well) so someone may have inadvertantly deleted it. When I did search with I did notice a series of invisible files in the iphoto cashe. I do not know if they may contain any vestiges of my pictures.
Any thoughts suggestions?
Thanks

hi msl,
The search you did should find the iPhoto Library. The default location for the iPhoto Library is in the Pictures folders.
Are there any other Users on your computer that have their own Users folder?
I guess you don't see the Pictures folder in the sidebar of your finder window either.
That's a bummer!
Have you asked your family about this?
By the way, you can create a new library and it will not overwrite your other library. Just give the new library a different name or save it in a folder other than the Pictures folder.
Get back if you can think of anything else.
Lori

Export Pictures Folder or iPhoto library to an external drive.

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