Exporting iPhoto Library files to external HD

I'm running out of HD space on my MBPro. Exported large number of files from Library, which includes a lot of Nikon NEF files (RAW); however, my MBPro 150 GB HD, shows little change. I looked in Pictures/iPhoto Library, right-clicking on iPhoto Library to expose contents, and see the NEF files are still there.
What is best way of transferring all files out of iPhoto Library to an external drive?
Thanks

If you want a way to maintain the keywords, titles and comments on those photos and be abel to get them back into iPhoto easily put the photos you want to move into an album or a single event, select the album or event and use the Share->Burn menu option.
This will create a mini library on disk that can be mounted in iPhoto to view the photos and, if needed, copy them back into the library.
Or you can create a second library on the external HT and copy the photos (either in an album or event) to it from the working library with iPhoto Library Manager (which will maintain the keywords, titles, comments, etc.) and then delete the photos from the working library.
Happy New Year
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. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. 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's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Similar Messages

How to export iPhoto library to an external hard drive?

My mac is almost full. And iPhoto is the culprit. I want to move my iphoto's library to an external hard drive and thus eliviate my macs. The drive that will lodge iphotos labrary will be connected to my mac via firewire.
Thanks in advance for your wisdom.
evf

When you say "drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive", do you mean drop and drag the iPhoto applications icon from the task bar, to the external? I tried that and the mouse icon turned into the cloud, as if to delete iPhoto. I am sorry for my very novices skills. Can you please help?
No - "drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive" does not mean "drop and drag the iPhoto applications icon from the task bar, to the external"
It means exactly what it says - drag the "iPhoto Library" to the external drive - by default your iPhoto library is in the pictures folder -- the only thing you do with the iPhoto application is to "depress the option key and launch iPhoto then use the "select library" option to point to the new location on the 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

Moved iPhoto 11 library to external drive and have a iPhoto Library file left on desktop

Hello,
I have a blue file on my desktop labeled iPhoto Library, that appeared during the course of me moving my iPhoto Library ( iPhoto 11) to an external hard drive to make room on the internal disk, my attempts to reopen iPhoto on the internal disk, move selected photos from the iPhoto Library on the external drive over to the newly emptied iPhoto Library on my laptop.
The blue iPhoto Library file contains these items:
AlbumData.xml
AlbumData2.xml
iPhoto.ipspot
Questions: does this blue file belong somewhere or can I trash it?
This is what I did:
1. I opened Pictures, dragged the iPhoto Library from there to the external drive.
2. When I opened iPhoto on my MBP it said it needed a library to open with and the choices already in the box were:
iPhoto Library(default)
iPhoto Library
3. I chose "iPhoto Library" because I thought "(default)" meant restoring the original library.
4. iPhoto opened to the "get started with iPhoto" like a new install.
5.I moved (drag and drop ) some photos from the external drive back into the "empty" iPhoto Library. I tried to move a group of photos but I didn't know how to do it so ...
6. I took the iPhoto Library from the trash and put it back into the "empty" iPhoto Library.
7. I tried to delete all the photos except the ones I wanted to keep in the internal iPhoto Library. I couldn't do it so....
8. I closed iPhoto, went back into Pictures and trashed the internal iPhoto Library again.
9. Reopened iPhoto and it needed a library to open with and I think I clicked
iPhoto Library (default)
10. When I opened iPhoto this time, it was the "get started with iPhoto" but the original photo albums and labels listed but all empty.
That's what I remember so far.
Hope you can help.
Medusa59

It appears you created a new library. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and select "Choose Library".
Navigate to the library on the external hard drive and select it. Once you're satisfied that it's the one you want you can delete that folder from your desktop.
OT

I´ve moved the iphoto library to an external hard drive. Now I want to create space on my macbook by deleting the iphoto-files from the internal iphoto.. How do I do this?

My macbook has been telling me that it is running out of space. Therefore I moves the iphoto library to an extarnal hard drive. How do I free space on my macbook now? If I erase the files/library (I don´t now witch of them?) from the internal hard drive, will they still be there on the external one?

Moving iPhoto Library - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229. and http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506.
First, set up finder to show your external drive on the desktop. To do this, click finder in your dock, then click the word finder beside the apple. Select preferences. When the preferences window opens, select the "general" tab, and under "show these items on the desktop" ensure you check off "external disks"
Connect an external drive. You should see an icon appear on the desktop.
In order to move an iPhoto Library to this external drive, the drive must be formatted for a mac. To check the format of the drive, open up disk utility (applications / utilities). In the disk utility window, you will see the external drive on the left. Select it. Then go to the "erase" tab. This tab will show the current format of this drive. It must be "Mac OS Extended Journaled", or the iPhoto Library will not allow you to move it to that drive.
As long as it is formatted correctly, simply click finder in the dock and go into your pictures folder. Here you should see your iPhoto Library. Simply drag the Library to the external drives icon on the desktop. This will start to copy. It may take some time to copy the library to the drive.
Once the copy is finished, you can then drag the iPhoto Library in the pictures folder, to the trash.

IPhoto Library file partially copied to an external drive

Hi,
I tried to copy my iPhoto Library file to an external drive. The file is about 8GB and when I copied the file to the external drive, it stopped copying up to 277MB. The message from the finder indicates that the "operation can't be completed because an item with the name "iPhoto Library" already exists. I deleted the file from my external drive and empty trash so the file shouldn't be there. I also created a new folder for the destination and still the same problem. It stops copying up to 277MB. Very strange. Now I can't backup this file.
Thanks for your help.

Was having the same issue. Noticed that Time Machine was running. Stopped that and I was able to copy the file over. Another suggestion that I saw was in the link below.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10132724&#10132724

Trying to make a iPhoto Library on my external hard drive but I get "the library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported.

Trying to make a iPhoto Library on my external hard drive but I get "the library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported." I reformatted my hard drive to ExFAT because I want to be able to use it on PC and MAC.
iOS: 10.10.1
Mac Book Air
External: WD 500 GB recently reformatted (no files on it currently)

The iPhoto library must only be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) - it can not be on any other format drive
LN

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

Try to export iphoto library to external hard drive

Good day all
I try to my hard drive is getting full. I try to export my iphoto library but i made a mistake. when i open i photo none of the thumbtab shows up. I would have to go into the library folder to get the picture. I have not delete the orginal photos from the mac hard drive. (iphoto6)

I moved my iPhoto library to an external disk without any problem.
I copied the iPhoto Library to the external disk. Then I started iPhoto with the Option key depressed and pointed iPhoto at the Library on the external disk. Once I was sure iPhoto was working with the Library on the external disk and only then did I delete the original Library.
Allan

Exporting iPhoto library as a regular folder to be opened on PC

Hi everyone!
I am wondering how to export iPhoto library to external drive as a normal folder with jpeg files to be opened also on PC (no iPhoto app). Do you have any ideas?
Cheers!

If you export with Kind=Original you retain your Created date, Modified date, Latitude and Longitude. You lose all edits and a Description field.
That's what the Original means. No added metadata, no edits.
If you export with Kind=jpeg the Created and Modified dates are set to the export date, you lose the location data, but you retain a Description field.
The Created and Modified dates are correct for that file. There are two kinds of metadata involved when you consider jpeg or other image file.
One is the file data. This is what the Finder shows. This tells you nothing about the contents of the file, just the File itself.
The problem with File metadata is that it can easily change as the file is moved from place to place or exported, e-mailed, uploaded etc.
Photographs have also got both Exif and IPTC metadata. The date and time that your camera snapped the Photograph is recorded in the Exif metadata. Regardless if what the file date says, this is the actual time recorded by the camera.
Photo applications like iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom, Picasa, Photoshop etc get their date and time from the Exif metadata.
When you export from iPhoto to the Finder new file is created containing your Photo (and its Exif). The File date is - quite accurately - reported as the date of Export.
However, the Photo Date doesn't change.
The problem is that the Finder doesn't work with Exif.
So, your photo has the correct date, and so does the file, but they are different things. To sort on the Photo date you'll need to use a photo app.
Also you don't lose any metadata - including the location material - if you choose the correct export settings
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.
You can check this by taking one picture and export it both ways to your desktop and check the Get Info fields.
The Get Info facility in the Finder refers only to File Metadata and not to the Photo metadata at all.

Trouble exporting iphoto library....PLEASE HELP

I'm exporting my massive 6,000 + pictures to my flash drive but only transfers half... Then I did a folder for each event and it transfers but when I open the file on the flash drive it says " the file jpg could not be open" please help

What you just described, is not exporting the "iPhoto Library" file. Just to clairify, you start by selecting one of your "events", then exporting it out to a folder on an external drive. Is that correct?

Restored from Time Machine but iPhoto library file corrupted

iMac OSX 10.9.4 crashed mid-use. Would not chime let alone re-start. Restored successfully from Time Machine and apart from Mail sending (hopefully) a few up to four year old emails again, it seemed fine. However, apart from one or two images, iPhoto (9.5.1) library was not visible in its location on an external hard drive. Inspecting Package Contents revealed that the size seemed right and the masters were present so I used Photo Library First Aid (Command Option start) to Repair Permissions and then again to Repair Database. All images and events now ok, as I believe are the locations, but the previously identified Faces are all missing. Is there a way to recover these?
I do have a separate Carbon Copy Cloner back up from the iPhoto external hard drive to another external hard drive and before, throughout and after the iMac crash, this back up process continued to operate normally. So I could try and re-store the iPhoto library from a CCC back. I just wondered if anyone knew another way that I could just repair the Faces part as the rest seems ok now.

Hi Mr D
Still wading through treacle!
I recall I used iPhoto Library Manager and then selected largest file size and most metadata to merge the two libraries. Still not perfect but images are there even if a few face thumbnails are absent.
Using SMART Utility I checked to see what was going on with hard drives as a CCC back up reported some deep system files were on an unreadable block. I should have replaced them from CCC but there were only a few and they were so unusual I hesitated. Whilst searching which replacement hard drive I could fit and whether I could fit it myself, iMac crashed again so another restore from TM. (According to SU my hard drive is failing as it has 6 re-allocated blocks and 1 event error). Back up and restored, I now see that various movies in iMovie '09 cannot access the source files as they are not in the original location. This I think is more to do with me relocating my iPhoto library for space reasons to an external hard drive rather than the crashes and re-builds. I hadn't realised the distinction between imported movies into iMovie '09 (from a movie camera say) and those from iPhoto (from an iPhone say) and what would happen if, for space reasons, I moved the iPhoto library to an external hard drive. Yes, I know now I should have consolidated the movies. There are occasions when a small user guide might help! Also the new iMovie '10 library, which runs as an alternative alongside iMovie '09, is happily located on the external hard drive whereas the iMovie '09 library sits on the iMac's hard drive.. All the still images are ok in all the movies in iMovie '09 (even having moved?) its just the .avi files that it cannot locate. Simples, I thought. I created a folder in iPhoto '09 with all the iPhoto avi files and thought if I exported them and then imported them into a new library in the location (my iMac user pictures folder) it would then be able to 'see' them. Problem is in the iPhoto '09 library on the external hard drive I have many more folders than in the newly created iMovie '09 library on the iMac hard drive. iMovie '09 is looking for /Users/'me'/Pictures/iPhoto library/Originals/'movie file title'/'file name'.avi but the 'Originals' folder is in fact just an alias to point to an adjacent folder in the iMovie library package called 'Masters' and in the new library I only have 'Masters' and not an alias 'Originals' folder.
So iMovie '09 still cannot 'see' the .avi files even though they are now (almost) in the right location on the correct drive (the iMac) as I don't have an 'Originals' folder in this library whereas the legacy library does. Can I get around this? Why does one library have a 'Masters' folder as well as an 'Originals' and 'Modified' aliases and the new library only 'Masters'? As I cannot re-point iMovie I need to have an 'Originals' alias pointing at 'Masters' for this to possibly work. My plan was to resolve the project issues once the files were all accessible in the correct place and then consolidate and move the iMovie '09 library as a working entity to the external hard drive where there is space.
The second issue is that of the c600 .avi files I exported (all of which function in the library from whence they were exported), 129 will not import into the new '09 library I have created on my iMac hard drive. This is odd as they are visible and play in their source library but refuse to be imported into the new one made with the same application. Other than a couple of the ones that do import showing a format in QT as 16 bit little-endian signed integer 44100Hz as opposed to 8 bit unsigend integer 16000HGz for one that didn't, I am at a loss to understand what the new library objects to.
I have now isolated all the exported .avi files that will not import into a folder pending someone hopefully providing a answer....

Exporting iPhoto library

I have exported my iPhoto library to an external hard drive which is formatted MS-DOS (FAT). So far as I can tell, it is all working fine. Have I missed something? I have read posts which say that the drive must be journaled for iPhoto to work properly and do not want to continue working the way I have if I am storting up issues for the future.
Many thanks.

I have exported my iPhoto library to an external hard drive which is formatted MS-DOS (FAT).
What do you mean by "exported my iPhoto Library" ? Have you copied it to the external drive? And what is your iPhoto version?
The iPhoto User Manual does not say so, but I would refrain from using drives not formatted Mac OS X with a Photo Library - you are risking to corrupt the library and to lose images.
Aperture and iPhoto share a unified library format - each application can read and write the others libraries, and for Aperture it is clearly stated in Apple's support articles, that the library needs to be on a locally connected volume, formatted Mac OS X extended (journaled). IT is reasonable to assume that the same goes for iPhoto.
Other disk formats may cause iPhoto to lose the reference to the original image files because of imconsistencies between image file names.
Regards
Léonie

I upgraded MacbookPro 2009 from 10.6.8 to Yosemite. Beforehand I made a backup copy of my Iphoto library onto an external hard drive. Lets call it BU. I also deleted half of my photos from the default library on my laptop, lets call it DE. I then in

I upgraded MacbookPro 2009 from 10.6.8 to Yosemite 2 weeks ago. My iphoto is now a nightmare. i went to our local apple retailer but they could not help either. Perhaps someone can help. Beforehand the OS upgrade I made a backup copy of my Iphoto library onto an external hard drive. Lets call it BU with 50GB. I also deleted half of my photos from the default library on my laptop, lets call it DE, now with about 20GB, to gain space. I then upgraded to Yosemite.
I have also installed since a long time Iphoto Library Manager 3.8.6. (this may be the cause of the problem as it was not upgraded and perhaps thus not compatible with iphoto 9.6 which I have now after the upgrade to Yosemite) It all worked fine before the upgrade, switching in iphoto between the two libraries DE and BU.
It also worked fine after the upgrade for a few days. At one stage Iphoto asked me to upgrade the iphoto version as it otherwise could not read the photos when I tried to load the BU library into iphoto. I did click yes to upgrade iphoto. As a result I became a brand new but totally empty library, no photos.
BU was still on the external disc, however the "Master" file was empty. We fortunately discovered all photos were in another file called Old Master, also under BU. We made another copy of the Old Master file onto the external disc. Lucky we did, because shortly afterwards we could not open anymore the BU file thus had no access to anything in there. Now I have 17000 photos in a file called Old Master on my external disc and another smaller library DE on my laptop. When I tried to import the photos from Old Master into a new iphoto library it was very messy. All events dates were mixed up, many photos were imported twice. I have no idea whether all my 17000 photos have been imported.
Can anyone suggest what is the most time efficient way? How do I best import my 17000 into a new library ensuring I don't loose any in the process. I do not wish sorting through 17000 photos for a week or so. Shall i also get a new iphoto library version now? Thank you for anything that may work.

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?

Issues with using my iPhoto library on my external hard drive. Very slow to open and pictures disappear in thumbnail view.

I have recently transferred my iPhoto Library to my external hard drive (WD MyBook Live) and have some questions. Since I have done this and used the "alt + option" to select it as my default library I have been having some issues. When using the library on the external drive as my default drive it takes a very long time to load compared to when it was on my macbook's hard drive. Is this normal? Also, once it does load the thumbnails are only viewable when scrolling quickly through the photos and they are very blurry. However, if I were to select one randomly (because of this problem I have no way of knowing which one I'm selecting) it brings it up in the edit view and it is a crystal clear picture.
Is there a way to fix these issues? I'd love to be able to use the iPhoto Library off the external drive to free up space on my macbook but if it isn't going to work as streamlined as it would on my macbook hard drive. I have not yet deleted the original iPhoto Library from my macbook because I did not want to do so until I knew the new iPhoto library on the external drive was working properly. Does this make a difference?
Please help!

The problem lies with occasional dropouts that can corrupt the library's database files if they are being written to as the time of dropout. It's the nature of wireless networks. If you have a very strong signal throughout and are willing to take a chance then go for it.
But as for the speed, it must be iPhoto 11 and it's complexity causing the slowness. I had tried using a library on an EHD connected to my iMac from my laptop wirelessly with iPhoto 7 or 8 and it was pretty fast. I think it was 7 before faces and places came into being.
Send a feature request to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html to improve wireless performance, etc.
OT

Exporting iPhoto Library files to external HD

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