How can I combine originals, modified, and data files?

Question

I just ran into a huge problem.
I have about 33,500 pictures, and my startup disk is beyond full.
I all of a sudden realized that I have three copies of every single picture I have. One in the modified folder, one in the originals folder, and another in the data folder.
I need to clear out space, but I don't want to go through and delete/save each and every single picture. I want to save one copy of each picture. I'd like the modified pictures to combine with the originals into the file group they were originally in.
I hope this makes sense, and I need help.
I need to delete some of these pictures but I don't want to have to do it one by one, and I don't want to delete entire folders. (e.g. I don't want to have to delete all my originals, modified, etc. etc.)
For future reference:
Is there anyway I can import pictures, edit them, and only have one copy of the edited picture? Do I have to then go in and delete the original every single time I do that?
S.O.S!
Please help!
thank you,
-A lost girl named Jenn from Michigan.

Answer 1

Jenn:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions and Go Blue! First, let me discuss free space on the boot drive. It's strongly recommended to have a minimum of 10 GB free space on your boot drive. This is important if you want optimal performance. One way to regain free space is to run Monolingual to remove the unneeded language modules. Just don't remove the English module (I also kept the American english module). I saved 2 GB the first time I ran it on my MacBook Pro (intel). Do not run any of the other options, particularly if you have an intel model.
Now, back to the library. Just getting of some photos may not be enough to give you sufficient free space but you can do some. Except for portrait photos that came from a camera with the auto-rotate option, you can get rid of all your modified files by doing a library wide Photos->Revert to Original. Those auto-rotated files will be recreated again.
If the budget permits, as external FW HD is a very cost effective insurance against losing those irreplaceable photos and other critical files. With an external HD you can create a second library on it and copy those photos you want to save but remove from your original library with iPhoto Library Manager like this.
Or, put those photos you want to remove from the library but not get rid of entirely in an album and burn them via the Share->Burn menu option. That will create a disk, CD or DVD, that can be mounted in iPHoto to view and/or copy back those that you might need at a later date.
Note: the demo video are for iPhoto 7 but is the same for iPhoto 6.
Do you Twango?
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 written 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. 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.