How do i keep iphoto library on external hard drive?

i have too many photos / video clips for my imac's internal hard drive, so would like to keep the library on a lacie fire wire drive that i have connected to my computer. is there a way that i can refer iphoto to this external library, so that all new photos / videos are automatically transfered to the external drive? thanks!
-vince

vincas:
Yes. Just copy your iPhoto Library folder from your Pictures folder to your external HD and then delete the copy that's on your boot drive. Be sure the external is formatted for OS X Extended and you have Ownership and Permissions turned off. Then the next time you launch iPhoto it will ask you to either create a new library or find an old one. Select find, navigate to the external and select the folder there. That's it.
There's a new twist you can do with V6. You can opt to not copy files into your library but just use alias files. That way you can have your source files on the external in the folder system of your choice and your library on your boot drive. A bonus is that if the external is dismounted you will still be able to access the library's thumbnails, create and move albums. But you won't be able to edit or use books, calendars or slideshows. Once the external is remounted you're good to go in full mode. That way you can take your library with you on your PB and have some usability of it.

Similar Messages

How do I transfer iphoto library to external hard drive keeping events intact?

Had a one to one session but forgot how to do this. I would like to transfer my iphoto library to an external hard drive keeping the folders and events intact. I figured out how to send all my photos to the hard drive but they all transfer in single images, if that makes sense, and then i have to go thru all of the 15,000 images by hand and sort them into folders. Ahhhhhhh!
When they showed me how to do this at apple I am able to open my external hard drive and see a folder labled 'iphotolibrary" and I am able to click it open and then all my events show up just like in iphoto library.
Also does your iphoto library "Trash" take up space on your HD? Forgve me if thats a dumb question but I am kind of a computer "dummy".
thanks so much. My hard drive has VERY little space left on it so I need to transfer ASAP.

I just posted this to another topic, but it applies here as well. Hopefully there's no prohibition on cross-posting on this board, my apologies to all if there is:
"I haven't read the whole thread, so someone could have already mentioned this, but I did the same thing, move my music library to an external drive. The Help articles are helpful, but only up to a point. When that didn't work, I called up AppleCare support up, and they took me through all the standard steps, and got stumped at the same point I did. Finally she suggested trying something, and that ended up doing the trick. So here in brief is what you do:
1) Copy over your "iTunes Music" folder to the external hard drive
2) Go into Advanced preferences to have iTunes look for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. If you're like me, your music won't appear in the Library.
3) In iTunes, go to the Library window (which is probably blank), then in a Finder window, find the icon for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. Drag that icon onto the Library window.
You should now see a progress window pop up showing all the songs that it's populating the Library window with."
20" Intel iMac 14" iBook G4, 233 MHz Beige G3 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

How to export entire iPhoto library to external hard drive

i am trying to move my library to an external drive and have followed these & similar instructions: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1256384
when it comes to the step of opening iphoto & choosing a library i select the one i dragged to my external drive & iphoto remains empty. why is this happening? i have followed it step by step several times. i've even had a friend help who has done it before & still no photos show up.

You must be doing something incorrectly since this works fine
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

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

That code is
-36
ioErr
I/O error (bummers)
Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk. If that fails to help I'd try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

Iphoto library on external hard drive now does not show all the photos when i access it from macbook

i backed up iphoto library to an external hard drive. Deleted photo library on the macbook. After transferring some new photos to macbook from a camera, when i access the iphoto library on external hard drive only the new photos show up. Originals are still in files, but don't appear when opening iphoto library on external hard drive.

Make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (Control-click on the library and select Duplicate from the contextual menu) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

Moving iPhoto library onto external hard drive

I would like to transfer all of my photos over to my external hard drive as my MacBook is filling up fast.
I followed the directions on moving the iPhoto library onto my external hard drive. I can see the iPhoto icon on the external drive. I no longer see it under Me/Pictures.
If I select the iPhoto icon on my external hard drive to open iPhoto, it opens without any photos. If I press "option" while opening iPhoto from the icon at the bottom of the screen the only option I have is from the following: Users/Me/Movies/iMovie Projects.localized/iPhoto Library. This option does open iPhoto so that I can see my photos. There is an option there to "Create New" so I added my hard drive. But if I use that as my default, I get no pictures.
A couple of questions. How do I complete this process? Where are my pictures now? I'm assuming they are on my external hard drive. I didn't delete them from my MacBook so I'm also assuming they are there but not visible.
Thanks

As we're not sure what you have done exactly it's hard to be certain how to progress.
This is how you move an iPhoto 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.
There is no way you've done that if you can no longer see the Library at Me/Pictures.

Can't transfer iPhoto Library FROM external hard drive to iMac

I just bought a new iMac. Before I said goodbye to my old computer (a MacBook), I dutifully backed up my iPhoto library onto an external hard drive. Upon setting up my iMac, I easily accessed the iPhoto library on my HD, but I didn't import it. I was able to see all photos, albums, etc.
But when I went to import the entire iPhoto library into my iMac's hard drive (into the Pictures folder), it wouldn't import. A mesage comes up that says "Preparing to copy" and the blue-and-white bar just spins and spins, without actually copying anything. So, it's weird -- there's clearly communication between iMac and external HD, but I can't take the iPhoto library off the hard drive to make it my new computer's iPhoto library.
Any hints? Thanks.

Have you tried restarting your machine?

Need to transfer iphoto library to external hard drive

need to transfer iphoto library to external passport drive. It will not let me drag and drop

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The external drive is formatted in NTFS, a format that OS X can't write in. You have to erase the external disk.
First, open Finder, choose the external drive in the sidebar, under "Devices", and copy all the content of your external drive to another folder like Desktop.
Then, follow these steps to format the external drive in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as Format > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html Finally, drag the iPhoto library to the external drive

How to transfer my ITunes library from External Hard Drive to Mac Book Pro

I recently had an issue with my Mac Book(OS X Yosemite) Had to take it to the store and they fixed it (replaced graphics mother board or something like that) Before that I backed up the whole laptop on an external hard drive. When I connect the external hard drive I can open all my files, not sure how to transfer it, I see the External hard drive and can drag it but where do i drag it because on my Mac Book I can't find Music. Should I drag it to the desktop and then drag it to the music when I disconnect the external ? Thanks

Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
(123001)

How to Acess iPhoto Library in External Hard Drive thru Airport Extreme and iPad

My iPhoto library is currently in an external hard drive that's connected to an Airport Extreme. I want to be able to access this library thru my iPad. Is there any way to accomplish this? I have spent endless hours online looking for an answer, but so far I have not found it.
Thank you so much for the help !!!

It may sound like a stretch, but there are so many people who have already solved more complex tasks than this one.
I can't believe the only solution to this problem is to use LogMeIn/GotoMyPC or other remote control applications to access the library thru my MacBook Pro. There is also an app for iPhones called NetPortalFile and I can view the individual pictures (but it ***** because I can only see one at a time and my wife has 60,000 pics...). Almost there with solutions, not integrated all yet that I know of and that's why I am asking.
I'll keep waiting, maybe someone has already figured it out or they are working on an app :)

How to copy iPhoto library to external hard drive?

I have been trying to copy my iPhoto library to a Seagate external hard drive. I cannot seem to drag and drop the iPhoto library from a Finder box across to the external hard drive. The hard drive has enough space/capacity to hold the library contents but will not allow me to drag and drop. Any tips?

Not without more information - what happens - what errors do you get - if the external drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)?
This procedure has been used thousands of times successfully
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

Moving only part of iphoto library to external hard drive

I would like to only move part of my iphoto library to an external hard drive. Trying to archive my older pictures. I know how to move the entire library but not so sure on how to move only parts of the library. Do i need to create a second archived library and move the pictures I want to archive to that archived libary and then move the archived libary to an external hard drive?

Here's one way to do 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.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

IPhoto library on external hard drive will no longer open

I'm hoping that someone will be able to point me to a simple solution to my problem...
I'm running iPhoto 9.6 on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, mid-2014). The OS is Yosemite 10.10.1. Because the flash storage is only 250GB I have my main iPhoto library (146GB) on a partition of an external 1TB Lacie Rugged drive. The external hard drive also has partitions for Time Machine Backup and SuperDuper Bootable Clone. I have a separate, much smaller iPhoto library on the MBP which contains recent photos.
Yesterday I failed to reconnect my MacBook Pro to the power source when I put it back on my desk. The result was that the battery went below 5% and the MBP turned itself off and also ejected the external hard drive (some time after I reconnected the power cable there were dialog boxes on my screen informing me that each of the three partitions had been ejected incorrectly). I waited until the MBP was fully charged before I tried to open my 'main' iPhoto library on the external hard drive. I received a message that the library would have to be upgraded to work with the computer (very odd, because it had already been upgraded last October when I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite and has been working without any real problem ever since then).
After some hours when the only message on the screen was 'Rebuiding Thumbnail Caches' I pressed Cmd+Option+Esc I saw that iPhoto was 'Paused' - that message subsequently changed to 'Not Responding'. I 'Force Quit' iPhoto but the iPhoto library will not open at all from the external drive.
As a test I quit iPhoto and re-started using the Option key and chose to open the iPhoto library which is on the internal drive and it opened without any problem.
I recall that it used to be possible to fix this sort of thing (perhaps not) by trashing the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file, however, I don't seem to be able to find it :-(
I'm really at a loss as to how I should approach this problem and I would be very grateful for any suggestions that can be offered.
Cheers
Tricia

Further update ....
I downloaded and installed iPhoto Library Manager and then chose Library - Rebuild Library. Unfortunately, when it had finished the result was 0 images in any file or folder. I checked the log (which is incredibly long) but here's the beginning of it which seems to indicate that the problem is that an essential file is missing -
2015-01-21 10:49:18.671 iPhoto Library Manager 4.1.11; iPhoto 9.6; OS X 10.10.1; unregistered
2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilding library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library
2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilt library located at /Users/Tricia 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library (rebuilt).photolibrary
2015-01-21 10:49:19.035 Building preview…
2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Photo transfer settings: source libraries = /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library, copy faces = true, copy places = true, combine album contents = false, photo attributes copied = (comment, date, flagged, hidden, latitude, longitude, name, rating)
2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Loading data for library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library…
2015-01-21 10:49:19.056 Version number: 9.6
2015-01-21 10:49:19.057 An error occurred: Trying to load database for library “/Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library” failed. Some information such as faces, places, and edit history may not be transferred succesfully. (error = Error Domain=PLDatabaseErrorDomain Code=1 "The SQLite database file could not be found." UserInfo=0x10e9c1c10 {PLDatabaseErrorVendorErrorKey=14, PLDatabaseErrorVendorStringKey=unable to open database file, NSLocalizedDescription=The SQLite database file could not be found.}
After this each entry has a dialog that basically says the image file is missing from /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library.
As mentioned in an earlier post I do have another iPhoto Library on my 2008 MacBook.
Can someone advise the best way to proceed? I'm thinking that I should erase the partition of my external hard drive that is called Pictures and then connect the external hard drive to my 2008 MacBook and simply drag and drop the iPhoto Library to the Pictures partition. IIRC, that's the way I moved the iPhoto Library last October when I bought my new MacBook Pro which didn't have enough storage for me to be able to store my iPhoto Library on the MBP. I could then reconnect the external hard drive to my MBP and the iPhoto Library should reappear, shouldn't it?
Looking forward to more input ...
Tricia

Copying saved iphoto library from external hard drive back to Macbook Pro

Please help, I have accidentally managed to permanently delete my iphoto library and by this I mean that I somehow dragged my library into trash and then emptied it. I don't know how this happend but I quite quickly found out I had done it and shut my computer down. I have since done a recovery with disk drill and have hopefully recovered most of my photos though I havent had time to look through all the 1000's of photos yet. I do have a copied version of my library on an external hard drive that I did in 2012 and I have tried to copy this library back to my pictures folder so i at least have my photos up to 2012 back but it is not working. I have read through some of the threads on here regarding iphoto library back ups and I think the issue might be that the external hard drive is formatted Fat32 and not os extended.
I am hoping someone can help me get this working. Here are the facts.
1. I am running iphoto 11, version 9.2.3 on a macbook pro running os x 10.6.8
2. The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted. I can open the package contents and see the originals folder with all the yearly folders inside and all the numbered folders inside that with the pictures in them, so I know the pictures are there.
3. If I try to copy the library folder over to the pictures folder on the macbook i just get a pop up window saying 'preparing to copy iphoto library' and the scrolling bar but the copy doesn't actually start.
4. If I try to open the library through iphoto by holidng down the option key, iphoto tells me that the library has to be upgraded but i am reluctant to upgrade the original copy of the library. I would prefer to copy it first in case anything goes wrong but then i have the problem above that the copy doesn't work
Thank you in advance for any help.

The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted.
Therein lies the problem. iPhoto libraries need to be stored, placed on a disk formatted OS X Extended (journaled). The FAT format doesn't support the complexity of an iPhoto library and can, and more often than not, corrupt a library.
Try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download the free version of iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
2 - select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
5 - in the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed, i.e. in the Pictures folder of your MBP. Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

Using iphoto with iphoto library on external hard drive

My Imac is running snow leopard with ilife '11. I have imported way too many photos into Iphoto which is really slowing it down. I'd like to put all of my photos on an external hard drive and use that as my iphoto library--which should be possible, as I gather from reading various other related posts. Another reason to put it on an external drive is so that I can use my new macbook air to edit/organize while on the go.
1. How do I set up my Iphoto library on an external hard drive?
2. How do I make sure that all future photos go to the library on that external hard drive?
3. How do I run Iphoto with the library on an external hard drive?
THANK YOU for your help!

Hello. I just transferred my iPhoto library to a Western Digital My Book for Mac external hard drive. Do you know if I needed to format this drive even though it says it's for Mac. I did not format it and there were not any instructions with the drive that said I needed to do it. The transfer seems to have worked ok but my backups from Time Machine onto Time Capsule are inconsistent. I already posed a question regarding this problem but I noticed this message regarding formating the external disk and I wonder if that is causing the problem. Thanks.

How do i keep iphoto library on external hard drive?

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