How do I permanently delete photos from IPHOTO??

Question

I have tried everything and it never actually clears any space.
I always get some message like"the photos will still be visible"
Please help me out, as this is VERY unintuitive...

Answer 1

The fastest way to delete them was in the finder -
It’s also the utterly incorrect way, the wrong way, the way to corrupt your Library way, the way to cause “blank thumbnails“ way.
To remove pics from iPhoto put them in the iPhoto trash and empty it - iPhoto Menu -> Empty Trash.
How do i update the database to just show the photos and thumbs that are still there?
You can’t.
I am trying to keep his original iphoto folder structure intact, so we can load it back on his machine when he gets a new one.
Too late, unless you’ve still got his original Library, it’s gone. You threw it away.
What exactly did you do? Import his Library to your own?
If you wanted to preserve his library all you had to do was copy the iPhoto Library Folder to your machine. That’s all. No importing involved.
Recovering the pics now really depends on what you threw away. There’s a good chance you’ve tossed the actual files and kept the thumbnails. Here’s hoping you didn’t.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 6* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Roll Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD