Icloud iphoto library beta vs icloud backup

I don't understand these two services, what's the difference?
When I lost my iPhone back in 2012, I simply bough another iPhone, typed in my e-mail and everything from my lost phone was there after downloading, all my photo's, everything. I could also download iCloud for PC and all my photo's would sync to my computer. When I plug my iPhone in and it's connected to wi-fi, it uploads all my data, including photos, to icloud.
So what's different about icloud iphoto library beta?

You may find these links helpful
iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ
http://support.apple.com/en-is/HT6378
My Photo Stream FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4486

Similar Messages

I am trying to rebuild my iPhoto library and noticed my backup contains aliases (pointers?) and not the actual file. What's the best way to rebuild my library?

I am trying to rebuild my iPhoto library and noticed my backup contains aliases (pointers?) and not the actual file. What's the best way to rebuild my library?
Facts:
In moving to a new iMac, I copied the iPhoto library to an external HDD assuming that I would point the new iMac to the backed up iPhoto Library
All worked fine when I pointed the new library but noticed that some folders contained aliases and not the original file. So when I attempt to open that photo it can't find it because the alias is pointing to another drive.
I do have all original photos from a couple of external HDDs. In the folders titled, "Originals" (from older versions of iPhoto) and "Masters" (from current iPhoto)
I'm thinking I can create a new folder and drop the original files and make that my new iPhoto library. Is there a better way to rebuild my library? I do not want to create any future aliases.
Thanks in advance for any help!

do you have a strongly recommended default "managed" library (the iPhoto preference to "copy imported items to the iPhoto library is in its checked state) or a referenced library - you have unchecked that option?
It sounds like you have a referenced library and are now experiancing one of the very siginificant drawbacks of a referenced library and one of the many reasons they are strongly not recommended
Also note that iPhoto '11 may use alises in the originals folder as part of the upgrade
It is important that we understand exactly what you have and what is not sorking - what error messages you are getting
You must NEVER make any changes of any sort to the structure of content of the iPhoto library - there are no user servicable parts in it -- and you can not rebuild yoru librtary - only iPhoto ir iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - can rebuild a library unless you are a SQL programmer and understand the structure that iPhoto uses
LN

How do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved from old computer and system

how do I access my iphoto library on time machine backup external drive using Lion, originally saved off old computer and system. It's not letting me open the folder???

Once again here's how to restore an iPhoto Library from Time Machine:

Cannot recover my iPhoto library from Time Machine backup

Been trying to restore my iPhoto Library but the restore fails with the following error:
"The Finder cannot completer the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" could not be read or written. (Error code -36).
I am trying to restore it after iPhoto "lost" all the images, even though I can see that everything is still there. Before I decided to try this, I tried all the usual stuff like rebuilding the thumbnail library, ets, etc. Nothing seems to work
This is very frustrating to say the least.

Did you try rebuilding the library using iPhoto Library Manager. Heres' how:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - 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
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - 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 untouched for further attempts at fixing or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory .
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 versions) 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. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 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: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

Restoring iPhoto Library from Time Machine Backup

Hi,
My iTunes collection and iPhoto library live on an external HD. A week or so ago that external HD failed. Thankfully I have been using TimeMachine to back up to another external HD. Yesterday, I went into TimeMachine, clicked TimeMachine Backups in the TimeMachine Finder and restored my iTunes library to a location on a new external HD. Once the copy was complete, I opened iTunes and all was well. I tried this same process with iPhoto and it didn't not work. iPhoto keeps giving me the message that my iPhoto library is in use by another application or I need to upgrade. I tried holding down the Option key to select the library on my new external HD and that didn't work. I also tried option + command and the option to restore from an automatic backup in iPhoto automatically crashes iPhoto. Then, I launched iPhoto Library Manager and it said my DB file was missing. What's the right process to restore my iPhoto library from a TimeMachine backup (external HD to external HD)?
Thanks!

It is an option. You can overwrite or keep both when you restore
LN

Iphoto library and time machine backup on a same drive ?

Hi
I want to free up some space on my MBP so I am planning to move my iphoto library from MBP to an external hard drive. Can I also use the same external drive to keep Time Machine backups ? In short if I buy a large size external drive can I use it as a TM backup drive and also as iphoto library home location ? Or do I have to keep two separate external drives...one for TM and the other for iphoto library.
Thanks
Mandar

Yes, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. Should your backup drive fail then you not only lose your Time Machine backups but you will also lose your iPhoto Library. But if you put each on two different drives then you lose none. If the iPhoto drive fails your library is still backed up on the Time Machine backup drive. If you lose the Time Machine drive then you lose a backup that can be easily recreated, but you still have the iPhoto drive. Two drives is a much better strategy. Always keep backups separate from all other external drive uses.

Applications and iPhoto Library folders not in backup

My iMac G5 disk failed some time ago and was replaced by a new drive. I had been doing system backups via TM so was not concerned about being able to rebuild the system. However, when the new drive was initialized, I made the mistake of specifying a different account name from the original and doing a clean rebuild from the Leopard DVD. This resulted in not being able to access the TM backups but I got around the problem by creating a new account matching the original.
I was able to retrieve most files from the backup this way, but cannot see any backups of either the Applications folder or the iPhoto library in TM. I have gone back to look at all the old versions but still cannot see either of these folders. It's possible that I had excluded these folders from the backups, but I don't usually do silly things like that. My question is: can I go back through the old backups and examine the TM Prefs in use at the time to see if I had (stupidly) excluded those folders?
I've looked in the System folder and all I can see is a file in System>Library>PreferencePanes>TimeMachine.prefPane which I cannot figure out how to view.
Thanks for any help/ideas.

travellerva wrote:
Many thanks - problem solved (or at least, diagnosed). I had been looking for that same file and could not find it at first. Now I looked again and found it ok. The TM prefs show that I had, for some reason, excluded both the Applications and iPhoto folders from the backup list. Mea culpa.
I think I had excluded them from the first TM backup in the interests of space saving (I had copied the iPhoto folder to a different volume - later deleted!). Then I made the mistake of not changing the exclusion list when I needed to. It's probably a good idea to visit these prefs regularly to make sure they are what you want and not just left there by forgetfulness.
And also to double-check what's actually getting backed-up after you change them; on occasion the plist gets corrupted and doesn't get changed to agree with what you did. There's either no message, or folks don't see or understand it.
Glad you were able to recover -- most folks aren't.
It's an excellent strategy to have another set of backups of important stuff, and even better, to have it off-site, so you're also protected against fire, flood, theft, direct lightning strike, etc. For most of us, things like photos can be archived to CD/DVD occasionally, and taken to a safe deposit box, relative's house, workplace, etc. Others use a portable external disk, some do some backups via the net.

Trying to rebuild my iphoto library from time machine backup and it still says 0 restored with a grey screen and the circle. How can i restore my library?

I just bought a new Macbook pro and i tried to rebuild my iphoto library from a time machine backup on an external hard drive. Even after pressing command+option when starting iphoto and selecting rebuild library from automatic backup, it still doesn't work with the grey screen with the white circle and a little window that says 'rebuilding library: 0 versions restored'. I also tried to make a copy of my iphoto library but that did not work either. how can i restore my iphoto library or at least gain access to my photos?

Your question is not clear
Rerairing or rebuilding the iPhoto library never involves using Time Machine in any way
TM is a totally seperate program and you can "restore" a file (including the iPhoto library) from the past using TM - you launch TM and go back to the time you want and select the file (or folder or package) you want and click restore - it probably is best to keep the current one until you are sure everything is good
LN

Upgraded: New Mac, Setting up iPhoto Library From Multiple Old Backups

Over the years (Jaguar to Snow Leopard), I've had multiple Macs in different locations (work, home) to which I've loaded photos from cameras into multiple iPhoto libraries. As these Macs have died (G4s, G5s), or I've been forced to upgrade, I've made a backup on CDs and DVDs of the iPhoto libraries (different versions of iPhoto over the years).
Now I've got a brand new Macbook Pro and I want to put all these photos into one library on one disk. I don't care much about preserving photos edited in iPhoto (I use Photoshop for serious editing), nor do I have particular album or roll data from these old libraries that matters. I just want to get all the original photos into one library so I can search and access them all in one place.
I have always found the way iPhoto organizes the photos on disk a bit confusing, especailly when it comes to backing up and accessing the files at the Finder level. And now it seems things have gotten even more dumbed away from the user in "package" w/ the latest iPhoto.
I would like to just have my photos in a folder, not a "package," but I would like to be able to search and organize photos and load them to my iPod Touch. (Maybe isn't the best application for me?) I'd also like my iPhoto folder to be on an external HD.
This is one of those grueling tasks I've been putting off for years. So many disks, so many libraries, how to get them all into one. I want to get it right once and for all, so I'll have all my photos on in one place and hopefully in a Finder-level folder that will be easy to back up and easy to port to my next Mac down the road in the future.
Can anyone offer any advice on the best way to proceed? Anyone else been through something like this?
Thanks in advance,
Babz

This is actually more simple than it seems as you
just want to get all the original photos into one library so I can search and access them all in one place.
So, create a Library: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library' and import the contents of the originals from the other Libraries: (File -> Import, Drag to the iPhoto Window, Drag to the iPhoto icon on the Dock)
That's all your originals in a single Library.
I have always found the way iPhoto organizes the photos on disk a bit confusing, especailly when it comes to backing up and accessing the files at the Finder level.
It's actually quite straightforward, but the key is +you don't access the files at a Finder level+.
And now it seems things have gotten even more dumbed away from the user in "package" w/ the latest iPhoto.
Remember: iPhoto is a Database. Like any database, you need to manipulate the data via the db and not a back door.
Since iPhoto 7 (iLife 08) the old iPhoto Library Folder is now a Package File. This is simply a folder that looks like a file in the Finder. The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves. That's why +you don't access the files at a Finder level+.
Want to see inside: Go to your Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.
Standard Warning: Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
How the library is organised: There are various files, which are the Library itself and some ancillary files. Then you have three core folders
Originals are the photos as they were downloaded from your camera or scanner.
(ii) Modified contains edited pics, shots that you have cropped, rotated or changed in any way.
(iii) Data holds the thumbnails the the app needs to show you the photos in the iPhoto Window.
But none of that matters, as you never access the files via the Finder.
*To back up an iPhoto Library* make a copy of the Library on another disk. You can automate this process with Time Machine or many other back up apps like Chronosync or DejaVu. There are many, many other options. Search on MacUpdate.
I would like to just have my photos in a folder, not a "package,"
*How to do it:*
Simply go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import'.
*What Happens:*
Now iPhoto will not copy the files, but rather simply reference them on your HD. To do this it will create an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file. It will still create a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder.
*Some things to consider:*
1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures. You have to to put the files where they will be stored before importing them. When you delete them you'll need to remove the files from the HD yourself.
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
4. Because iPhoto has no tools for managing Referenced Files, if, for some reason, the path to the photos changes then you could find yourself resolving aliases for +each photo in the Library+ one by one.
My own opinion:
I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organiser
If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:
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.
If you're concerned about accessing the files, There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 and later*
You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and later* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:
For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
*To use iPhoto with Photoshop*
You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.
Note that iPhoto sends a copy+ of the file to Photoshop, so when you save be sure to use the Save command, not Save As... If you use Save As then you're creating a new file and iPhoto has no way of knowing about this new file. iPhoto is preserving your original anyway.
There's a lot of material there. By all means come back for clarification if you need it. But I strongly urge you to think very carefully before running a Referenced Library.
Regards
TD

How do I create a duplicate iPhoto library as a running backup on 2 external drives?

I have moved my iPhoto library onto an external hard drive, but I want to create a backup of iPhoto on an additional external hard drive. My library is too big to keep on my Macbook SSD.
I plan to keep a Carbon Copy Clone going to keep both of my iPhoto libraries synced. I tried to just do a simple copy and paste of the entire iPhoto, but it said that it can't be named the same thing or something.
Help!

Most Simple Back Up:
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.
Example of such apps: Chronosync - but there are many others. Search on MacUpdate or the App Store

Moving iPhoto Library - effects on TM Backup

Hi, I posted the following in the TM forum but was recommended to post here too.
I've been mulling over moving my iPhoto library (85gb) to an external drive for a while now to save some space on my iMac's internal drive. I wondered what affect this might have on my Time Machine backup as my TM drive has only 8gb available. Now, I know TM will delete old backups to free up space but I wondered if TM would even see this as new data because I will be pointing iPhoto to the new library, so will TM backup the entire 87gb, or will it see it as the same library and only backup new, or changed data from now on?
I haven't been able to find an answer to this so I just decided to go ahead and do it, and, I'm confused. I now have an old iPhoto library on my internal drive which is no longer used and will be deleted in due course, and a new, current library on my external drive. I included the volume in the TM prefs and started a backup.
TM came up with this: 29/10/2013 16:08:06.573 com.apple.backupd: 192.08 GB required (including padding), 8.14 GB available
Why does it require 192gb? it then preceeded to (slowly) delete older backups, freeing up a small amount of space with each one. After deleting about 15 backups, I stopped it cos I didn't like where it was going.
Then, I decided to exclude the new volume just to see what would happen. This time it said: 29/10/2013 18:16:48.085 com.apple.backupd: 101.39 GB required (including padding), 31.81 GB available
Where has this 100gb come from?
Edit: I have just noticed that I renamed the old library to differentiate it from the new one. Would that have triggered TM to backup the whole library again? Even if that's the case, that's 85gb, plus the new volume, another 85gb, totalling 170gb. So why did it need 192gb for both and 100gb for one?
Not sure what to do now as I don't really want to lose too many more old backups.
Can anybody help me work this out? And, once worked out, will TM allow me to 'go back' in iPhoto to restore from previous backups?
Thanks

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Read > http://pondini.org/TM/E9.html

Should I rebuild the iPhoto library or restore from backup?

When I start iPhoto I get this message:
"Your iPhoto library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable"
Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your iPhoto library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup.
What do I do? Which is best?
Robert

If the restart did not solve it, rebuild the library, but make a backup (don't overwrite any backup, that you have).
See Terence Devlin's post on how to rebuild here:
Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable https://discussions.apple.com/message/16810380#16810380

I restored the iPhoto Library from yesterday's backup but the photos end in August 2013. Help!

Hi,
my iPhoto library is located on an external hard drive.
Each time I import photos to the Library I perform a complete Time Machine BackUp with the external drive and iPhoto Library mounted before deleting them from the camera or iPhone.
Yesterday I did just that but something happened that corrupted my iPhoto library.
I opened Time Machine and scrolled back to the last backup, selected the iPhoto Library file and clicked restore.
After it completed. I opened iPhoto. The most recent photo in iPhoto is from August 2013.
It looks like all of the photos between August 2013 and yesterday are missing.
Is there any way to restore the complete library back to the most recent version?
Note, each time I ran the Time Machine backup the external drive with the iPhoto Library was connected to the Macbook Pro and included in the locations to be backed up.
What, if anything, can I do to recover the photos from August '13 to the last backup of the iPhoto Library file from a couple of days ago?

It's says that file does not exist. How come? And why does it still show the image info.?
Where can i find those files (i have a daily backup)
The original image files are missing form your iPhoto library or iPhoto cannot find them, because the link to the originals has been broken. The image info is stored in the internal libraries, independent of the original files. That is, why you are still seeing them.
I restored the whole library from my backup.
Try restoring from an older backup, from before you first noticed the problem.
How large is the library, that you restored? Is the file size large enough to hold all your photos, or has the size been reduced? If the library is still large, the photos may still be inside, even if iPhoto cannot find them.
It's says that file does not exist. How come?
What happened, before your iPhoto library got deleted? Which applications have you been running, or which new software have installed or upgraded? Have you moved the library to a different disk or tried to use it from different user account or access it over the network?

Restore iphoto library from external disk backup

Dear all,
I need to restore all the iPhoto library after have backup and formatted my MacBook pro with iPhoto11.
Before to format the hard disk I have copied all the "Pictures" folder to an external HDD and it also includes a file named "iPhoto Library".
Then I have formatted the hard disk, installed the OS Montain Lion and iPhoto11 and the iPhoto library was empty at the beginning.
I tried to simply copy the file "iPhoto Library" from the external hard drive backup and substitute the original emply file. Then when I run the iPhoto it said "iPhoto library was probably created with a newer version of iPhoto and cannot be opened" and I could just quit. So I have restored the original empty file.
I've noticed that the file "iPhoto Library" is an archive and can be opened by itself. Is there a way to copy the right files from that archive?
I tried to find a solution in the website http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2504 but it's not valid in my case.
Hope you guys can help me since I had very important pictures in the archive!!
Thanks in advance.
GP

Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library
LN

Manual Extraction of iPhoto Library from Time Machine Backup.

I've got most of my most valuable data already backed up. The final remaining thing to get is my iPhoto Library. Unfortunately I've already tried twice to restore the iMac from the TimeMachine without success. The backup itself is corrupt and copies the corruption to the iMac making it useless. While I can access the Data disk on the Time Machine and can see the backup.sparsebundle, when I Show Package Contents the bands folder never opens…
Using the Migration Assistant is feeling a bit risky as I don't actually know what the miscellaneous items are when restoring. I'd hate for the corruption to copy back when all I need is the iPhoto Library and have to take the iMac back to the Apple store to have the OS installed for a 3rd time. Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Perhaps you need to re-read the article I linked to. It uses the Time Machine interface not Migration Assistant. BTW your iPhoto Library is part of the 8.8 gb User.
If you only have 2.1 gigs of space left on that disk then you have a major problem.
OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on.
Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially.
Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do.

Icloud iphoto library beta vs icloud backup

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