Importing Original Files of Photos

When I first started using iPhoto, I didnt have it import the original file into the application. Now I want to import all the original files in their so I can simply back up the single iPhoto library instead of a bunch of different files. Any way to do this?

Is the iPhoto folder in the "photos" folder store the complete database?
Do you mean the iPhoto library in the pictures folder? the iPhoto library contains the photos, all of the information about the photos and the database description to tell iPhoto how to find and connect all of that information
So if I wanna backup everything I just need to burn the iPhoto Library file?
Yes - copy the iPhoto library as a single entity to an external hard drive or other media like DVD
.I notice if I do a export a photo at full size and maximum quality the file size is even larger then the original.
less compression - save it as a TIFF and it will get a whole bunch bigger
LN

Similar Messages

HT4796 I completed a migration of my music and photos from a PC to my new mac. I have an error in music library that it can't find original files. Photos migrated fine. Where did the original files go?

I completed the migration of my music an dphotos files from a PC to my new imac. Both transferred initally and I even synced my ipad with the imac thereby transferring most of the music to my ipad. However now itunes says the music isn't available because it can't find the original music files. How can i find the original files? I am getting the same error on my pc too.

They aren't in your user Music folder? Have You tried Spotlight?
Also see this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/20538346#20538346

When using Iphoto to import photo from existing folder, what happens if I delete the photo in Iphoto ? Will the original file in the folder be deleted too?

When using Iphoto to import photo from existing folder to iphoto, what happens if:
1. I delete that photo in iphoto? will the original file in the folder be deleted too ?
2. when importing, does the hard disk store 2 versions of the photo, hence occupying additional space in the harddisk?

1 - no -- iPhoto only manages fiel within the iPhoto library - it does not ever do anything with files outside the library
2 - No idea what you are asking - by default (and strongly recommended) iPhoto copies the original to the iPhoto library and you delete the source file outside the iPhoto library - iPhoto alwasy has at least two versions of every photo and some times three - it always have the original, a thumbnail and once a photo is modified a preview - this is not optional - if it is not what you want then iPhoto is not the correct progrtam to be using for phopto management
LN

Relocated original files to desktop (on low disk space) and lost photos?

Help! My wife and I exchanged our vows on the Napali Coast and we lost our photos...
2006 Macbook, iphoto06:
As I was importing our 200 photos from the hike, my computer warned me that I was running out of disk space and stopped before finishing the load. I regretfully opted to delete the photos from the camera as it imported (bummer). The photos were safe in my iphoto library when I returned the following day and cleared some disk space on my hard drive. I then imported the remaining photos and everything looked normal.
Here's where it gets weird. So I was looking at a photo and accidently deleted it from the iphoto library. I located the original file and reimported it, however the computer told me that I already had the photo in the library. I looked into help and followed the instructions to drag the rolls onto my desktop and reimport them into iphoto. I did this and consequently lost some 50 very special photos. Now the iphoto library had this giant gap filled with grey !!!'s where the photos were. I looked into the original rolls folders and found a number of the original files were now missing? Something obviously happened from me having moved the files from the originals folder to the desktop. When I returned to iphoto, I recieved a warning that I was running out of diskspace again and some of the recent changes may have been lost!
I have searched for the files according to their file numbers (from the missing thumbnail) and the files are not coming up on my search. The original files are not in the trash either?
My questions:
1. Is there any way to trace the history of my actions and undo my actions or salvage my files?
2. The images still appear in my iphoto library thumbnails when scrolling down the screen (briefly before turning to grey !'s). Can I somehow salvage the image from the thumbnails?
3. Do I have to find the original files to see the photos again?
I have learned to not mess with orignial files in iphoto, never delete when importng, and always have mucho diskspace when uploading.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Will and Julia in Kauai

As I was importing our 200 photos from the hike, my computer warned me that I was running out of disk space and stopped before finishing the load.
You should always have a minimum of 10 GB of free space on your boot hard drive for safe and proper operation of your computer. you must get at least that much free space to go forward
I regretfully opted to delete the photos from the camera as it imported (bummer).
It is recommended that you never have iPhoto delete your photos - wait until they are imported and tested (I wait for a backup cycle or two myself) and then use the camera to format the memory card - this will save you from many problems and reformats you card with every use which eliminates other issues
The photos were safe in my iphoto library when I returned the following day and cleared some disk space on my hard drive. I then imported the remaining photos and everything looked normal.
Here's where it gets weird. So I was looking at a photo and accidently deleted it from the iphoto library.
How did you do this? using iPhoto or using the finder?
I located the original file and reimported it, however the computer told me that I already had the photo in the library. I looked into help and followed the instructions to drag the rolls onto my desktop and reimport them into iphoto. I did this and consequently lost some 50 very special photos. Now the iphoto library had this giant gap filled with grey !!!'s where the photos were. I looked into the original rolls folders and found a number of the original files were now missing? Something obviously happened from me having moved the files from the originals folder to the desktop. When I returned to iphoto, I recieved a warning that I was running out of diskspace again and some of the recent changes may have been lost!
Again until you have a minimum of 10BG of free space you are risking many additional problems with your total system including iPhoto
I have searched for the files according to their file numbers (from the missing thumbnail) and the files are not coming up on my search. The original files are not in the trash either?
My questions:
1. Is there any way to trace the history of my actions and undo my actions or salvage my files?
No - but you may be able to recover the photos on your camera card using program like media recover - http://www.mediarecover.com/ - the trial version will tell you what is available for recovery
2. The images still appear in my iphoto library thumbnails when scrolling down the screen (briefly before turning to grey !'s). Can I somehow salvage the image from the thumbnails?
no
3. Do I have to find the original files to see the photos again?
Yes - either on your computer or on your camera media card
I have learned to not mess with orignial files in iphoto,
Yes - that is critical - doing so is likely to lose data and possibly photos
never delete when importng,
That is strongly recommended
and always have mucho diskspace when uploading.
Yes - 10GB minimum
LN

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

Hi Keith, and all others chiming in, I do have the correct option checked in advanced settings telling iPhoto to copy the images into the library. What is a refernced library? Perhaps this is where I am getting confused. I exported my entire photo library from an old iMac5 to my external hard drive, from there I attempted to import the entire library to my new iMac. Am I overlooking an obvious and easy way to import from the hard drive to the new iMac--I dragged the entire photo pholder from the hard drive to the open window of iPhoto on the new computer. Now, I only get preview file sizes in iPhoto, unless I have my external drive open. Perhaps I need to import the original images from the hard drive in a different way...?! (This is making me feel pretty stupid.)

I went into the original files in the iphoto library and organised the photos there, now when I try to look at the photos in iphoto the tiles are there but when I try to enlarge or put into a slide show a big grey explanation mark occurs?

I tried to organise my iphoto originals to it would be easier to back them up onto my hard drive, so I renamed them and grouped them in the orinigal file. Now when I go onto iphoto to view the photos in a slide show a big exclamation mark comes up and if I click on the photo to see the original file it can't find it. Any ideas?

You won't be able to run the rebuild function and restore your library becaue you renamed and regrouped your original photos from the Finder. I doubt if you can change the names back to their original names and put them back in the folders they were in originally so your only option is get your backup library and replace the one you damaged.
If you don't have a backup copy of the library from just before the problem that contains all of your photos you will need to start over from scratch as follows:
Start over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Move the existing library folder to the desktop.
2. Open the library package like this.
Click to view full size
3. Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
4. Drag the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
Click to view full size
This will create a new library with the same Events as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
In the future stay out of the iPhoto Library package and only access the photos using iPhoto.
OT

Can't import jpgs from original file

I installed iPhoto6 (previous was 5) and it put my original photos into an original file (all jumbled together... not very nice of apple). I want to put some original jpgs from the original photo file (I made sure I own it and it is not locked) into iPhoto go get ready for iMovie. But, a box appears with "Unreadable Files: 1
The following file could not be imported. (The file is in the iPhoto Library folder.)"
I would like:
#1 my old organization back so I can fine a folder with my original pictures from my camera by date
2# at least be able to drag a picture from an original file to iPhoto
3# within iPhoto, view my photos from the date of 2001, month of 2 and day of 23.
Thanks

try iphoto 6 discussion board... this one is for iP4!
michel

Photos appear in iPhoto, but original files have disappeared. Anything I can do to recover them?

What it says in the topic. Specifically, I sorted through and deleted roughly 90% of the photos of a particular event, saving out the 10% I wanted to keep, before emptying the iPhoto trash. I then selected "File>Reveal in Finder>Original Files" in order to move the files to a centralized folder in which I keep the master files from every month. Mind you, I have gone through this process multiple times before and it has worked as expected. This time, however, when I used the "reveal in Finder" feature the finder window I already had open appeared, but nothing else happened. After some manual searching I found that all of the original files for the photos I had deleted from that event were still there, but the files for the photos I hadn't deleted were nowhere to be found (the opposite of what I did in iPhoto and what the library there actually shows). I have tried exporting the desired photos, but I only get a prompt saying that the original files cannot be found; I also cannot individually select any of the photos (only a giant triangle with an exclamation mark in it pops up) despite that all of the thumbnails are still there. Can anyone tell me what's going on or if there's anything I can do, or have I simply lost these photos forever?

in order to move the files to a centralized folder i
That's the problem. If you moved them rather than copy them to the other folder they were removed from the library and you're getting what's expected. In the future select the photos you want to store in the other folder and use the File ➙ Export ➙ File Export menu option with the Kind = Original selected. That avoids this kind of error.
Have you emptied the Trash bin in the Dock? With iPhoto 9 and later image files are moved to the Trash bin in the Dock when the Trash bin in iPhoto is emptied. If they are there you'll have to import them again into iPhoto and then delete the problem ones from the original event.
Rather than

Unable to export photos, original file was emptied in Trash and cannot recover.

Photo files are still in Lightroom, but I accidentally deleted and emptied the Trash with the original photo files. So now, as I try to export the photos, it is saying photos are offline or missing. I cannot recover the original file location because the trash was emptied. How can I still export the photos in Lightroom, it's a wedding that I HAVE to be able to export?!

If the file is deleted, you restore it from your camera card; or
If the file is deleted, you restore the photo from your backups.
If you have no backups, well I can't understand why anyone would not have backups of important photos. You might want to consider developing a strategy where all your files are backed up as soon as possible after the photos are copied from camera card to computer.
You can recover the previews from Lightroom, but these are usually small size and lower-quality versions of your photos, probably not suitable for printing. Use this plug-in to recover the previews: robcole.com - PreviewExporter
You might also try recovering the deleted files from your computer's hard disk and/or camera card, using something known as an "undelete utility", one of which is Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download
By the way, your photos are never stored in Lightroom, they are/were stored on your hard disk.

I can't import mp4 files onto my ipad originally from my panasonic camcorder. files from my 'bloggie' work fine. any help available please?

I can't seem to import video files which originated from my panasionic camcorder (mp4) although windows will play them. my 'bloggie' files import ok. I note there is advice on converting to ipad version but I can't get this to happen.
any advice appreciated
thanks

Try:
iOS: Unable to import photos or device not recognized as a camera

Is there a way to save photos from lightroom without the original file?

I recently imported photos into lightroom, but I failed to save the original files on my computer and they are deleted from my card. The pictures are still showing up in lightroom. Is there a way to save them from lightroom without the original file?

Your images aren't - and never were - in Lightroom, they're just referenced in Lightroom's database.
Lightroom does generate jpeg previews of the originals though, and you can export those using Rob Cole's Preview Exporter plugin: robcole.com - PreviewExporter.
To be clear though, these aren't the originals.

Can't find original files after uploading photos through iPhoto

I'm a recent "convert," and yesterday I uploaded some pictures directly through iPhoto for the first time. Then I tried to log onto Facebook to create a photo album and couldn't find the original photos in my "Pictures" file or anywhere else. I found I could access the "iPhoto Library" option but it distorted my photos by zooming in on the faces of people in the picture!
Where are my original files?

iPhoto used to place the photos in a standard directory "iPhoto Library" but this has now become a package, which hides access to the contents--just like in many applications--to keep you from rearranging them. You (or I) cannot directly access the contents but the "package" is just a specially marked directory. If you know a filename of one of the pictures or albums then you can search for that and it will find the file/photo. Then you have access to the directory and can go up, down, or over. It uses the same names in several of them.
The head shots you are seeing may be the "Faces" feature of the new iPhoto. They will be in a separate directory, as well as directories for original, modified, and others. Interesting, it did not find the photo names on the backup disk. Differing degrees of hiddenness? You can get there with Terminal. This is what I found in mine--notice the thumbnails used in album views:
2001 Dir.data Thumb64Segment.data
2002 Library.data ThumbJPGSegment.data
2003 Library.iPhoto face.db
2004 Library6.iPhoto face_blob.db
2005 Library6.iPhoto.bak iPhoto Selection
2006 Metadata Backup iPhoto.ipspot
AlbumData.xml Modified iPhotoAux.db
AlbumData2.xml Originals iPhotoLock.data
Auto Import Roll 249 iPhotoMain.db
Data Roll 251
Data.noindex ThemeCache
Your best bet is to select the photos you want and export them where you can have the JPEGs.
After import, I export so I can use shootShifter to adjust the names to be their exposure dates in yymmdd hrmise format. (You did set the camera's date.)
-Ken

To Move or Not to Move Original File Location Upon Import

I am rather new to the mac world. On my old XP computer, I was used to storing all my photos in the My Pictures directory and organized them in a main folder for each year. I do my photo editing with Nikon Capture as I take photos in raw format. I need to use Iphoto for viewing slide shows so I need to import the photos into Iphoto. Am wondering if I should transfer actual images into the iphot Library or have Iphoto link to the image files that I store organized by year. I don't want to store the images twice on my computer.

Brian
Simply go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import'.
Now iPhoto will not copy the files, but rather simply reference them on your HD. It will create an alias to the Original file, a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version.
However, you need to be aware of a number of potential pitfalls using this system.
1. Import and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
Always allowing for personal preference, I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers.
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 as an entity 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 10.5 users: You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Apple-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
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. If you're using Gmail you can use THIS
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.
Or, if you want to access the files with iPhoto not running, then create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use THIS
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.
Your choice, obviously, but best to be aware of all the ramifications. By all means post back if you require more info.
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.
Regards
TD

Help! (please :) I have a 1GB iPod that's loaded with music for which my computer can no longer find the original files-due to external mass storage crash during recent move. Is there a way to import iPod music back into my iTunes library on computer???

Help! (please I have a 1GB iPod that's loaded with music for which my computer can no longer find the original files-due to external mass storage crash during recent move. Is there a way to import iPod music back into my iTunes library on computer???

Or If there is any purchased music then you can try to transfer purchases
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1848
If you're in the US you can reload purchased music
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519

Cannot delete photo where no Original File is available

I would like to delete some photos, I have discovered that the ones I am unable to delete do not have an original file associated with them, how can I delete these from within iPhoto
I know I can go to the iphoto file and delete that but then I'm just left with a blank screen or exclamation mark and I want to get rid of it permanently

Well you have two options:
1. Reconnect the photo with iPhoto or
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
However, remember that this process will leave behind all such files.
Regards
TD

Importing Original Files of Photos

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for