Importing photos without copying them
I have all my photos as JPEGs on a shared network volume, with each 36 exposure film in its own folder each of which has its own HTML files so the photos can be viewed in a web browser.
This all works very well but I would like to be able to view the photos in iPhoto. When I try adding them to the iPhoto library, iPhoto copies them over to the local hard drive, and since there is about 10GB of images the hard drive fills up.
I want iPhoto to use the shared network volume, I want to be able to tell it that the photos are located in that folder and not to copy them when importing into the library. Just as in iTunes you can set the iTunes music folder location, I want to be able to do the same in iPhoto but there does not appear to be an equivalent preferences option.
Is there a way to do this?
Tim.
Tortea wrote:
...there anyway of importing the photos into aperture, without copying them onto the mac hard drive?
Tomi-
Yes.
Store the originals on the external drive(s), put the Aperture Library on the internal drive and Reference the Masters on the external drives.
The use of a Referenced-Masters Library is discussed below.
HTH
-Allen Wicks
Referenced-Masters Library
Best solution, especially with mobility-hardware computers like laptops and iMacs, is to reconfigure your image Masters to have a *Referenced-Masters Library* on the internal drive with the Masters referenced on external drives via FW800 or (preferably) eSATA.
However Referenced Masters usually do still work adequately with Masters accessed on externals via slower methods like FW400 or USB. After a slow reconfiguration process it will work fine and the Referenced-Masters Library will remain a reasonable size, not grow to overfill the internal drive.
Note that Vaults back up the Library but a Referenced-Masters Library does not have the Masters in it, so Masters must be separately backed up. I strongly recommend that *back up of original Master files be performed BEFORE importing into Aperture* or any other app anyway. Once one is doing that backup of a Referenced-Masters Library is easier (due to much smaller Library size) than backing up Aperture's (unfortunately default) Managed-Masters setup.
The Aperture Library should live on the internal drive for best speed and all drives should be less than 70% full for speed and stability.
In the future back up Masters before import into Aperture. Then with the new Masters on external drives select Store Files: "In their current location" from the import window when importing into Aperture. This will maintain a *Referenced-Masters Library*. Routinely create Vaults to back up the Library.
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Similar Messages
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Import photos without copying? I Have thousands of photos on a hard drive separate from my mac and i dont have enough space on my mac to copy them to. Any way to import without copying to the local hard drive?
Yes, but you might want to think carefully about it.
A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing. The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.
This is an attractive option for some users at face value, but it contains a significant number of issues that you might want to consider before making the decision to run a Referenced Library
How to do it:
iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck the box at 'Copy items to the iPhoto Library'
Now when you import iPhoto makes an alias in the Library Package that points to the stored file. Note: iPhoto still creates a thumbnail of the image and it makes a Preview of edited photos inside the Library Package.
Issues?
1. You are responsible for file management. That's more work:
You must first move the files from your camera to the storage location before importing.
If you want to delete files then you must first trash them from iPhoto and then afterwards find them in your storage and trash them.
Thereafter, you cannot move the files on early versions of iPhoto at all, on iPhoto 08 and later you may move them on the same Volume or Disk. If you move them to a new volume or disk the aliases my break. If they are on an different volume and you move them the aliases will break.
You cannot rename the files.
Migrating: moving to a new machine, moving the files to another disk are all a lot more complex.
2. You gain no extra functionality from running a Referenced Library. Nothing. This is just storage. You still manage the files via iPhoto. You edit them with iPhoto or via iPhoto's External Editor setting, otherwise you're changes will not be available in iPhoto. You don't save byte of storage space.
3. If you have the Library on one volume and the photos on another you if anything changes in the path to a file (Like if you upgrade your machine, move the files on the NAS or on to another one?) then the alias will break, and you'll have to repair it manually. For every photo in the Library. One at a time.
Why do you want to run a Referenced Library?
Because my photos won't fit on my HD?
You can run a Managed library from an external disk. 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.
You're worried about accessing the files?
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto: 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.
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps. 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 10.5 Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
Drag and Drop: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
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.
Show File: a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier: 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. 3.b.
b: On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected. -
I have thousands of pictures in my iPhoto library. Many of them were not "copied" into iPhoto when imported. I had my preferences set that way to save space on my system's hard drive. I just kept those pictures on a separate hard drive in my Mac Pro. Now I would like iPhoto to automatically "copy" those into it's library while maintaining their locations in Albums and Events. (I realize this will add many GB to the size of my Library).
Is there a way to do this?No - what version of iPhoto are you running? Prior to iPhoto '11 Alias herder could be used to do this - http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/downloads/aliasherder/
LN -
How do you import photos without deleting photos off the memory card?
How do you import photos without deleting photos off the memory card?
If you're using Image Capture, Aperture or iPhoto just say 'No' when it asks if you want them deleted.
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I am going to get my iphone 4 screen fixed and I was wondering how do I take down my photos without deleting them or losing them because I don't want the people looking at my photos??
There's this magical thing called "Google" which coincides with the word "research" but since you're here, and obviously needy, here ya go:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4083 -
I can't import my photos from my digital camera (Sony) to my iPad, this problem is recent. I have imported photos without problem a problem before. Is this problem due to the IOS 6 update? How can I fix it?
I have the same problem and apple needs to fix this - but in the mean time you can manually select the vertical photos then "import - import selected" and you can get your verticals. We need a better fix. THIS IS A BUG!
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iPhoto opens but then the spinning rainbow wheel appears and I can't do anything. I have opend iPhoto with the Option key pressed and rebuilt the library and it still happens. I want to at least access my photos and copy them to an external drive. Anyone have ideas on how to get to them?
Make a temporary, backup copy (if you don't already have a backup copy) of the library and try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home()/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home()/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder.
Click to view full size
3 - launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
OT -
How can I remove the photos without deleting them from the album?
I am making a book in Aperture 3. I want to change some of the pages that I have put together, and want to remove some of the photos from some of the pages, to put them on another page. How can I remove the photos without deleting them from the album?
As a follow-up, I have found that clicking on the photo in the book also highlights the photo on the strip below. So, if you then hit delete, you will delete the photo from both the book page and the album (which is the book, the way I have it set up). If you only want to delete it from the book page, you then have to un-click the photo on the strip below, or both will be deleted. This seems unwieldy. I deleted 6 photos from a page and found all of them gone from the album. The only way that I can see to keep them in the album is to then unselect them from the bottom strip after selecting them fro the page. This seems to call for an extra step.
Nancy -
I got my New iPad in the mail yesterday. I imported my photos and videos to make a short movie. The photos had lost all their original quality. Is there any way to import photos without losing quality?
If you mean "optimizing for iPad," no.
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trying to import photos and copy as DNG. Nothing will upload though. Permissions are all accurate, saving to the right profile, etc. Nothing has changed on my computer but it will not let me import new pictures. Also, updated the software and some images say "preview cannot be seen" and some don't. And when I try to import and I hit "new photos" it's all the photos on my card. My brain is about to explode.
It said something similar where the thumbnails were supposed to be.
Just got the newest edition of LR, 4.4
4.4 is not the newest edition of LR
We don't want to know that it said "something similar", we want to know the exact wording. In fact, you ought to state the exact problem you are having, in detail, instead of saying you are having the same problem. -
Please help - trying to manage photos without deleting them!
I am trying to manage the photos on my ipad, because it is full.
I have imported lots of photos directly from my camera, and these are also backed up on my pc. I want to remove them from the ipad without deleting them on my pc, however when I select them for deletion on the ipad, I get a message asking if I want to "delete them everywhere" and I am worried that I will lose them altogether if I accept.
But.......
There is no alternative option offered. So the result is that I don't dare delete them and therefore my ipad remains full.
Does anyone know the way around this?
Thanks.
Baffled of London.Have you copied the photos into other albums that you've created directly on your iPad ? If you have then that effectively just creates pointers to the photos, so if you delete the original photo from the iPad you will also be deleting all pointers to it and therefore remove it from any albums that you've added it to on the iPad. That is one reason why the 'delete everywhere' message appears.
Or do you have photo stream on (Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream) ? If you do then deleting a photo that is in your photo stream will remove it from any device/computer that is seeing the Photo Stream album.
Otherwise it shouldn't be removed from anywhere. I assume that by backing them up on your PC you copied them over by the windows camera wizard or something similar, you don't just mean an iPad's backup ? Any photos copied over by the camera wizard won't be removed if you delete the same photo from your iPad - if you want to be sure then delete just one of them from your iPad, then connect the iPad, and the copy of the photo on your computer should still be there when you disconnect it. -
Importing Photos without using Aperture or iPhoto
Hi all,
I am preparing to migrate from the cuddly world of iPhoto into the big bad world of Aperture. During the transition I was hoping to continue using both programs (especially given the excellent photobook and slideshow functions of iPhoto) and was going to start importing photos and using referenced masters so that both iPhoto and Aperture can look at the same sets of data.
Are there any programs out there that can automate the import of photos from a camera and allow me to do things like autosplit events or change all the filenames to reflect the photos? I often have several weeks worth of photos that I import and it would be nice to do this without creating a single large folder without everything in it.In the Aperture Preferences you can decide what quality of Previews you generate and also elect to share them with the iLife and iWork applications
Previews are jpegs which are updated as you process your Raws and are a convenient way of sharing the pics with other apps without the whole Export process.
You can access the Previews in iPhoto via the File -> Show Aperture Library and drag them over. Set iPhoto to a referenced Library and they will take up no extra disk space.
In almost all cases they will be sufficient quality for an iPhoto book.
If I am going to use shared previews could I not just import everything directly into the Aperture library?
Yes.
Regards
TD -
Trying to delete photos without loosing them completely...
I need to delete pictures off of my iphone to free up storage space. If my photostream pics are automatically downloaded to my iphoto and aperture on my macbook, can I delete them from my phone's camera roll without loosing them on my computer?
Have you confirmed that the photos have been imported into your libraries? In iPhoto if the Photo Stream preferences are set like this:
your Photo Streame photos have been imported and will be in an Event.
If that's the case you can delete the photos from the Camera Roll on the phone and they'll be save in the library.
OT -
How do you use templates from external hdd? (without copying them over)
When I installed DVD Studio Pro 4, I had to install the Templates, Styles, Transitions, etc... into an external for lack of space in my MBP. Now comes the time when I need to use those templates, so how do I access them without having to reimport them? Importing them copies the template files over from the external to the internal and I can't afford the space.
How did you install them onto an external? If you did it via the FCS installer, then DVDSP should automatically link to them. If you just copied them over, it would probably be easiest to jus reinstall from the original discs, this time telling it to put the additional content on your external.
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I'm having trouble transfering files without copying them.
I have a project file that I'm using on my desktop and several sub folders. I'm trying to move groups of them all into one folder and the last folder wont let me transfer without copying. I'm not sure what all information would help get this question answered. I'm on an iMac Mac OS X Version 10.6.8, 3.33 GHz Intel core 2 Duo, 8GB memory. I have about 800GB free on the drive. The content is all video files and I've tried moving them all at once, one at a time, cut and paste, window to window and within the same window. I'm out of ideas. Not a crippling problem but unnecessarily time consuming. Any help would be appreciated, please and thank you.
Hi zpat,
welcome to macbook forum.
Did you follow the procedure properly from here :
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
And for setting your macbook so it can connect to wireless as eMac:
Turn on your macbook airport on the top right menu bar corner and select your wireless access point name, and enter your password if it asked for it.
or try this: At eMac go to system preference > Network > show: airport > and click TCP/IP tab and set your macbook similar to that setting (Using DHCP), if it is not using DHCP, add the ip address manually by change the last ip digit with increment of 1.
Good Luck.
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