IPhoto 08 and Deleting Files

Question

I recently upgraded from iLife 06 to ILife 08 and having major problems with new version of *IPhoto 08.* First and foremost, messages began showing that my startup disk is almost full and to delete unwanted files. I'm assuming this is happening because of ILife 08 installation including SuperDuper and Lacie external hard drive. No matter, before doing any installations I did massive backups to external hard drive and cds. Once ILife 08 was installed, I began deleting unwanted pictures within *_IPhoto Library via the Finder_* including File browser when I had Photoshop open. Unbeknownst to me, this is not recommended due to possible corruption of IPhoto. OK, apparent this is happening because when I go to IPhoto there are blank photos when I do a full screen.
My question is what is the best way to delete ALL originals and duplicates of older iphoto 06 pictures including other unwanted pictures in current IPhoto 08 Library? Will I have to uninstall IPhoto 08 then go into my finder and start deleting pictures like I used to do whenever I wanted to delete files? Of course, even then I always had blank photos within IPhoto.
BTW, with ILife 08 installed, I have deleted (trashed) all sorts of applications such as iMovie, and iDVD to free up space. This has made barely any difference. My main criteria is to delete HUGE pictures no longer needed in my IPhoto 06 (or rather IPhoto 08 too) Library Folders. Also considering I'm tapped with my current disk space, currently unable to download any programs such as duplicate annihilator, etc.
Hope this isn't to confusing. Any help overwhelmingly appreciated!
Cheers,
June

Answer 1

June
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
Let's get this out of the way:
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.
The way to delete pics from iPhoto is to do it in the iPhoto Window. Drag the pics from the Library to the iPhoto trash. iPhoto Menu -> Empty the trash.
Deleting a pic here or there is not going to make a difference to your HD space? How big are these pics? 2 - 5 mb if they're from a point and shoot camera, 10 - 15 from a dslr? Why not move your library to the external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library Folder 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.
As you've been mucking about in the iPhoto Library Folder then you'll need to start over and create and populate a new library:
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
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 (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event 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.
To use Photoshop with iPhoto:
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