IPhoto library is tooooo big and klunky - help!

My iPhoto library package is 99.18 gb, for about 42,000 images. It's just too slow to load or work with, and it slows everything else down. Plugging in my iPhone means waiting 5 or more minutes for iPhoto to get going and read the photos on the phone before I can do anything else. Same for offloading photos from my camera.
I use Blurb to make photobooks which requires the iPhoto library to live on the internal HD so I can't move this off to an external drive.
I am concerned about how to get this under control, speed things back up to normal and keep everything working well. I am very worried about any corruption of the metadata. I used to have an automator db backup written by someone on this forum (Old Toad? Apologies for forgetting who made the script)... originally that worked but it no longer performs the db backup.
Any suggestions from you iPhoto powerusers? I'm at a loss.
Thanks for any advice.

I've got a 320gb hd with 35gb free, and I think it's 2gb of RAM (at work now and
can't remember exactly...)
Well that's plenty of disk space.
For metadata backups in iPhoto '09, where does that get stored?
Same as in every version of iPhoto - in the main Database file. Added metadata only gets written to the file on export.
As for Blurb, I used to have my iPhoto library on an external drive but Blurb has a functionality that opens the library from within their bookmaking software, which is great, but if the library is on an external drive it can't find it. No option to 'point' to it either. That may have changed in more recent iterations of their software, but I am not aware of that so far.
I would certainly check for an update. If they are doing this they are not using an approved API for integrating with iPhoto, and they should. The location of the Library makes not a whit of difference to any other app and shouldn't to these guys either.
Regards
TD

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select a photo in an event and either drag it to the iPhoto trash or press the delete key - then empty theiPhoto trash an dthe system trash and the photo is totally gone from the system
LN

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Simple and fast solution: restore from your back up.
Other than that:
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places 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.
Regards
TD

Why is the iPhoto Library file so big?

Why is the iPhoto Library File so big?
I cancelled the option in settings that it copies the files to the Library but the LIbrary file grows and grows when I import new photos?
Can someone help me?

You have disabled "Copy items to the iPhoto Library"?
Then the original image files should not be imported; you can check this by selecting one of the recently imported photos and using the command "File > Reveal in Finder > Original File". Does it show you a file outside the library?
Your library will grow in size, when you import and edit photos, even if the originals are not included. iPhoto will store thumbnails of your photos, previews of the edited versions, of the faces, and if you sync your library with iTunes, there will also be an iPod Photo cache, that can be quite large:
iTunes: Understanding the iPod Photo Cache folder
You know, that disabling "Copy items to the iPhoto Library" is quite risky, don't you? Just in case you are not aware of the risks - iPhoto does provide no tools at all, if the connection between your referenced original files and your thumbnails in iPhoto gets broken. Or if you need to move your photos to a different drive, when the drive fails, as will happen one day. You will not be able to migrate the library to a new computer or restoring from your backup will be difficult. You will need third party apps like iPhoto Library Manager to recover from such a situation.
If you need to free space on your mac it is much safer to move the whole library to an external drive, or to split it and relocate the partial library with the older photos to an external drive.
-- Léonie

IPhoto library is completely frozen, and invisible

Hello, everyone. My iPhoto library is completely frozen, and invisible, despite several force quits and restarts. Any ideas? It is a big library, some 13.5GB, but this has never been a problem until now. I even attempted to restore the library from Time Machine.

There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on 9 different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary depending on the version of iPhoto and the version of the OS. So to get help you need to give as much information as you can. Include things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. As full a description of the problem as you can. For example, if you have a problem with exporting, then explain by describing how you are trying to export, and so on.
- History: Is this going on long? Has anything been installed or deleted? - Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
- Anything unusual about your set up? Or how you use iPhoto?
Anything else you can think of that might help someone understand the problem you have.

My iPhoto Library is too big for my iMac

My iPhoto Library is now 272gb so is taking all the space on my iMac, so I need to move it off the Mac. I believe I can copy it to an external drive and then just "point" iPhoto at it by holding down the Alt key on launch?
But I am very nervous about losing any or all of my photos if I do this as I don't have a back-up (due to the library size). I don't even have space to run Time Machine. So I would like to check that I would be doing the right thing above please?
Also, I would appreciate any tips on organising photos in my own folders outside iPhoto, please.
I think it is best to import to my own folders from the camera because I tend to open photos in different applications, depending on what I want to do – Preview, Adobe Bridge, Photoshop and now possibly Aperture or Lightroom, because I need to upgrade to either Aperture or Lightroom.
If I import photos to iPhoto I end up exporting hi-res versions to edit in Photoshop etc before publishing them or sending them to anyone. Thus I am actually storing the photos twice, so it is small wonder I have run out of space.
I also have an iPhoto Library on my laptop, and many of these are duplicates of the other iPhoto Library. But I do not have enough space to merge them and get iPhoto Manager to remove the duplicates.
Help!
Thanks,
Sarah

Thank you Larry,
I was wondering how professional photographers organised their work as they would quickly outgrow the space on a Mac hard drive the same as I have now I have been doing a lot more photography for publication.
Because of this I use different programmes for different requirements (either displaying, editing or adding to the photos' inbuilt file information), but keeping the original photos in the iPhoto Library and Hi-Res JPG copies to work on in my own folder before submitting to a client just means I am using double the amount of space to store the photos. And I have set Photoshop as the edit programme, I know about that, and yes they pretty much all need tweaking in Photoshop. It improves them greatly, plus many need cropping.
I am aware of the importance of back-up and even though money is tight I will be getting a new LaCIe external drive to ensure I have enough space for Time Machine to back-up both iPhoto Libraries from both my Macs. But in the meantime I only have space to back them up manually on one LaCie external drive, formatted as Mac OS extended (Journaled) as you say. I hope I can eke out the couple of GBs space left on my Macs until I can get the new drive.
I am not happy about running the iPhoto Libraries from an external drive but due to the space problems I have no alternative.
Going forward I seem to have three alternatives. Either transfer them to Aperture or Lightroom or avoid duplication and storage problems by keeping the originals filed in my own folders for opening in one of these management programmes as required. I currently have folders for both hi-res and low-res edited versions of each photo in a project, as well as the originals in iPhoto. So the best filing system and the best way to reduce storage space is what I was wanting advice on.
ADDITIONAL ADVICE NEEDED ON REMOVING DUPLICATES
Additionally, many of the photos in my laptop iPhoto Library are duplicates of the ones in my main iMac iPhoto Library. Will iPhoto Library Manager work on libraries that are on an external drive? And do you know if it is possible to use iPhoto Library Manger to merge them on my external drive and remove duplicates please?
WILL IPHOTO LIBRARY MANAGER WORK ON LIBRARIES ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE?
Final question: If I have two iPhoto Libraries on my external drive, is it safe to change their filenames to distinguish between them? Will iPhoto recognise libraries where the names have changed?
Many thanks,
Sarah

IPhoto Library w/ both alias and real files

I just discovered my iPhoto Library contains both jpg files and aliases. Looks like I changed ships midstream (moved from Referenced to Managed). It is a small library, less than 1000 pix. Should I start over? or is there an easy fix?
I am a former PC user, and thought I would use a referenced library on an external drive, but it seems like a lot of bother. Thought I would just let iPhoto manage everything on my HD until the library gets too big and then move it to an external drive. It sounds like it is easy to move if it is all kept as a managed file.
Is this a good idea? I have 12 yrs of digital family photos, less than 7,000.

What version of iPhoto? If it's 11, then you're as well to start over - especially if it's only 1k photos.
On some earlier versions you could use an app called Alias Herder to change a referenced to a managed Library. (http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/downloads/aliasherder) but this is not being updated for 11
Regards
TD

Why can i not open my iphoto library??can somebody pls help me resolve my this problem..

its my 1st time to have a macbook pro..why cant i pen my iphoto library??can somebody pls help me on how to resolve this problem..asap

Open iPhoto and all your photos will appear, if you are looking for the folder of iPhoto is on the sidebar of a finder window called "Pictures" and there's a file called "iPhoto Library", press control and click on the file and choose "show package contents" and look for the photos...

IPhoto library corrupted by Time Machine? Help!

Hi,
I need some advice. It appears that I have lost thousands of photos. I know that's not true cos I have a Time Machine backup, but I want to run my situation past you before trying to recover my library. You see, I had a Time Machine backup error. Actually, scratch that, I had a problem with iPhoto not showing some particular photos. They showed up as just a dotted outline, yet when I chose 'show original file' or clicked to edit the photo, it appeared. So, the photos were there, but the thumbnails had a problem.
After some time spent searching for a fix, I started iPhoto with the command and option keys pressed and chose all options to rebuild iPhoto. This looked like it was gonna take some time (I have over 4500 photos) so I left it alone and went to bed. In the morning, iPhoto appeared to be fixed but Time Machine had reported an error while backing up. I clicked ok, did a new backup by clicking 'backup now' which worked fine and carried on as usual.
I've used iPhoto some more today and then, this evening, another TM backup failed. I tried again, and it failed again. I searched the internet to figure out why and discovered how to view the log file. This reported this: Jun 19 21:22:59 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Library6.iPhoto to /Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Backups.backupdb/Lee Webb’s intel iMac/2010-06-19-210546.inProgress/5A645817-7095-47FC-A658-A447B5A5814C/mac hd/Users/leewebb/Pictures/iPhoto Library
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copied 1656 files (294.5 MB) from volume mac hd.
Jun 19 21:23:46 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 19 21:24:17 lee-webbs-intel-imac /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[10907]: Backup failed with error: 11
So, something seems to be wrong with the iPhoto library. I reckon that the rebuild process was somehow interrupted/corrupted by a TM backup. Following some instructions I found in C3 here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525 I ran a verify on my TM backup drive. This returned with OK. I then excluded my iPhoto library from my backup and ran the backup again. It worked fine, which would confirm that the iPhoto library is indeed the problem. Good. Ok. So, that's where I am now. Except it isn't. When I now start up iPhoto, my library has shrunk down to 748 photos! Eeek! What's happened, and what can I do about it? In iPhoto, those 748 photos add up to 1.4gb yet the iPhoto library file is still 12.87gb.
Please can you help me.
I just want to make sure I do the right thing instead of panicking. I've switched off my TM backup for now.
Many thanks,
Lee

Does your library work as it should? Try a minimal backup: launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed to rebuild the library. Select the last three options.
Click to view full size
Another option would be to rebuild the library with iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
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.
Then keep the old library excluded from the Time Machine backup and run TM to see if the new library will backup normally.
OT
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.

NO iPhoto Library showing in Desktop and Screensaver Menu in SL

Hi experts,
I have experienced a problem after I updated to SL last night.
I made a fresh install of both SL and iLife 09 on my mbp unibody late 2008.
Afterwards, I replaced the my fresh iphoto library simply with my old iphoto 09 library from time machine (no migration tool, only copy pasts).
But now I recognized a problem that I see no iphoto library in my Desktop and Screensaver Menu in control panel. I cant set iphoto library photos as screensaver cause I cant see them
Does anyone have a solution for it? or does anybody face the same issue?
Thanks!!!

I have the same thing. I wiped everything clean and installed Snow Leopard/iLife '09/etc. I run my iPhoto lib from an Airdisk and I just set iPhoto to point to that same library on the wireless disk. Everything works fine, except I can't set iPhoto pics as my desktop. I see a label for iPhoto (just like when it used to work) except there's no arrow by it and it's empty. If I plug the computer straight into the disk and use the same library, it works fine. Any thoughts?

Unable to insert photos from iPhoto into a Word document. File "iPhoto Library" is greyed out and won't let me choose it.

Unable to insert photos from iPhoto into a Word document. File "iPhoto Library" is greyed out and won't let me choose it.

Choose it from where? See this user tip by Terence Devlin for how to access photos for use outside of iPhoto: How to Access Files in iPhoto
Have you tried dragging the photo from the iPHoto window into the open Word document window?
OT

Terrance Devlin answered a question about iPhoto (4-2012) re:copying iPhoto Library to an ExHD, and losing all the albums. I can't locate the "Choose Library" when I open iPhoto with the opt button. Can anyone help?

I tried to move my images (over 25,000) to an External Hard drive to open up some memory, hoping to make my computer run faster. It took three hours to move the images and I see them all in the mac's menus. However when I try to open them with iPhoto now, none appeared. and when I tried to import them back to the main HD they come in to iPhoto just fine, but not with the albums nor any of the massive organization i'd created in the original. this represents years of images, and I can't imagine that I'd have to recopy them into folders/albums again.
Terrance Devlin answered a similar question back in April of last year. He said to make sure the ExHD is formatted to MAC OS Extended (Journaled) and to move the library to the ExHD and then open iPhoto with the option button and select "Choose Library" from the resulting menu.
Command "I" tells me that the new drive is formatted correctly. I can't locate the "Choose Library" when I open iPhoto with the opt button.
First, I wondered if the application needs to be on the same drive as the Library. I sure would like to know if I can find out how to restore all the folders I had them in. Terrance's advice helped the user that had asked the question.
Here's the url for that archived discussion: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3849933?start=0&tstart=0
Can anyone help? I'm using iPhoto 5. My MAC is an OS X version 10.4.11.
thanks, brokenlom

Here are Apple's instructions:
If you are using iPhoto ’06 or earlier, you will need to follow these steps to tell iPhoto where the Library is now located:
Hold down the Option key on the keyboard and open iPhoto. Keep the Option key held down until you are prompted to create or choose an iPhoto Library.
Click Choose Library.
Locate and select the iPhoto Library in its new location.
(from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229 )
Below (in the link below) is what you should see when holding down the option key and opening iPhoto. Keep holding down the option key until this dialogue comes up. You want to select the Choose Library button.
http://appleclinic.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/change-default-dir-iphoto/

Moving Iphoto library to external HD and updating

Ciao
I just bought the latest macbook pro and as I now only have 500gb i need to start storing my photos in an external HD. I think the best way to do that is to use Export. am I correct? The problem is that i have other photos to then import, I do I keep updating the iphoto library once it is in the HD? Do i connect the external HD when I have new photos and import photos as I did so far but it will now start importing them in the HD drive instead than the laptop? Finally, is there a better software then iphoto to use to store and acces photos from an external HD?
thanks heaps!!
Erminia

I find it hard to find them in Iphoto.
iPhoto - and this is true of all the alternatives both free (like Picasa) and paid for (like Aperture sand Lightroom) - is a database. Every database is exactly as good as the data that you put into it. With iPhoto you can search on any text associated with a photo - title, filename, date, camera model etc etc - plus you can add keywords, edit lots of metadata to make it more searchable for your purposes. This is the same in the other apps too. But if you don't put the work in by making your categories then there is no app that can help you find a single photo more easily, You're always going to be flicking through thumbnails of images.
So, frankly, if you're not going to build the Library there is no better app.
Here's a canned answer I use to suggest some of the organization features in iPhoto.
I use Events simply as big buckets of Photos: Spring 08, July - Nov 06 are typical Events in my Library. I use keywords and Smart Albums extensively. I title the pics broadly.
I keyword on a
Who
What
Where basis (The When is in the photos's Exif metadata). I also rate the pics on a 1 - 5 star basis.
Using this system I can find pretty much find any pic in my 50k library in a couple of seconds.
So, for example, I have a batch of pics titled 'Seattle 08' and a typical keywording might include: John, Anne, Landscape, mountain, trees, snow. With a rating included it's so very easy to find the best pics we took at Mount Rainier.
File -> New Smart Album
set it to 'All"
title contains Seattle
keyword is mountain
keyword is snow
rating is 5 stars
Or, want a chronological album of John from birth to today?
New Smart Album
Keyword is John
Set the View options to Sort By Date Ascending
Want only the best pics?
add Rating is greater than 4 stars
The best thing about this system is that it's dynamic. If I add 50 more pics of John to the Library tomorrow, as I keyword and rate them they are added to the Smart Album.
In the end, organisation is about finding the pics. The point is to make locating that pic or batch of pics findable fast. This system works for me.

My iphoto library disappeared. i am trying to restore my library from time machine -- from an external drive -- but everytime it tries to copy my library it tells me it can't do it because i don't have access to my iphoto library??!!! help!!

My iphoto library inexplicably disappeared! i am panicked but i do back up by time machine to an external drive and also to JustCloud. I am trying to restore my iphoto library from a back up on feb 28, 2014 and it says it's copying but then gives me a message that it can't do it because i "don't have authorization to access iphoto library"?! what does this mean? i really want to get my library back on my mac. Also if anyone knows why this happened or where my photos might be on my computer, i'd appreciate help with that, too.

Thank you Terence for your help. I was able to restore my backup from my time machine ext drive to a new 1tb seagate ext drive. so i felt sort of ok. but yesterday that older ext drive i used for time machine wouldn't open! i called applecare and they trouble shooted with me and said it's probably a goner and data is probably corrupted. it's only a few years old and i'm very careful with it. my husband accidentally dropped my new drive last night -- i know, unbelievable, i was SO upset, poor guy -- but I'm so stressed with all of this. i have 10 years of photos and videos. so now i only have the one newer drive with a backup. i have to buy another one today to backup again so i at least have two backups. i tried to delete a ton of files last night to free up the 30 gb of space i need to get my full library back on my mac. i have 90gb free and deleted 7 years worth of photos i had on picasa that were in my "pictures" folder and also a ton or random photos and videos i had in that same pictures folder and thought that would give me the 30 gb but it hardly freed up any space at all! do you know why that is? all of this stuff is really a pain and really stressful. thank god i did have a backup in the first place but now i am panicked the one i have left will somehow crash. especially after my husband dropped the drive lastnight! it didn't fall far and fell onto a wood floor and seems fine, but after my older ext drive crashed yesterday -- and i lost my entire iphoto library a fewweeks ago off my mac -- i feel cursed. any answers you have would be great. thank you.

I have 2 iphoto libraries but one is lost, missing, cannot seem to find it... tried an apple care person - they were no help - we use Time Machine for external backup... but cannot find my older iPhoto library! I desperately need some help!

I have recently had something really odd happen within iphoto. My photos from May-Oct 2013 appeared to be missing from my primary Iphoto library.
last night I was trying to find any additional Iphoto libraries on my Imac... I could not find them... but then somehow the May-Oct 2013 library showed up and now I cannot find the "current" primary Iphoto library. I sought help from apple care today but no solutoin from them after 2 hours trying. I have timemachine that backs up my Imac each day to an external hard drive. When I open Iphoto while holding down the "option" key - it lets me choose which Iphoto library... but only (1) library comes up... I can't figure out what happened - but it seems that I must have more than one Iphoto library because yesterday I was able to see all my photos except the "gap in dates" from May-Oct 2013. Today - I can only open a Library called Iphoto2014... and it contains the photos from the gap in dates. I can't "see" any other options to open photos... but just yesterday there appeared to be a different library available.
Any advice or steps i should take to locate my missing photos - would be soooooo much appreciated.

I have recently had something really odd happen within iphoto. My photos from May-Oct 2013 appeared to be missing from my primary Iphoto library.
last night I was trying to find any additional Iphoto libraries on my Imac... I could not find them... but then somehow the May-Oct 2013 library showed up and now I cannot find the "current" primary Iphoto library. I sought help from apple care today but no solutoin from them after 2 hours trying. I have timemachine that backs up my Imac each day to an external hard drive. When I open Iphoto while holding down the "option" key - it lets me choose which Iphoto library... but only (1) library comes up... I can't figure out what happened - but it seems that I must have more than one Iphoto library because yesterday I was able to see all my photos except the "gap in dates" from May-Oct 2013. Today - I can only open a Library called Iphoto2014... and it contains the photos from the gap in dates. I can't "see" any other options to open photos... but just yesterday there appeared to be a different library available.
Any advice or steps i should take to locate my missing photos - would be soooooo much appreciated.

IPhoto library is tooooo big and klunky - help!

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