IPhoto library/Pictures folder on mac

I started using iPhoto a few months ago. Before iPhoto I saved my photos to my pictures file in my hard drive. Can I just select all and import them into iPhoto and then delete them? Will iPhoto make a copy like iTunes does when you import items?

The default is that "copy items to iPhoto Library" is checked - any thing you imported while it was unchecked is referenced (pointed to by an alias) instead of being included in the iPhoto library so for those photos if you try to look at the original photo and the media holding the original is not available (the thumbnail is in the iPhoto library) you will get a message asking for the media
Larry Nebel

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Can some please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my Mac

Can someone please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my new Mac. I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates. My old Mac has an older version of iPhoto while the new Mac has iPhoto '11. Is that the cause of the problem? Please advise. Thanks.

Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Regards
TD

Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current? Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud?

I have 2 questions about the new Photos app for Mac (I'm running 10.10.3 on my MacBook Air 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 mid 2012)):
1.Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current?
2. Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud? That would free 59GB off my Mac and that would be very good.

1.Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current?
You can, but I would wait, until you have have been working with Photos for some time and are sure, that everything migrated well. There may be hidden flaws in your library and teething problems with Photos. Don't be in a hurry to abandon iPhoto completely. You may need to go back, until bugs have been fixed. Th Photos Library does not duplicate the photos in your iPhoto Library. the media files are shared and do not need extra space: See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support
2. Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud? That would free 59GB off my Mac and that would be very good.
If you have enough iCloud storage. But Photos will still need space for local thumbnails on all devices.
See: Apple - OS X - Photos Preview
Fill your library, not your device.
iCloud Photo Library can help you make the most of the space on your Mac. When you choose “Optimize Mac Storage,” all your full-resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud in their original formats, with storage-saving versions kept on your Mac as space is needed. You can also optimize storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, so you can access more photos and videos than ever before. You get 5GB of free storage in iCloud — and as your library grows, you have the option to choose a plan for up to 1TB.

How do I transfer iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Air and retain the Albums?

I just transferred my iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Air by dragging the entire Library from my Pictures folder onto an external HD and then dragging from there onto my new Air. Transfer effected fine and all images now appear in iPhoto on the new Air. One problem: the Albums that were present on the left hand toolbar in iPhoto on my old machine are no longer there, so I have 50,000 images with no organization. Events are still there organized by date so that is something, but the Albums are not there and that is what I primarily relied on. Help please??

The left hand pane is the source pane. Were both Macs running the same version of iPHoto?
Try rebuilding the library with the option to Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
OT

Tried to copy my iphoto library from my old mac and I get 7 times more photos???

I had under 5,000 photos in my old iPhoto library on my old mac pro desktop.
After I tried to import the old library into my new iPhoto library (on my new mac i7 running Mavericks), iPhoto ended up with over 35,000 photos.
iPhoto was literally creating events for single photos when the old iPhoto library never had such events. I already tried doing a search in this forum and googling but didn't come across a similar issue. The names of the events were gibberish as in the names of folders you would see if you controlled clicked and selected "show package contents" and drilled way down.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Sounds like you imported the library into iPhoto on the new machine.
Never import one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.
To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.

"iPhoto Library" icon/folder deleted by mistake, how do i recover it?

Fist off i am not a iMac genius, so bear with me as you read . I Just bought an Imac (21.5 monitor and 1TB with OS X Lion 2012 version). After transferring all my photos in the "Picture" folder (click, drag and drop into the "finder" then into the "picture" folder (not iPhoto yet) I then selected all the photos (dozens of folders and over 8,000 photos) click and drag then into iPhoto and they all successfully transferred (which took several minutes). I noticed when transferring most of the photos over it gave me the option to either transfer or discard duplicates, i chose to not import the duplicates. Since i had ALL my photos in iPhoto i decided to delete the old file that i copied earlier and empty the trash. In the deleting frenzy i accidentally deleted the "iPhoto Library" icon/folder )or whatever that picture is) and every time I open up iPhoto now it asked to either locate "iPhoto Album 1" (which can not be found) or start another album (which would be "iphoto Library 2" which opens up with none of my pictures.) Sooooo, after freaking out i downloaded 2 file recovery software program which seems to have found most if not all the pics (still need to pay to get a key code to get them back), however since i delted the photos that transferred into the finder>picture folder and did not delete any photos form iPhoto itself is there a way to get back the "iPhoto Library" that housed all my pictures? In theory all my pics are still in the hard drive but i do not know where to look for that little "iPhoto Library" icon/folder. What is the best Apple/Mac recovery software to purchase to get them back? Or are they all the same? Or is there a file buried deep in the hard drive that are hiding all my photos that tech support can guide me to? And if there is, how to i search for that? Any help would be great!

however since i delted the photos that transferred into the finder>picture folder and did not delete any photos form iPhoto itself is there a way to get back the "iPhoto Library" that housed all my pictures?
No.
Inside that package are thouands of files - your photos, thumbnails, face thumbnails, database, metadata, cache and other files. To reconstruct the Library you would need to get all of these in exactly all the correct locations. That's not going to happen.
Best you can hope for is to recover the actual photos and then start over from scratch.
Unless you have a back up of course...
Do you?

I have an old Mac book pro which had hundreds of photos in iphoto. recently bought a new mac book air. now my iphoto library on the old mac book is gone!!!!

I have an old Mac book pro which had hundreds of photos in iphoto. recently bought a new mac book air. now my iphoto library on the old mac book is gone!!!!

now my iphoto library on the old mac book is gone!!!!
How did you search for the iPhoto Library?
What do you mean by "is gone"? Is the iPhoto Library missing from the Pictures folder? Or does iPhoto launch and show and empty library, and you assume, that the library is missing?
Which version of iPhoto is installed on your old Mac?
Search with Find Any File for iPhoto Libraries - download Find Any File here: The trial is free:
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.htmlhttp://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/index.php
You can search everywhere with FindAnyFile, where Spotlight will not search.
I learned this from Old Toad , see his post here:
Re: My iPhoto Library disappeared...how do I get it back?
Download and run Find Any File to search for a file with "ThumbJPGSegment" in the file name. These are files common to all versions of iPhoto libraries.
FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages. If there's a library hiding somewhere on your hard drive FAF will find it.

Iphoto library pictures all fuzzy

All was fine until I upgraded to iOS4.0. The pictures that are synchronized with iphoto library (one folder of about 1000 pictures) are all fuzzy and out of focus. The pictures (some of the same picture) still on the camera roll are fine in the iphone but all the archived pictures are too fuzzy to use.

oups! sorry!! i thought i had synchronized already but did not!!
the problem has been fixed

How to recovery the default "Library/Python/" folder on Mac?

How to recovery the default "Library/Python/" folder on Mac?
I delete it by some mistakes..., I have tried the following steps:
    - Step 1. Download and install Python DMG from Python.org .
       Result: There are no Python folders under Library after I installed the Python DMG.
    - Step 2. I tried to use " brew install python " in Terminal.
       Result: $ brew uninstall python
                     Error: No such keg:
What should I need to do now? Please give me some specific directions, Thanks.
Message was edited by: andywu1206

Reinstall OS X over the top of your current install. That willl replace files you have deleted and leave your personal files alone.

I'm trying to transfer my iPhoto library to a new mac and I can't find the library on my old mac.

When I "revel in finder" a photo in my iPhoto app on my old mac, it shows the path: hard drive, user, meghanica, library, iphoto library and so on. BUT when I go to my hard drive and try to follow that path on my laptop, there is no "library" folder to open in meghanica. I have tried to spolight the library folder with no luck. All of my photos that I've looked at in iPhoto show this path. I can't figure out why when I go to my hard drive, it's not there. Any ideas? I'm using updated iPhoto '11 on os x Lion on a macbook pro. Thanks!

It sounds like the library might have been placed in your Home/Library folder which is invisible.
NOTE: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Home/Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and press the Return key - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.
For Mavericks, 10.9, go to your Home folder and use the View ➙ Show View Options menu to bring the this window:
When you find the iPhoto library move it to your Pictures folder.
OT

How do I transfer my iPhoto library from my old Mac Book to my new Mac Book Pro?

I took delivery of my new mac Book Pro at the weekend and was unable to transfer all my data from my old machine at the time of set-up. Can someone tell me how I can transfer my iPhoto library to my new machine while keeping all photos in the events categories I have?
thanks

Quit iPhoto if open.
Open your Pictures folder and select the iPhoto Library.
Copy the iPhoto Library folder or package to your new computer.

Moving Events and iPhoto library to a new Mac

I just picked up a new Mini for my HTPC. I would like to move the Events and photos that I already have on my other Macs to the new one. I exported all of the photos to a flash drive and then imported them in on the new Mini, but of course it just imported the photos. It did not organize them at all.
Bottom line, is there any way to move my existing library over to a new Mac without having to re-label all events and stuff like that?
Thanks guys,
Steve

I lost my iphoto Library when I was moving all my files over to my Mac Mini. I had a clean mini with Leopard and had my photo library on my external only. I was messing around with the Time machine and i think it did a back up which I stopped right away, but I think it deleted the iPhoto library and my iTunes library.(the mini probably had an empty iPhoto library) So now I used Data rescue to try and find it and all of the files from that external are on my mini's desktop with just numbered jpeg files & mp3 files.One folder says recovered music & recovered pictures. Of course there is nothing that says iphoto library and all the files are so mixed up.I have been going thru all the photos and just dragging them in, but it is getting so tedious....Help! Oh, and the photos are very pixelaed now....would that be because they are just jpeg files....I am not sure if they were prior to this whole problem. I have a feeling there is no way around this. Thanks in advance. Robin

Copy iTunes and iPhoto library to new air mac

I've just bought a new air mac. I have my entire music and photo library on my imac - which is running snow leopard. I back the imac up to a 1tb time machine.
I tried to use migration assistant over wireless to migrate info to my air mac but this failed - as expected over wireless.
I ideally want to copy over itunes, iphoto , files and folders and my windows for mac to the air mac and retain them on my imac.
Is there an easy way to copy my information to my new air mac ?
There seems to be lots of hacks and options but I'm not usre which is the best way ?

Perhaps this will help: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748.
Your iPhoto library is located in the /Home/Pictures/ folder. If you've already migrated the home folder then everything has been moved including the iTunes library which is in the /Home/Music/ folder.

MY PICTURES folder on Mac

I imported all my photos in MY PICTURES (and its subfolders) to iPhoto - and then spent many hours re-organizing them into iPhoto Folders. I am happy with the result.
But the folder MY PICTURES on my Mac is a mess. What I would like to do is blow the whole thing away and duplicate the iPhoto subfolders into MY PICTURES. Can I do this, and if so, how?
TIA.

jap0nica
In what way is your Pictures folder a mess?
It is strongly advised that you do not move, change or in anyway alter things in the iPhoto Library Folder as this can cause the application to fail and even lead to data loss
What I would like to do is blow the whole thing away and duplicate the iPhoto subfolders into MY PICTURES. Can I do this, and if so, how?
No you cant. iPhoto simply does not work that way.
iPhoto is a database, and like any database it needs you to manipulate the data via the app itself, not through a back door like the Finder.
The usual reason people like to try and organise the iPhoto Library Folder is because they fear they will be unable to find a file if they need it.
There are three ways (at least) to get files from the iPhoto Window.
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.
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.
Finally: a Note about the iPhoto Library Folder:
In this folder there are various files, which are the Library itself and some ancillary files. Then you have three 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.
This allows the Photos -> Revert to Original command - very useful if you don't like the changes you've made.
(iii) Data holds the thumbnails the the app needs to show you the photos in the iPhoto Window.
Regards
TD

Making iphoto library available to other macs and pc's.

In an earlier question I asked if there was a way to make the iphoto library one one computer available to other macs and pc's, and be able to upload pics to the main library and have the other computers see the new pics automatically. I was told that this wasn't a good idea given my current configuration (network raid box). So I'd like to ask, If I wanted to do this kind of sharing, where each computer accesses a single "main" library and updates itself as new pics are imported into that library, how can I go about doing this? Do I need Aperture on each computer, with a mac pro holding the main library? Any suggestions, along with any clues on the different types of "managing" would really help. I'd just like to add pics to my main library and have my other family members see them and use them on their own macs, with the fewest amount of steps.
Thanks
Scott

If you want each user to be able to add to, delete, edit and generally use the library the same as everyone else the your best bet is to put the library on an external HD connected to a Mac and give the other Macs access to that external HD. However, only one user could access the library at a time. As for the PCs, get them a Mac.
See this Apple Document for more info: iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users.
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) 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. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. 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.≤br>
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

IPhoto library/Pictures folder on mac

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