IPhoto Library -Recovery Possible

Hello-
Yesterday my hard drive on my iMac died. Which ws unfortunate. What is more unfortunate is that it died while backing up my iPhoto library.
So now on the back-up disk the iPhoto library is a fraction of it's old size and only contains a few photos (i looked on a friends mac) is there anyway to recover the old iPhoto library before this botched back-up ? I'm assuming the pictures are still somewhere on the back-up drive, but they can't be seen.
Please let me know.

Without the Originals I'm afraid you're out of luck.
I'm sorry but I don't understand the rest of your post.
I'm guessing that you have a back up on this drive, and attempted to make a new back up by dragging the Library +on top of+ the existing back up. Is this the case?
Your next move is to try an file recovery utility such as File Salvage to scan the disk to see what is recoverable. This will do the scan without needing you to purchase, however, actual recovery will require that you buy.
Set it to scan for jpegs or whatever format your camera uses.
In the event of different versions of the same photo being found *always choose the largest filesize* - that has the best chance of being the original file.
Regards
TD

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IPhoto library recovery

Hello,
I succeeded to delete my iPhoto library on my iMac but also the two backups of it !
Meanwhile I sold my iMac, but I have still the USB-stick were one backup WAS stored.
Is it possible to restore it and get my photo's back?
Kind regards,
Nans

I found a solution in the Mac App Store !
It just call 'Data Recovery'
http://www.Softtote.com/
So this case can be closed.
Nans

Corrupt iphoto library recovery

Recently my iMac went to the Genius bar for repair. I purchased a hard drive in store and we made a backup of what I needed to subsequently recover and all seemed to backup OK. With the Mac back from repair I started to rebuild my iMac to pre-failure state and all went like a dream until I tried to re-install the iPhoto library. It tells me that the files require conversion and just won't seem to accept the backed up library and indicates that it is corrupt - is there anything I can do or have I lost my entire photo library? Grateful for any advice.

There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on seven different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary from version to version and OS to OS. So before anyone can help, they need information to work with. Things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Can you give us the exact error messages?

I need to shrink down my iPhoto Library

I need to shrink down my iPhoto Library -
I'm currently working with iPhoto 09' on my supervisor's iMac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). He's in desparate attempt to try and free space on his hard drive. Through Finder iPhoto reads over 340+ GB in size, but through iPhoto itself it reads half that at around 125+ GB since I had last checked. I've been researching online forums and I'm aware of 'show package contents' and how iPhoto will double up due to modified images, etc. Also, through every forum people have explained to not alter the structure of iPhoto as more than likely it will corrupt my library and make it non-useable.
To add more details of my situation, I've been using GoodSync to sync his iPhoto library to an external hard drive periodically which for the most part has been working. The last sync I had conducted was actually taking additional hard drive space which I had to stop it from continuing. Contacting GoodSync support confirmed with me that this recent job was a two way sync, in which even though I had originally had set up one way alas it is a two way sync so I assume GoodSync has added iPhoto. I checked their suggestions and nothing panned out, so now I have this huge collection that I need to become more manageable again. Before this recent incident I freed up 140 GB of space on his HDD but was taken up by GoodSync. I'm trying to free this space up once again.
I looked into applications such as Duplicate Annihilator which didn't do much but about 800MB of space which I got rid of. I've read about rebuidling the library, defragmenting the library, possible hidden photos or files that are taking space but l guess I'm looking for a more clearer path on what to do.
Any advice would greatly be appreciated.
AM -

1 - It is absolutely critical that you never make any changes to the structure or content of the iPhoto library - it is a SQLite database and any changes will create problems
2 - I have no idea what Good Sync is or how it works -- However note that the iPhoto library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) so if you are "syncing" it to a volume with a different format you probably have a problem library on that volume
3 - I have no idea how their two way syncing workd but in general that will destroy your library since it will make changes to the content and/or the structure of the library and the SQLite database will not have any idea what has been done
4 - you can not "slim down" the iPhoto library except possibly showing package contents and removing the iPhone catche - it can get large and can be safely removed
5 - the solution is to the the iPhoto library off the computer to a preperly formatted external drive -
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

After update to 10.9.4, it is not possible to use my iphoto library for the screen saver

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Warning not imported photos in the library to open iphoto, not being possible to import the photos in question, warning not imported photos in the library to open iphoto, not being possible to import the photos in question

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https://support.apple.com/kb/ht2638

Is it possible to set screen saver to iphoto library on another computer?

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Do I need to have iPhoto installed on both computers? On the mac mini, when I select the screen saver source choicelist I only get the pre-installed options and a "choose folder". I can navigate my iMac from this option however, the iPhoto library icon is greyed out...
What am I doing wrong? I do have iPhoto shared on my iMac from the iPhoto sharing preferences.

How to recover iphoto library from recovery mode

My macbook pro suddenly went on Utility Disk Mode and can only be accessed through recovery mode. I cannot even view the files. I'm willing to let everything go except for the photos and videos in the iphoto library. I don't know how to access my photos on icloud and when I did, it was just my iphone's photos that are there. is there any way I can view my photos in my locked macintosh hd in other devices or computer?

Thanks for the response BDAqua, I did use Migration Assistant to transfer her data from the SuperDuper backup. Are you suggesting that I use Migration Assistant to transfer data from the Time Machine backup? Will that result in duplication? Sorry, but I've no experience at all with Time Machine backups and don't know whether you can 'pick and choose' what to restore from the Time Machine using Migration Assistant.
Cheers
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I inadvertently trashed my Iphoto library. Can it be retrieved like in Windows, you just go to a prior saved recovery point? It wasn't securely trashed, just trashed.

I inadvertently trashed my Iphoto library. Can I retrieve it, like one can restore to an earlier time period on Windows? I trashed it but I did not use secure trash.

if you are running Time Machine - launch it and go back to the time you want, select the iPhoot library and click restore
Step 1 - launch Time Machine (either click on it in the DOCK or double click on it in the applications folder)
Step 2 - in the resulting window (which looks like a finder window) go back in time to when your iPhoto library had not been trashed
Step 3 - select the iPhoto library at that time (by default it is in your pictures folder)
Step 4 - Click on "RESTORE" and restore the iPhoto library from before it was trashed
Step 5 launch iPhoto (click on iPhoto in the DOCK or double click on it in the applications folder)
You do not copy or directly access the TM backup - as noted you use TM to restore the iPhoto library
Additionally, I would assume that I should start from scratch. Access and delete/trash all the pictures that I've since imported from a disk that I had save them too a year ago, in effect leave Iphoto empty before attempting any restore/import of the file, if possible. Yes?
No do not delete anything until this is all sorted out - and if you restore properly you certainly will not have to start over
LN

Is it possible for Apple Time Capsule place iphoto library and use it with my macbooks

Is it possible for Apple Time Capsule place iphoto library and use it with my macbook pro & macbook air? How about the simultaneous use? Will I as well open it in my ipad and iphoto?

How Come? I thought that to an external drive move iphoto library is not a problem - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3012995?tstart=0. And Apple Time Capsule including the an external drive.

Is it possible to overwrite an entire iPhoto library with one photo?

I was doing a routine download of a photo from my e-mail to my iPhoto library and pressed the "save to iPhoto".
I then went into iPhoto (I have version 08) and all of my event folders appeared...then suddenly gray boxes started appearing and everything disappeared.
When I went in to open iPhoto again I received a message to the effect of cannot find. We have created a new iPhoto but cannot find any of the photos in our library anywhere in searching our hard drive. Have tried all the search functions (including putting in jpg names of actual photos) and nothing is turning up. When I go into the data files - the photos are not in there. Is it possible to have somehow wiped out our entire collection of about 3000 photos? Unfortunately we did not have a back-up hard drive.....
I tried following some of the advice posted for iPhoto losses and gray boxes appearing...however none of them work.
Am finding it hard to believe that could have wiped out our entire collection by saving one photo? Was using iPhoto and saving a photo from the e-mail in the way I have been doing for months.
Any advice tips would be greatly appreciated?!
In disbelief over the possibility of entirely wiping out our collection!

dmck;
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
We have created a new iPhoto
Do you mean you create a new iPhoto Library? How did you go about doing so? There is a possibility that you could have created a new library and overwritten the old one, thus the one library with only one photo in it. It's iffy but might have been accomplished.
Happy New Year
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto 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), 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 08 libraries 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.

I would like to download / backup my entire iPhoto library, but want to do so in a manner where each event is saved as a distinct folder. Can someone please advise if / how this is possible?

I would like to download / backup my entire iPhoto library, but want to do so in a manner where each event is saved as a distinct folder. Can someone please advise if / how this is possible?

See Terence Devlin's User Tip on exporting from iPhoto:
Exporting From iPhoto https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
To write events to separate folders, use "File > Export" and select the subfolder format "Event Name". But that will only backup the photos and not your iPhoto library and all the work you invested in organising it. For backing up, see: iPhoto and File Management

Is it possible to transfer my iPhoto library to an external Hard Drive?

I have noticed that my fairly new iMac computer's hard drive is almost completely full.
Is it possible to transfer my iPhoto library to an external hard drive (that I have plugged constantly into my iMac computer), and still have full functionality of all parts of iPhoto e.g. Faces, etc.?

Hey TD,
After much reading in these posts and others you seem to be the guru on this topic. I recently bought a 1tb buffalo link station pro NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive that I copied my iphoto library to as described in previous post. I was then able to tell iphoto where the new library was, however when iphoto opens where the pic thumbnails should be are little dotted line boxes and when I scroll the mouse the pics then show up (instead of the dotted boxes) but then they slowly disappear back to dotted boxes. However if I double click on a dotted box the pic comes up normal in screen view.........any thoughts on why the dotted boxes and can't view the pics as thumbnails

In iPhoto preferences Advanced, I originally 'ticked' the "Importing: Copy items to the iPhoto Library" box. I have now installed a Drobo double back-up system and would like to delete these 'items' on my hard drive. Is this possible?

In iPhoto preferences >Advanced, I originally 'ticked' the "Importing: Copy items to the iPhoto Library" box. I have now installed a Drobo double back-up system and would like to delete these 'items' on my hard drive. Is this possible?

Not with iPhoto.
You can relocate the masters using Aperture if you're using the latest versions of both iPhoto and Aperture. However, if you're planning on using iPhoto going forward having the masters on one disk and the Library on another is not a good idea. Have a read of this
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3062728?tstart=0

My 7-year-old iMac died. I don't plan to replace it. It is backed up to Crashplan. Is it possible to restore my iPhoto library to the cloud, i.e. iCloud or Dropbox, so that I can access the photos as needed from my iPad or iPhone?

My 7-year-old iMac died. I don't plan to replace it. It is backed up to Crashplan. Is it possible to restore my iPhoto library to the cloud, i.e. iCloud or Dropbox, so that I can access the photos as needed from my iPad or iPhone?

Probably not - but that certainly does not involve iPhoto for the Mac - you need to look at Crashplan support for you options
And iCloud is not a place to store photos so that is certainly not a possibility
If you restore your masters folder out of the iPhoto library you will have all of your original photos to do with what you please
LN

IPhoto Library -Recovery Possible

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