Migrating old iPhoto Library to new Mac

Question

Hi,
I recently experienced a hard drive crash on my 5 yr old iMac, so I've purchased a new one instead of repairing and upgrading the old one.  I now have a large iPhoto library on a backup drive (drag file copy, not Time Machine, and yes I am using Time Machine now...).  Since I started with an older version of iPhoto, I have the Library folder with all the folders visible inside, like the Originals, Modified, etc.  I was surprised to see that the iPhoto Library on my new system is a single file.  I had hoped to just drag the existing folders to the appropriate location on the new Mac.  Barring that, I tried importing the Library from my backup drive into iPhoto '11 on my new system (by just highlighting the Library folder in the import window), and boy what a mess I have now.  Most events appear two or three times, with some folders containing all the photos, some containing smaller versions (some type of thumbnails I presume).  I had around 25K photos on the old system, now I have over 55K after importing them to the new Mac.  After having spent a gajillion hours editing the original photos for dust, color correction, etc, I'm not at all interested in re-doing all this work.  I've done some searching but can't find any documentation on moving my old Library to my new iMac.  Any suggestions or a good URL would be great.
Thanks
Lou

Answer 1

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.
In your case I woukd simply start over. Trash that Library on the new machine.
To migrate a Library to a new machine is simple:
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine (or in your case, from the Hard Drive) 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.
I was surprised to see that the iPhoto Library on my new system is a single file.
Since iPhoto 7 (iLife 08) the old iPhoto Library Folder is a Package File. This is simply a folder that looks like a file in the Finder. The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves.
Accessing the files in the Library via the Finder has not been supported on any version of iphoto. As an FYI:
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.