Move iPhoto Library to external harddrive

Good evening all...
I've done some searching and see a few different possibilites for using an Alternate iPhoto Library on an external harddrive. I'm hoping for opinions on the best option for what I wish to accomplish.
In my line of photography, I tend to focus on a specific event and then backup that event to remove it from my local hard disk (archive it if you will). In the past, I have done this by burning to CD, but now have a pretty decent sized external harddrive that I would like to take advantage of.
After reading some other threads, I have noticed that some folks choose to relocate their iPhoto Library to a external harddrive and set it as the working iPhoto directory. I am wondering if this is a good option for me, as I prefer to keep my local harddrive clean? Is an external harddrive a safe option for primary storage? Chalk my fear of storing locally to years of Windows failures.
If this is a good option for me, could somebody explain the procedures of setting this up? This is my first Mac and I am still somewhat cautious as to how I proceed with things such as this.
If this is a bad option for me, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your time!
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.9) iPhoto 6

Take a look at this Apple KB document: iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users, particularly the screen show regarding ignoring ownership on the external HD. That will avoid problems that might pop up if permissions were turn on and some image file locked you out for some reason. It does happen at times.
Do you Twango?
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 written 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. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Similar Messages

If I Move iPhoto Library to External Drive Does It Keep Organized?

Can anyone tell me:
In iPhoto 09 8.2.1 if I take the time to organize, edit, "faces" "events" etc...and I move iPhoto to an External Harddrive, a Western Digital "My Book"...Does moved library stay edited, organized face tagged, etc?
Thanks

See this document how to format a drive for photo libraries: (it explains it for aperture, but it is done the same way for iPhoto)
Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
Also if I do format the drive how will that effect what is already on there (not just photos but documents, etc)?
I thought you were buying a new drive to use with iPhoto. If there are already documents on the drive, you need to copy them temporarily somewhere else. Reformatting will erase a drive completely.
Disk Utility (it is in the "Utilities" folder in "Applications") will show you, if your drive needs formatting.
The left pane shows your disks and disk partitions, and the right pane lets you do useful things, like reformatting and repairing your drive.
If you select the drive in the left panel, you see the formatting in the footer of the panel.
Is your drive correctly formatted?

Transfer iphoto library to external harddrive. Best practice?

Need to transfer iphoto library to external harddrive due to space issues. Best practice?

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

Confirm move of iPhoto library to external harddrive

I recently moved my iPhoto library to an external HD, and wanted to confirm that I can safely delete the old iPhoto library from my external disk. How do I check this? I also wanted to check that iPhoto is set up to store yet-to-be-imported-photos in the new location (on the HD). Under preferences in iPhoto, and then under the advanced tab, I have selected the box next to "copy photos to the iPhoto library". Is it really that simple?

Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and point it at the Library on the external. From that point on, this is the default Library, and the one that all pics will be imported to.
Test it thoroughly and when you're sure it's all okay, delete the one on the internal.
Regards
TD

Not able to access my iPhoto library from external harddrive

I get this message when I attempt to access my iphoto Library from my LeCie external hard drive. "Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable. Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your photo library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup.
I'm nervous to do as instructed for fear of deleting my photos from the external harddrive.

What format is the external drive? Has the iPhoto library been working on the external drive in the past? What recently changed? what ahppened when you tried
Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again.
LN

Transfering iPhoto library to External Harddrive

I am trying to transfer my iPhoto library to my External Harddrive, but it says it is going to take one day. I dont feel like USB 3.0 should take one day to transfer 50gb of pictures... Any fix to this problem?

Ignore it
The finder is a very poor estimated of time - it will change radically as it progresses - and however long it takes is how ling it takes - there is no way to change that
Is the external drive formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled)? - to use the iPhoto library it must be that format
LN

Can't move iPhoto library to external drive

My poor little iMac only has 200 MB of hard drive space on it, so I need to make some room! I'd already moved my iTunes library from it last year, but I figured now I need to move my iPhoto library to my external hard drive too.
I went to Apple help for instructions, which said drag the iPhoto library folder to the hard drive. I couldn't find an icon that looked like a folder in Pictures, but I found an icon that said "iPhoto Library" so I moved that icon to my external hard drive. On the hard drive, the icon turned into a blank document icon. I put my iMac's iPhoto library in the trash, reopened iPhoto, selected "choose library" and tried to choose the iPhoto library that was on the external hard drive, but it was grayed out, so I couldn't! I went through all these steps several times.
Also, just for curiosity's sake, I double clicked on the iPhoto library blank icon on the external hard drive. It said it needed an application to work with it, so I tried to choose iPhoto, but that wasn't working either.
I have iLife '08, by the way. The hard drive is a 250GB WD. Can anyone tell me how to do this?

What is the size of the resulting file on the external HD? Also how is the external HD formatted? If it's one of the FAT formats for PCs that may be the problem. Try copying that file back to your desktop and see if it will reconvert back to a library. If that's the case, reformat the HD to OS X Extended (journaled).
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.

Move iphoto library to external drive

Hi everyone. I'm a first-timer here. I'm trying to free up space off my local hard drive and want to move an iphoto librabry to an expernal drive. When I do I get this message after more than an hour: "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “File Name” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)". I wonder what I can do to move the library? If it's a corrupt photo(s) or video(s) how can identify which one(s) is/are corrupt as there are literally thousands of photos and videos. Any help is appreciated. Cheers.

What format is the extrenal drive? How are you moving the iPhoto library?
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

I can not move iPhoto library to external

I cleared out (formatted) a WD HD and want to use it for my external iPhoto library. My Macbook Pro is not big enough to house 400GB of photos. When I select iPhoto library from pictures and drag it to my HD it has a little xed out white circle. Can anyone tell me why this will not let me move the library?

I just did a windows format since I could not do anything on my Mac. Looking up how to format a HD for a Mac was helpful and I am now moving my photo library YEAH!! Thanks!

Move iPhoto library with external images to another computer &external disk

Hi guys,
I have just received my shiny new MacBook and now I want to move my iPhoto library from my "old" Mac mini to the new computer; to make things slightly more complicated, I have, for historic reasons, all my photos external to the iPhoto library on a hard drive called "Mobile". In addition, in the new environment the photos shall reside on yet another external drive which will be called Mobile3 ...
Any idea how I can achieve this ?
Many thanks, Jurgen
Mac mini, MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Mac mini Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Jurgen:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. I think I know now you can do that.
1 - copy the iPhoto Library folder intact into the MacBook's Pictures folder.
2 - move the container folder for the "source" files to Mobile 3. Try to keep the path names as consistent as possible except for the HD name.
3 - open the library on the MB and double click on a thumbnail. When the window comes us to find the source file do so.
That should re-link all of the files in the library or at least in that roll. The worst case scenario would be do to that once for each roll. If you have the file path identical to the old HD except for the HD's name it should work.
In the event you have to create a new library and start fresh (unlikely) or want to just make sure your source file as permanently associated with the keywords and comments you're assigned in iPhoto try Tutorial #1.
Do you Twango?
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 written 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. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Would like to know how to back up iphoto library to external harddrive

I know this question has been asked and very well answered, but I could not find it in the pop up discussions. I have copied my library to an external hard drive by dragging and dropping the events into folders. This works, however is time consuming and all the photos, I think are out of order. I would like to use the "export library" link in iphoto, but when i do it say something about can't create volumes?? Sorry if this is not as clear as it could be, but I don't think I am the first with this problem. Links to previous solutions would be great! I do use time machine as a back up to an external hard drive, but would like to back up the library to a USB also, which I can then put somewhere else.
I have a Mac Mini 10.6.8. and a sweet new bluetooth keyboard!

Copy the iPhoto library intact to the EHD -- or use a incremental program so you can update it without recopying everything - I use Carbon Copy cloner - Superduper is another good one - there are others
LN

How to move iPhoto Library from external drive to new mac?

I have exported a copy of my iPhoto Library from my old mac to an external hard drive. How can I import entire library into iPhoto of new mac? When I click Import to Library, I'm unable to highlight iPhoto Library file listed on my external hard drive in Finder. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Is the iPhoto library on the new computer empty? If it is, quit iPhoto and just drag the iPhoto library on the New Computer to the trash and drag the iPhoto library from the EHD to the pictures folder on the new computer - there is no importing involved - you NEVER want to import an iPhoto library into another iPhoto Library
If you want to run the new computer with the iPhoto library on the external drive simply launch i{Photo while depressing the option (alt) key and use the select library to point to the EHD
LN

Move iphoto library to external drive...now what?

I copied my iphoto library over to my external drive and now I would like to delete my iphoto library. Before I do that, I want to know what to delete. The largest folder is called "originals" then i have a bunch of folders that are named years...etc. What should I delete? What should I not delete? Can I now copy my husband's iphoto folder to the same external folder so that we can share? We may just use one account on our imac for music and photos...too complicated to share.

Hi megan,
If you have launched iPhoto with the Option key and chose to open another library and chose the one on the external and everything is working fine, you can delete the entire iPhoto Library folder in your Pictures folder.
iPhoto is now using the library on the external.
You can copy your husbands to the external if you wish but it cannot have the same "iPhoto Library "name or it will replace yours when it is moved there.
If you want to merge the libraries though, you can use iPhoto Library manager (paid version)
the situation is a little more complicated and has different steps depending on what you want to do.
If you are wanting to use the same library I would purchase iPhoto library manager, use it to merge yours and your husbands library.
Copy the merged library to an external. To share this library, the external must be set to "ignore permissions"
Instructions are on the iPhoto Library Manger documentation link for sharing la library.
iPhoto Library Manager
iPhoto Library Manager documentation
this page will show you everything you can do with iPhoto Library Manager.

How do I move iPhoto pics to external HD to free up hard drive space, then how to back up external HD

I currently have 2 iPhoto Libraries on my 2010 MacBook Pro. Photo count is in tens of thousands, and hard drive needs them to go away so it can work faster. Nervous about moving photos to external HD. I currently back up entire computer to 1 external HD via Time Machine. Just purchased another bigger external HD for purpose of moving iPhoto libraries to it.
However, Genius Bar told me to drag and drop folders to folders I create on new HD and NOT move iPhoto Library file itself because those were only "copies" of the images. If I want to keep the real images, I should move folder by folder and group by year.
I'm just totally confused. I still want to be able to use iPhoto to organize and edit my photos. I THINK I can do that by moving the entire iPhoto library folder from my Pictures folder to the external and then launching iPhoto by holding down Option key. But, how do I back up the back up?

However, Genius Bar told me to drag and drop folders to folders I create on new HD and NOT move iPhoto Library file itself because those were only "copies" of the images. If I want to keep the real images, I should move folder by folder and group by year.
Genius bar is not very genius in this case.
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library 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.
Backing Up.
Remember a back up is a copy on another disk (at least). So, you'll need one disk to hold your Library and another to back that up to. You can use Time Machine if you want to. Chronosync or SuperDuper are also excellent alternatives.
Regards
TD

Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

Move iPhoto Library to external harddrive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for