Moving only part of iphoto library to external hard drive

I would like to only move part of my iphoto library to an external hard drive.  Trying to archive my older pictures.  I know how to move the entire library but not so sure on how to move only parts of the library.  Do i need to create a second archived library and move the pictures I want to archive to that archived libary and then move the archived libary to an external hard drive?

Here's one way to do it:
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.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

Similar Messages

  • Iphoto library on external hard drive now does not show all the photos when i access it from macbook

    i backed up iphoto library to an external hard drive.  Deleted photo library on the macbook.  After transferring some new photos to macbook from a camera, when i access the iphoto library on external hard drive only the new photos show up.  Originals are still in files, but don't appear when opening iphoto library on external hard drive.

    Make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (Control-click on the library and select Duplicate from the contextual menu) and  apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
    Fix #1
    Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
    Select the options identified in the screenshot. 
    Fix #2
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    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
    In the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
    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 left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
    OT

  • Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup.  Error message:  The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

    Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup.  Error message:  The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

    That code is
    -36
    ioErr
    I/O error (bummers)
    Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk.  If that fails to help I'd try the following:
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    Click on the Add Library button,                         
    navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
    In the next  window name the new library and select the external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
    Click on the Create button.
    Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
    Note 2:  Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
    OT

  • Can't transfer iPhoto Library FROM external hard drive to iMac

    I just bought a new iMac.  Before I said goodbye to my old computer (a MacBook), I dutifully backed up my iPhoto library onto an external hard drive.  Upon setting up my iMac, I easily accessed the iPhoto library on my HD, but I didn't import it.  I was able to see all photos, albums, etc.
    But when I went to import the entire iPhoto library into my iMac's hard drive (into the Pictures folder), it wouldn't import.  A mesage comes up that says "Preparing to copy" and the blue-and-white bar just spins and spins, without actually copying anything.  So, it's weird -- there's clearly communication between iMac and external HD, but I can't take the iPhoto library off the hard drive to make it my new computer's iPhoto library.
    Any hints?  Thanks.

    Have you tried restarting your machine?

  • Need to transfer iphoto library to external hard drive

    need to transfer iphoto library to external passport drive. It will not let me drag and drop

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    The external drive is formatted in NTFS, a format that OS X can't write in. You have to erase the external disk.
    First, open Finder, choose the external drive in the sidebar, under "Devices", and copy all the content of your external drive to another folder like Desktop.
    Then, follow these steps to format the external drive in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as Format > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html Finally, drag the iPhoto library to the external drive

  • Iphone won't sync after moving iPhoto library to external hard drive

    I moved my iPhoto library to an external hard drive, now my iTunes will not sync with my iphone. It has an error when syncing photos and quits
    iPhoto works just fine, iTunes works just fine. This only occurs when syncing. Please help!

    Put your iPhoto library on the external hard drive and hold your Option key down when opening iPhoto. Then just select the library on the external drive. You can have multiple libraries too.
    Dave M.
    MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
    Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'

  • Moving iPhoto library onto external hard drive

    I would like to transfer all of my photos over to my external hard drive as my MacBook is filling up fast.
    I followed the directions on moving the iPhoto library onto my external hard drive. I can see the iPhoto icon on the external drive. I no longer see it under Me/Pictures.
    If I select the iPhoto icon on my external hard drive to open iPhoto, it opens without any photos. If I press "option" while opening iPhoto from the icon at the bottom of the screen the only option I have is from the following: Users/Me/Movies/iMovie Projects.localized/iPhoto Library. This option does open iPhoto so that I can see my photos. There is an option there to "Create New" so I added my hard drive. But if I use that as my default, I get no pictures.
    A couple of questions. How do I complete this process? Where are my pictures now? I'm assuming they are on my external hard drive. I didn't delete them from my MacBook so I'm also assuming they are there but not visible.
    Thanks

    As we're not sure what you have done exactly it's hard to be certain how to progress.
    This is how you move an iPhoto Library
    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.
    There is no way you've done that if you can no longer see the Library at Me/Pictures.

  • My mac will not properly read the iphoto library on external hard drive.  It only reverts back to the library on the computer instead.

    I have an iphoto library on an external drive, which I have connected to my airport extreme.  I can see the disk in my finder and access data on the external hard drive through the wireless, local network.  The only problem is that when I use my iMac, the machine does not read the iphoto library on the external harddrive, instead it picks up the library that's on the iMac itsel.  Is this a preferences list issue or something else?  Any help would be great, thank you.

    A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries. 

  • Moving iphoto library to external hard drive.

    My mac mini is fast running out of disk space and I am trying to move the iphoto library to an external hard drive.
    I have copied the library across to the external disk, renamed the exisiting library and have now tried to restore/rebuild the iphoto library using the new library on the external disk. All of the albums/events/faces appear in the finder window but iphoto hangs for up to 8 hours before I force quit and try again. I only have 20gb of photos and would not think the library should take this long to rebuild??
    I am running Lion along with the most current update of iphoto.
    Any assistance greatly appreciated.

    That article is missing a key piece of info:
    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.
    Regards
    TD

  • Moving content from iPhoto library to external hard drive

    I recently copied my iPhoto library to an external hard drive. I've just updated some albums and created new albums. What's the easiest way to move this new content to my hard drive without having to copy and move the entire iPhoto library again?

    iPhoto: How to move the Library folder to a new location
    See also:
    iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives

  • IPhoto library on external hard drive will no longer open

    I'm hoping that someone will be able to point me to a simple solution to my problem...
    I'm running iPhoto 9.6 on a  MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, mid-2014).  The OS is Yosemite 10.10.1.  Because the flash storage is only 250GB I have my main iPhoto library (146GB) on a partition of an external 1TB Lacie Rugged drive.  The external hard drive also has partitions for Time Machine Backup and SuperDuper Bootable Clone.  I have a separate, much smaller iPhoto library on the MBP which contains recent photos.
    Yesterday I failed to reconnect my MacBook Pro to the power source when I put it back on my desk.  The result was that the battery went below 5% and the MBP turned itself off and also ejected the external hard drive (some time after I reconnected the power cable there were dialog boxes on my screen informing me that each of the three partitions had been ejected incorrectly).  I waited until the MBP was fully charged before I tried to open my 'main' iPhoto library on the external hard drive.  I received a message that the library would have to be upgraded to work with the computer (very odd, because it had already been upgraded last October when I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite and has been working without any real problem ever since then).
    After some hours when the only message on the screen was 'Rebuiding Thumbnail Caches' I pressed Cmd+Option+Esc I saw that iPhoto was 'Paused'  - that message subsequently changed to 'Not Responding'.  I 'Force Quit' iPhoto but the iPhoto library will not open at all from the external drive.
    As a test I quit iPhoto and re-started using the Option key and chose to open the iPhoto library which is on the internal drive and it opened without any problem.
    I recall that it used to be possible to fix this sort of thing (perhaps not) by trashing the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file, however, I don't seem to be able to find it :-(
    I'm really at a loss as to how I should approach this problem and I would be very grateful for any suggestions that can be offered.
    Cheers
    Tricia

    Further update ....
    I downloaded and installed iPhoto Library Manager and then chose Library - Rebuild Library.  Unfortunately, when it had finished the result was 0 images in any file or folder.  I checked the log (which is incredibly long) but here's the beginning of it which seems to indicate that the problem is that an essential file is missing -
    2015-01-21 10:49:18.671 iPhoto Library Manager 4.1.11; iPhoto 9.6; OS X 10.10.1; unregistered
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilding library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilt library located at /Users/Tricia 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library (rebuilt).photolibrary
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.035 Building preview…
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Photo transfer settings: source libraries = /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library, copy faces = true, copy places = true, combine album contents = false, photo attributes copied = (comment, date, flagged, hidden, latitude, longitude, name, rating)
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Loading data for library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library…
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.056 Version number: 9.6
    2015-01-21 10:49:19.057 An error occurred: Trying to load database for library “/Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library” failed. Some information such as faces, places, and edit history may not be transferred succesfully. (error = Error Domain=PLDatabaseErrorDomain Code=1 "The SQLite database file could not be found." UserInfo=0x10e9c1c10 {PLDatabaseErrorVendorErrorKey=14, PLDatabaseErrorVendorStringKey=unable to open database file, NSLocalizedDescription=The SQLite database file could not be found.}
    After this each entry has a dialog that basically says the image file is missing from /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library.
    As mentioned in an earlier post I do have another iPhoto Library on my 2008 MacBook.
    Can someone advise the best way to proceed?  I'm thinking that I should erase the partition of my external hard drive that is called Pictures and then connect the external hard drive to my 2008 MacBook and simply drag and drop the iPhoto Library to the Pictures partition.  IIRC, that's the way I moved the iPhoto Library last October when I bought my new MacBook Pro which didn't have enough storage for me to be able to store my iPhoto Library on the MBP.  I could then reconnect the external hard drive to my MBP and the iPhoto Library should reappear, shouldn't it?
    Looking forward to more input ...
    Tricia

  • Backing up iPhoto Library from external hard drive through ChronoSync to Time Capsule

    I have a 2008, 2GB Mac Mini.  I moved my iTunes library, which is mostly movies, to a 4 TB My Book Studio, as it exceeded the space on my Mac.  I  back up my computer to a 2 TB Time Capsule.  I exclude the My Book Studio from being backed up on the Time Capsule as it takes up all the space due to the iTunes library.  I am wanting to move my iPhoto library as it is starting to take up to much memory on my Mac also.
    My question is, if I move my iPhoto library to the My Book Studio, then get an application such as ChronoSync (or an App that will do incremental back ups & not do a completely new back up each time) to automatically back up my iPhoto library to my Time Capsule, can I set it to specifically bak up the library off the external hard drive, or will it only back up info that is stored on my Mac?
    Thanks!

    Thanks Terence!!!  I received a reply back from Chronosync.  I will be purchasing their app......it sounds pretty slick
    Here is their reply to the same question I asked here:
    ChronoSync Express will back up the contents of whatever volume or folder you target as your source target to the volume or folder you choose as the destination target. As long as you can access the volume or folder via Finder of your Mac, ChronoSync Express can access it as well. You can create a sync document that targets your iPhoto library and nothing else on the My Book Studio and backs it up to the Time Capsule then schedule it to run automatically.  

  • How do I transfer iphoto library to external hard drive keeping events intact?

    Had a one to one session but forgot how to do this. I would like to transfer my iphoto library to an external hard drive keeping the folders and events intact. I figured out how to send all my photos to the hard drive but they all transfer in single images, if that makes sense, and then i have to go thru all of the 15,000 images by hand and sort them into folders. Ahhhhhhh!
    When they showed me how to do this at apple I am able to open my external hard drive and see a folder labled 'iphotolibrary" and  I am able to click it open and then all my events show up just like in iphoto library.
    Also does your iphoto library "Trash" take up space on your HD? Forgve me if thats a dumb question but I am kind of a computer "dummy".
    thanks so much. My hard drive has VERY little space left on it so I need to transfer ASAP.

    I just posted this to another topic, but it applies here as well. Hopefully there's no prohibition on cross-posting on this board, my apologies to all if there is:
    "I haven't read the whole thread, so someone could have already mentioned this, but I did the same thing, move my music library to an external drive. The Help articles are helpful, but only up to a point. When that didn't work, I called up AppleCare support up, and they took me through all the standard steps, and got stumped at the same point I did. Finally she suggested trying something, and that ended up doing the trick. So here in brief is what you do:
    1) Copy over your "iTunes Music" folder to the external hard drive
    2) Go into Advanced preferences to have iTunes look for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. If you're like me, your music won't appear in the Library.
    3) In iTunes, go to the Library window (which is probably blank), then in a Finder window, find the icon for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. Drag that icon onto the Library window.
    You should now see a progress window pop up showing all the songs that it's populating the Library window with."
    20" Intel iMac 14" iBook G4, 233 MHz Beige G3   Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

  • Huge iPhoto Library - 2 External Hard Drive + Time Machine

    I have a massive iPhoto library on my macbook pro and am adding about 10GB in photos per year. I currently have an external hard drive used as a backup only for Time Machine.
    Is it best to purchase an additional hard drive and run iPhoto directly from the external drive? Would this enable me to delete the iPhoto library from my macbook and then do a daily time machine backup for the macbook and for the external drive? Is this possible, or is their a better way to go about this?
    Thanks,

    I bought a new MacBook Pro in late august this year, and since then I`ve had some serious problems backing up my iPhoto library. I have searched severals forums in both english and norwegian, with no luck. But today, I found this... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116
    Thank you so much, Pondini. You made my day
    Kind regards, Erlend.

  • How to Acess iPhoto Library in External Hard Drive thru Airport Extreme and iPad

    My iPhoto library is currently in an external hard drive that's connected to an Airport Extreme.  I want to be able to access this library thru my iPad.  Is there any way to accomplish this?  I have spent endless hours online looking for an answer, but so far I have not found it.
    Thank you so much for the help !!!

    It may sound like a stretch, but there are so many people who have already solved more complex tasks than this one.
    I can't believe the only solution to this problem is to use LogMeIn/GotoMyPC or other remote control applications to access the library thru my MacBook Pro.   There is also an app for iPhones called NetPortalFile and I can view the individual pictures (but it ***** because I can only see one at a time and my wife has 60,000 pics...).  Almost there with solutions, not integrated all yet that I know of and that's why I am asking.
    I'll keep waiting, maybe someone has already figured it out or they are working on an app :)

Maybe you are looking for

  • Use of LDAP_OBJECT_UPDATE function module

    hi     Tell me the use of LDAP_OBJECT_UPDATE function module

  • Action recorded using RAW open step will not work with layered PSDs

    Hello, The title says it all. I have an action for resizing photos (and some other things), that I want to make general enough to work on NEF's, JPG's and PSD's. When I recorded the action I used a NEF file and the action works great also for JPEGs a

  • How to define MasterSpread page size ?

    Hi erverybody, I'm looking for a way to create a new master with a custom page size. I can create a new Master with this : myDocument.masterSpreads.add(1, {baseName:'NewMaster', namePrefix:'A'}); I try many options, but nothing seems to work.. myDocu

  • Delivery group 000 consists of only one item

    Hi All, I've the following issue(s): Customer Master is set with "Complete delivery required by law" flag. Partial Delivery per item = B. Max. Partial deliveries = 1. However, when I create an SO for this customer: then in the SO, the complete delive

  • How to handle Import Return

    Hi,     Can anybody tell me the import return process with account Entries at all steps. Thanks in advance. Regards Pavan