Retrieving pictures off of my hard drive (Time machine) from Iphoto

Question

I apologize if this issue has ben addressed, but I searched and havent seen this same question. Now, I have been using time machine with my LaCie to back up my Macbook. One of my main reasons is to back up 9,000+ pictures that I have on here. Now, i want to make sure they are on my hard drive before I start to delete them for more room, but I cant seem to access them on my hard drive through time machine or any other way. When I click on Iphoto just the application icon enlarges, and thats about it. I tried to go through pictures, and nothing!
Id greatly appreciate any help anyone can give me!
Happy 4t of July by the way!! :o)

Answer 1

Several questions there and here are some answers:
I figured out by searching for a specific pic I found it in the Data file under iphoto library.
Then my guess is right. That's the thumbnail. The full sized pic is kept in the /Originals folder.
Maybe my real question is how do I access the files once its on my External hard drive?!
Doesn't make a difference which drive the files are on. Here are some of the ways you can access your files with iPhoto
For 10.5 users: You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Apple-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. If you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto. With 10.5 you can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
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.
Or, if you want to access the files with iPhoto not running, then create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use THIS
Other options include:
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. Again, producing a copy.
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.
Regards
TD