Small fear i've lost everything. in Finder i see iPhoto Library (original)
So... last night I went to try and recover some photos specifically from an old Time Machine backup. I discovered (and remembered) that they seem to be saved in entire libraries, not individual files/folders from which I can pull certain photos. (Correct, so far?)
I went back to a November backup when in Time Machine, clicked on the iPhoto library, and clicked restore. Turns out I didn't have enough HD space. So I thought I just stopped and left things as they were. However, this morning, I went to open up iPhoto and low and behold there's NO photos there.
Sidenote - I'm a photographer, I can't lose this!
I then looked at Finder and see that I DO have two iPhoto libraries, one titled "iPhoto library" (48.3 MB) and the other "iPhoto library (original)" (35.96 GB).
Could someone please help put me at rest and let me know how to access that "original" library. I clicked on it from the Finder and the "current" one is what appears. So now, forgive me, but I'm just a bit afraid to try anything else.
Regarding backups I think I've learned my lesson and will export the original photos to folders on an external drive, rather than just doing the Time Machine backups.
THANKS in advance!
Do you think my original idea of exporting the files individually is a good one, or the backups would do just that? Just looking for other thoughts...
I think the key to backing up is redundancy:
My Library lives on my iMac.
It’s Backed up to two external hard disks every day. These disks are permanently attached to the iMac. These back ups run automatically. One is done by Time Machine, one is a bootable back up done by SuperDuper
It’s also backed up to a portable hard disk when ever new photos are added. This hard disk lives in my car. For security, this disk is password protected. For this job I use DejaVu because it makes a simple back up that is clear and can be tested easily without doing an full restore.
I have a second off-site back up at a relative’s house across town. That’s updated every 3 or 4 months.
My Photos are backed up online. Personally I use SmugMug but there are many options including flickr. However, check the terms of your account carefully. While most sites have free uploading, you will often find that these uploads are limited in terms of the file size, or the bandwidth you can use per month. For access that allows you to upload full size pics with no restrictions you will need to pay.
Every couple of months I test the back ups to make sure they are working correctly. It’s very easy to mis-configure a back up application, and the only way to protect against that is to do a restore.
an I now delete "iPhoto library" from my Finder, as it hopefully would always use "iPhoto library (original)" from now on? I'm thinking after I delete it, I can rename the "original" one to just "iPhoto library."
Yes and Yes.
If you're only recovering particular photos, try the iPhoto: File Menu -> Browse back Ups
Regards
TD
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I have recently had something really odd happen within iphoto. My photos from May-Oct 2013 appeared to be missing from my primary Iphoto library.
last night I was trying to find any additional Iphoto libraries on my Imac... I could not find them... but then somehow the May-Oct 2013 library showed up and now I cannot find the "current" primary Iphoto library. I sought help from apple care today but no solutoin from them after 2 hours trying. I have timemachine that backs up my Imac each day to an external hard drive. When I open Iphoto while holding down the "option" key - it lets me choose which Iphoto library... but only (1) library comes up... I can't figure out what happened - but it seems that I must have more than one Iphoto library because yesterday I was able to see all my photos except the "gap in dates" from May-Oct 2013. Today - I can only open a Library called Iphoto2014... and it contains the photos from the gap in dates. I can't "see" any other options to open photos... but just yesterday there appeared to be a different library available.
Any advice or steps i should take to locate my missing photos - would be soooooo much appreciated.I have recently had something really odd happen within iphoto. My photos from May-Oct 2013 appeared to be missing from my primary Iphoto library.
last night I was trying to find any additional Iphoto libraries on my Imac... I could not find them... but then somehow the May-Oct 2013 library showed up and now I cannot find the "current" primary Iphoto library. I sought help from apple care today but no solutoin from them after 2 hours trying. I have timemachine that backs up my Imac each day to an external hard drive. When I open Iphoto while holding down the "option" key - it lets me choose which Iphoto library... but only (1) library comes up... I can't figure out what happened - but it seems that I must have more than one Iphoto library because yesterday I was able to see all my photos except the "gap in dates" from May-Oct 2013. Today - I can only open a Library called Iphoto2014... and it contains the photos from the gap in dates. I can't "see" any other options to open photos... but just yesterday there appeared to be a different library available.
Any advice or steps i should take to locate my missing photos - would be soooooo much appreciated. -
How do I find my old iPhoto Library? It disappeared.
Hello,
iPhoto was frozen for a few days (it wouldn't move past the grey, loading screen). I forced it to a quit a couple times to no avail. I finally updated my software from the Apple drop down box and the computer restarted. After it restarted, it said that it needed an iPhoto Library and therefore I needed to make/name a new one. I assumed it would still keep my photos and I was just renaming it b/c of the software update. Not at all. It is a brand new library, neither my old one OR my 1600 pictures are nowhere to be found.
I used spotlight, finder, searched for named photos/events, searched our users, hard drive, just about everything. I have also tried to rebuild the libaray, it only rebuilds the few new photos I recently imported onto the new library from an iphone. It does not rebuild or bring back any of 1600 photos from my old library. I have also tried pressing command and option to choose a different libaray for default, but my old one is nowhere to be found.
Honestly I'm pretty lost. I don't know how anyone could've "accidently" deleted 1600 photos that quickly. Is there a virus that just targets iPhoto? My MacBookPro and all of my other programs (Skype, Word, iTunes, etc.) work completely fine.
Obviously, I think this all happened during the software update. Could iPhoto have saved my 1600 photos in some type of locked format that I can't access?
PLEASE HELP. I have NO backup and am just about at my wits end. I do not want to lose 1600, irreplaceable photos.I'm afraid the most likely explanation is that some inadvertently overwrote or deleted the iPhoto Library.
As you have no backup you're only hope now is file recovery software like File Salvage -
Upgraded to iPhoto 6 and lost link to images/photos in iPhoto Library
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CK:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. To see if the database file is readable use iPhoto Library Manager. If it can see the slideshows, rolls, etc. than there's a chance rebuilding the library with iPLM can save them. If iPLM cannot access the library then I'm afraid the dB file is damaged beyond recovery. If you have to start afresh here's a possible way you might be able to recover the keywords. Check in the library and see if clicking on a keyword will bring up, even though they are blank, a specific set of photos. If so then you can try to follow Tutorial #1 to write the keywords back to the actual original files. Then do the following:
1 - move the old iPhoto Library folder to the desktop.
2 - launch iPhoto and create a new library.
3 - drag the "Originals" folder from the old library folder into iPhoto's open window.
This will generate a new library with the same rolls as were in the old library. Some of the roll dates may be changed however. The keywords will be retained if Tutorial #1 worked.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against future iPhoto database corruption that you and 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. -
Why can't i see Iphoto Library as normal folders in finder as Microsoft Windows?
I've been having troubles with this for a long time.
In Microsoft Windows, you don't have any original program as Iphoto, so you have all your transfered photos in folders on "my computer".
In Mac, however, you have Iphoto, and every time you sync your Iphone and transfer your photos to Iphoto, you only have acces to the original files you transfered by opening Iphoto and revealing the original files in Finder (command + shift + R).
That's the way i found to manage my original files. I don't like it though.
I want to know if there is any possible way you can manage/have access to your Iphoto Library simply by opening Finder, and not only in Iphoto.
If i wasn't clear, let me try to suggest you to see it by yourself: Open Finder and search the original file of a picture you have on Iphoto. Normally, you don't find it. So you have to open Iphoto, click on the picture you want to use, reveal it in Finder and then do whatever you need with it.
The problem is that this picture was already in Iphoto Library, which is visible in Finder, but there is no way you can open the Iphoto Library without being redirected to Iphoto.
Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.
Thanks a lot!
Matheus.In your pictures folder of your user directory, there will be a file called iPhoto Library. Control-click on it and show the contents. All of your pictures will be inside of there. HOWEVER, i you edit, delete, rename, etc... any photos from that folder, you can corrupt your iPhoto Library.
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How do I find a missing iPhoto library on my MacBook Pro?
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and was able to use data rescue 3 to recover my iPhoto library so on my new laptop
I'm not sure that this is actually possible. Apps like Data Rescue are very good for recovering files, but and iPhoto Library isn't a file. It's a rather complex ecosystem of interlocking files, folders, databases and metadata. I believe that data recovery apps can recover the files, but not the ecosystem and after using such apps you need to make a new library and start over from scratch. Therefore, when recovering photos it's important to always choose the largest file size as that has the best chance of being the original file.
now I don't see the library with all my pictures anywhere on my computer.
Where are you looking? How?
When I try to "switch library" it only shows the blank one.
This would tend to support me belief, above. -
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Lost preview in Finder - cannot see photos
I saw another previous, archived post on this same topic. The answer did not work for the person who posted the issue, and it does not work for me.
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With the option enabled, you will have a final column that will display a thumbnail of the selected picture. You may have to click on the little triangle next to the the word "Preview" in the Preview Column for the thumbnail to show itself the first time.
If you still don't see the thumbnail, it's possible thumbnails have not been created for your photo files. This often happens if the photos were transfered from another computer or if the camera does not automatically create thumbnails.
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I have tried this but with no success. I have therefore found that I cannot access my iTunes library at all now.
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HT1349 my windows vista crashed and lost everything, how do I rebuild my library?
I have windows vista and system crashed, loosing Itune account...system now rebuilt...how can I get my itune library back? I do have a an Ipod touch and nano set up with library but afraid if I hook up to pc it may erase what I have?
The easy way is from the backup you make of your computer so in case something happens you don't lose anything.
You can download some media files purchased from Apple:
Downloading (using iOS or computer) past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519 - enabled with iTunes 10.3 and newer; not all media formats are available in all countries (see: iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability by Country - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5085); apps, books (not audiobooks), music, t.v. shows, and movies (some - not all studios have permitted this). Downloading previously purchased movies and TV shows requires iTunes 10.6 or later. Discontinued items not available. For items not included in the iCloud list (e.g., ringtones), or locations or computer systems where iCloud is not (yet?) available, you only get one download per fee paid. Apple notes it is your responsibility to back up your purchases.
Select the store on the left side of iTunes.
Click on Purchased on the right side under Quick Links.
You can re-download your available previous purchases.
This will not reconstruct your library as it was. It just puts the media back. You will have to do playlists, ratings, etc. If you have music from another source you will have to get it from there again. -
I can see the library of photos in Aperture so I know the photos are still there and still organized, but I'm unable to see them in iPhoto after switching to a different library, then trying to go back - where is that library? Its not listed. The desired iPhoto library was iPhoto 11, this one is only 9.6.
First: Locate it.
Right click on the word iPhoto in the Menu bar. This will show you the location of the Library:
Most Simple Back Up:
Drag the iPhoto Library from wherever it is to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.
Example of such apps: Chronosync - but there are many others. Search on MacUpdate or the App Store -
HELP! Copied the iPhoto Library folder to backup, but files are smaller
Help! To get more space on my laptop, I copied some photos to a backup hard drive, following the instructions in iPhoto help: "Copy the iPhoto Library folder on your hard disk to another disk." I then deleted many of the photos from my laptop.
Now I'm looking at the photo files on the backup hard drive, and noticing that they are much smaller in size than the originals, for example 45 KB versus 1.1 MB. I tried a test photo by copying a photo from the hard drive back into iPhoto on my laptop, then opened the photo next to the original. Much smaller resolution!
Then I go to the laptop's iPhoto Library Folder (where all the photos are supposed to reside) and find this particular photo, and sure enough, it shows that the file size is indeed much smaller (45 KB) than the photo information shows when I have the photo open in iPhoto (1.1 MB).
So what's going on? Have I lost the detailed information on all of the backed-up photos, or does iPhoto get more information from somewhere? Am I really backing up everything when I follow the iPhoto Help instructions and just copy the iPhoto Library Folder?Welcome to the Apple Discussions. It sounds as if you copied the Data folder only which contains the thumbnail files. If you don't have a backup or the entire library or the original files I'm afraid you're out of luck. You could try recovering them from the HD (if you haven't used it much since deleting the image files) with SubrosaSoft FileSalvage. It will let your run it in demo mode to see what files, if any, can be recovered before you have to purchase it.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) 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 or later), 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 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. 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.
Note: There's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard. -
How to see iPhoto images in finder?
How do I see iPhoto library images in Finder, and also how do I access iPhoto images to download them as album artwork in iTunes?
In general, you don't see the iPhoto images in the Finder. iPhoto replaces the Finder for everything you do with your images.
For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491 -
Lost all of my photos from iphoto 08 when i reinstalled the software
all of my photos that were previously on iphoto 6 are there, but everything from the past 6 months is gone. HELP!!!
I'm afraid it sounds like your database has been corrupted somewhere along the way.
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums back.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD
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