Where does iPhoto put my imported photos?

I know this a newbie question and in the past I would find the files under "iPHoto library", but lately when I try to upload my photos from a photo web server I can't seem to figure out where the **** they are! Any tips?
I sure wish that when I clicked "get info" in iPhoto it would tell me where the file actually is...

I sure wish that when I clicked "get info" in iPhoto it would tell me where the file actually is...
How about any of these:
There are many, many ways to access your files in 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.
Remember:
Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Where does iphoto put the library?

where does iphoto put the library?
i thought it would be put in the pictures folder but at least in my case it is not there! the folder is empty.
I can import pictures and they show in iphoto and frontrow but I would simply like to know where on my harddisk they end up.
anybody?
thanks

Chris
No! Don't make anew library it will overwrite your old one.
It's there somewhere, it's just that it's visibility status has changed (why??)
Anyway try the following:
go to http://www.cocoatech.com and download Pathfinder. This is an alternative to the Finder - and it has extra features, among them a View-> Show Invisible Items command. This might help us find it.
Pathfinder is shareware, but you can use it for a trial period without paying.
Regards
TD

Where does iphoto store the raw photos?

Hi - I have imported all my photos into iphoto and am begining to get the hang of using iphoto to create my events/albums etc. I have been a PC user for over 20 years and all my media/data etc is backed up onto a NAS drive. For a long time I assumed I could use iphotos in Reference Mode and keep everything on NAS but it is painfully slow, eventhough all my computers communicate wired and I have a decent router. So I have given up and have imported all of them.
However, I would like to keep my NAS as a backup for my raw files. I know I can load my raw data twice by going between the PC and Mac, but would rather not. I would really appreciate it if anyone can tell me if the following is possible;
1. Import new photos from my camera into iphoto
2. Use an app on the iMac to just Copy the new raw photos into my NAS drive, without corrupting iphotos. I can't find where iphotos stores the photos.
3. Go back to iphoto and organise my photos into events etc
4. Keep the original files on NAS to import as and when (if I ever need to)
I am going to get a new external drive, formatted for Mac to back up iphotos BUT in the mean time I'd like to do the above. I am grateful for any help.
Regards
Fataneh

iPhoto 09 and iPhoto 11 have exactly the same options for accessing the images. Exactly the same supported ones, exactly the same unsupported ones.
For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

Where does iphoto place photos when imported

I have been importing photos of a recent trip and need to move them off the hard drive to save space. Where does iPhoto put them and can I access them from an external drive within iPhoto?
thanks
Shelley

By default they are copied to the iPhoto library - but you do not touch them there
you can run iPhoto off of and external drive -
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
After doing this you can delete some photos from the old library instead of deleting the whole library (deleting and emptying the iPhoto trash and the system trash every 100 or so photos ) so you have some of your photos on your main drive and all of them on the external drive - switch libraries using the command-lanch
If you do this you will find iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - very helpful in managing the multiple libraries
LN

Where does iPhoto save imported files???? how do you "save"?

ok this is driving me crazy:
I've imported photos and movie clips from my camera through usb through iPhoto.
Where does iPhoto save these files?
I've opened iMovie to find the movie clip and I can't find it anywhere...
also: after editing a photo in iMovie, how do you "save" it?

Chris
You’ve a bit of a learning curve ahead of you as you obviously haven’t really understood iPhoto, what it is and how it works. You could do yourself a favour and have a look at the tutorials at http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#iphoto
To specific cases:
When you press "done" it doesn't save it (find the photo in its original file and open it with Preview, you'll see it hasn't been saved).
Yes, but it has! You see iPhoto will always preserve your Original file. So when you make edits it carries out these on copy of the file. You can see this in the iPhoto Window. There is no way to make iPhoto edit the original file.
I have opted for iPhoto not to duplicate my photos and keep its own library (to me that doesn't make any sense, my photos are about 15GB, I wouldn't want them to turn into 30GB for no reason!),
1. The best solution for that it to allow iPhoto to copy the files into the Library and then remove your own copies.
2. When you go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import', you are running what is called a Referenced Library. In a Referenced Library iPhoto will not copy the files on import, but rather simply reference them on your HD. To do this
it will create an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file.
It will still create a thumbnail and,
if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder.
However, you need to be aware of a number of potential pitfalls using this system.
1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
Always allowing for personal preference, I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers.
If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library as an entity 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.
If you're concerned about accessing the files, there are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 Only*
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!
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and 10.5* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
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. However, 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.
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*:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
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.
so the problem still exists, why doesn't it save new photos in my pictures folder?
Because you told it not to. When you run a Referenced Library +you are responsible for File Management+. Remember that bit above where I said
1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures
You need to put the files where you want them, then import them to iPhoto. Iphoto has no control over any file outside the Library Package. So when it comes to deleting things you’ll need to remove the pics from iPhoto and then go and root them out from your folder structure by hand.
None of this is the case if you run a Managed Library.
or ask me where to save them?
Because that’s not what it does. Check out Image Capture for that.
I'm worried that if I now let it save all my new photos to its iPhoto library (which is basically a virtual library as I understand it)
What do you mean by a “virtual library”?
and in a year's time I change laptops I run the risk of loosing photos as I won't know which photos are were (now I can do a back up to an external drive simply by copying the folders I choose from the pictures folder.
If you run a Managed Library then backing up and migrating are both very simple. You simply back up the iPhoto Library or move it as the case may be. There are many, many back up utilities that will do incremental back ups if the Library: Time Machine, DejaVu Chronosync are several but there are a hundred more. Search on MacUpdate.
If you run a Referenced Library you must +back up the Originals and the iPhoto Library+ (to get your Albums, Modified Versions and so on). Migrating rto a new machine is a bear too, as you cannot allow the path to the files to alter. (See my pitfall no. 3 above.
Worst of all: a mixed Managed/Referenced Library: a recipe for data loss.
My strongest advice to you is to start over with iPhoto. Create a new Library: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library' and import 100 pics into it and explore it for a week or two. Get to know the ins and outs a bit and se how it works. Then decide if it’s the right app for you. By all means post back if you need more info.
Regards
TD

Where does Iphoto store ratings, arrangement of photos, events, libraries?

Hi, I currently have Leopard, I was planning on doing a clean install with Snow Leopard soon. Afterwards I plan on restoring Iphoto back to the way it was. I have a 70 gb library and importing my photos, rearranging the events, photos, and libraries would take ages if I had to start from scratch. I have my whole computer backed up using Carbon Copy Cloner. My question is where does Iphoto store the ratings, manual arrangement of photos, events, libraries, etc? Thanks

iPhoto is a relational database program and everything is stored in the iPhoto library - it must be treated as a single entity - it is not possible to isolate components in it - simply drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity from the clone back to the pictures folder of the main computer
To test prior to doing an erase and install (the Mac does not have a "clean install") you can depress the option key and launch iPhoto and select the backup copy and test it - be sure to do an option launch and paint back to the main library afterwards
LN
LN

Why does IPhoto create duplicates of photos and graphics that is on my Mac when I import Photostream. I started out with 4000 photos now I have almost 28,000. I am using new Ipad and the Mac is running Mountain Lion

Why does IPhoto create dupicates of photos and graphic that is on My Mac when I import the photos from Photo stream to the library? I started out with about 4,000 photos when I transferred everything from my PC. I use a new IPad and IPhone to take the photos. The Mac is running Mountain Lion 10.8.2 3.1 Intel prosessor. I am using IPhoto 11.
Thanks in advance
Barry

there is an app called daisydisk on mac app store which will help you see exactly where the memory is focused and consumed try using that app and see which folders are using more memory

Where does iphoto store photos

where does iphoto store photos

For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

I have recently updated to iPhoto 9.2.1, more by accident I guess. In the older version off iPhoto when I imported photos and gave the event his own name, this name was also used in the "masterfile"

I have recently updated to iPhoto 9.2.1, more by accident I guess. In the older version of iPhoto when I imported photos and gave the event his own name (for exampample "110723 birthday son 2011"), this name was also used in the "masterfile", so I could find the file by his name ("110723 birthday son 2011") in the "masterfile" on my HD and copy and paste it from there to other computers.
In the new version the file gets stored under a seemingly random number, which does not give me any information about the content.
Is there a way to fix this? Would it be different in apperture?
Thanks
Harald

I have Iphoto '09, version 8.1.2 (424). I am having an identical problem. All my pictures are imported into Iphoto when I downloaded them from my camera. Until recently, I thought that the pictures were actually saved in the library. Since I need to crop my pictures for the web, and Iphoto doesn't do that, I purchased Photoshop Elements to do that. To my surprise, when I try to get a picture from Iphoto to Photoshop, it can't be done. That was when I realized, after wasting a lot of time, that the photos are not in the Iphoto library.
I started naming the pictures on Iphoto so I had a recognizable file name to open on Photoshop. Couldn't find it. I looked in the Backup folder and the Transfer software folder (I have a Nikon camera), and the names I entered in the Iphoto display, could not be found.
When I am trying to upload a photo to the web, I get the Finder folder showing with an active folder called "Photos" under "Media", which only displays Iphoto and PhotoBooth. This is a folder name that I cannot find in my HD anywhere when I look for it. If I edit a picture with Photoshop, I am not going to save it back to Iphoto (not sure whether it will work properly). How do I get my folder of edited photos to show when I want to upload a picture to the web?
Where (the name of the folder) do I find the pictures I see displayed on the Iphoto library, including any name changes, keywords added, and so on?

Iphoto has been importing photos for over an hour and i can't get it to stop. can't stop importing and can't shut down computer.

iphoto has been importing photos for over n hour and I can't get it to stop. Can't get out of iphoto and can't shut down computer.

iPhoto works best when the source (Pictures folder) is on a different disk drive than the iPhoto Library is on.
And you need to have enough free disk space to work with, the faster the better.
Also, do not keep your media folders and those in your home folder on the same drive as the system, also another bottleneck.
Until or unless you have everything on 1400MB/sec SSD PCIe controller, you want
System boot drive
Media and data folders and such
scratch
backup
etc
I put iPhoto on an SSD off an SSD PCIe Sonnet Tempo card
If you stop- it, you will need to trash the Library it was creating.
Reading and writing to/from the same hard drive will be slow.
You don't mention which Mac, or how large you are trying to import etc
Also the support page and link to the iPhoto Commuinity is off this page:
http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto
Take a look in Activity Monitor. See what the % being used for iPhoto, how many pageouts, how much free space on the various disk drives, and how much RAM do you have installed?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342

Importer does not recognize already imported photos

Hello,
I have a really annoying problem with Aperture 3.0.3. The importer does not recognize already imported photos and wants to import them again and again. This is true for photos from my iPhoneand also for photos from my Nikon. If I enable "Do not import duplicates" then some photos vanish from the importer, when I the iPhone view is open. In the Nikon view not even one photo is recognized as already imported.
Also very strange is that when I have the iPhone (iOS 4.1 installed) attached to the Mac, Aperture opens the importer automatically and shows all photos correctly - but strangely, both iMac CPUs are at 100% until I click either "Cancel" or "Start import" or I disconnect the iPhone.
I tried the following without success:
- Correct permissions on media library
- Repair media library
- Rebuild media library
Imports from my iPhone last very long and seem to hang most of the time. I have to kill Aperture to make it work again all the time.
To me, it looks like there is something really messed up at the base of this program.
I have about 20000 files in my library - face recognition is not turned off - most of the preferences are at their default, I think. Did not play around very much.
Does anybody know what to do? I don't want to lose all my Projects (sorted all pictures into their own projects). But I want to work with Aperture again. When its working, it's a great tool.
Regards
Alex

I've had the same problem. For some things, like videos and photos on my iPhone, I've found as many as 5 copies of the images despite keeping the 'do not import duplicates' checked.
I've also found a bug with the import function, where if I'm importing from folders on my hard drive, sometimes it finds no images at all (even if they don't exist in my library). Simply cancelling and going back into import and the miraculously appear (including images that have already been imported despite having 'do not import duplicates' checked.).
I've been going through my library deleting all the duplicates, and managed to free about 10GB of space.
Having moved from Lightroom the 'technical side' of Aperture seems very antiquated. For example, if I remove a duplicate video - then try clicking on that video in Aperture, it literally takes about 10-15 minutes of spinning disc before Aperture becomes responsive. It also often hangs up on the 'updating previews' when I quit.
Such a shame aperture is so bad. I really like the functionality - eg. having my photos automatically sync with my Apple TV, but it seems to be absolutely full of bugs.

IPhoto won't import photos from iPhone

Hi - using a MBP 2.2, Leopard, iLife 08 and an 8gb iPhone. iPhoto used to import photos from the iPhone no problem - now it won't import it at all. Says it's an unreadable file (though a normal jpg).
What gives? Same issue trying to import two jpg's rec'd via email (and dragged to my desktop).
Any suggestions?

I have this problem now. I have MacOS 10.5.1, iPhoto '08, and iPhone running 1.1.2.
In my "camera roll" on the iPhone are 260 photos, all the pics I have taken since I got the phone. I imported some of them weeks ago with no problems into iPhoto. But now iPhoto can't import anything from the iPhone.
iPhoto does know there are photos on the phone, because there is set of blank thumbnail squares that I can select to import. When I look at the photo info, I can see the file name, size, date, but all the other info is missing or incorrect. It doesn't have camera maker or model. Most worrying though is the height and width of the pictures are zero.
I am thinking that there is some cache file on the phone that got corrupted somehow. Resetting to factory settings might help, but I really don't want to lose all the photos that I took from the holidays.
I've tried the above suggestions and no avail: logged out and into the .Mac account; powered down the phone; reset the iSync history (interestingly, iSync does not recognize my phone when I do a device scan).
I did try removing some stuff to make room, but still no dice.

IPhoto suddenly wont import photos from my iPhone

iPhoto suddenly wont import photos from my iPhone.
Keeps sending me error messages... wrong format.
anyone know about this?

There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on seven different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary from version to version and OS to OS. So before anyone can help, they need information to work with. Basic stuff:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. What were you doing when the problem arose?
- Did it ever work properly?
- Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
Anything else you can think of that might allow someone else to understand your issue.
With this kind of information somebody can develop a starting point for troubleshooting the issue.
Posts that consist of "iPhoto doesn't work. Help" or "iPhoto won't print" or "Suddenly I have no photos!!!!!!!!!!" mean that any helper is simply guessing. More information means you get better assistance. (And no, more exclamation marks do not get help faster or make your issue seem urgent. They just make it seem like you have a stuck key )

Where does iPhoto 9 iLife 11 store the original images

Hi, where does iPhoto 9.4.3 (under OS 10.7) store my original photos?
I used to be able to drag out a copy of my originals from iphoto.app (show package contents), but now it doesn't seem to be there or is otherwise hidden.
I reviewed some long confusing threads on this...
I don't need further debates to confuse the answer to this simple question...
I just want to find the iphoto images folder so I can drag and drop a copy for backup.
If you know how to navigate to the originals images under 10.7, ilife 11 -- please let me know.

By default the images are stored in the iPhoto Library, in your Pictures Folder.
You do not drag them out for back up.
Use the File -> Export command. In the resulting dialogue set the Kind to Original and that will yield an exact copy of the original file to back up.
To back up the Library - that is, original images plus all the work you've done - edits, metadata, albums etc:
Most Simple Back Up:
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder 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
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.
For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

IPhoto randomly rotates imported photos

When I use iPhoto '08 to import photos from a Powershot A75, it rotates them apparently with neither rhyme nor reason. Some will have the original orientation, some will be rotated. This is not a setting on my camera. Two pictures taken seconds apart of the same subject with the same orientation may have one rotated the other not when imported into iPhoto. In one case, it has rotated the image 180 degrees.

TD,
Thanks for the systematic idea. I tried your suggestion.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is going on, but Image Capture and iPhoto seem to be importing the images differently regarding orientation.
Let me define my terms - what I am calling "correct" orientation is when the image on my mac screen is oriented the same way it is oriented in relation to the camera lens. That may or may not mean that items in the photo are "right side up" This is how my previous version of iPhoto imported them with this camera. I'd like them to import just as the camera "sees" them, and not be rotated at all.
So trying your suggestion, using Image Capture, 3 of 8 quick snaps appear rotated. Using iPhoto to import the same 8 pictures, only one has been rotated. It is also one that Image Capture rotated.
I tried to "revert to original" on all of them in iPhoto, which had no effect. Does this suggest a camera setting problem? I have not changed the settings on my camera. Could it be my previous version of iPhoto was ignoring the camera setting and this new version is not?
I appreciate any suggestions.

Where does iPhoto put my imported photos?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for