Why Is iPhoto Lib so Huge?

Question

My iPhoto Library ("Lib") had about 6,000 pictures- no peformance issues but it seemed prudent to archive the older photos from 2 years ago. Additionally, my external back-up drive was close to full.
I burned two copies of the Lib on separate DVDs then exported the photos and burned to a third DVD (to have unformatted copies).
I then deleted the 3,000 old photos AND emptied the iPhoto Trash. Guess what? The size of the Lib barely changed, it went from 14GB to 13GB (when viewed from the Finder). Although in iPhoto it says the library is 6.1GB.
It is giving the 13GB Lib size on Get Info on the internal and external drives.
Why didn't I free up disk space by deleting the photos?
Carl

Answer 1

Carl:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. There is a lot of overhead in the iPhoto Library folder. iPhoto only reports the cumulative size of the original files or those files you've selected. When a disk is burned via the Share->Burn Disk menu option the thumbnail and Modified files are burned along with the Original files and the various database files. That adds up considerably. The true size of your library can be obtained via the Finder.
If you remember the file names or roll names of some of the photos you deleted you can look in the iPhoto/Originals folder for subfolders with the same roll name and see what's inside. Or do a Spotlight search for one of the file names. See if you find anything. They should have been removed from the hard drive.
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.