HJDS

Q: Where are my iphotos stored on my iMac?

I have iphoto 8.1.2 running on an imac with OSX 10.9. I am looking for where my photos and videos in iphoto are stored on my computer.  Finder doesn't find them unless they are also saved in the "documents", "downloads" or "pictures" folders.

 

Other threads say to click in iphoto on "file" and then on "reveal location", but it doesn't appear in my dropdown. Any advice?

 

HJDS

iPhoto '08, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Dec 13, 2013 12:17 PM

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Q: Where are my iphotos stored on my iMac?

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 5, 2014 5:15 AM in response to amayored
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 5, 2014 5:15 AM in response to amayored

    your answer is very dangerous, unsupported and will give unpredictable results - there never s any reason to go directly into the iPhoto library as your suggest and doing so can cause major problems -  parts in the iPhoto library


    LN

  • by Keith Doherty3,

    Keith Doherty3 Keith Doherty3 Oct 5, 2014 6:09 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 6:09 AM in response to LarryHN

    There nothing dangerous what so ever as long as you do not MOVE the original but only copy into another location !

     

    If it were dangerous why would Apple and the programme ALLOW you to reveal in finder ?

     

    BTW have been doing this since iLife 2005 and never lost or damaged the data base

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Oct 5, 2014 6:17 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    Level 10 (106,799 points)
    iLife
    Oct 5, 2014 6:17 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    If it were dangerous why would Apple and the programme ALLOW you to reveal in finder ?

    It is an emergency measure for trouble shooting the library, if your library got messed up by importing corrupted media or similar and the provided First Aid Tools don't help.

    There nothing dangerous what so ever as long as you do not MOVE the original but only copy into another location !

    The problem is, that it is easy to make a mistake and to drag instead of copy or accidentally move files to a different folder without noticing.

  • by amayored,

    amayored amayored Oct 5, 2014 7:19 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 7:19 AM in response to LarryHN

    My posting originated when I had a curiosity this morning about where my IPhoto files were being stored not because I wanted to access them there. I know that the files can be copied from IPhoto itself. So I went to the Apple forum site to see if anyone had an answer. I attempted a few suggestions without success. Well once again Google came through and I found the answer to my question.

    You had already posted your position about how dangerous it is to mess tamper with these files and I believe HJDS took your advice to heart. Wanting to know something is not the same as acting on the answer. Knowledge is power.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 5, 2014 7:45 AM in response to amayored
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 5, 2014 7:45 AM in response to amayored

    And incomplete knowledge is dangerous - which is why it is critical that future readers know the dangers of going into the iPhoto library - which you did not mention

     

    Again there is no reason to ever go directly into the iPhoto library unless instructed to by an expert and doing so endangers your photos

     

    LN

  • by Keith Doherty3,

    Keith Doherty3 Keith Doherty3 Oct 5, 2014 7:57 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 7:57 AM in response to LarryHN

    Again YOU are adding fear -There nothing dangerous  - Even moving the original accidentally doesn't damage the remaining data base -Just that image link.

    You can even drop it back on the iPhoto window to restore it !

     

    Any one would think from your comment that you would damage the entire OSx system !

     

    YOU WON'T

     

    True copying within finder has risks and its not as easy as Explorer in Windows !

     

    As for the OP personal research is a VERY HEALTHY thing - Never let any tell you don't do this or that blindly - Find out why and find other evidence before YOU make your own choices

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 5, 2014 8:02 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 5, 2014 8:02 AM in response to Keith Doherty3

    I guess you can not read

     

    Again there is no reason to ever go directly into the iPhoto library unless instructed to by an expert and doing so endangers your photos

    Nothing about your OS in any way - just your photos and you are wrong about the risk - it is very easy to damage the iPhoto library beyond repair and although you seem not to care - most people value their photos and do not want to risk them - and therefore it is very bad to give them advice that can put them at risk with warning them of the risk they are taking

     

    Just to try to get it through to you since you are having such a big problem understanding this simple concept

     

    Again there is no reason to ever go directly into the iPhoto library unless instructed to by an expert and doing so endangers your photos

     

    Have a nice day

     

    LN

  • by Keith Doherty3,

    Keith Doherty3 Keith Doherty3 Oct 5, 2014 8:19 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 8:19 AM in response to LarryHN

    Yesterday copied more than 650 images exactly as described and data base remains intact

     

    No images lost in fact you CAN'T loose images doing what i do and if you read my initial post you will find that I recommended the official method of using export function in detail !

     

    BTW many of those third party software solutions are simply skins over the reveal in finder process combined with a copy to apple script.

     

    And i very much value my images thank you very much.

     

    After all iPhoto is really just a viewer and minor editing tool - Why shouldn't a user want to know where their own image files are stored ?

  • by Keith Doherty3,

    Keith Doherty3 Keith Doherty3 Oct 5, 2014 8:21 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 4 (1,795 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 8:21 AM in response to LarryHN

    go directly into the iPhoto library unless instructed to by an expert and doing so endangers your photos


    Plain false !



  • by pixel-taker,

    pixel-taker pixel-taker Oct 5, 2014 8:40 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 8:40 AM in response to Keith Doherty3

    After posting and reading all the posts here, I decided to delete all my photos out of IPhoto and have them only in a file on my desktop.  With the new upgrade coming sometime next year, IPhoto will be a thing of the past.  I use Lightroom for editing my photos, and after migrating to the Mac, it was important that Lightroom knew where to find the catalog for the RAW files, so I put everything exactly where it was on my 'now dead' pc.  When I imported the catalog to the new Lightroom program on the Mac, it found everything.  It also connected the edited .jpg files because the program didn't have to hunt them down in a new location.  I'm happy now. 

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Oct 5, 2014 11:45 AM in response to pixel-taker
    Level 10 (139,532 points)
    iLife
    Oct 5, 2014 11:45 AM in response to pixel-taker

    Well using both iPhoto and Lightroom in the same workflow makes no sense whatever,a s they both play the same role in the workflow. This will also be true of the new app when it comes along next year.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 5, 2014 11:54 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    Level 10 (84,540 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 5, 2014 11:54 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    After all iPhoto is really just a viewer and minor editing tool - Why shouldn't a user want to know where their own image files are stored

    Totally incorrect and proof that you have no idea how iPhoto works - no wonder you can nt understand how to use it - and how not to use it

     

    iPhoto is NOT a photo viewer - it is a SQLite based photo manager and the database is a very complex interconnected system of files managed by the iPhtopo SL|QLite engine - any user changes to the conten of the database will corrupt it and cause data loss and possibly photo loss

     

    Again you do what you want - but to recommend to other users many of whom or very new and are used to a totally different system that does use simple photos viewers is very misleading - you obviously do not value your photos and you will lose them and that si perfectly fine - but to recommend to others that they risk loosing their photos is very, very bad

     

    Unfortuantly you love to argue but you have no idea about how iPhoto and most certainly should not be giving advice about using it

     

    LN

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Oct 5, 2014 11:57 AM in response to Keith Doherty3
    Level 10 (139,532 points)
    iLife
    Oct 5, 2014 11:57 AM in response to Keith Doherty3

    Keith Doherty3

     

    You need to read the whole thread, and indeed, stick around this forum and help the hundreds (and hundreds) of folks who have trashed their libraries and lost images because they used unsupported ways to access the images in iPhoto. You are absolutely correct to say that copying the files from the Masters folder will damage nothing. But, I'm afraid, that's like saying that a mechanic can work under the hood of a car and do no damage. True, but folks asking these questions are exactly the folks who have no knowledge or experience of iPhoto, and many of them are new to the Mac. So, it's rather safer to suggest to them that if they want a copy of their original file all they have to do is go

     

    File -> Export and set the Kind to Original. How is what you suggest safer than that? I mean, that's really the epitome of no risk at all, no?

     

    Again, it's perfectly possible for someone to try and access the Hard Disk of their Mac by taking the case off, removing it and putting it into another enclosure. But would you recommend that to the inexperienced user? Wouldn't you just say something along the lines of 'just use the safe and supported way'?

     

    Back on page 2 I responded to user dttd and explained why we strongly caution against directly accessing the photos within the Library. You might read that response. I think it makes sense.

     

    For a more complete explanation of how to access your files in iPhoto read this

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

     

    (You neglected to mention the media browser at all in your account).

     

    and this

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921

     

    has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

  • by pixel-taker,

    pixel-taker pixel-taker Oct 5, 2014 3:46 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 3:46 PM in response to Terence Devlin

    The point is, I'M NOT going to use IPhoto with Lightroom. My photos are in a file on my desktop where they are stored.  When I pull up Lightroom I do not want that program to have to search for my RAW files in IPhoto.  Lightroom knows where they live and I know where they live.  Why have duplicate copies?  I do all my editing in Lightroom and had no need to use IPhoto for editing.  That is why in earlier posts I asked if IPhoto COPIED the photos or just pointed to where they lived. 

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Oct 5, 2014 4:09 PM in response to pixel-taker
    Level 10 (139,532 points)
    iLife
    Oct 5, 2014 4:09 PM in response to pixel-taker

    Then why were you asking about iPhoto at all?

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