How do you permanently delete Photos from my iPhoto library?

empty the iPhoto trash -- iPhoto menu ==> empty iPhoto trash

LN

That doesn't do it. I thought I deleted a ton of photos, spent many hours in fact, emptied the trash and they are still on my hard drive. This is BS. Why would they still be there. How do I delete the right ones now when I can barely see them in the finder?
Warning, don't think you are getting them off of your hard drive just because you "empty trash" in the iphoto menu. I honestly don't know what that is even for.

Did you confirm that they were in the iPhoto trash bin before you emptied it via the iPhoto->Empty Trash menu option? If you were in an album and hit the delete key you only removed the photo from that album. You have to be in an event for the Delete key to send the photo to the trash.

If done right the original image file, thumbnail and any modified versions will be completely deleted from the HD.

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.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), 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 08 libraries and Leopard. 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.

Yes, I was in events, I hadn't even created any albums yet. I am a recent switcher, so I imported everything and it created events based on the folders I had set up. After that post I imported the "deleted" photos back into iphoto. Now I have events with the same name, one containing the pics I want to get rid of and one I want to keep. Now, if I can figure out how to truly delete them I will be OK.
I deleted them and then went to empty iphoto trash and it asked me if I wanted to permanently wanted to delete them and I did. I don't find anywhere where you can check the iphoto trash other than just emptying it. Thanks for your reply.

You're finding these "deleted" files on the HD via Spotlight and they are shown to be inside the iPhoto Library package, right? Is this happening when you try to delete just one photo at a time?

Boot into Safe Mode and try deleting. Post back with the results. I'm working on a PPC Mac while you're on an Intel and I'm wondering if that may be part of the problem. Some others have reported problems but most, not all, were just emptying the iPhoto trash. Do a search in the iPhoto 8 forum for "permanently delete" or similar phrasing to see what the other threads came up with.

Thanks for your help. From what I read here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5892428� it sounds like my experience is the norm. I think you had a couple of posts there as well. It reads to me like when files are imported in to iphoto a new duplicate file is created. I tried the spotlight test the one poster suggested, and it does look like three files, or at least two are there.
It almost seems like you could import the photos into iphoto and then delete them from the pictures folder. Although if I do that it will probably delete all of them!
I'll try your safe mode suggestion next.

On second though, now I understand what happens, at least I think I do. It seems iphoto basically just creates a "shortcut" to the original file. When you delete in iphoto and empty the trash, it just deletes that short cut.

brokentry

Are you running a Managed Library or a Referenced Library?

If you're running a Managed library, then it's the default setting, and iPhoto copies files into the iPhoto Library when Importing

If you're running a Referenced Library, then you made a change at iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced and iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing.

If the First: Then emptying the iPhoto trash deletes the pics (in all versions) from the HD as well as the database.

If the Second: Then the versions and the shortcut back to your Original is trashed, but your original is left untouched.

Regards

TD

I FINALLY figured it out, from another forum and another noob switcher like myself. Well maybe he wasn't a noob. He posted this:
hank you all for the responses. Actually, I figured it out on my own.

"*What I was doing was copying all my photos from my PC to the 'Pictures' directory on my Mac (I'm migrating from Windows to Mac). Then I was opening iPhoto, and importing all the photos into a new library... copying them. I was under the assumption that the library was a pointer to the photos in the 'Pictures' directory... and if I deleted something from the library, the .jpg file would also be deleted from the HD.*

*I now realize this is not true, and that iPhoto actually copies the photo into its own package. So... I created my library and deleted all the photos under the 'Pictures' directory. I was missing the fact that a package and not a pointer was created by iPhoto.*"

I guess I should have unchecked "copy items to the iphoto library", when I imported them from the pictures folder.

Thank you ALL for your help and patience.
A link to the other forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6197182&#6197182

I guess I should have unchecked "copy items to the iphoto library", when I imported them from the pictures folder.

Probably, what you "should have done" was to delete the folder into which you copied the photos from your PC, once you had imported all the photos into iPhoto. There are many, many reasons to let iPhoto manage your library, which means leaving "copy items to the iPhoto library" checked (by default). There are few reasons to let iPhoto use references/pointers to your originals. (Ensuring you have only one copy of each photo on your hard drive isn't one of those reasons.)

The most experienced iPhoto users (and I) would most certainly like to nudge you in a friendly way to keep that checkbox checked.

nathan

Thanks, I will keep it checked. I am most likely going to be using Lightroom as well. Would a good workflow be to export individual photos to it, edit them, and then move them back to iphoto? Or should I just Lightroom to do it all. Interested in anyone's thoughts. Thanks.

Beware that there are reported incompatibilities between Lightroom and iPbhoto - search the iPhoto '08 forum for lightroom - Old Toad has posted on the I know

LN

Honestly, I think Lightroom and iPhoto is an either/or. Both want to control the files and work best when they do, plus there have been issues with metadata written to files by LR making them impossible to import.

Regards

TD

Take heed to what Terence is warning about. It's a sure way to damage an iPhoto library.