iPhoto 09 file clutter

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Level 1

6 points

iPhoto 09 file clutter

I noticed that iPhoto created hundreds of copies of my photos while looking for faces and they are stored in the iPhoto library.
I don't like the faces feature because it doesn't really work and I would like to delete these extra files from the library to regain lost space.
My question is, will iPhoto just keep trying to recreate face files every time I open the app or do I have to click on the faces tab to make it start trying to generate face image files?
And is it a problem to just delete these face files? Does iPhoto make additional copies of these face files in other folders as well or would it all be contained inside the iPhoto library folder that is in my pictures folder? Can I just turn off this feature after deleting the face files?
Thanks a lot for any advice.

MBP 2.4ghz 4gb ram and Mac Pro 2.8 8 core 10 GB ram, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Feb 22, 2009 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Feb 22, 2009 4:57 AM in response to Luis Ortega

Luis

I noticed that iPhoto created hundreds of copies of my photos while looking for faces and they are stored in the iPhoto library.

Where are you seeing the “hundreds of copies”? I have none on my Library.

Regards

TD

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Answer 2

Feb 22, 2009 7:49 AM in response to Yer_Man

I believe what Luis is referring to is the creation of the Thumbnail Faces image files residing in Iphoto Library/Data mixed in with the normal thumbnails (the faces files have a filename something like "imgxxx_face0.jpg".
In that case, no, I would suggest against deleting them. However, it is odd that even if you erase those unknown face boxes, it keeps their thumbnail. Submit feedback about that oversight if you'd like.

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Feb 22, 2009 8:42 AM in response to Luis Ortega

1 - you can not turn faces off now - iPhoto menu == provide photo feedback

2 - iPhoto will never create any files outside of the iPhoto library (except as direct by you using Export)

3 - there is never a need to be inside your iPhoto library - is fact is is dangerous to muck around in it and since there are no user serviceable parts there it is recommended that you not go into it

4 - as a corollary to #3 you should never change the content or structure of the iPhoto library - doing so can cause library corruption and cause you to lose data - just ignore the faces thumbnails - they are small and take very little space - and if you follow #3 you will never see them again

LN

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Answer 4

Luis Ortega Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 22, 2009 12:40 PM in response to LarryHN

Thanks, everyone.
I had read in another thread that if faces didn't work correctly, one could go into the library and delete something to make it try the recognition process again, but I didn't make any changes to the library package so far because I was aware that it could cause problems.
In practice, I don't use iPhoto much since I prefer to use Photoshop to edit photos and I just keep my photos in folders on my drives rather than import them into iPhoto, so there aren't as many of these face jpg files as there might be if I had all my photos in iPhoto. Also my hard drive is large enough that a couple of hundred face files are not going to cause me any problems.
Still, being a bit anal, it bothers me that I have these unwanted files stuck on my hard drive and it would be nice if iPhoto offered the option to use the faces process or not.
My main reason for upgrading to 09 was the Garageband app, which is great, and iDVD, which I also use. The others are pretty much ignored since I prefer FCP to iMovie and I'm not into making websites.
I guess that I will just leave the face jpg files alone and just stop adding any more photos to iPhoto.
Thanks for all the advice.

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