Aperture to Photos.....can you delete the old Aperture Library?

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Level 1

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Aperture to Photos.....can you delete the old Aperture Library?

I have read up on this as much as I could find but the answers are not clear to me.

My Aperture library is 454 GB. When I 'migrated' to Photo the new Photo library was basically the same size, but is now about 514 GB since I have added some images to that library after creating it.

What I have read is that Photo still uses information in the Aperture library? But other places say they are independent files. My total SSD is 1 TB and is about full and corresponds to the two large files total sizes.

Come on Apple, Which is it? Are the two libraries linked and both still needed? Or can you simply delete the Aperture library and call it a day?

Mike

Posted on Jan 25, 2020 4:57 PM

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Answer 1

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markwmsn

Level 6

16,757 points

Jan 25, 2020 5:15 PM in response to Aronis

If you are satisfied that the migration from Aperture was performed accurately and thoroughly, you may delete the Aperture library.

However, don't expect to free up much space by deleting it. The migration uses a mechanism called hard links to share the same original image files between the old and new libraries. The space for any given original photo would be freed only when the connections to both libraries are removed by deleting that photo or the whole library.

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Answer 2

markwmsn

Level 6

16,757 points

Jan 25, 2020 9:09 PM in response to Aronis

Yes. Each file is reported as the size of the shared originals, plus the index and auxiliary files required for each type of library, plus any originals not shared (the photos added to the Photos Library since migration). That's the amount of storage that would be required to copy the library to a different volume.

Now, if you had copied one or both libraries to another volume and back, the hard links would be lost, and there would be no space sharing.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

216,094 points

Jan 26, 2020 10:34 AM in response to Aronis

Food for thought:

What model Mac do you have? It's very easy to add external SSDs to your Mac. I have two of these

each with two 1TB SSDs in them for external data storage, i.e. large Photo libraries, music libraries, etc., and SSDs with Mojave and High Sierra on them for using older 32 bit apps like iDVD, iMovie HD 6, etc.

For an on the go laptop this unit works very well as it's very compact:

Booting into Mojave or High Sierra with this device takes about 45 seconds. Booting into my internal SSD about 25-30 seconds.

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Answer 4

Aronis Author

Level 1

78 points

Jan 25, 2020 5:52 PM in response to markwmsn

Thank you.

I just wish I had taken a look at my SSD use before doing the migration. I did not think I had 900 GB on it but I'll take a look at all the other files and try to figure it out.

So the reported sizes of each file are really showing use of the same disk space? Just reported as two files?

Mike

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Answer 5

Aronis Author

Level 1

78 points

Jan 26, 2020 5:40 AM in response to markwmsn

Thank you so much. You've explained it well. One last question......

So if I start a fresh Photo Library from my unedited sources I can have a cleaner install but just loose all my Aperture Edits? I have just started really making use of the People feature which works great!!! I kind of toyed with it in Aperture but just spent a few hours playing with it in Photos....its pretty cool. I'd have to redo that if I redo the entire library.

I don't think there is anything critical in the edits other than some cropping and some minor adjustments. My photo collection is such a mess anyway LOL. I have been trying to clean up my source drives. Its a chore. I have backups of backups. I think the 2 TB iCloud account at $2.99 a month is cheaper than buying more Drives! My two external RAIDS are FOS if you know what I mean.

Thanks again, I appreciate your input!

Mike

(man I want an 8 TB SSD containing iMac.....LOL)

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Answer 6

Aronis Author

Level 1

78 points

Feb 5, 2020 3:25 PM in response to markwmsn

I found the culprit. I copied both libraries to another drive and deleted them. My disk use still was huge. The report showed over 500 gb being used by the System files!!! I found out that High Sierra creates TimeMachine snap shots on the system drive (as space is available) and I deleted those snapshots. It was using about 400 gb of space. Now the math adds up as with my two libraries on the disk I had about all of my hard drive full and the sizes are listed above. After deleting them I still had about 700 GB used! After deleting those snapshots I have my hard drive space back. Just have to find out how to stop the OS from doing snap shots on the hard drive (as space allows WHAT IS THAT?) I have TWO RAIDS that I do TimeMachine backups to using Sparse Bundle to create a CONTROLLED BACKUP size on these drives as TimeMachine will use the ENTIRE drive if you don't partition it or use a Sparse Bundle.

Mike

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Answer 7

léonie

Level 10

200,699 points

Feb 5, 2020 3:47 PM in response to Aronis

The snapshots are created on a portable Mac, when you are not connected to your Time Machine volume. The Time Machine will use the available storage as a temporary buffer, if it cannot make regular hourly backups. But the snapshots should be removed automatically, when you make the next regular Time Machine backup. You should not even notice them.

The local snapshots can save your bacon, when you accidentally delete or modify files, that you have not yet backed up. I have been very glad, that I had such a snapshot, when I needed it.

Here is more on local snapshots: About Time Machine local snapshots – Apple Support

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Answer 8

Aronis Author

Level 1

78 points

Feb 6, 2020 7:01 AM in response to léonie

That sounds very interesting.

I do have TimeMachine turned on on my portable mac but I have it using another drive on my network, the one in my Airport! (yes I still have an Airport and it's still working, boy I wish Apple did not abandon that product) But I did not turn on backups in the TimeMachine App. on my Air ('Backup Automatically' is not checked). So I doubt my Mac Air is backing up to my iMac unless that is something out of my control? We have 6 mac books in the house (17, 15, 13x2,13 air, 11 air) and if that process is happening without my knowledge then that is just not right.

My iMac backs up to two RAIDs and that works fine. (yes it is overkill I know, but if you saw my backup scheme for photos you'd laugh) I could not see any evidence that those Snapshots were associated with my MacAir. How would I look?

The two RAIDS are usually on when my iMac is on, so not sure why they would be 'unavailable' and thus require using the SSD for a temporary site.

I wish this could be clarified and I wish Apple would ADD the functionality to TimeMachine to let you, the user, choose the max size of the backup without having to 1. Partition your drive (no big deal) or 2. Create a Sparse Bundle on a partition (a little more work but not that hard) and thus avoid having your backup drive be full of copies and copies of old data.

I do LOVE TimeMachine and have used it several times to fix issues (particularly with printers when Epson does an upgrade that nukes an older printers functionality LOL). I have restored my Mac Mini from backup to clean up it's hard drive and that worked great. The restore process puts the OS all in the same section of the drive instead of having it fragmented as you do updates over time. Makes the machine run like new!

Anyway, knowing about this odd 'feature' is half the battle. Now I have space back!!!!

Thank you for your input! Forums are excellent sources of learning.

Mike

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Aperture to Photos.....can you delete the old Aperture Library?

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