Using iphoto with iphoto library on external hard drive

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Level 1

8 points

Using iphoto with iphoto library on external hard drive

My Imac is running snow leopard with ilife '11. I have imported way too many photos into Iphoto which is really slowing it down. I'd like to put all of my photos on an external hard drive and use that as my iphoto library--which should be possible, as I gather from reading various other related posts. Another reason to put it on an external drive is so that I can use my new macbook air to edit/organize while on the go.
1. How do I set up my Iphoto library on an external hard drive?
2. How do I make sure that all future photos go to the library on that external hard drive?
3. How do I run Iphoto with the library on an external hard drive?
THANK YOU for your help!

Imac

Posted on Dec 29, 2010 11:33 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,707 points

Dec 29, 2010 11:34 PM in response to RCsocal

Drag it there from the Pictures item in the Finder's sidebar and then launch iPhoto with the Option key held down.

(55801)

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,260 points

Dec 30, 2010 12:37 AM in response to RCsocal

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

1. Quit iPhoto

2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.

3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.

4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.

Regards

TD

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Answer 3

RCsocal Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 3, 2011 12:36 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thank you! What is Mac Os Extended?

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Answer 4

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,260 points

Jan 3, 2011 1:58 PM in response to RCsocal

It's a Disk Format. You can format the disk using Disk Utility.

Regards

TD

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Answer 5

Jan 3, 2011 3:44 PM in response to Yer_Man

Hello. I just transferred my iPhoto library to a Western Digital My Book for Mac external hard drive. Do you know if I needed to format this drive even though it says it's for Mac. I did not format it and there were not any instructions with the drive that said I needed to do it. The transfer seems to have worked ok but my backups from Time Machine onto Time Capsule are inconsistent. I already posed a question regarding this problem but I noticed this message regarding formating the external disk and I wonder if that is causing the problem. Thanks.

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Answer 6

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,260 points

Jan 4, 2011 12:33 AM in response to caliscrapper

Select the drive in the Finder and use the File -> Get Info command: This shows you the format of the drive.

Regards

TD

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Answer 7

Jan 4, 2011 6:39 AM in response to RCsocal

Thank you so much! I just looked there and mine is already formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The drive said it was for Mac so I guess that makes sense. I just wanted to make sure I didn't need to do anything to set it up. Thanks again and Happy New Year.

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