Double disk usage?

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Level 1

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Double disk usage?

I am a photographer, so my MacBook's disk space is precious to me. The problem is, iPhoto makes this difficult. I have about 16.7 gigabytes of photos in my physical iPhoto Library. But the iPhoto library archive in the pictures folder in Finder is using 39.2 gigabytes. Can anyone tell me why iPhoto is using twice as much disk space as it should be? If so, how would I fix this?

Thanks in advance!

Aluminum Unibody Macbook (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.6), iPhoto '09

Posted on Feb 9, 2011 7:14 PM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Feb 9, 2011 10:38 PM in response to amarkon

That is not unusual

iPhoto always uses additional storage - it is a Digital Manager (a DAM) -- as "a Photographer" you certainly understand the criticality of always keeping your negatives (the digital negatives in this case) - iPhoto does that -and more - it keeps a thumbnail of the photo for quick access and keeps a database with the Metadata and your projects in it

That being said your excess space is high - right click on the iPhoto library and see what is taking so much space and report back - ignore the originals folder and modified folders and focus on any large folders other than them - there may be some excess space in some

In andy case it is critical that you never make any changes in the content or structure of the iPhoto library - there really are not any user serviceable parts in there

LN

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Answer 2

amarkon Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 12, 2011 8:09 PM in response to LarryHN

I haven't changed anything yet, but when I opened up all of the folders in the archive structure and found almost 26000 separate files. Some were actual photos, but there were almost 18000 4, 8, or 12KB files with the extension .ithmb or .impeta. Is it OK to delete these? They amount to 3.7 GB of space right there. However, there are still about 35 GB of other data. What can I erase or get rid of to eliminate some of that? I understand some excess is normal, but 15 GB? Seems odd.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Feb 13, 2011 12:07 AM in response to amarkon

The only thing you can delete from a iPhoto Library is the iPod Photo Caches. Only. Delete anything else and you'll trash the Library.

So specifically:

but there were almost 18000 4, 8, or 12KB files with the extension .ithmb or .impeta. Is it OK to delete these?

No.

What can I erase or get rid of to eliminate some of that?

Apart from the aforementioned iPod Photo Cache, nothing.

Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.

Sort the iPhoto Library on Size and tell us what the largest elements are. List the contents in order of size.

Regards

TD

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Answer 4

amarkon Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 28, 2011 3:12 PM in response to Yer_Man

The largest files are Thumb64Segment.data (84 MB), ThumbJPGSegment.data (42 MB), and iPhotoAux.db (14 MB), face_blob.db (12 MB), and ThemeCache (11 MB). Other than this, the largest files are simply photos and videos I have imported.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Feb 28, 2011 3:54 PM in response to amarkon

All of those are necessary.

Regards

TD

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Answer 6

Old Toad

Level 10

207,325 points

Feb 28, 2011 4:29 PM in response to amarkon

I suggest you visit the The DAM Forum and look to see what they have to say about workflows. It's a site for professional photographers and has an enormous amount of information about managing the digital photos and the various professional grade DAM applications like Aperture or Expression Media. If your image files are your livelihood you can't have too many backup copies of the originals.

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Answer 7

ashhtrey

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2011 10:50 PM in response to amarkon

I'm having a similar problem. I have been downloading all of my photos to the Originals folder, and my originals file size is now 48gb. I then went to import these photos into iPhoto 9 by selecting "import to library" with the iphoto application. Now my iphoto library is 42gb.

Is it normal to double the disk space when using iPhoto or is there a better way that I can access the photos within iPhoto without having this problem?

Thanks

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Answer 8

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Mar 29, 2011 11:14 PM in response to ashhtrey

Huh?

I have been downloading all of my photos to the Originals folder

Inside the iPhoto Library?

Is it normal to double the disk space when using iPhoto or is there a better way that I can access the photos within iPhoto without having this problem?

Import the files to iPhoto directly from your camera.

There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:

You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

*_(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)_*

You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps.

If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.

If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.

*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:

For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.

For Users of 10.4 and 10.5
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser

Other options include:

1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.

2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.

3.*Show File*:

a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

3.b. On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.

Regards

TD

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Answer 9

Nov 3, 2013 7:34 AM in response to amarkon

My question is;

I have pictures in folders on my desk top IF I put them in iPhoto will it just double the photo and use more of my hard drive?

I have a lot of pictures and need all the space I can get. I do have the all backed up on an external hd.

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Answer 10

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Nov 3, 2013 8:19 AM in response to Community User

By default, yes it will. But that makes all the folders on your desktop unnecesary, so once you're happy that iPhoto is the app you want you can trash them.

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Answer 11

Nigel 54

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2015 11:46 PM in response to amarkon

My Mac is a little bit older and the disc space issue is getting a bit sensitive. In iphoto help I have just found out after 6 years that every time I import it duplicates the original (double space usage) but all the time I could have used iphoto for indexing only as the original location fodlers are my preference (I use Photoshop for editing) -

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Answer 12

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Mar 7, 2015 12:23 AM in response to Nigel 54

I could have used iphoto for indexing only

That's true but you're better off not doing it. It jus stores up problems for later.

For more on iPhoto and file management see this User Tip:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6361

You can use Photoshop with iPhoto: You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.

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Answer 13

Nigel 54

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2015 1:46 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for the insight. Something weird is going on. I have 30,000 images, about 60gb in folders. My iphoto library is now showing a size of 320gb. Cannot work out where the extra size is coming from which is why I am thinking of just using i photos as a reference system or going back to using adobe bridge. Would rather resolve the iphotos issue before going out and buying more hardware.

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Answer 14

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,254 points

Mar 7, 2015 3:13 AM in response to Nigel 54

What the iPhoto Window reports is the nominal size of the resulting folder if you exported everything from iPhoto at the "Current" setting.

The iPhoto Library in the Finder contains your original photos, thumbnails, previews, cache, database and metadata files. it is always larger than reported by the iPhoto Window.

You need to decide what you want: a non-destructive workflow or not. If you want non-destructive no matter what app you use you will have these kinds of space requirements. Running a referenced library will not spare you a single byte of disk space. If I read you correctly you have 60 gigs of photos that are both in iPhoto and duplicated in folders. The space wasters are the duplicates in folders. They're not even a back up as they are on the same disk.

Adobe Bridge is fine if you're happy with a lossy workflow.

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Answer 15

Nigel 54

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2015 6:50 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi,

Sorry - typo my part - should have read 230gb for the iphotos library as of this morning..

So, I have 60gb of photos on my hard drive in a separate folder going back to 2002 when the file sizes were tiddly. These are organised by subfolders with the event. There are not any duplicates across folders.

I imported these into Iphotos and expected the iphoto library to be also 60 gb or thereabouts - I appreciated that the original set in effect would become a back up. It is not. It is 230gb. Which on a 5 year old 500gb hard drive Mac is a lot of extra disc space to find and more than I had allowed for.

From other discussion streams, I have done two things. I have rebuilt the library which has shown for reasons I do not know that there are multiple copies in Iphoto. I have purchased the Gemini app from the Apple store and that is now going through the process of finding the duplicated images within Iphoto and deleting them. Seeems clunky but will hopefully bring Iphotos library down to a more reasonable size.

I did look inside Iphotos help for a method for deleting these extra copies but could not find one. Hey ho. One of lifes little experiences. I still remain a fan of Apple hardware and software - just frustrated that the perceived benefits of moving over to iphoto in this instance have not been achieved.

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