iPhoto Library size
What is the maximum number of photos recommended in an iPhoto Library?
iPhoto '11, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
250,000
LN
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37 replies
Thanks Larry. I have ~20K photos in my library now and response time is very slow. Should I start making multiple, smaller libraries?
No. Troubleshoot why the Library is slow. I have a library with almost twice that number with no problems.
How big is your HD? How much free space on it?
How much Ram do you have?
Regards
TD
Thanks Terence. My remote HD is huge (2 TB Western Digital ShareSpace), but my old 667 MHz iMac only has 1 GB of RAM. I realize a newer computer would probably help a lot.
Correction: My iMac is a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. (667 MHz is the DDR2 SDRAM speed.)
iMac only has 1 GB of RAM
That is it - you need more RAM (my iMac has 8GB
LN
Remote HD? 2 TB Western Digital ShareSpace?
That's NAS, right?
IPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Regards
TD
Thanks Larry. I should have remembered that. I just ordered more RAM. I appreciate your help.
Yes, thanks Terrence, it is a NAS drive on my home network. Do you know if I can set it up formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?
This support forum is fantastic. You and Larry have been right on with your comments - thank you!
If you reformat the NAS then it won't be a NAS anymore.
A NAS is actually a headless computer - it has its own operating system (usually a version if Linux) and what you're trying to do is run a Mac library from a Linux machine.
The solution is to move the Library to an appropriately formatted disk or put the Library on a Disk Image formatted correctly and store that on the NAS.
Regards
TD
Yes, that makes sense. I turns out I am running my iPhoto library on a Western Digital My World Book Edition II 4 TB network external drive. I've sent a question to the WD support line to see if this can be formatted for Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
The WD ShareSpace I mentioned is actually an 8 TB external network drive. It never allowed me to run iPhoto, and that's why I put my iPhoto library on the World Book drive. The World Book connection has never been fast, but I always assumed it was because it was a network drive and I was moving large photo files.
Interestingly, iTunes has no problem with the NAS WD ShareSpace. I wonder why Apple has different drive format requirements for their softwares.
Terrence, thank you very much for you help with this. It's wonderful to be able to get such high quality tech support from this online forum.
Regards,
Mark
The key differences between iTunes and iPhoto are... editing and version control. The iTunes db is quite a simple one.
Regards
TD
Thanks Terrence, I can see why that would be.
What would you recommend as a drive configuration for storing and accessing iPhoto pictures? Should I find a MacOS Extended (Journaled) drive and plug it into my computer, and then occasionally backup the iPhoto library to a NAS drive?
Thanks for your help,
Mark
Yes and no. Yes get a correctly formatted drive and No don't occasionally back up to the NAS. Use an appropriately formatted drive for the back up too.
Regards
TD
250,000 doesn't help as each photo is a different size. Do you know capacity in GB or T ?
thank you
iPhoto Library size