Best way to export iPhoto library?

I was wondering what is the best way...

The best way is to ask in the right forum :

https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/iphoto

I was wondering what is the best way to export all the master/unedited images I have in my iPhoto 11' collection just to have it all in the Photos folder... It would be nice to keep the organizational structure that I have going on now in iPhoto with my events.

File -> Export, and set the Kind to Original in the export dialogue.

Apps like iPhoto2Disk or PhotoShare will help you export to a Folder tree matching your Events.

If Lightroom doesnt work out for me, I would want to make a referenced iPhoto Library and keep the images in the photos folder

There is no way to convert from a Managed to a Referenced Library without starting over from scratch. If you are thinking of this remember:

a: It offers no extra functionality whatever

b: It makes work for you

c: there are numerous pitfalls.

For more on this see

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3062728?tstart=0

Open Terminal and navigate to the directory where your iPhoto Library is stored. Change directory into your iPhoto Library and then type "open Originals". This has worked for me, hopefully you'll have the same luck!

In what way is that better than the supported way?

You pull all the originals out in a single click without interacting with the iphoto application (which crashes on export for me with a large library). This is thus better for me than the supported way as it is less frustrating in situations such as mine :). Perhaps the way I described will also help others experiencing similar difficulties as I did with the supported way. .

Just because you have corruption in your iPhoto library does not mean that everyone does. Rather than suggest unsupported functions (that if misused could cause corruption) I suggest you fix your iPhoto library. Back it up, depress the option and command keys, launch iPhoto and use the first aid window to rebuild it

The supported method as described works great for I corrupted iPhoto libraries and should be the method used to avoid creating problems like you have

LN

This isn't a corrupted iPhoto library, but exporting original images in excess of 250 gb to an alternate photo organizer (iPhoto was laggy on my system, crashes related to memory not library corruption). As the question dealt with transfering images from one software to another, my method may work better for some individuals. Just because not everyone has had similar experiences doesn't mean that someone won't 🙂.

Actually the question was not. It was about "trying" other software. Which means that keeping the iPhoto library intact is critical to the OP. and it is best to recommend supported methods even if you personally choose to use unsupported methods due to unique issues with your personal computer.

LN

Buddy, same difference. It's a way to view the original files if you need to access them. There is nothing unsupported about using terminal to access a directory on the system. Moreover, copying and pasting the folders will preserve the structure and leaves no room for corruption. Also, the export issue isn't unique to my hardware as others have the same specifications. Keep in mind it's recommended, which by definition doesn't mean you have to do it that way - sometimes people will experience trouble and will goggle search this topic. Hopefully my posts will help them.

This is my last post in this thread. Good day, sir.

Direct access into the contents of the iPhoto library (or any SQL database for that matter) is NOT supported, is dangerous and will have unpredictable results

Direct access to the iPhoto library is not only unsupported but dangerous and strongly not recommended

And it is exactly to protect unsuspecting users who find this thread that it is important NOT to recommend unsupported methods here

LN

I wanted to chime in and voice my support for mn7's option, but offer a way for those that might not be comfortable with the terminal:

• Open your Pictures folder
• Right Click on iPhoto library
• Select Show Package Contents: now you're browsing the files that make up your Library.

The next part depends on your iPhoto version.

• If you see a "Masters" folder, you can copy that one. Note: it will contain both high res originals and low res thumbnails.
• If you don't see "Masters," copy Originals (which has everything) and Modified (which has only the edited photos)

Out of curiosity I Googled "iPhoto show package contents unsupported" and it looks like LarryHN is the only person on the Internet preaching this Gospel.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5035904?start=0&tstart=0

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5013699?start=0&tstart=0

Using Show Package Contents is a fairly standard way of implementing all kind of Mac hacks. Now I won't deny that you can mess up your Library pretty badly by deleting, editing, or moving files in it, but that's no different than anything else on your computer. And you really can't do any harm by copying from your Library and pasting to your desktop.

You should google more. All the experienced users on this site will tell you that accessing the files in this way is unsupported - and please explain how this is better than the supported way: File -> Export, setting the Kind to Original? For a start, hacking the package will only get folders of images organised by date and time of import. Exporting will allow you to export to folders that match your actual organisation in iPhoto.

Note that this is not to say that it is not possible to do it this way, but that it's not supported as it can lead to dataloss in inexperience hands.

It's better because at least you get some organization. If you export multiple events from older versions of iPhoto, everything gets dropped into the same directory. iPhoto 11 added an option for subfolder format in Lion or Mountain Lion, but looks like it's not available in 10.6.8, so a 3rd party app, script, or other solution is probably necessary. I'm just kind of irked by the idea that you should treat folders and files on your own computer as untouchable.

But maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Have a look at my first post on this thread, which predates that export option in iPhoto, that pretty much deals with the issue with older versions. One of those options is free.

I'm just kind of irked by the idea that you should treat folders and files on your own computer as untouchable.

There are a couple of ways to look at this.

One: they're not at all untouchable. You have described perfectly how you might touch them. What we're saying is that touching them in that way may cause you dataloss, but if you want to do that, knock yourself out 😉. But know the risks you're running. Look at it this way: there's no reason you have to use the doors on your car. You can jump through the sunroof, but don't be surprised if you hurt yourself on the gearstick. 😉

Two: If you're the kind of person who really needs to visit with your files and folders for some reason, then run a referenced library. It makes for more work, adds zero extra capability and is likely to store up issues for the inexperienced user, but it's quite possible. For more about how, and the pitfalls:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3062728?tstart=0

Three: The bigger issue here is that you're going to have problems in the future. The files/folders metaphor is going away in computing now. Everything - even text editors - are becoming databases. The files are just dumb storage, the important part is the data - the actual photos. iPhoto is about the data, not the files. The Finder is about files.

These two user tips explain this is more detail:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921

Regards

TD

Hi Terence, I've read your explanation on how to export photos from iPhoto and it was very useful, thank you. I chose to export my originals to the Pictures folder in my Mac because I'd like to organize them within my Adobe Bridge library.