moving iphoto to external hdd...and yes i searched

If you're moving your iPhoto Library file and anything else in the exact same folder structure over, you shouldn't have any problem. With iPhoto closed, best copy first and try: once all is on the other drive, double click the iPhoto Library file on the external drive, iPhoto will open then with that new library as default.

You could then delete the old stuff from the internal drive.

Hint:

Why not maintain multiple iPhoto lLibrary files with photos/events/albums by year or theme or whatever fits your needs? Again, you can open them by double-clicking them in Finder (or aliases e.g. on the desktop), or use the app iPhoto Buddy. Hold the Option key when launching iPhoto to create empty new libraries. Or just copy a big one, then delete photos from the copy, and repeat this until you're having as many as you need which you can also name as you prefer. I've done so, now having multiple with max 30GB each, which makes them much better manageable.

Change iPhoto Library Location

This is the Apple recommended method, you might want to read it.

mckristof wrote:

so can i have multiple iphoto libraries on an external hard drive? one for travel stuff, one for personal stuff, as well as a third one on my internal as for quick projects?

...and many more, wherever you want!

Yes, yes.

Or, again, as mentioned: Use "iPhoto Buddy" - like me here in the screenshot. It sits in my dock, and instead of iPhoto I launch this, then a double-click onto the library I want, and that's it.

depress the option key and launch iPhoto and select the library you want

with iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - you can change libraries on the fly and you have the name of the library you are using displayed - and it is very helpful for moving photos between libraries

BTW - having many iPhoto libraries is not a good idea - it reduces the database power by having few photos in each database and can be confusing to the user which can cause problems - and generally there is no reason to have more than a couple

LN

Multiple iPhoto libraries are a bit pointless when the Library can contain up to 1,000,000 items - and they're inconvenient as you can only search one at a time. iPhoto Buddy hasn't been updated for quite a while:

iPhoto Buddy is fully compatible with every version of Apple's iLife suite, from iLife '04 through iLife '09.

and doesn't really do anything that iPhoto doesn’t do just by holding the Control key on launch.

Terence Devlin wrote:

Multiple iPhoto libraries are a bit pointless when the Library can contain up to 1,000,000 items - and they're inconvenient as you can only search one at a time.

Sorry, but I disagree. As a single library grows, it becomes very awkward to move it aound if necessary, e.g. to a larger drive, or to take it along on a laptop. A library of hundreds of GB, containing hundreds of thousands of files is 'fragile' and vulnerable - see several reports about corrupt libraries here, and the trouble when restoring is due. Multiple libraries make good sense to reduce the risks, and are making handling many photos much simpler. The majority of users doesn't need to have all their photos on hand all the time anyway.

Terence Devlin wrote:

iPhoto Buddy hasn't been updated for quite a while...

...and why - it works perfectly fine, also under Mountain Lion.

Terence Devlin wrote:

...and doesn't really do anything that iPhoto doesn’t do just by holding the Control key on launch.

You are talking about something you are not using, you have likely not been using ever. It does way more.

And it is the Option key you're holding at launch of iPhoto, not the Control key. But that's the smallest "error" here in your post. 😉

Multiple versus single libraries is - of course - a matter of choice. If you find yourself frequently moving libraries around - though why would you be doing that frequently? - then maybe. But is that offset by fact that you can only search one Library at a time? Looking at your list above, are you sure the photo you want was taken in 2005? or 04? or 06?

A library of hundreds of GB, containing hundreds of thousands of files is 'fragile' and vulnerable

That's just untrue. Search the forum. We see more reports of problems from people with 5 - 10 k photos in a library than we do from folks with 50k+. The only difference between restoring a 5k library and a 50k one is time. So, I'm not sure what 'risks' you think having multiple libraries protects you from.

The majority of users doesn't need to have all their photos on hand all the time anyway.

Says who?

Whether iPhoto Buddy runs on Mountain Lion on not is of little relevance. They haven't bothered to test it on iPhoto 11 - or haven't updated their web page. What "way more" does it do?

Thanks for the correction on the option key. You're dead right. Apologies for that.

when i open the library on the external, is it reading the photo folder on the internal hard drive or the external?

You choose which library is opened -

depress the option key and launch iPhoto and select the library you want

This remains the default library until you change it with an option launch again

if i delete my photos that reside on my internal, will that mess up the albums that i spent so long to organize?

AS noted earlier in this thread each library is totally independent - what you do in one is only in that one

will the new iPhoto location on the external recogize that the same library contents are also located on that drive?

??? each library is totally independent - there is no connection of any sort between different libraries which is why it is not a good idea to have multiple libraries - it is confusing, had to find what you want and easy to make errors

AS noted earlier in this thread each library is totally independent - what you do in one is only in that one

LN

If you want to maintain multiple iPhoto Libraries and be able to change libraries easily, copy events or albums between libraries and keep keywords, titles, places and other metadata intact you should get iPhoto Library Manager. It also includes an excellent duplicate photo removal function.

OT

Not at all

do you have a referenced library or a managed library?

LN