What's the best way to backup a LARGE iPhoto 9 library

terence

in 10 years time finding an optical drive will be as easy as finding a floppy drive is now.

only problem with your "prophecy" is that you are alone against all experts. Nothing presently has the "solidity" of a DVD...

Interesting that Apple is on TD's side and does not include optical on any computer - same for several other computer makers - maybe you are the one who is out of touch with what is happening in th eworld

And it is not at all clear why you contine to post the same thing over and over - even the mterial hyou have posted states that is is unreliable and consumer version are gone or on their way out

Do what you want but your advice is not good for the "aveage" user - which is who this forum is aimed at - the "average" user does not even have an optical device to use today sice they have not been provided with Apple computer for some time

LN

larry

Even if one has an optical drive, it is inferior to a true backup to a hard drive

Now, you should know better, with all the complaints you try to solve about "disappeared" iPhoto libraries on EHDs, and "unreadable" versions, etc. A DVD is eminently more stable and reliable.

you also write:

Your method does not backup the iPhoto library

It backs up the original photo , PLUS filename AND title ( this is the name you give a pic in iPhoto ) PLUS your keywords, PLUS the "description" of the photo ! And all of this accessible through ANY version of OS, ANY version of iPhoto, and ANY PC...!

you also write

It can not be used by most Mac users since no Mac has shipped with an optical drive for some time now

i just can't believe i'm reading this 😝

That is exactly your prpblem - you can not believe reality

LN

fortunately, the people will be able to make up their own opinion about all this by reading the suggested material above.

Now i understand why it took so long for some to "accept" that the earth was a sphere 🙂

That is correct - there are too many people like you who can not see the obvious when it is right in front of their eyes - but eventually you will see that optical is no longer included on computers and is on its way out - exactly like your past Flat Earthers eventually saw that ships did not fall off the edge and eventually came to see the obvious - and then doubters saw that the sun did not revolve around the earth but visa versa - and that Sun was not the center of the universe but was one of billions and billions of starts - some people are slow to see the obvious but it will happen - and it does not change the fact that they are wrong and things have changed

All a user has to do to see the obvious is look at the latest Apple product line - not a single Optical device included as standard - because they are in the past

LN

Terence, new to the support community so apologies if I've posted this question in the wrong place. I see discussions related to the challenge I am facing but perhaps not identical. I am overseas with my MacBook Pro with much work to do but reaching the limits of my hard drive storage. My IPhoto library is taking up a large amount of space. The question is: is there a way to remove the photos from the laptop but preserve them in an IPhoto environment on a different medium (or a reasonably priced Cloud storage option)? As you know, if I simply copy them or export them I will lose things like photo titiles and folder structure and will have one big chaotic swack of photos. Thanks for considering this question. David

Let's clarify this now:

You're running an older version of the the OS and an older version of iPhoto. There is no longer any way to back up an iPhoto Library to optical media from iPhoto, nor is there any way to read an iPhoto Library on optical media in iPhoto.

So when you say:

with all the complaints you try to solve about "disappeared" iPhoto libraries on EHDs, and "unreadable" versions, etc. A DVD is eminently more stable and reliable.

What's the point when there's no way to back up a LIbrary to DVD? Or to read one from DVD? That's right, all those back ups that folks now have on DVD can't be read in iPhoto. They have to be copied to the HD for iPhoto to see them, and then, if you want to actually restore them to a library you need 3rd party software to do that.

Why don't you explain this to people?

This:

t backs up the original photo , PLUS filename AND title ( this is the name you give a pic in iPhoto ) PLUS your keywords, PLUS the "description" of the photo !

is not backing up an iPhoto Library. It's backing up a version of the photo and metadata. No edit history. No albums, no events, no faces, no other versions.

Apple have removed optical drives - as are other manufacturers. Let's make that clear. ON the Apple store there is now no Mac with a built-in optical drive. Today, you cannot buy a Mac with an optical drive, you have to buy an external USB one. Apple have removed the ability to back up an iPhoto LIbrary to optical media. Apple have removed the ability to read a backed up Library from optical media. Apple have removed the optical drive?

How much more obvious does this have to be?

You tout optical media as a back up options but never mention that it's heading up a dead end.

Even if you don't think it's a dead end you still don't warn other users that it might be, that Apple have removed the Drives from their machine and that other manufacturers are doing it too. You need to point that out.

As I've said again and again and again: no one is arguing about the quality of optical media, no one is arguing about the necessity for a back up. But without an optical drive all you have is a shiny frisbee.

You never answer that point.

the external USB optical drive is the definitive answer to all that, terence.

david

you will have more luck posting your question as a stand-alone.

Just click "Apple Support Communities" at the top of this page, and then post your question in the "Ask your question " box.

The question is: is there a way to remove the photos from the laptop but preserve them in an IPhoto environment on a different medium (or a reasonably priced Cloud storage option)

Sure. Move them to a USB/Firewire or Thunderbolt disk:

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

remember, terence, i never did advise to backup hundreds of GB of data on DVD !

But, as you admit yourself:

As I've said again and again and again: no one is arguing about the quality of optical media,

a DVD is still the most solid backup we know of, and i suggest putting only your most cherished data ( at about 4 GB per DVD ) on this medium.

Now, to do it properly is a much longer answer.

I've been working on a " Backups: the "gold-nugget" backup ", but have been constantly interrupted by naysayers wanting me thrown overboard by the captain.👿

by the way, terence, would you care to answer the question about "Exporting TIff as "Current" ..?

So why don't you tell people that

a: they'll need an external and extra piece of equipment

b: that they have no way of backing up their iPhoto Libraries using it

c: the existing back ups that they already have cannot be used with iPhoto

and

d: what they should do when, in 10 years, they can't find an external optical drive.

You really have to explain to people the consequences of what you're suggesting. Even if you believe that somehow optical media is going to survive for the home user - in spite of all the evidence to the contrary - then you need to warn people of the limitations of what you suggest: backing up to Optical media is not possible with out significant dataloss. You don't warn people about that. That's shameful and you really must either warn people that what you suggest will cause dataloss and/or stop doing it.

terence

a: presently 90% of us DO have a DVD drive on their computer

b: all along, we've been talking NOT of backing up iPhoto libraries, but of backing up our MOST CHERISHED AND VALUABLE photos

c: existing backups that have been made as i suggest ( through "Export" ) can be read by ANY version of OS and/or iPhoto, and also by PC !

d: i'm not even talking " 10 years ". To be sure your most precious data is SAFE for the next few years is good,especially considering the price-benefit ratio !

Many ways your HD and EHD can be wiped out simultaneously ( while connected ). A power-surge , a power-outage can do a lot of damage.