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My main library of 12000 photos appears to be at overload stage with a regular spinning ball. I want to try to split the library down to several of more modest size to find if it fixes the problem.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5), iPhoto 11
12,000 photos is a small library. iPhoto 11 is good for 1,000,000 images, so you have a little headroom yet.
As for the spinning ball, that can be caused by a number of things, but 12k images isn't one fo them.
Have you tried rebuilding the Library?
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD
iPhoto 11 large library
