Can I move my IPhoto library to network NAS hard drives?
How di I move my IPhoto library from my MacBook Pro hard drive to a network NAS drive?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
You can but you'll have problems if you do.
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, losing metadata, losing images, database corruptions and sharing the photos.
Alternatives:
Put it on a disk image formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and store the image on the NAS.
Get an external HD, using a wired connection, format it correctly and put it on that.
Here's how:
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