My computer has become so slow as I am running out of memory.
I would like to export my photos to an external drive but would like to keep iphoto's organization. Can I do this?
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)
My computer has become so slow as I am running out of memory.
I would like to export my photos to an external drive but would like to keep iphoto's organization. Can I do this?
Move your complete iPhoto library from your pictures folder to an external drive. Simply drag it over to a folder on the external drive, then double click it in the new location to open it in iPhoto.
Before you move the library however, check the file system of the external drive. It needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled).
See this document - it describes how to format a drive to be used with a photo library:
Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
iPhoto and Aperture require the same format for the drives.
Note: Formatting will erase the drive. Copy all contents to a different drive, before you format the drive.
I had read of this procedure in several places but I don't have a pictures folder in my finder. I'm sure that this can be fixed but I have no idea how to do it. (In the left column in finder I have, under the title "favorites", All my files, AirDrop, Desktop, Applications, Safari, Documents, Google and a house icon with my name). Then there is "Devices" and "Shared".
I found a "pictures" folder under the house icon but it has all photos (Photo Booth, Family Tree Maker, Adobe, etc.) And an "Images" category under "All My Files" but that too has everything (some 29,000 photos).
I have already formatted the drive to Mac OS Extended.
I used the export function in iphoto to move the photos and it did not come with the categories.
Help, please.
I found a "pictures" folder under the house icon but it has all photos
That is the folder, where your iPhoto library should be. The icon should look like this (or similar) - a fan of pictures:
To make your "Pictures" folder visible in the Finder's sidebar, open the Finder's Preferences. Then enable the Sidebar items you want to show:
I have a fan of pictures that looks exactly like that but it is the Aperture 3 Trial Library which has no pictures in it. I did manage to get "pictures" onto the left column of finder (thank you) but it still only has the aperture trial library that looks like a fan of pics.
If your iPhoto Library is not in your Pictures folder, try a differnet way to find it.
For example: When I ctrl-click "iPhoto", I am seeing this:
Exporting photos to an external drive while keeping iphoto's organization.
