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Why is my iphoto library a lot bigger than it actually is?

Hi,

Firstly i should say that I've had problems with my iphoto library before but i thought i had fixed it with the help of you kind people.

Okay, i have 21,563 photos and 1500 videos (186GB) in iphoto right now, but when i check without opening iphoto by checking the size of the files it says it is 34,355 photo items at 232.67GB. When i go into the folders to see what's in them everything is all upside down and completely mixed up, for instance i go into '2014' and there are named folders which is fine but then i have folders numbered '03-12' and inside each of them is random numbered folders like '3454784-63899'. And inside all of them are photos but all from different time periods. And some are named '023_2jpg, or 023_4jpg' like they are duplicates but they are different photos.

I'm about to wipe my hard drive and give the computer a fresh start as it's giving me problems but after that, if i import my iphoto library back into my computer who knows what it will do. Plus i don't want to bring back 232GB, i only want the actual iphoto library back.

Does anyone know a way to only bring back my actual iphoto library and how to go about cleaning up the files and folders?

Thanks.

iMac (20-inch Late 2006), Mac OS X (10.6.8), 4 GB RAM, ILife '11

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 3:46 PM

Best reply

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 4:35 PM

several things

1 - going into the contents of the iPhoto library is not supported and is not a good idea

2 - the contents of the iPhoto library are always much greater than the items you see in iPhoto - each photos has two or three versions plus face thumbnails and support files - so both the number of items and size of the library is greater than just the photos - which is what iPhoto reports

3 - you never IMPORT an iPhoto library for any reason - it does not work and creates a massive mess (all of those various versions and face thumbnails become original photos creating a unrepairable mess - you make at least two good, tested backups of your iPhoto library with one being an exact copy of it or clone and use the clone by dragging it to your pictures folder of the rebuild computer and then launching iPhoto letting it open the library - no importing

4 - in any case you can not modify the contents of the iPhoto library - it is what it is so use it as it is

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35 replies

Sep 23, 2014 2:06 PM in response to Old Toad

Okay,

Problems persist.

The rebuilt library is now my iphoto library but when i open iphoto some (a lot) of the event thumbnails are blacked out.

Now, i can correct this by making one photo the key photo but inside the events all the videos are blacked out. They still play after a small delay.

I've searched the communities for an answer but can't find one. I see no reason for this as the videos are not blacked out in the finder or in the iPLM.

And i know I'm supposed to keep out of the folders, and i would have if it had worked but now for some reason every photo and video is under the folder name '2014' and when i open that it is '09' then '07' and then it's just seemingly random numbered folders. That isn't rebuilding, that's confusing.

Old Toad

Level 10

207,607 points

Sep 23, 2014 2:34 PM in response to James Phoenix

They still play after a small delay.

But they do play. How much is the delay? How much free space do you have on your boot drive?

Sep 23, 2014 3:56 PM in response to Old Toad

Yeah they play after a second. It's like a second of blank video has been added to them. And it's not all the videos. Seems to be the later ones in the library.

I have 500GB on the drive free.

Old Toad

Level 10

207,607 points

Sep 23, 2014 4:39 PM in response to James Phoenix

What's the source of those videos? I know some digital cameras would start out with a blank frame or two on each video. In iPhoto you can trim that off of the video in the play mode. Click on the gear button and select trim.

Slice the trim handle at the left to get rid of the blank frames.

Sep 24, 2014 6:23 AM in response to Old Toad

They are from a selection of digital cameras I've owed over the past few years.

I did see that fix online but i have 1500 videos.

I upgraded the thumbnails overnight and it seems to have worked.

Thanks for your help.

Why is my iphoto library a lot bigger than it actually is?