iPhoto Library empty but database file still huge.

If you are sure, that you exported all photos and do not want to use iPhoto any longer, you can simply delete the iPhoto Library.

and as i've been exporting them i have been slowly been deleting them.

Just to be sure, have you emptied the Trash?

Right now their is nothing in iPhoto, however if you go to the picture folder and look at the size of the iPhoto file its still over 30GB.

iPhoto has a bug, that photos will not be deleted from the iPhoto Library, if you merge events after trashing photos, but before emptying the Trash.

If you have done that, rebuild the iPhoto Library and look for "recovered" items. iPhoto will collect any orphaned files in such an event.

iPhoto '11 you do this:

• Launch iPhoto with the key combination⌥⌘ (alt/option-command) held down.
• Keep holding down both the keys, until the "Library First Aid" panel opens.
• Select "Rebuild database" from the panel.

The following will let you know if there are any "master/original" files still in your library and let you export them out of iPhoto.

Starting over from scratch with new library

Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:

1. Open the library package like this.

2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.

3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.

This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.

Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.