pegmmay@yahoo

Q: how to transfer photos from iPhoto to an external hard drive

I have the newest iMac, but can't figure out how to find out operating system.  Can you help with this? My goal is to transfer some of my iPhoto library to an external drive.  Help!

iMac

Posted on Jan 29, 2015 2:02 PM

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Q: how to transfer photos from iPhoto to an external hard drive

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 29, 2015 2:09 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo
    Level 10 (84,239 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 29, 2015 2:09 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo

    - You can not transfer "some of" your iphoto library without iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

     

    - you can transfer some of your photos by exporting - Exporting From iPhoto

     

    - you can transfer the entire iphoto library -  -

    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)

     

     

    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto

     

     

    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive

     

    - and using iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -  you can transfer selected photos between libraries

     

     

    LN

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jan 29, 2015 2:15 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo
    Level 9 (53,486 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 29, 2015 2:15 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo

    1, Read Finding the OS X version and build information on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    2, The iPhoto library is a database. Splitting it up into multiple libraries is a non-trival task. You will need some third party software such as iPhoto Library Manager available at http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Jan 29, 2015 3:45 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo
    Level 10 (139,490 points)
    iLife
    Jan 29, 2015 3:45 PM in response to pegmmay@yahoo

    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.

     

    Now you have two full versions of the Library.

     

    3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there

     

    Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal

     

    Some Notes:

     

    • As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.

     

     

    • You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'