please help fix a huge iphoto organization mess

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please help fix a huge iphoto organization mess

I've been dreading sorting out this mess for too long and it's time to properly get things organized. I have taken MANY photos (70,000+) over the past 10+ years and have put them all into one iphoto library (iphoto '09 8.1.2). Yes I now know this is awful... As you would expect my hard drive filled up pretty quickly. My dear husband "helped" and bought a 2TB external hard drive and we also use a NAS. The photos are (mostly) organized by year and month within the year. He began to export the photos (month at a time) to the hard drive and then copy them to the NAS. About 5 years worth of photos are now out of iphoto and off of my laptop freeing up some much needed space. This seemed to him to be a good backup plan but I'd really prefer them to be in iphoto somehow as I love the ease of iphoto. I know I will not access them as easily in the regular folders they are now in. I've been doing some initial research and am very overwhelmed with the options. Ideally I'm looking to have maybe the current 1-3(?) years of photos on the laptop (backed up/copied onto the hard drive and NAS) and have the rest backed up on the hard drive and NAS but still accessible. I would love to have all the photos back into iphoto. I have been reading about multiple libraries, iphoto manager, and other options. I have no idea where to start but I am determined to take the time to do this correctly. My laptop is now full again and I want to end this madness. I also have videos (small ones) that I'm interested in organizing. Is it possible to keep them in the same iphoto project in the year/month system? Also how many backups do you suggest? Are there any cloud options that could work well with this possible setup? I am a newbie to all of this so any help/advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I'd really like to get this fixed properly. Thanks in advance!!!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Mar 3, 2015 2:21 AM

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Answer 1

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Yer_Man

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162,308 points

Mar 3, 2015 3:03 AM in response to mandkmummy

The solution to this is time. There is no shortcut.

As space is an issue you will need two Libraries.

One of the external HD. This disk must be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This will hold all the photos.

One on the internal disk. This holds the ones you want to work with right now.

Note that the disk on the external holds all the photos. That means if for any reason you want to search all the images then you open that library. It also means that when you back up that library then you back up all the work. No need for two back ups.

As you import new photos to the internal HD, you can then add them to the main library on the external with iPhoto Library Manager.

So, your internal is baked up to the external, the external is backed up to the NAS.

But here's a problem: you can't have an iPhoto Library on a NAS. So, don't open that back up. If you have a problem restore it to the correct format of disk first.

I.m not sure why you think putting all the photos into iPhoto is awful, but it's much easier to organise photos in iPhoto than in folders in the finder.

And no, it's much easier to access photos in iPhoto than in the Finder too:

For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

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Answer 2

mandkmummy Author

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Mar 3, 2015 3:57 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence, thanks so much for your prompt response. I have a few follow up questions please. I guess I meant it was awful to have all the photos all in 1 library as I thought it would just be too big. That's the first question.. will iphoto work properly (and quickly) if it has 70,000+ photos in it on the external drive? We were thinking so many photos would surely slow things down? Do I break this library into multiple by year or just have one large library? Our external hard drive now has many photos outside of iphoto (appx 5 years worth) and other files for work. I'm not sure what you mean by formatted Mac OS Extended. Can you explain what that is/how to do it/ and will it erase what is currently on the disk as we don't want that to happen if possible. How do I make the second library on the external hard drive? How do I put the photos into it from both the internal hard drive and also from regular files now on the external drive (the 5 years). I'm looking for the best way to do this efficiently and safely to not lose any pictures or data?? Export, copy/paste? Can I move/copy all the pics currently in the internal library in one step or is it just too many pics to move? Great plan to only do one backup of the external drive, but how do I easily back up onto the NAS? Is it a copy/paste thing? I'm confused if iPhoto Library cannot be on a NAS so how do I back it up? And to restore it (hopefully would never need but just in case!!) what do you mean restore it to the correct format (on what disk)? Would you also recommend any external 3rd party cloud system... can iphoto be stored on any of those? What about video organization? Any thoughts? I'm so sorry for all of the basic questions... we've been great at putting photos into iphoto for many years but really don't understand much more than that. Thanks for helping to sort this out. I'm willing to take the time, I just want to make sure I'm starting in the right place! (where should I actually start?) Thanks!!!

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Mar 3, 2015 4:16 AM in response to mandkmummy

iPhoto 09 is good for 250,000 items in a Library. Very large libraries may take a moment to open, but thereafter should work fine. We've seen reports on here from folks with more than twice the number of items in an iPhoto Library with no consequence. Multiple libraries are inconvenient as you can only open one at a time and therefore only search one at a time.

You can find the format of your external drive using the Get Info window:

If it's not formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) then it will need to be reformatted, you do this with Disk Utility. This does erase the drive so you back up the contents first.

You can create a new Library simply by olding down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'. You can add photos simply by using the File -> Add to Library command.

If images are already in an iPhoto Library then you can merge the two libraries with iPhoto Library Manager. See the Help on this app for more.

Most Simple Back Up:

Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.

Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.

Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store

Small point: but paragraphs really make it much easier for the person reading.

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Answer 4

mandkmummy Author

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Mar 3, 2015 5:50 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence, thanks again for such a detailed prompt response. Let me see if I'm understanding things:

I have checked and I will need to reformat the hard drive as it is not Mac OS Extended. I will need to back up my contents first.

Then I need to create a second library on the hard drive using the directions you mentioned. I believe I then move additional old (5 years) photos back into iphoto (not currently in any iphoto, just in regular files... Is there a fast safe way to do this... they are by month and year for 5 years, I'd like them same order in iphoto). I also move the photos from the current internal iphoto into the new external one (using file, add to library). I think this will make the full second library.

Then I need to back up the second library via either option you mentioned. This will be onto the NAS. Am I correct in thinking I can back up to the NAS but just cannot open the library there. (It will just be stored there)

Then I delete more photos from the internal hard drive so I only have current ones there. When I add new photos to the internal drive I can use iphoto library manager to add them the the external drive too. Then I back up again to the NAS every time I make changes to the external drive.

Does this sound right so far? Just to prepare myself... any idea appx how long this entire process might take? (I know it could be ages but I want to do it correctly.)

Do you recommend any 3rd party cloud system as an additional back up or does this set up sound sufficient? My worst fear is losing precious family photos.

Can videos be stored in iphoto and backed up the same way?

Thanks again for all of your help.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Mar 3, 2015 11:27 AM in response to mandkmummy

Thanks for the paras, they really help.

If you want to preserve your folders of images then import them folder by folder. But you might want to reconsider if this is necessary. You can find the photos from any day, month, year or range of dates (like between August4 and September 2) in iphoto with either the calendar tool or a smart album. iPhoto makes date organisation pretty pointless. You add the folders of Photos using the File -> Add to Library command. You use Library Manager to merge the existing iPhoto Library with the large one.

Then I need to back up the second library via either option you mentioned. This will be onto the NAS. Am I correct in thinking I can back up to the NAS but just cannot open the library there. (It will just be stored there)

yes.

Then I delete more photos from the internal hard drive so I only have current ones there. When I add new photos to the internal drive I can use iphoto library manager to add them the the external drive too. Then I back up again to the NAS every time I make changes to the external drive.

Yes.

How long is a piece of string... far too many variables there. Working all day? No distractions? With kids around?

Do you recommend any 3rd party cloud system as an additional back up or does this set up sound sufficient? My worst fear is losing precious family photos.

There is no good Cloud back up for an iPhoto Library. However, I upload all my photos (just the photos) to Flickr for just that reason. A terrabyte of storage for free, and you cans et them to be private and so on.

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