Empty iPhoto Trash and reimport into new iPhoto library

Question

Empty iPhoto Trash and reimport into new iPhoto library

I am SO confused, Please help! I have an iMac with iPhoto version 9.5.1 902.17. The iPhoto library must be corrupted because I have a variety of black thumbnails where I think pictures were, and duplicates of many photos as in more than 3 of many. This happened when I tried to take my MYBOOK photos and upload them into iPhoto. From that point, nothing worked right. I tried to use PhotoSweeper and I think some duplicates were found and deleted. I also notice that I have over 220,000 photos in the iPhoto trash under the "flagged" section on the left side of iPhoto. I do not know where that many came from so I think I need to check and make sure nothing is in there that I want.

I was told by another support person that I should save my iPhoto library, which I did, onto an external hard drive. I see that when I click on it in the external HD, the very same iPhoto library pops up with the same amount of photos where there were in the original (the photos, the trash, and the events, etc).

I was told then to "empty the trash", and that the photos would go to my IMAC trash can in the dock (I think this is what she was telling me). From there, I can create a new iPhoto library, and take the photos emptied in that iMac trash can and reimport them into the new library. It would warn me then if I am adding duplicates and I can then downsize this new iPhoto library.

Is this correct?

Therese

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Jul 2, 2015 6:12 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jul 2, 2015 6:16 PM in response to CorneliusByTheSea

When you put a photo into the iPhoto Trash it does not go into the system Trashcan in the Dock. If you then empty the iPhoto trash the photos will disappear, and they do not go into the system Trashcan in the Dock. But if you do not Empty the iPhoto trash, then it remains in the library, so if you import that library you can still restore the trashed photos - as long as you don't Empty the iPhoto trash.

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Answer 2

Jul 2, 2015 6:32 PM in response to Kappy

So if I create a new iPhoto library and import the previous library from the external hard drive, will it warn me that I am importing duplicates even from those in the iPhoto trash that were saved? My first goal is to eliminate the duplicates to help my library work more smoothly. And to do it manually is impossible. I have over 800 events, 32, 000 photos, and 220,000 in iPhoto trash. I'm glad I didn't empty it because I was told they would exist in the system trash.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jul 2, 2015 6:39 PM in response to CorneliusByTheSea

I don't know. I've never tried that. You can use a third-party utility to find the duplicates quickly. Although it costs $30, I recommend iPhoto Library Manager 4.2.1. This one is free - Duplicate Cleaner For iPhoto 1.10 - but I've not used it.

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Answer 4

Jul 2, 2015 6:49 PM in response to Kappy

Okay.

So to confirm from your understanding, this is incorrect? This is what I've been following from another Level 7 and it seems logical. I just don't want to empty the trash until I can review what's in there. There are too many and many of the same photo.

Make a backup of the iPhoto library.

If you are using iPhoto you could simply try to empty the iPhoto Trash. This will move the trashed photos to the System Trash and you can restore them from there to a set of nested folders on your Desktop. Then try to reimport them to iPhoto by dragging folders into the iPhoto Library. iPhoto's duplicate detection will prevent duplicates from being imported, and warn yu. if you try to import a duplicate.

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Answer 5

Jul 2, 2015 6:52 PM in response to CorneliusByTheSea

Do you think I should move the items from the iPhoto trash back into the library and THEN run the duplicate manager?

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Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jul 2, 2015 10:06 PM in response to CorneliusByTheSea

No, that is not correct. iPhoto controls its own separate Trash and doesn't appear to use the system Trash. Similar to how Mail works.

If you wish to retain what you put into iPhoto's Trash, then you can move them back into the Library before using a dupe finder.

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Answer 7

Jul 3, 2015 8:02 PM in response to Kappy

So I downloaded the iPhoto library manager, and rebuilt my library. I have it in preview mode for now.

I tried for days to "put back" my 220,000 iPhotos from the iPhoto trash back into the photos but it got stuck, and I had to force quit. After opening back up again, iPhoto showed the numbers as if I never moved anything. However, when I rebuilt the library in library manager, it did show the movement. I did click on the options to NOT copy duplicates but I see many of the same photo in the final preview version. I don't get it. So I"m not sure what that means. At this point, I am at a standstill. I just can't empty my iphoto trash until I can put all photos together, run a duplicate program to eliminate all the extra photos, and then keep what I want. Because of the massive amount, it's slow, and it's quirky. Any ideas? I'm afraid of rebuilding the iPhoto library within iPhoto but maybe I should, I don't know. I did back up the library on an external hard drive. Please let me know what you think I should do. I'm so confused after days of reading things, that I'm stuck.

Thanks.

Therese

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Answer 8

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jul 3, 2015 10:15 PM in response to CorneliusByTheSea

I'm afraid I have no answer for you. At first you said you rebuilt the library. I don't quite understand where you are at this time.

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