HT204476: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries

Learn about Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries
markl81

Q: This information is misleading

I read this page about Photos saving displace, and everything I've experienced, as well as many other apple users indicate this page is false and misleading.

 

Photos disk space usage

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), Screen Dim Dimming

Posted on Aug 12, 2015 10:52 AM

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Q: This information is misleading

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  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 12, 2015 11:39 AM in response to markl81
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    Aug 12, 2015 11:39 AM in response to markl81

    Just because you say it doesn't make it so. Just because folks don't understand what's said doesn't make it misleading. You sure your post is clear, for instance, in what it refers to?  That said, blinding though your insights may be, this is not the place for feedback.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Aug 12, 2015 11:47 AM in response to markl81
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Aug 12, 2015 11:47 AM in response to markl81

    You are referring to: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries  ?

     

    This page mainly explains, why it is unnecessary to delete the iPhoto Library (or Aperture Library) after the library has been migrated to Photos. The origininal image files and previews will be shared between the new Photos Library and the original photo library.

     

    The problems in the discussion you are pointing to are caused by two different causes:

    1. iCloud Photo Library
    2. Referenced originals.

    If you are using iCloud Photo Library with Photos, the library is stored in iCloud and Photos is creating new,  optimized working copies for the photos in iCloud.  These photos are no longer hard linked to the originals and previews  in your previous photo library.

    And if you are using referenced originals, it is not clear at all, what is happening. Photos is filling a Ressources folder (occasionally) with a huge amount of working copies, that will take up more space than the referenced photos.

    Apple has not released any support documents, that explain what is going on with this folder in these cases.  It looks like a bug.

  • by mgadda,

    mgadda mgadda Aug 19, 2015 7:17 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 7:17 PM in response to léonie

    If you blow away the original iPhoto library storing what appears to be complete copies of everything, regardless of what sorts of data shuffling is going on with photocloudd, does everything keep working?

  • by mgadda,

    mgadda mgadda Aug 19, 2015 7:23 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 7:23 PM in response to Terence Devlin

    The inodes of duplicate files in both libraries are not the same which means they are not hard linked. And they are also not symlinked. So they are in fact copies. Why? It's unclear, because this article absolutely suggests that the files should be "linked" (of which there are only two types).

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Aug 19, 2015 11:53 PM in response to mgadda
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Aug 19, 2015 11:53 PM in response to mgadda
    The inodes of duplicate files in both libraries are not the same which means they are not hard linked.

    The originals and previews will be hard linked when you originally migrate the library. But as you are working with Photos many things can break the hard links, for example, if you move the library to a different drive.  Hard links do not work across drives. And require a file system that supports hard links.

    Also, if you edit a photo a new preview needs to be rendered, that is no longer linked to the original library.  And if you are using iCloud Photo Library with optimize storage enabled, the originals you download from iCloud will no longer be hard linked to your original iPhoto Library.