Can't make a new default library for Mac Photos

Question

Can't make a new default library for Mac Photos

I followed the steps in this article about how to move my photos to an external hard drive and make that my default library:

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/25/how-to-safely-move-your-macs-iphoto-li brary-onto-an-external-drive

It tells me to select "Other Library" and then navigate to my external hard drive, but when I click other library it brings up a window with all my photos but that window doesn't show the iPhoto library itself and it doesn't all me to navigate to an external hard drive. I rebooted to see if that would change anything but it didn't. This is the window I'm looking at:

How do I navigate to my external hard drive and select a new default library?

Question #2:

I tried double-clicking on the iPhoto library icon on my external hard drive. When I do this I get the following message/window:

What does this mean? First I don't understand the difference between "Photos" and "iPhoto". Second, I don't understand anything else about this window.

Posted on Sep 18, 2015 9:29 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

216,118 points

Sep 18, 2015 1:37 PM in response to Douglas Johnson1

Photos is the new image management app that comes with Yosemite and will eventually replace iPhoto. If you have iPhoto 9.6.1 you can still open and use your iPhoto libraries. If you don't you'll have to use Photos which your first screenshot indicates you're using.

To move your working Photos library to an external HD first make sure the HD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) with ownership set to be ignored:

Next drag the Photos library from your internal HD to the external HD. Once the copying process is finished double click on the library on the EHD to open it. From that point on it will be the default library. Also make sure it's designated as the System Photo Library in Photos' General preference pane:

If that button isn't grayed out click on it to make the library the System Photo Library.

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Answer 2

Sep 18, 2015 10:54 AM in response to Old Toad

Ah. So on my Macbook there is a Photos library and an iPhoto library. Photos is 53.74 GB and iPhoto is 54.94 GB. So nearly the same size (not sure why they are different. New questions:

Should I just delete the iPhoto library on my Macbook and just use Photos from here on out?
I previously transferred the iPhoto library to my external hard drive. It sounds like I should have transferred the Photos library instead, correct?

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

216,118 points

Sep 18, 2015 1:37 PM in response to Douglas Johnson1

Since the two libraries take up the same space on the hard drive and not double what is reported I wouldn't delete the iPhoto library just yet.

The (hard) link between Photos and iPhoto - Six Colors

Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

If you have Photo 9.6.1 you can still use iPhoto as there are a number of features in iPhoto that are not in Photos. Some will be restored in Photos when El Capitan is released on Sept 30th along with the next version of Photos.

However, if you're completely satisfied with Photos you can delete the iPhoto library but don't expect a space savings the entire size of the library. Maybe a couple of GB.

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