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
RAHansma

Q: Photos Disk Space

Reading the article on saving disk space migrating to Photos Library, am I to assume that my 53.6GB iPhoto Library & my 51.9GB Photos Library is really only using 53.6GB of space??

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 4GB hard drive

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 7:25 AM

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Q: Photos Disk Space

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 4, 2015 7:31 AM in response to RAHansma
    Level 10 (84,210 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 4, 2015 7:31 AM in response to RAHansma

    Roughly

     

    They share the same original and previews using Hard links - each database has its own support files and database files so there is overhead associated with them

     

    And as you delete photos from Photos but not iPhoto the original and preview will not be removed from disk until that photo is delete from the iPhoto library so over time there is additional space used

     

    After a few months if you are happy with Photos and are sure you will not be using iPhoto again then it is good to delete the photo library after archiving it just in case

     

    LN

  • by RAHansma,Helpful

    RAHansma RAHansma Oct 16, 2015 6:15 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 16, 2015 6:15 AM in response to LarryHN

    Thanks Larry...just so that I am clear, after I'm happy with my Photos Library, I can archive my IPhoto Library (as opposed to my photo library) onto a external disk and delete the IPhoto Library on my Mac, correct?

  • by LarryHN,Solvedanswer

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 4, 2015 11:27 AM in response to RAHansma
    Level 10 (84,210 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 4, 2015 11:27 AM in response to RAHansma

    yes

     

    LN