SlippySlope

Q: Not enough disk space to convert iPhoto library to photo

My wife's iPhoto library has about 9,500 photos. She has a MacBook Air, which has limited hard drive space, so we put her iPhoto library on a SD card (which is always in its SD slot). We've decided to convert the iPhone library to Photos. When the process is started, it gets to about 4% on the progress bar when a popup says that there is not enough disk space to complete the task (says that 72GB is required). How can I complete this process? She wants to do it so that her iPhone and iPad Air can all share the all of the photos via iCloud. Do I put the Photos library on the SD card also? Once the Photos library syncs with iCloud, don't all of the large digital images disappear from the MacBook Air and only a thumbnail remain (like on the iPhone and iPad)?

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), MacBook Pro/IPadAir/iPhone 6

Posted on Apr 11, 2016 9:00 PM

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Q: Not enough disk space to convert iPhoto library to photo

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  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 11, 2016 9:18 PM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 11, 2016 9:18 PM in response to SlippySlope

    I decided to try the process described on my original post on my MacBook Pro.

    I copied Photos Library.photoslibrary from my MBP to an external HD connected to my MBP.

    Then I did an “Option”+click on “Photos” and selected the “Photos Library.photoslibrary” on my external HD. This produced the following popup message:

    "This library contains items that need to download from iCloud Photo Library."

    "To download the complete library, delete the incomplete items, then set this library as the System Photo Library in Preferences and enable iCloud Photo Library. This will disable iCloud Photo Library on any other libraries."

     

    “Delete Incomplete Items”  or “Quit”

     

    I clicked on "Quit" and posted the above.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 12, 2016 11:27 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 12, 2016 11:27 AM in response to SlippySlope

    What is the file system on the SD card?

     

    Photos cannot migrate an iPhoto Library to a Photos Library, if the library is on disk or card with a file system, that is not MAcOS X Extended (Journaled).  If you try to migrate a library on an incorrectly formatted drive the migrated library will be created on the system drive and not on the card or external drive,  Make sure, you are using an external drive that is formatted MAcOS Extended (Journaled) when you try to migrate her iphoto Library to Photos.

     

     

     

    Once the Photos library syncs with iCloud, don't all of the large digital images disappear from the MacBook Air and only a thumbnail remain (like on the iPhone and iPad)?

    Eventually, yes. But the process is dynamic.  Photos will convert photos to optimized versions, when storage is needed on your Mac. But it will try to keep as many photos downloaded as possible. When you are running out of storage, more and more photos will be converted to optimized versions.

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 13, 2016 6:52 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 6:52 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks léonie. I checked the SD disk (128GB) and it was not formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) so I copied the iPhoto library (76GB) to another external HD and then, using Disk Utility, erased and reformatted the SD disk to MacOS Extended (Journaled). But, seeing that the 128GB SD disk will not hold both the iPhoto library (76GB) and a new Photos library, my thought is to leave the iPhoto library on other external HD and put the converted Photos library on the SD disk. Perhaps I just create the new Photos library on the other external HD (which has about 800GB of free space) and then after the conversion process is complete, copy it to the SD disk and then use the System Photo Library in Preferencess to designate the library location. Does that sound like a logical plan?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 13, 2016 7:51 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 13, 2016 7:51 AM in response to SlippySlope

    Perhaps I just create the new Photos library on the other external HD (which has about 800GB of free space) and then after the conversion process is complete, copy it to the SD disk and then use the System Photo Library in Preferencess to designate the library location. Does that sound like a logical plan?

    That sounds like a good plan!

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 13, 2016 8:28 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 8:28 PM in response to léonie

    léonie, that process worked...now it's uploading 10,000+ items to her iCloud account (which is taking a VERY long time - started about 6 hours ago and only about 2,500 images have uploaded - see my screen shot below). I set preferences to optimize images on the MBA so it will put the full image in iCloud.

     

    However, having done this for her, I'm now thinking I should do it for myself (I have 17,000 images in my iPhoto library, and with Faces and titles and other meta data, the file size is 300GB). But, because I had once started Photos and then went back to just using iPhoto, when I start Photos now, I don't get the option to select my iPhoto library for the conversion (I see the option to drag photos to it or insert a data card, etc). How do I reset Photos to "factory settings"? Do delete Photos preferences it the Preferences library?

     

    Photos_pref.png

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 13, 2016 11:18 PM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 13, 2016 11:18 PM in response to SlippySlope
    But, because I had once started Photos and then went back to just using iPhoto, when I start Photos now, I don't get the option to select my iPhoto library for the conversion (I see the option to drag photos to it or insert a data card, etc). How do I reset Photos to "factory settings"? Do delete Photos preferences it the Preferences library?

     

    Photos does not have a menu entry to switch between libraries.  You switch to a different library, when you launch Photos. (              Overview       )

    • Quit Photos, if it is running.
    • You switch between Libraries in Photos by dragging the library you want to use or to convert to a Photos Library onto the Photos icon in the Dock.
    • Or you can hold down the options key ⌥ firmly while launching Photos. This will show you the Library chooser.
    • Or select the library you want to open in Photos in the Finder, ctrl-click it, then select "Open with Photos" from the menu that will appear.

     

     

    if you already opened your iPhoto Library in Photos, the filename extension may have been changed to ".migratedphotolibrary".  Then Photos will not open it again.  In that case change the filename extension manually back to ".photolibrary". Or see this help text: If Photos won't open a library that you already migrated - Apple Support

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 14, 2016 4:32 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 4:32 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks (again) léonie. I'll give that at go...

     

    Back to my wife's MBA...this morning it had progressed to only 1,500 more items to upload to iCloud when suddenly iCloud popped up saying her iCloud had run out of memory (when I started this, it said we needed to purchase 50GB of storage) so I just increased it to 200GB. Looks as if I will need 1TB for my Photos library (this was a great strategy for Apple)...I'll keep you posted when I start the conversion on my library.

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 14, 2016 4:53 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 4:53 AM in response to léonie

    léonie. I gave it a go on my library but it looks like I hit a bump when I dragged my iPhoto library to the Photos window (see the screen shots below). Did I not do something correctly?

    Phots_welcome.png

    Photos_error.png

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Apr 14, 2016 6:20 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 14, 2016 6:20 AM in response to SlippySlope

    You do not drag the iPhoto LIbrary into the open Photos Window - that would import the library, but you drag the library onto the Photos application icon in the Dock.  That will open the library in Photos.

    Alternately, select the iPhoto  Library in a Finder window and ctrl-click it or right click it.  Then select "Open with PHotos" from the window that will pop up.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-04-14 at 14.03.48GMT.jpg

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 14, 2016 6:20 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 6:20 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks léonie. That was perfect. I did the control+click on the iPhoto library and when the "open with" option came up. I selected Photos and the process started. BTW, when I first opened my wife's Photos app, it asked which library I wanted to open and I selected her iPhoto library, but that didn't happen on my MB. Since my library is so large, I suspect this is going to take all day.

     

    Thanks again.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 14, 2016 7:30 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 14, 2016 7:30 AM in response to SlippySlope

    You're welcome. Good Luck

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 14, 2016 7:55 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 7:55 AM in response to léonie

    léonie,

    Looks like there is more...I just checked the progress and it looked like it was finished so I clicked on Photos>Preferences>iCloud and got this popup...

    iCloud_features.png

    When I click on General, I get this...

    Photos_General.png

    This shows the path of the Photos library. If I click on "Use as System Photo Library" will this allow the library to optimize and put the full size images in iCloud? (the library file size is 306GB and I only have about 250GB of free space on my MB)

  • by SlippySlope,

    SlippySlope SlippySlope Apr 14, 2016 8:01 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 8:01 AM in response to SlippySlope

    BTW, my goal is to get my Photos library optimized and the full-size images on iCloud, then I won't need to have my photo library on an external drive.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 14, 2016 8:23 AM in response to SlippySlope
    Level 10 (106,767 points)
    iLife
    Apr 14, 2016 8:23 AM in response to SlippySlope
    If I click on "Use as System Photo Library" will this allow the library to optimize and put the full size images in iCloud?

    Yes, you need to click "Use as System Photo Library"; only then can you enable the library as an iCloud Photo Library and enable "Optimize Mac Storage" in the Photos > Preferences > iCloud panel.

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