a problem backing up iPhoto

Many thanks, Léonie, your answer is very helpful and if I could work this site right, I'd say so with a star.

I'd also send along a couple of screen shots showing the situation -- have spent ages trying, but again I don't have the necessary skills.

Please tell me how to include screenshots -- I'm using Ambrosia's Snapx to take them and have looked here for help without success.

Best . . . Fortes

Thanks again -- I'd done as you indicate but it doesn't work, just lose the whole page, then must start again and the same result. Used to be (years ago) Discussions worked well and I enjoyed it a lot more -- a big pain that my screenshots in an email are OK but not here.

When I do as you say "Ctrl-click or right-click the word iPhoto in the title bar" I get a list of 4 places, iPhoto Library (with coloured icon), Applications, Macintosh HD and 1215iMac. The last two are my names. Going to the second, Applications, I get a small window saying "Photo Library - 30.3 GB" but the letters are grey (get the same 2.2MB answer at the other places).

But returning to the small window with the iPhoto Library icon, the red flower, with the greyed out 30.3, and dragging it to my desktop preliminary to saving the Library elsewhere, when I click on the desktop image to get info it says 2.2 MB!

The small "/Applications" window on the desktop shows "iPhoto Library" in a list with "iPhoto" above and "iPhoto Library Manager" below.

Do hope you can help, only sorry I can't send screenshots.

A post script from me, Fortes -- an interesting thing:

What I want to do of course is drag my Library to the desktop preliminary to backing it up, but when I drag the large colored icon from the small /Applications window to the desktop, Comm/i says it's 2.2 MB. However, when I drag the small "iPhoto Library" title from the list to the left of the small window and then on the desktop check its contents, it says 30.3 GB -- sometimes! Do it again and I may get 2.2 MB.

So guess when I get lucky and it says 30.3 GB, then that's what it is and that's what I should save.

If so, credit please for a Correct Answer, Apple! (Not the first time I've answered my own question.)

If not, please advise.

That the iPhoto Library should be in the Pictures folder I understand -- how it's got elsewhere I don't know. And I guess it's as you say, the 2 MB refers to an alias (know about aliases).

Next I did as you suggested, held down Options while dragging the iPhoto Library from /Applications to the Desktop and for a while that seemed to work -- a large file appeared on the Desktop with a blue download bar -- but then a message appears:

" The operation can't be completed because an item is being modified."

Thanks for your patience -- I've now got the iPhoto Library, all 30 GB of it, on the Desktop.

Last question, please: For whatever reason, the Library is in the wrong place here in Applications. Should I try to move it to its correct place in Pictures? Drag the icon from the Desktop with Option depressed? I'm planning to move all my iPhoto to Lightroom soon.

Thanks again, Léonie, this has all been very helpful -- even learnt to include screenshots! (TIFF was my problem.)

Now if only the Correct Answer would work -- guess one has to hit that first.

Thanks -- done and all good.