Where are the photo images actually stored on my Mac

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Ziatron Author

Level 5

4,214 points

Where are the photo images actually stored on my Mac

Where are the photo images actually stored on my Mac.

Using Mac Pro Tower and OS 10.11.4

Posted on Apr 24, 2016 9:19 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Apr 24, 2016 9:32 AM in response to Ziatron

If you are using Photos, it will depend on your preferences - managed Library or referenced library. Managed photos are stored in the Masters folder of your Photos Library and referenced images where you imported them from, see Photos's help page:

https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.0/?lang=en#/pht1ed9b966d

All will be more difficult, if you are complicating things by using iCloud Photo Library or external editors.

With iCloud Photo Library and using "Optimize Mac Storage" you will have no control over the photos that will be stored locally. Photos will decide automatically which photos will be kept locally, and they might be in the folder

....../Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/modelresources/

You may also find new original files temporarily in model resources, if you are passing photos to Photo Editing Extensions. I am occasionally seeing gigantic TIFF files in this folder, if I am using an extension for Haze remold or similar.

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Answer 2

Ziatron Author

Level 5

4,214 points

Apr 24, 2016 11:12 AM in response to léonie

Thanks for helping.

managed Library or referenced library. Managed photos are stored in the Masters folder

Well, I've been holding onto Aperture but I'm finally ready to switch to Photos. I stuck with Aperture because I MUST have the ability to show Keywords under the thumbnails. I've been advised I can achieve this with PowerPhotos so here I go.

I just upgraded from 10.10.5 to 10.11.4.

Presently, it looks like all of my Aperture libraries are as follows: Photos > iPhoto Librarys > ( about 10 libraries ). A couple of years ago I switched from iPhoto to Aperture and I believe Aperture continued to use the iPhoto libraries, "as is". So now I'm trying to figure out how to get one of my 10 libraries going with Photos. I have NO interest in sharing images with the cloud. I believe I have turned all of these off in cloud preferences.

So I'm not exactly sure what step one is, or where my images will end up on my system.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Apr 24, 2016 11:31 AM in response to Ziatron

To migrate one of your iPhoto/Aperture libraries to Photos for Mac drag the library onto the Photos icon in the Dock.

Photos will create a new Photos Library from your iPhoto Library. The new library will be named like the iPhoto Library with the extension ".photoslibrary" and your original library will have a new filename extension ".migratedphotolibrary". Rename that back to ".photolibrary", so you will be still able to open it in Aperture. The icons of the libraries will change as well. The new Photos Library will show a "fan of Pictures" icon with the rainbow flower.

The conversion may take a long time for a large library. The new Photos Library does not need much extra storage, see: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

This Support document explains the differences you an expect between the Photos Library and the original Aperture/iPhoto Library: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

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Answer 4

Ziatron Author

Level 5

4,214 points

Apr 24, 2016 12:17 PM in response to léonie

The new Photos Library does not need much extra storage

Unless you make the rename as you suggest. Actually I think that's a good idea. Once I get confident in Photos I can transfer the all iPhoto libraries to another hard drive.

I just completed doing one library. No issues. ( Well, except to say that the Photos image browser looks simple and primitive compared to Aperture.)

If I rename my old libraries as you mentioned above I will in essence be duplicating all of my images. Correct?

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Apr 24, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Ziatron

If I rename my old libraries as you mentioned above I will in essence be duplicating all of my images. Correct?

Renaming the filename extension of the migrated Aperture libraries will not break the hardlinks of the image files inside, since the libraries are essentially folders. So changing the filename extensios will not change the required storage, only moving the libraries to a different drive will break the hard links.

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