AlexandriaGilbert
Level 1 (9 points)
Notebooks

Q: Photo Storage, External Hard Drive, Dropbox, Need Space

Hi, I am running Photos for Mac and my computer has 120 GB. I have a lot of photos and I also TAKE a lot of photos, and I have run out of space. So, I'm trying to find a solution going forward. I'll write a brief list of what I've tried so far and the services I've subscribed to, but I'm hoping someone can help me create a system that will work in the long term, especially so that my photos and videos are safe and I'll still have multiple backups.

 

I have dropbox and automatic camera upload, and I also have Google photos which backs up the non high-res version of everything. I bought a big external hard drive today and copied my Photos library over to it, but now I'm thinking...if I plug my iPhone into my computer and it starts to automatically upload all my photos BUT my external HD isn't plugged in...where are those photos going? A different photo library? How can I get the recent uploads to the hard drive?

 

Is dropbox a solution? Do I just copy the entire photos library into dropbox? If so, do new uploads into photos automatically head to that dropbox folder? Would I have to keep that dropbox folder synced to my computer (in which case...there isn't enough room on the hard drive...).

 

Additionally, the photos library on this mac is 35 gb, but this mac is relatively new. My iPhotos library from before has 250 gbs and I'd like a way to combine all of those old photos into one solid library, but with only 120 gbs on this computer, how can I manage to consolidate it all?

 

Lastly, going forward I plan to start using an SLR and editing photos...what kind of storage solution/system am I going to need? I'm thinking that lugging around external hard drives with photo libraries on them might be clunky?

 

I hope these questions are clear, and I would appreciate any input.

MacBook, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Jun 1, 2016 7:44 PM

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AlexandriaGilbert

Q: Photo Storage, External Hard Drive, Dropbox, Need Space

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jun 1, 2016 8:01 PM in response to AlexandriaGilbert
    Level 10 (84,217 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jun 1, 2016 8:01 PM in response to AlexandriaGilbert
    Is dropbox a solution? Do I just copy the entire photos library into dropbox? If so, do new uploads into photos automatically head to that dropbox folder? Would I have to keep that dropbox folder synced to my computer (in which case...there isn't enough room on the hard drive...).

     

    absolutely no - the Photos library can not be on DropBox either as an operating library or as a backup - it can only be local

     

    Basically the answer is that if you want to use high quality photos you need a lot more Mac storage - 120 GB is tiny - if you want to do neat things upgrade your storage

     

    You can use iCloud Photo Library with optimized photos on your computer but that can be slow to download and required an internet connection to do edits

     

    LN

  • by akfromnyc,

    akfromnyc akfromnyc Sep 11, 2016 7:01 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 11, 2016 7:01 PM in response to LarryHN

    Hi-

     

    But can it be under the Dropbox local hierarchy as an operating library, if used just by one iMac?  So basically as an automatically backed up file.

     

    Thanks

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 11, 2016 7:26 PM in response to akfromnyc
    Level 10 (84,217 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 11, 2016 7:26 PM in response to akfromnyc

    Once again Absoluely no

     

    See my answer to your duplicate post

     

    LN

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 12, 2016 6:13 AM in response to akfromnyc
    Level 10 (105,806 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 12, 2016 6:13 AM in response to akfromnyc

    A backup that will be torn to shreds by syncing would be no backup you could rely on. It will be worse than having no backup at all.

    Apple says:   Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X - Apple Support

    If you store your Photos library in a location that's part of a cloud service (for example, Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive), your library might be damaged by the syncing process. As a result, you could lose photos.

    To see your photos on all your devices, you can use iCloud Photo Library. To back up your library, you can use Time Machine.