VeloRAS
Level 1 (8 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: iPhoto migrated to Photos - Double the space?

I have a macbook running Yosemite 10.10.5 and Photos 1.0.1.  The MacOS was upgraded from Mavericks and at that time, my iPhoto library was migrated to Photos.

 

I am trying to understand how why it appears that there are two copies of the photos; the original iPhoto library and the new, migrated Photos version of that library.

 

From this article: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support, it says "When Finder reports the file size of your Photos library, it includes all your originals and previews. It may look like your remaining iPhoto or Aperture library is taking up twice the space on your hard drive, but it isn't—your images exist only in one location, even though you may have more than one photo library.

After you migrate your iPhoto or Aperture library to Photos, you might feel tempted to delete your original iPhoto or Aperture library. Because the migrated library takes little additional space, you don't need to delete the original library."

But when I open the Finder, I see this:

Screen Shot 2016-10-07 at 2.55.05 PM.png

Can anyone help explain what I am seeing?  It looks like the libraries are using 67.09GB + 69.61GB = 136.7GB of space.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance,

 

VeloRAS

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Oct 7, 2016 2:38 PM

by LarryHN,Apple recommended
LarryHN LarryHN
Level 10 (85,673 points)
Photos for Mac
A:

See this Apple article

Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

 

So as explained in the article the finder sees each librry as being the total size but the originals and previews only are on disk once with two hard links to them

 

over time as you delete photos from Photos that space is not released until you also delete for iPhoto so after three or so months if you have not needed the iPhoto library it is a good idea to archive it and then delete it to free up the space used by photos deleted in the Photos application but not deleted in iPHoto

 

 

 

 

LN

Posted on Oct 12, 2016 7:11 AM

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VeloRAS

Q: iPhoto migrated to Photos - Double the space?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 7, 2016 2:41 PM in response to VeloRAS
    Level 9 (51,412 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 7, 2016 2:41 PM in response to VeloRAS

    They are not using the same space, one is hard linked to the other so the actual space used is minimal.

  • by VeloRAS,

    VeloRAS VeloRAS Oct 10, 2016 8:08 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 8:08 AM in response to Csound1

    Thanks for your reply.  I'm not sure I understand your response.  Do you know why the finder would show these two as two (roughly) 70GB files?  After the migration to Photos, I started receiving low disk space warnings so it appears that MacOS "thinks" that the disk space is being consumed.  When I get info on the hard drive, the free space reflects each of those files being the size shown in my screen shot.

     

    Do you know if I need to keep both of these files?  Is there any way to consolidate the two files?

    Thanks again,

    VeloRAS

  • by Csound1,Helpful

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 12, 2016 7:11 AM in response to VeloRAS
    Level 9 (51,412 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 12, 2016 7:11 AM in response to VeloRAS

    If the Photos library has all of your photos you can delete the iPhoto library, but you will not regain 70GB. Please check first.

  • by LarryHN,Apple recommended

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 12, 2016 7:11 AM in response to VeloRAS
    Level 10 (85,673 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 12, 2016 7:11 AM in response to VeloRAS

    See this Apple article

    Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

     

    So as explained in the article the finder sees each librry as being the total size but the originals and previews only are on disk once with two hard links to them

     

    over time as you delete photos from Photos that space is not released until you also delete for iPhoto so after three or so months if you have not needed the iPhoto library it is a good idea to archive it and then delete it to free up the space used by photos deleted in the Photos application but not deleted in iPHoto

     

     

     

     

    LN

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 10, 2016 11:03 AM in response to VeloRAS
    Level 10 (141,679 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 11:03 AM in response to VeloRAS

    Here's a second article regarding the hard links:

    The (hard) link between Photos and iPhoto

    Be aware the hard links only apply for the photos that were in the iPhoto library at the time of migration.  Adding photos to either library after migration will require their own space on the hard drive.

    OTsig.png