How do I delete a JPG file using photos app

Question

How do I delete a JPG file using photos app

Hi, this is my first post to support communities. My HD is about 1/2 full from photos and I would like to delete some of the duplicates and bad photos from the lot to reclaim space. I have used the delete button (and also command+delete) to delete the subject photo in Photos App, then I used "Show Recently Deleted" and deleted the image immediately in that tab. The photo no longer shows in the Photos app. However the JPG file is still on my HD in the Pictures folder. What is the best way to delete the actual image file from the HD? I know I can move it to trash in Finder, but this 4 step process is obviously not effective for 20,000 photos. Thanks in advance for your expertise.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Nov 2, 2016 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,633 points

Nov 2, 2016 9:31 AM in response to not sure about this

How have you imported the Photos to Photos - as "Referenced" or "managed"? Meaning, did you import the photos with the Photos > Preferences > General: Importing "Copy items into the Photos Library" enabled or disabled?

If you imported with "Copy items into the Photos Library" active, there will be no connection to the photos you are storing in your Pictures folder, because Photos is keeping its own copies in the Photos Library. You can delete any photos from your Pictures folder that you imported to Photos.
If this option has not been active, Photos will only be referencing the copies outside the library.

Then deleting the photos in Photos will require to delete the the imported photos in Photos and also the referenced original outside the library. Photos has no tool to remove the referenced originals as well. It is one of the reasons, why using a managed library would be preferable.

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Answer 2

Nov 2, 2016 9:42 AM in response to léonie

Hi and thanks for your reply. Almost all the photos were imported from my windows laptop when I first got my Mac, using the new Mac setup tool. The photos were imported originally into iPhoto. When Photos app came out, I moved the library from iPhotos to Photos app, and deleted the old iPhoto library. The preference in Photos is currently set to "Copy items to the Photos library". I am not sure whether my photos were imported as copies or as references, but the size of the Photos library is 75GB, close to the same size as the sources photos, so that implies they were imported as copies and that no hard link exists to the source photo in the Pictures folder.

So if the photos were copied, then I can only delete the image in the library file and not the source file in Pictures folder. Do you (or any other reader) know of an app that I can use to manage the source files and delete unwanted files to reclaim space?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,633 points

Nov 2, 2016 10:28 AM in response to not sure about this

I am not sure whether my photos were imported as copies or as references,

You can test this in Photos.

Create a smart album. (File > New Smart Album), then set the constraint in this smart album to "Photo is referenced".

All photos showing up in this smart album will be referring the original outside the library. If there are any referenced images, consolidate them:

Select all photos in the smart album and use the command "File > Consolidate". Then photos will copy the original into the library and you can remove the duplicate outside the library.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

200,633 points

Nov 2, 2016 10:52 AM in response to not sure about this

Do you (or any other reader) know of an app that I can use to manage the source files and delete unwanted files to reclaim space?

The app "Photo Sweeper" can open several albums and photo libraries and search for duplicates across the albums and libraries. It is very versatile, but it is not free. See: http://overmacs.com/?p=photosweeper

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Answer 5

Nov 2, 2016 11:17 AM in response to léonie

Ok that is also very helpful. The Photos library is either a copy of the original or a pointer to the original. In either case, I still have the original JPGs in the Pictures Folder. Would it make sense to delete the Photos library, and re-import as referenced ("managed"?) and not copied, and then I can review and delete bad images and duplicates from Photos App which will also remove the source JPG? Is there any risk to this approach?

Thanks for your considered advice.

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Answer 6

léonie

Level 10

200,633 points

Nov 2, 2016 12:19 PM in response to not sure about this

If you delete the photos in Photos and start over, you will lose all work you invested into your photos.

I would make all photos managed (consolidate any referenced photos you have), and then simply move all remaining photos you have in your Pictures folder to an external drive to keep a backup of your original photos. It is safer to keep the originals backed up separately, just in case.

Once your Photos Library is managed, it is easier to delete photos, because you only have to deal with the photos stored in the Photos Library. And Photos can delete the managed photos.

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