Using iPhoto library on external HD

Q

queeeries

Registered
I have copied my 26GB library over to my external HD and it appears to be there. But when I open it, it seems to be linked back to the iPhoto library on my internal HD. (I deleted the internal iPhoto and it disappeared - or said 'no items' - when I opened it on my external HD)

What I am trying to do is create more space on my internal HD - so I want to delete the 25GB there in iPHoto. But can I then use iPhoto on the external drive - and if so, how can I verify the contents are there? I know I can go to 'show package contents' option, but I don't know what to do once there or how that info tells me whether my pix are there or not.

Any suggestions very welcome.

Thanks
 
Are you saying that it's then OK to delete my iPhoto on my internal drive? That it will be saved on the external? This is what I did last time and although it showed the GBs I couldn't get any photos to appear.

By 'pointing to' do you mean clicking on Option when I open iPhoto and then choosing the Library on my external drive? This is what I did but it didn't seem to work. Thanks
 
queeeries said:
Are you saying that it's then OK to delete my iPhoto on my internal drive? That it will be saved on the external? This is what I did last time and although it showed the GBs I couldn't get any photos to appear.

By 'pointing to' do you mean clicking on Option when I open iPhoto and then choosing the Library on my external drive? This is what I did but it didn't seem to work. Thanks
Click to expand...

So is it showing no photos or is it still looking to the internal HD?
 
I have just been through the "I wanna put my hi-gig stuff on external hard drive" too and
thought that I had lost it all! The Genius Bar says hit yer i-Photo icon and option key. window asks u to "choose file" . If yer hard is hooked up it should open. It works fer me.
 
WOW!! Ithought I had a lot! (only 3700) taken mostly on a lil' Canon s15 across this continent as I am a trucker...
 
djackmac said:
So is it showing no photos or is it still looking to the internal HD?
Click to expand...

It is showing photos (and was last time too, until I deleted iPhoto on my internal - cos I wanted the space/speed, which is why I am moving it in the first place) but I don't know if it's still looking to the internal HD.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to find out how to find out!

Thanks again!
 
I tried to reply using your quote djackmac, but dunno where the post went so am replying again - sorry if it's doubled :

I am indeed trying to find out if the photos displaying on my external are looking to the internal iPhoto. Last time I did this, the external photos disappeared when I deleted the internal iPhoto. How can I find out how to find out!? Thanks again.
 
That reminds me.....haven't backed up recently. If you want to do it right you need to back up the iPhoto database onto another drive! Use that umbrella backup utility...
 

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queeeries said:
It is showing photos (and was last time too, until I deleted iPhoto on my internal - cos I wanted the space/speed, which is why I am moving it in the first place) but I don't know if it's still looking to the internal HD.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to find out how to find out!

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

I'd say if its showing photos and you have already deleted them off the internal drive you should be all set.
 
Control click or right click on one of the photos and select show file. That should open a Finder window giving the whole path to the file residing in the iPhoto library.
 
OK that's showing that it's in my external HD... so how do I delete my internal one? Just drop in the trash as usual? And can I then start a new library on my internal by clicking Create New when I click Option and the iphoto icon? (Actually, if I have deleted the iphoto icon, how will I be able to open it from the dock?) Questions... questions... Appreciate you help again.
 
I have questions that I hope are related to this discussion. On my home network, I have 3 macs, each with its own iPhoto library. I would like to combine the 3 libraries somewhere so any mac can access everything, even when the other macs are turned off or not running iPhoto. (I guess I mean that all macs would use the central library - they would not have a private library.)

Can all macs use that one library simultaneously? Any advice on how to create the central library? I have an external wired ethernet drive. Can I put the library there? Would it be better to put it on one mac's internal disk?
 
queeeries said:
OK that's showing that it's in my external HD... so how do I delete my internal one? Just drop in the trash as usual? And can I then start a new library on my internal by clicking Create New when I click Option and the iphoto icon? (Actually, if I have deleted the iphoto icon, how will I be able to open it from the dock?) Questions... questions... Appreciate you help again.
Click to expand...

Just drag and drop the internal iPhoto library to the trash, then empty the trash. Why do you want to create a new iPhoto library on the internal drive if you just went through all this to move the existing library to the external?:confused: If you want the icon to show on the dock again either drag the iphoto icon from the applications folder and drop it on the dock or open iPhoto then click and hold the iPhoto on the dock and select keep in dock.
 
You star. Thanks so much for that. I was thinking of using the external as a library and the internal as current. But maybe I won't now. At least I know how to do it if I dedide I want to. Phew! Finally sorted. Thanks again.
 
Glad I could help. I owe most of my ability to get around in a Mac to the Genius Bar!!! I have always had problems that while not being serious, were extremely frustrating. For some reason I never found good answers in any books, and the Apple support line wants money. The Geniuses always not only showed me how to cure my problems, they would show me how to do it myself.Thinking that at my rate of photos and music was, I bought a 500 gig external to work on. I immediately seemed to have lost everything, but the Geniuses soon had me up again. But I was still able to lose it all again, so on my third trip to the Genius bar, I now can share this info. That you had the same problem, and that I had just found this Macos deal are the ultimate in sychronicity!
 
Me again! Could you please help me reconcile the info that I have which is as follows : When I open iphoto on my external, it says iPhoto Library 26.18GB. When I open finder on my laptop, go to my home page - with the little house - open Pictures folder, it says iPhoto Library 25.95GB with a later date than the external drive underneath which says 160KB...So even though I can open my photos on the external by selecting 'Choose library' and see all my pix there, I'm still not sure that they are actually there (though the 'original file' path shows that they are) and I would like to delete the internal iphoto. I've already dumped the iPhoto icon from the dock into the trash and emptied, but it hasn't freed up any space that I can tell on my HD. Do I need to dump the iPhoto icon in Pictures that I can see? Or is that the photos on my external... Completely confused now...any help appreciated!
 
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