iphoto issue

[Dallascisco]

I'm helping a friend with an Iphoto issue. Evidently someone else tried to copy his iphoto library (it has nearly 20,000 pictures) to his new Mac. The process he followed was to copy the pictures library to the desktop and then import into Iphoto. I'm no Mac expert but I didn't think this was right. The photos imported but are not organized as they were on the old machine. My questions are thus.

1. How do I empty the iphoto library on the new Mac to get rid of the imported files

2. How do I properly copy the iphoto library from the external disk it is still on to the new machine in a way that maintains all the folders and other organization?

The old Mac had 10.6 and the new one is 10.9 if that matters.

 

[Spineshank]

Dont copy the library over. Copy over the actual folder where the pics reside. Then point iphoto to that folder.

 

[Dallascisco]

I'm a mac novice so you'll have to give me some more specific instructions.

Dont copy the library over. Copy over the actual folder where the pics reside. Then point iphoto to that folder.

 

[KeithP]

The default location of the iPhoto Library package is in the Pictures folder. On the new machine, if you go into the Pictures folder and delete "iPhoto Library", that should get rid of that first attempt.

Along the same lines, if you go into the Pictures folder of the old Mac (if there are multiple user folders on the Mac, make sure you are looking at the appropriate one) and grab a copy of the iPhoto Library, then place that copy in the Picture folder of the new Mac, you should be all set.

According to this Apple Support note, http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1229
just double-clicking on the iPhoto Library once it is copied to the new Mac, should launch iPhoto and from then on out, iPhoto should work normally.

And of course, the iPhoto application should not be running while you are moving/deleting libraries.

-KeithP

 

[Dallascisco]

I have a copy of the pictures folder from the old mac on an external drive. The one thing that is different between the 2 machines is that it is much easier to find the pictures folder on the old mac. I simply go to finder and then library which takes me into the user folder where i see everything.

The view on the new machine is much different and I am having trouble finding the pictures folder so that I can copy over it with the data from the external drive.

The default location of the iPhoto Library package is in the Pictures folder. On the new machine, if you go into the Pictures folder and delete "iPhoto Library", that should get rid of that first attempt.

Along the same lines, if you go into the Pictures folder of the old Mac (if there are multiple user folders on the Mac, make sure you are looking at the appropriate one) and grab a copy of the iPhoto Library, then place that copy in the Picture folder of the new Mac, you should be all set.

According to this Apple Support note, http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1229
just double-clicking on the iPhoto Library once it is copied to the new Mac, should launch iPhoto and from then on out, iPhoto should work normally.

And of course, the iPhoto application should not be running while you are moving/deleting libraries.

-KeithP

 

[KeithP]

The location I am speaking of shouldn't be in the user's Library folder, It should be...

Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Pictures/iPhoto Library

Apple started hiding the user's Library folder a few versions back. If you need access to it, while in the Finder, click on the "Go" menu and then hold down the "Option" key, the Library will appear as an option.

-KeithP

 

[Kaido]

I'm helping a friend with an Iphoto issue. Evidently someone else tried to copy his iphoto library (it has nearly 20,000 pictures) to his new Mac. The process he followed was to copy the pictures library to the desktop and then import into Iphoto. I'm no Mac expert but I didn't think this was right. The photos imported but are not organized as they were on the old machine. My questions are thus.

1. How do I empty the iphoto library on the new Mac to get rid of the imported files

2. How do I properly copy the iphoto library from the external disk it is still on to the new machine in a way that maintains all the folders and other organization?

The old Mac had 10.6 and the new one is 10.9 if that matters.

If you want to make it easy on yourself, have him spend the $30 to buy iPhoto Libary Manager:

http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

You also mentioned he had an older Mac - if he was using iPhoto '08 or older, Apple has an iPhoto Library Upgrader tool available: (not needed is the old librar is iPhoto '09 or newer)

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202358