How to Backup Photos in iPhoto to External Hard Drive

by: nobusPosted on 2009-01-09 at 00:34:44ID: 23333668

if he put them on the external drive with that program; i suppose that program is the cause.
tell him to copy his photo's to the external, and check if those get deleted too.

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2009-01-09 at 01:19:19ID: 23333835

iPhoto stores ALL photos in a Library file which actually is a folder containing many subfolders with all images inside.

The default location for the "iPhoto Library" file is in the Users/Pictures folder. To backup up everything, then copy this "iPhoto Library" file to an external drive.

However if your Dad deletes photos from iPhoto and then he backs-up the iPhoto Library (by overwriting the copy on an external drive) he will in effect be removing the same photos from the backup.

by: bastianrPosted on 2009-01-09 at 09:03:10ID: 23337585

I faced a similiar issue. My laptop was filling up so I created archive libraries on an external drive.

Your dad might try splitting the libraries up and storing one or more alternate libraries on an external drive. Recent versions of the program allow users to choose between libraries by holding down the Option key at startup. I found a good utility to help the process called iPhoto Library Manager
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/

You can also do it manually by copying the library to a new location and renaming the folder. Open the new library and delete the photos you're keeping in the old library. Then go back to the old library and delete those being archived in the new library. It's helpful to filter by date to achieve this. With or without the utility it's a bit tedious and you have to be careful what you delete but it works.

Here's aMacworld article on the subject:
http://www.macworld.com/article/53474/2006/10/iphotolibrarymanager.html

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2009-01-13 at 00:07:57ID: 23360730

Sorry Kara, but stating that "Sorry but none of these answers were correct" is not very helpful to us or other users.

It is important for other users and the experts to understand what solution was offered.

Can you please explain what they told him at the Apple Store because based upon your original question and explanation of the problem some of the solutions posted here are correct.

by: bastianrPosted on 2009-01-13 at 08:02:43ID: 23364076

I agree with eoinosullivan. Three of us took the time trying to assist you with a problem for which you gave a general description. If none of us were of any help, you can at least explain what the solution was. Simply stating that we're all wrong helps no one and isn't a fair characterization.

by: kara334Posted on 2009-01-13 at 18:51:22ID: 23369662

Hi Everyone,

I sincerely apologize. I guess I didn't know the procedure correctly. And one of the reasons I didn't post the answer was because it was so confusing I didn't understand it myself! So I asked my Dad to email me what he learned. Here is what he said:

Kara - here is the story: when you click directly on the iPhoto library icon in the external drive window, it is actually bringing forth the iPhoto library on the internal drive (seems very strange to me). To see the true content of the external drive, click on the iPhoto icon in the dock while holding down the OPTION key. This allows you to click on CHOOSE LIBRARY, then select your external drive, and click on the iPhoto library in the external drive. This is the true content of the external drive iPhoto library. I solved the problem by going to the Apple store and talking to the iPhoto guru there.

Please let me know if you guys think it would be fair to accept my comment and give you guys points too? I didn't know you could do that. I just read it in the instructions.

Kara

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2009-01-13 at 23:48:25ID: 23370678

OK .. so let me get this right.

1. Your Dad had copied the iPhoto Library from his Mac to an external drive as a backup.
2. He then opened iPhoto and deleted some photos from the Library on the Mac.
3. To confirm that everything was still OK on his Backup he opened the external drive and double clicked on the iPhoto Library he had place there. iPhoto opened up but it seemed that the same photos were also deleted on the Backup .. when in fact he was still looking at the iPhoto Library on the Mac.
4. Panic, call daughter Kara, Question created on Experts Exchange etc..

If you carefully read bastianr's reply you will see that he tells you how to use the OPTION key to open different copies of the iPhoto Library. This in effect was the same advice as the Apple Store without the demonstration (which we can't provide)

My comment was based upon the assumption that your Dad knew how to open different iPhoto Libraries (which clearly he didn't) and was having a problem with backups.

Kara, thank you for providing clarification, it always helps to close out a question with a reply from the Asker. I would recommend that bastianr be allocated some or most of the points for his answer which was correct, plus he gave some handy tips on how to manage different Libraries and a useful free software program to assist. You could also mark your own reply as the clarification of the solution found.

As per usual, part of the problem in getting a clear answer can be lack of detail in the question. I appreciate it was all coming to you via your father and you are not a Mac user but we could probably has assisted better and faster if your Dad had given more detail or been able to participate in the Question.

by: kara334Posted on 2009-01-16 at 07:05:08ID: 23393489

Hi,

I'm confused. I want to accept my own comment as a solution and award the experts points. But I don't see a link on my comment anywhere that says "Accept as Solution." Am I not seeing something?

Thanks.
Kara

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2009-01-16 at 07:33:29ID: 23393859

Kara

Click on the link marked "Accept Multiple Solutions" which is located in the bottom right of each comment box.

Then it will reload the page with a small text box in the right of each comments where you can split out your 500 points (i.e. giving one comment 100, another more relevant 200, a little tip 50 etc.

At the end of this same points page, you award a Grade.

Then enter a comment and complete the question.

Thanks

Eoin

by: kara334Posted on 2009-01-16 at 07:56:04ID: 23394134

All I see is "Accept as Solution." I don't see any "Accept Multiple Solutions." I've done that with other questions I've asked. I don't know why I don't see it in this one. I must be blind.

So I tried clicking on "Accept Solution," and then it asked me to grade it, etc. I didn't do that. I hit the Back button instead.

Kara

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How to Backup Photos in iPhoto to External Hard Drive

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