5 replies to this topic

[Amy]

Where does iPhoto store the photos I import on my Mac?

[Photographa]

iPhoto creates a file in the Pictures folder on your Mac. It's called "iPhoto Library" and the single file is a collection of all your original photos metadata and edited versions of photos.

 

If you need to free up disk space, you can drag this file to an external drive. If you hold down the Option key while opening iPhoto, you will be asked which iPhoto Library to use, and you can select the one on the external drive or have iPhoto create a new empty library for you on the Mac.

[Amy]

Thanks! It was taking up too much space and I didn't know that I could just work from an external disk.

[Photographa]

If you want to back up iPhoto photo libraries, Time Machine can also do that for you. Basically, you can set it up so that every time you plug a certain external hard drive into your Mac it automatically backs up your photos to a part of the drive (and it's cool in that it'll only back up new information, so you're not getting a huge backup every time you plug the drive in).

 

It's super convenient for backup - it's located in your Time Machine preferences.

[Julie]

Can you merge iPhoto libraries?

 

What if there are two Macs in a home, is there a way to have an iPhoto library that's always synchronized between both computers?

[Photographa]

Can you merge iPhoto libraries?

 

What if there are two Macs in a home, is there a way to have an iPhoto library that's always synchronized between both computers?

 

iPhoto libraries can be merged if you have Apple's Aperture software. You can open one library, then use File -> Import to import more libraries, and then save everything as a single library.

 

To use one single iPhoto library between multiple Macs, you'd have to have that iPhoto Library file in a shared drive (either a shared network drive like a Time Capsule, a shared file one one of the Macs, or a Dropbox folder). Keep in mind that multiple computers won't be able to edit photos at the same time.