- MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE HOW TO
- MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC
- MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE FREE
MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE FREE
GrandPerspective, the free disk space mapper I recommended last week, quickly shows just how out of control the photo libraries have become: my OS X Photos and Aperture libraries are the two huge blocks on the left, consuming 1/3 of all used space on the drive. I personally like to see disk information presented visually rather than mathematically.
If you do the math relative to your hard drive’s size, you’ll understand how much photo libraries are weighing down your computer: they were consuming around 1/4 of my iMac’s 1TB of drive space. A window will pop up with a number, which in my Mac’s case was over 236GB between a number of different photo libraries - Apple’s Photo Booth, Aperture, iPhoto, and Photos, just to name a few. The simplest technique is to open a Finder window and right-click the Pictures folder under Favorites, choosing Get Info. If you’re not sure just how much space your photo collection is consuming on your Mac, there are two ways to figure it out. I’ve used both apps, as well as many others, and can help you choose the one that’s best for your needs… That’s an incredible amount of wasted space attributable to duplicates, so it’s no surprise that a $1 utility called Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro has recently become the #1 paid Mac App Store app, while a superior alternative called PhotoSweeper ($10) is in the top 50. After installing OS X 10.10.3, the new Photos app converted my 90GB Aperture library into a 126GB Photos library, and left both on my hard drive. Particularly after installing OS X 10.10.3 with Apple’s new Photos app, you might be surprised to learn that you’ve lost a lot of hard drive space, and that there are suddenly tons of duplicate photos on your Mac. Today’s How-To is focused on something very specific but with a lot of optimization potential: trimming down your Mac’s photo library.
MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE HOW TO
To read how to back up your iPhoto library, or parts of it, click here.I’ve focused a lot over the last few months on helping readers to speed up and optimize Apple’s Macs - everything from adding RAM to recovering hard drive space and upgrading old hard drives to faster SSDs. To switch between libraries, you will need to quit iPhoto, launch iPhoto while pressing Option, and choose a different library to open. Unless you hit Option when launching iPhoto to choose a library to open, iPhoto will open the last library you used. Lastly, there is no way to designate a default iPhoto library. You can then move the exported photos to the trash and remove them from your original iPhoto library. You can choose File > Import to Library to select files to import or you can simply drag files or folders from the desktop to the iPhoto window. You'll first need to export photos (File > Export) from your original iPhoto library to your desktop before importing them into your new library. Hit save and iPhoto will open your new library. Hit the Create New button, give the library a name, and choose a location (including an external hard drive, if you have one connected). This will open a window that displays a list of your various libraries. To create a second iPhoto library, quit iPhoto and then hold down the Option key while you launch iPhoto. Multiple iPhoto libraries are easy to set up and switch between. For laptops, however, it's a great way to offload some of the seldom viewed or older pictures in your library.
MAC MOVE PHOTOS LIBRARY TO EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC
You can set up additional iPhoto libraries on an external hard drive, though this solution is probably more useful for Mac desktops, where a hard drive is connected or always nearby. It's also useful if your iPhoto library is eating up a large chunk of your hard drive.
The solution? Multiple iPhoto libraries.ĭividing your photos among multiple iPhoto libraries is useful if you use your Mac for home and work. I also take a lot of photos of things that aren't tech products, and I don't like have to sift through pictures of PCs and printers when I'm browsing my iPhoto library. I take a lot of photos of laptops and other hardware that I review as a freelance tech writer.