Photos vs iPhoto libraries

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Steve Davies

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Jul 28, 2022, 12:53:19 PM7/28/22
to MUG Sussex
Hi Smuggers,
As I prep for the arrival of the new MacBook I am trying to clear as much space as I can on the iMac.
Planning to run Photos from an external HD and notice that there are two libraries, it is my understanding that when I switched / upgraded, from iPhoto to Photos that Photos took the data / images from iPhoto.

If that is the case, I imagine I can safely delete the old iPhotos library.

Am I correct?

Cheers,

Steve.

Sent from my phone


Jason Davies

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Jul 29, 2022, 8:12:29 AM7/29/22
to 'Steve Davies' via Sussex Mac User Group
At one point it did 'borrow' from the old one IIRC so unless someone knows better (more up to date) I would be cautious about deleting it altogether. Photos, iTunes/Music etc are not good at warning you stuff has got lost so things might quietly vanish.

I'd create copies (even a cloned disk if you have one, and the time) and muck around with those to see if the photo count remains the same, etc.

(Sam will probably turn up in a minute and say 'no, it's fine to delete it'...)
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Cheers,

Jason

Sam - MacAmbulance

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Jul 29, 2022, 12:09:17 PM7/29/22
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Photos’ library is easy to move, just drag it from your Pictures folder to your external drive and double click it. Then in Photos Preferences make sure it’s set to use that library as the system library, where iCloud will sync. It does mean that the background syncing of iCloud photos doesn’t work if the external drive is disconnected.

For Music, I usually drag the Music folder (new iTunes library folder name) onto the external drive then use the Terminal to make a symbolic link back into the user’s home > Music folder so that iTunes/Music is none the wiser 

_

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Sam Mullen

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in...@macambulance.com
www.macambulance.com

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On 29 Jul 2022, at 13:13, 'Jason Davies' via Sussex Mac User Group <sm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

At one point it did 'borrow' from the old one IIRC so unless someone knows better (more up to date) I would be cautious about deleting it altogether. Photos, iTunes/Music etc are not good at warning you stuff has got lost so things might quietly vanish.

Steve Davies

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Jul 30, 2022, 2:55:25 AM7/30/22
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Thanks for the feedback folks, I think I will copy and save both photos libraries before deleting the old iPhotos library.
Sam: Is there a specific terminal command / script that is required?
Steve.

Sent from my phone


On 29 Jul 2022, at 17:09, Sam - MacAmbulance <in...@macambulance.com> wrote:

Photos’ library is easy to move, just drag it from your Pictures folder to your external drive and double click it. Then in Photos Preferences make sure it’s set to use that library as the system library, where iCloud will sync. It does mean that the background syncing of iCloud photos doesn’t work if the external drive is disconnected.

Sam - MacAmbulance

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Jul 30, 2022, 11:10:51 AM7/30/22
to sm...@googlegroups.com
For the photos library just drag and drop to the new location, then double click the library to open it and set in Photos preferences to use it as the system library for iCloud 


_

Regards
Sam Mullen

+44 (0)7747778022
in...@macambulance.com
www.macambulance.com

MacAmbulance

MacAmbulance Ltd.

Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development

MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597

This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.



On 30 Jul 2022, at 07:56, 'Steve Davies' via Sussex Mac User Group <sm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Thanks for the feedback folks, I think I will copy and save both photos libraries before deleting the old iPhotos library.

Steve Davies

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Jul 30, 2022, 1:13:01 PM7/30/22
to sm...@googlegroups.com
Cheers 👍

Sent from my phone


On 30 Jul 2022, at 16:10, Sam - MacAmbulance <in...@macambulance.com> wrote:

For the photos library just drag and drop to the new location, then double click the library to open it and set in Photos preferences to use it as the system library for iCloud 
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