With iPhoto, images are stored in a locked database called an iPhoto library.
To see how many photos are in your current library:
- Open iPhoto
- Select Preferences… from iPhoto in the Menu Bar.
- Choose the General tab and click the button labelled Show Item Counts.
- In the sidebar the number next to Photos… is the number of photo’s in your library.
iPhoto libraries can hold up to 250,000 photos. So… why would you use more than one iPhoto library:
- As the library gets larger, it takes longer to open and is slower to respond to commands.
- You may wish to separate images that belong in different categories, e.g.; Home and Family from Home Business.
- By its nature, a larger library is used more, and may be more susceptible to crashes.
There are two ways to create a new iPhoto Library; you can create one from scratch or copy and rename an existing library.
Create an iPhoto Library from scratch:
- Open iPhoto
- Select File from the Menu Bar.
- Choose Switch to Library…
- In the dialog box, click Create New…
- Give your new iPhoto library a name.
- Click Save. The new library should automatically save in the Pictures folder.
This method is useful if you want to start a new library and do not need to use any of the images that are in your existing iPhoto library.
Copy and Rename an existing library:
- Open the Finder.
- Look in the Pictures folder for the file named iPhoto Library.
- Select the iPhoto Library file and press Command D to duplicate it.
- Your Mac will make an exact duplicate of your existing library and call it iPhoto Library copy.
- Rename the copied version of the library to whatever you want.
- You can now open this copy of your main library and edit the pictures any way you wish.
- Remember, that photos you delete in iPhoto are only permanently removed from a Library, when you choose iPhoto from the Menu Bar and select Empty iPhoto Trash.
This method is perfect if you want to break up an existing library that you feel is too large.
To choose which iPhoto library you open, hold down the Option key and double click on the iPhoto icon in the dock. The iPhoto icon will bounce and then present you with a window where you can choose what library you would like to open.
As a default, if you just double click on the iPhoto icon in the dock it will open whatever library was last used.
Have a great weekend.
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If I copy and rename an existing library (my main iPhoto library, which contains 9,412 photos ) is it actually copying all of the 9,412 photo files that live in the folder called “Originals alias”? If so, then I should be able to freely delete photos from the newly copied library and those deleted photos will still exist in the “Originals alias” folder in the original library, is that correct? I just don’t want to loose any photos, when I start deleting in the new library so I want to make sure. Thanks, David.
Hey David – If you make a copy of an iPhoto library, it’s a complete copy in every way. When you delete photos in this new library, it will not impact the original library in any way. Also… When you delete an image it goes to iPhoto trash. Until the trash is emptied, those photos can be recovered.
The iPhoto library file is a locked database. You should not be able to see it’s contents. I’m guessing this is where you saw the Originals alias folder. Don’t touch any of those folders. If you do the wrong thing in that area it could cause irreversible damage to the iPhoto library.
I have a huge iphoto library, which I would like to split into two libraries. I’m thinking the best way would be to duplicate the library and rename the second one, then delete what I don’t want in each.
My problem is that I don’t have enough room on my internal disk to make a duplicate (my current library is on my internal hard drive). I would like to create the duplicate onto my external drive. From what I see, when I press command D, it will create the duplicate on the same disk. How can I create the duplicate onto another disk, and how do I tell iPhoto that there is now a second library on the external disk?
Thanks,
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine – Use Copy and Paste to create a copy of your library on the external drive.