# Splitting iPhoto Library



## Kleles (Jul 21, 2009)

I have over 19000 pictures in my iPhoto library. I have diligently made albums, mostly by year. How would I split the library so that my older (say, before 2012) would reside in my external HD (which is not always connected) and the newer pictures remain on HD of my MBP?


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

iPhoto automatically store your photos inside the iPhoto library. You can't just tell it to store it somewhere else.

Have you considered exporting your pictures when the year is over? That's what I do. When the pictures are getting old, i just export them and store them on an external hard drive.


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## Kleles (Jul 21, 2009)

IllusionX said:


> iPhoto automatically store your photos inside the iPhoto library. You can't just tell it to store it somewhere else.
> 
> Have you considered exporting your pictures when the year is over? That's what I do. When the pictures are getting old, i just export them and store them on an external hard drive.


IPhoto can handle several libraries on different drives and/or partitions. Holding the option key while iPhoto opens presents a selection of where to look for the library. Thinking about this just gave me an idea.
1. copy the iPhoto library to my external drive
2. On the computer, erase all the older pictures
3. periodically repeat the procedure. 

If I name the iPhoto library(ies) on the external drive with the years, I'll be able to select years as I wish.


I'll think of this more.


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

Yes you can do that, but I thought you wanted access to all your files at the same time, so the answer was no.


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## Kleles (Jul 21, 2009)

I tend to look at more recent pictures more often, and my external HD is not portable, so I would be satisfied with not having full access at any time. Related to this is my project of putting my pre-Mac digital pictures (currently on CDs and DVDs) into iPhoto. And, of course, I have thoughts about digitizing my slides and getting those into iPhoto as well. All of this would certainly fill my 250 GB HD.


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

I was faced with a similar problem, so I switched to Aperture for my newer stuff. Over the winter I'm looking at a project that will involve moving my older stuff (which is in multiple iPhoto libraries) into Aperture as well. 

Of course with Aperture being replaced with the new Photos app, I may end up using it. 

Aperture has the benefit of being able to see thumbnails of the entire library but having the actual pictures stored on different disks.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

You can put ALL of your pictures on an external drive (I do) with lots of space, and whenever I take new pics, they all automatically go to that external hard drive, thereby saving space on my main computer. Works like a charm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Kleles (Jul 21, 2009)

fjnmusic said:


> You can put ALL of your pictures on an external drive (I do) with lots of space, and whenever I take new pics, they all automatically go to that external hard drive, thereby saving space on my main computer. Works like a charm.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The issue is not about putting the entire iPhoto library on my external HD. I want to have some (more recent) parts of the library on my MBP drive and more historical pictures on the HD. I would like to add or merge pictures to the external HD library without managing the whole library.


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Kleles said:


> The issue is not about putting the entire iPhoto library on my external HD. I want to have some (more recent) parts of the library on my MBP drive and more historical pictures on the HD. I would like to add or merge pictures to the external HD library without managing the whole library.


Aperture


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