Problem viewing old iPhoto library?

[Big Stevie]

I'm struggling to open an old iPhoto library that is on an external HD.

I have an iPhoto library on my old 2012 MacBook Pro that I also copied to an external HD, but I now use a 2020 MacBook M1 with the newer Apple Photos app.

When I connect the external HD to my 2020 MacBook M1 and try to open the iPhoto library, it tries to open it using my Photos app.
I don't want to merge libraries as the internal HD on my MacBook M1 isn't big enough, so how do I open the old iPhoto library to view the images please? Can I only view them on my old 2012 MacBook Pro?

Thanks.

 

[r.harris1]

You’re going to have to import your iPhoto library into Photos to view it in that app, otherwise you’d need to continue to view them on your old MBP and (presumably) older OS. MacRumors has a set of instructions they put out way back when, there may be newer instructions now. Back up the iPhoto library of course!

How to Migrate Pictures from iPhoto or Aperture to Photos for OS X

With the launch of OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite, Apple released its much-anticipated Photos app, which was first announced during its Worldwide Developers...

www.macrumors.com

 

[DeltaMac]

If you just want to view the pictures in the old library - you can right-click on that iPhoto Library, then choose "Show Package Contents". Open the "Masters" folder. All of the original pictures that are part of that iPhoto Library are there in that "Masters" folder. You can select any file, and press the spacebar to view any file.
If you have a large number (thousands or more) of pictures, then this process will be less than efficient. Better to import the library into some other app that recognizes the iPhoto library format.

 

[BigBlur]

You can switch between photo libraries by holding down the Option key while opening the Photos app.

See the ‘Switch between photo libraries’ section in the link below.

Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac

In Photos on your Mac, create new photo libraries, switch between libraries, and designate a library as the System Photo Library.

support.apple.com

 

[Big Stevie]

The problem is storage capacity, and having two library types - iPhoto and Photos.

I can't import my old iPhoto library into my Photos library as the hard drive on my 2020 M1 MacBook isn't big enough.

My iPhoto library is about 400gb, it fits on my 2012 MacBook Pro internal 500gb HD, and it's backed up on a number of external 500gb hard drives. However my 2020 MacBook M1 running 'Photos' only has 250gb HD. So I really want to be able to view the iPhoto library that is backed up on the external hard drives without importing them into Photos.

I could of course keep viewing them on my 2012 MacBook, but that is on its last legs and starting to fail, doesn't hold its charge and has a faulty Magsafe charger cable, so that just leaves my ext HD back ups.

So, do the methods mentioned above allow me to view my iPhoto library kept on the external hard drive, without needing to import all the images into Photos, as I don't have space to do that.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

The problem is storage capacity, and having two library types - iPhoto and Photos.

I can't import my old iPhoto library into my Photos library as the hard drive on my 2020 M1 MacBook isn't big enough.

My iPhoto library is about 400gb, it fits on my 2012 MacBook Pro internal 500gb HD, and it's backed up on a number of external 500gb hard drives. However my 2020 MacBook M1 running 'Photos' only has 250gb HD. So I really want to be able to view the iPhoto library that is backed up on the external hard drives without importing them into Photos.

I could of course keep viewing them on my 2012 MacBook, but that is on its last legs and starting to fail, doesn't hold its charge and has a faulty Magsafe charger cable, so that just leaves my ext HD back ups.

So, do the methods mentioned above allow me to view my iPhoto library kept on the external hard drive, without needing to import all the images into Photos, as I don't have space to do that.

You may want to consider looking into getting iCloud Photo Library. It will fix your issues with lack of internal space, as it is very efficient at offloading images to the cloud whenever needed. I have a 33.000 images in my photo library, and my 256 GB Macbook is handling it exceptionally well since it only keeps the most recent images, and pull down any other images when needed.

 

[Big Stevie]

I have the Photos app running on my new MacBook, synced to my iPhone and I want to keep my old iPhoto library separate.

Is it possible to create an additional Photos library just for importing the old iPhoto library into?
I don't have space on my MacBook to add another library so this would all have to be done on an external HD.
Would I need another Apple ID account to create a new Photos library, and then would it be realistically possible to import over 400GB of iPhoto images into a cloud based Photos account?
Would I be complicating things?

 

[Big Stevie]

You’re going to have to import your iPhoto library into Photos to view it in that app, otherwise you’d need to continue to view them on your old MBP and (presumably) older OS. MacRumors has a set of instructions they put out way back when, there may be newer instructions now. Back up the iPhoto library of course!

How to Migrate Pictures from iPhoto or Aperture to Photos for OS X

With the launch of OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite, Apple released its much-anticipated Photos app, which was first announced during its Worldwide Developers...

www.macrumors.com

Thanks, I'd prefer to keep both the iPhoto and Photos libraries separate.
Sounds like if I want to view my backed up iPhotos library that is on my external HD I will need to need to keep my old MacBook to view them.

 

[r.harris1]

Thanks, I'd prefer to keep both the iPhoto and Photos libraries separate.
Sounds like if I want to view my backed up iPhotos library that is on my external HD I will need to need to keep my old MacBook to view them.

If your external drive is large enough, you can create your Photos library there instead of on your internal disk and just import the iPhoto library. I believe you lose at least some of the iCloud capabilities if you you're on an external drive (it has been a while since I've done much with Photos though so others can chime in). Another option is to use two Photos libraries: one on the external disk where you've imported your iPhoto stuff and the other local, where you can take advantage of iCloud storage efficiencies for your newer images. You'd have to switch between libraries when you wanted to view the older stuff on your external drive. The advantage here is that you're using one application to view your images.

If none of that appeals, then yes, you'd need to keep the old iPhoto library and view it from your older MBP/OS. The advantage here is that it's easy and you avoid any sort of inevitable headache somewhere along the line. Depending on how you used iPhoto, some of the migration metadata can get lost or reinterpreted. For example Photos doesn't have an explicit star rating, so if you rated an image 5 stars, it gets turned to explicit text in the metadata "5 stars". You can still search for 5 star images but you have to be more explicit about it than you'd maybe expect.

 

[Wando64]

I believe you lose at least some of the iCloud capabilities if you you're on an external drive (it has been a while since I've done much with Photos though so others can chime in).

You wouldn’t lose any capabilities as long as the external library is designated as the System Photos Library.
My Photos library is on an external drive and it syncs normally with iCloud and all of my other devices (and viceversa).

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

To save storage space on your Mac, you can move your Photos library to a different storage device.

support.apple.com

 

[r.harris1]

You wouldn’t lose any capabilities as long as the external library is designated as the System Photos Library.
My Photos library is on an external drive and it syncs normally with iCloud and all of my other devices (and viceversa).

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

To save storage space on your Mac, you can move your Photos library to a different storage device.

support.apple.com

Excellent, thank you for the clarification!

 

[Big Stevie]

Ok, thanks, creating a separate Photos library on an external hard drive sounds like a reasonable suggestion. It would have to be separate from my current Photos library.

So can all of this be done on my new MacBook? Is it a case of doing the following...

Connect an external HD to my new MacBook
Create a new Photos library on this ext HD (how do I do that?)
Connect the external HD containing the iPhoto back up library
Import the iPhotos content across from its external HD and onto the HD containing the new Photos library.

Is that about right?

 

[r.harris1]

Ok, thanks, creating a separate Photos library on an external hard drive sounds like a reasonable suggestion. It would have to be separate from my current Photos library.

So can all of this be done on my new MacBook? Is it a case of doing the following...

Connect an external HD to my new MacBook
Create a new Photos library on this ext HD (how do I do that?)
Connect the external HD containing the iPhoto back up library
Import the iPhotos content across from its external HD and onto the HD containing the new Photos library.

Is that about right?

That's the gist. Here's one link I found when searching: https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/create-additional-libraries-pht6d60b524/mac - part of creating it lets you specify the location.

Good luck and...don't forget to back up if you haven't

 

[iStorm]

Ok, thanks, creating a separate Photos library on an external hard drive sounds like a reasonable suggestion. It would have to be separate from my current Photos library.

So can all of this be done on my new MacBook? Is it a case of doing the following...

Connect an external HD to my new MacBook
Create a new Photos library on this ext HD (how do I do that?)
Connect the external HD containing the iPhoto back up library
Import the iPhotos content across from its external HD and onto the HD containing the new Photos library.

Is that about right?

Yes. See post #4 on how to create the new photo library, and how to switch between the external one and internal one.

 

[2REPOU]

I suggest you export the photos and upload to a free service like Amazon in case the 2012 bites the dust

 

[Fishrrman]

"Create a new Photos library on this ext HD (how do I do that?)"

1. Connect the external drive (that will hold the new library). Let it mount on the desktop.

2. If you have the Photos icon in the dock, HOLD DOWN THE OPTION KEY, and click the icon for Photos. You should see this dialog:

3. Click "create new", and place it onto the external drive. Give it a distinct name that "separates it" from the other libraries.

4. Photos will open with a new, "empty" library.

5. Now, import all the old iPhoto pics into that library.

BE AWARE that once you quit Photos, it may automatically open to this library in the future (or try to, if the drive is disconnected).
SO... when you open it next time, AGAIN hold down the option key, click "choose library", and select your "main" Photos library.

 

[Big Stevie]

"Create a new Photos library on this ext HD (how do I do that?)"

1. Connect the external drive (that will hold the new library). Let it mount on the desktop.

2. If you have the Photos icon in the dock, HOLD DOWN THE OPTION KEY, and click the icon for Photos. You should see this dialog:
View attachment 1970483
3. Click "create new", and place it onto the external drive. Give it a distinct name that "separates it" from the other libraries.

4. Photos will open with a new, "empty" library.

5. Now, import all the old iPhoto pics into that library.

BE AWARE that once you quit Photos, it may automatically open to this library in the future (or try to, if the drive is disconnected).
SO... when you open it next time, AGAIN hold down the option key, click "choose library", and select your "main" Photos library.

Never got around to doing this, but need to give it a try. I'm on my new MacBook and I have the external HD connected that contains the old iPhoto library.. I understand points 1 to 4 above to allow me to create a new and separate Photos album, and when I hold down Option and click on Photos in my dock I can see both my current Photos library, and my old iPhoto library that's on my ext HD....

On point 5 above - Now, import all the old iPhoto pics into that library

How do I import the old iPhoto pics into the new Photos library? If I need to open iPhotos then how can I open it on my new Mac without it trying to update my Photos. When I previously tried to open the old iPhotos it tried to combine with my Photos album. Or can I just click and drag one library into the other?

Thanks.

 

[Ray2]

Not answering your question. You already have some proven solutions. However, you don’t state what you want to accomplish once you can see the files. There are browsers (Lyn, Photoscape, 2 I have) that can read Photos libraries. I’d like to tell you how they view (album level) but I don’t use Photos anymore. There's also referenced libraries that entirely avoid the issue you ran into. Photos libraries are quite portable. Moving your M1 off the M1 Mac and creating sufficient space, even if temporary, is another avenue. Lots of approaches, depends what you’re trying to accomplish.

 

[Big Stevie]

Not answering your question. You already have some proven solutions. However, you don’t state what you want to accomplish once you can see the files. There are browsers (Lyn, Photoscape, 2 I have) that can read Photos libraries. I’d like to tell you how they view (album level) but I don’t use Photos anymore. There's also referenced libraries that entirely avoid the issue you ran into. Photos libraries are quite portable. Moving your M1 off the M1 Mac and creating sufficient space, even if temporary, is another avenue. Lots of approaches, depends what you’re trying to accomplish.

I just want to continue to be able to view my old iPhoto library and not lose the photos.

The original library is on my old 2012 MacBook which is failing but I copied the library to an external HD and I now have a new M1 MacBook instead that is running Photos.

But when I connect the ext HD to my M1 it wants to combine the libraries and won’t let me view the iPhoto library. Seems the device you try to view the iPhoto library on also needs to have iPhoto installed?

I’m happy to create a new Photos library on the ext HD but I’m not sure how to merge or move the old iPhoto library into any new Photos library

 

[Ray2]

Again, I’m not a Photos user, nor do I have an iPhoto library sitting around. But:

We know we can option click Photos and create a new library, on your external. We know we can right-click the old iPhoto library and show contents. My recollection is life under iPhoto & Aperture was far simpler than the inane mess that is now Photos. If I recall correctly, all the image files are in a folder called Masters. Copy & Paste (do not drag and drop) that folder to your external. Open the new Photos library and import the image files.

 

[Big Stevie]

If I recall correctly, all the image files are in a folder called Masters. Copy & Paste (do not drag and drop) that folder to your external. Open the new Photos library and import the image files.

Thanks, but is this Masters folder sitting in my old MacBook, or will it also be sitting in the ext HD that contains the back up iPhoto library?

The reason I ask is because my old MacBook doesn't always turn on, and is unpredictable. But if I can do all of the above on my M1 MacBook then all is good.

 

[Ray2]

Thanks, but is this Masters folder sitting in my old MacBook, or will it also be sitting in the ext HD that contains the back up iPhoto library?

The reason I ask is because my old MacBook doesn't always turn on, and is unpredictable. But if I can do all of the above on my M1 MacBook then all is good.

“open an old iPhoto library that is on an external HD”

Looks like it’s on your external. First make a second copy, copy and paste the library to your external. Name it with a unique name and work only with it.

Right click on the copy and show contents. I’m betting you will see a Masters folder. If not, poke around in it and see if you find it.

 

[Big Stevie]

I think it's probably best that I get the photos out of iPhoto completely, and just store them in organised folders on a hard drive. That way I can decide whether to move them to a new Photos library at a later date, or just leave them in folders.