Getting iPhoto library back onto computer

[islandkiwi]

I can't figure this out. I have an external hard drive with all my photos on it, it lists on the hard drive as iPhoto Library.

Iphoto will read the hard drive and allow me to access the hard drive as a library...all the photos are there, ready to use.

Now...I want to take the external library and put it onto this Mac. I want to take the external drive library and make it the default library on the Mac....not on the external drive, on the Mac.

The library has about 12,000 photos. When I tried to do it myself it took forever and I ended up with 72,000 photos. How do I do this properly? All I can find are articles about moving the library to an external drive...but how do you move that library back?

 

[Partron22]

72,000? Sounds like your method exported every version of each photo as a separate file.

 

[MCAsan]

if you Google on relocating iPhoto library you will get many hits such as

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't believe iPhoto actually -moved- the library from its original location (external drive) to your new location (internal drive).

Rather, it -copied- the library. The original is still where you left it.

Try this:
Hold down the option key as you launch iPhoto.
This will present you with a dialog, asking which library you want to use as the default.
You should be able to choose the library on the external drive.

Does this work for you?
If it does, and if everything is still "there" on the external drive, you can just toss the library on the internal drive into the trash if you wish (assuming you haven't made any changes that you need to keep).

 

[islandkiwi]

missing the gist

So the mac in question had to be scrubbed, there are no photos in iPhoto right now. Yes there is an iPhoto library on this external drive, and yes, I can access it as an iPhoto library on the external drive.

However, I do not want an iPhoto library on the external drive, I want it back on the computer. How do I get it back on the computer without said computer going nutso and telling me I've got 6 times as many photos?

 

[MCAsan]

Use Finder to drag it from the external drive to the Pictures folder of your internal drive. Did I miss something?


http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506

 

[islandkiwi]

Apologies

No, you didn't miss anything...your assistance was on target. I misread it, thinking it was how to move your iPhoto library elsewhere.

But yes, I did exactly this, after calling tech support. So here's what I originally did wrong: I opened up iPhoto, then dragged the iPhoto Library over to Photos in iPhoto. So, not sure what happened there...iPhoto was copying an image of itself again and again?

But the proper way was Finder, Go, Home, Pictures folder. Drag iPhoto Library into folder, then double click on it. Worked perfectly.