How to Move all my Photos to external

[walky]

I have read here that to move the photos in iPhoto you move the iPhoto Library to the external. Does this MOVE the picture files to the external or are they just a reference to the actual files still in the Mac? Need to be sure to make this.

~~~ Then...

Also, CCC makes a backup of my other photos not in iPhoto but I am not sure where they are. Doe sit make an exact copy of the Pictures folder?

I have a mix of things in my Mac. I sometimes use Picasa, now I am using Lightroom and stopped using iPhoto long ago, but still have those libraries and iphoto tree.

My GOAL: I want to move entirely to a dual system of Picasa for my home photos and Lightroom for serious experimentation.

I need to be sure that by moving the library folder to the HD the files are moving as well, that it is not a reference to the actual files.


Then, I want to move all of the rest photos that I imported with Picasa (this is easy) and with Lightroom to the external to keep my Mac free of photos.


Thank You.

BTW, I already see some folders on my Mac that are named "iPhoto Library Recovered Photos" but I don't remember how they landed there or how I did this. In some there is a list of files inside, like in any pictures folder, in others I find a strange named file.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

iPhoto, if not set otherwise in its Preferences, stores the photos you import in the iPhoto Library file, which, depending on the amount of photos in it, should be several GB in size.
As that iPhoto Library file is located inside the Pictures folder, copying/moving that folder to an external HDD will copy/move the photos with it.

To find your other photos, you can use Finder and its Search function (CMD+F) and search for Kind > Pictures and if you found one or two or more, can right click on one of them and choose "Open Enclosing Folder".

I don't know how Picasa works, thus I can't help you there.
I only use Lightroom, and I have my setup cloned twice, thus I have all my photos and libraries three times.

 

[walky]

Ok thanks. Picasa is easy and I think I have to move the catalog for Lightroom, but I know that when I move a photo LR cannot find it... The question is, how to move the photos and the catalog so they will be found.