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dmaxdmax

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2006
773
176
I have a 10,000 pic iPhoto library on my 5 year-old MBP and a way-cool new MBP-retina. I can't move the library to the 256GB retina but don't want to edit on the dinosaur. Can I do this without jumping through too many hoops? It would be a pain to export to flash drive, import to retina, edit, export to flash drive and import to retina. I haven't done that but I'm afraid if I do I'll lose the date and event information. I care about maintaining those and album info. I don't bother with titles so that doesn't matter.

Problematic idea #2 - open dinosaur in target mode from retina. I'd still be stuck with the slow disk speed though the editing would happen at light speed. Right?

Problematic idea #3 - move files to Time Capsule. Trouble is the library file stays local, not on the TC but I guess I could move that to the retina.

Problematic idea #4 - move files to external hard drive and the library info to the retina, taking dino out of the picture entirely.

Suggestions? Ideas?
 
I have a 10,000 pic iPhoto library on my 5 year-old MBP and a way-cool new MBP-retina. I can't move the library to the 256GB retina but don't want to edit on the dinosaur. Can I do this without jumping through too many hoops? It would be a pain to export to flash drive, import to retina, edit, export to flash drive and import to retina. I haven't done that but I'm afraid if I do I'll lose the date and event information. I care about maintaining those and album info. I don't bother with titles so that doesn't matter.

Problematic idea #2 - open dinosaur in target mode from retina. I'd still be stuck with the slow disk speed though the editing would happen at light speed. Right?

Problematic idea #3 - move files to Time Capsule. Trouble is the library file stays local, not on the TC but I guess I could move that to the retina.

Problematic idea #4 - move files to external hard drive and the library info to the retina, taking dino out of the picture entirely.

Suggestions? Ideas?

If your new MBP-Retina is too small for your library... I would suggest that you go with option #4. Ideally on a) TB attached SSD, b) TB attached RAID HDD device, TB HDD (in decreasing order).

Your library would now "live" on that external device. I would not recommend using a NAS device. They are horribly slow IMHO.

Furthermore.. I would suggest that you switch from iPhoto to Aperture 3. A3 allows you to move projects (projects are A3's most basic element) easily across devices. Hence... you could keep the majority of your data on the external drive... but keep relevant data on your MBP-r so that you have access to it while mobile.

/Jim
 
Furthermore.. I would suggest that you switch from iPhoto to Aperture 3. A3 allows you to move projects (projects are A3's most basic element) easily across devices. Hence... you could keep the majority of your data on the external drive... but keep relevant data on your MBP-r so that you have access to it while mobile.

/Jim

Jim -

I always assumed if I left iPhoto I'd be moving to Photoshop Elements but didn't want to lose the easy iLife integration. Do you lose any iPhoto features by switching to A3? Just to make sure I understand, are you saying I could keep the last 6-12 months of photos on the retina and leave the older stuff on an external?

Thanks!
 
Jim -

I always assumed if I left iPhoto I'd be moving to Photoshop Elements but didn't want to lose the easy iLife integration. Do you lose any iPhoto features by switching to A3? Just to make sure I understand, are you saying I could keep the last 6-12 months of photos on the retina and leave the older stuff on an external?

Thanks!

Yes, with A3, you keep the actual library on your computer... but the data could be mixed on different drives... and moved around at wlll. A3 gives the same OSX integration as iPhoto... and works with both iLife and iWork applications.

IMHO, you lose nothing moving from iPhoto to A3. By contrast... A3 is one of the best photo applications available at any price. It one of the best bargains around... and IMHO, enough reason to move to a Mac.

Personally, I am not a very big fan of PS Elements. My priority for buying photo software is:

1) Aperture 3 (or LR4 if you prefer Adobe)
2) Nik Software suite
3) Ether:
3a) Pixelmator (almost free)​
3b) Photoshop CS6 (extremely expensive)​

I own all of the above. Personally, I like A3 over LR4 for a variety of reasons (OSX integration being one)... but you will get a variety of opinions. I originally bought Pixelmator... but recently bought CS6 (to which I am a novice)

Hope this helps.

/Jim
 
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