iPhoto7 - deleting originals of modified pics

[Rojo]

My iPhoto library has grown out of control, and it's mainly due to the fact that about 70% of the pics are modified, and iPhoto keeps the originals.

Is there a safe (and easy) way to delete the originals of modified pics? I'm able to find the "Modified" and "Originals" albums -- but I'm assuming that "Originals" also contains the 30% of my photos that were never modified, and that I still want to keep, right? So obviously it's not as simple as just dumping the "Originals" folder...

I'm not really computer savvy enough to use solutions that involve Terminal, and software solutions scare the crap out of me -- I'm terrified of something going wrong and losing stuff. If there's a simple solution for a dummy like me, it'd be much appreciated!

FYI - My iPhoto is version 7.1.3

 

[ewilson6]

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[Rojo]

can't you just open iPhoto, hold the shift button down and click on the pictures you don't need and then press the delete button?

This will delete all unnecessary photos at 1 time.

Well, no.

First, iPhoto just shows the modified versions, not the originals of modified photos -- so I can't click on them.

Second, even if I WAS able to do this, I have thousands of photos -- it would take forever to weed through them all to find the originals of modified photos.

Yeah, I could always just open the "Originals" and "Modified" folders, and go through them one by one and delete the originals that way -- but I was hoping for a faster solution. There may not be one, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask...

 

[skybolt]

You will probably have to resort to third-party software to do what you want. I have used an app called iPhoto Diet that did exactly what you want to do, but have not checked into it lately to see if it is updated for Leopard or not. There may be other apps out there, check on VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

 

[Rojo]

You will probably have to resort to third-party software to do what you want. I have used an app called iPhoto Diet that did exactly what you want to do, but have not checked into it lately to see if it is updated for Leopard or not. There may be other apps out there, check on VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

I saw iPhoto Diet -- but looks like it's for the previous version of iPhoto.

Trying to look for others, but not finding any yet...

 

[Rojo]

Well.... not really finding anything that's current or legitimate enough.

I'm going to start manually deleting pics one by one by this weekend, unless I can find a workable solution, or someone has a good suggestion by then...

 

[glasserp]

Well although I don't have a solution, I am in the same boat as you and am in the process of doing this as well

 

[skybolt]

If you are going to go manually through your pictures, just make sure you look at the sizes of each of the duplicates and only delete the smaller one. What you are attempting to do is really risky. Modifying anything in the finder is really taking a chance on screwing up iPhoto royally. Make sure you have a good backup before you start.

 

[skybolt]

Thinking about this over night and I feel compelled to offer a much better solution. It is extremely risky to do anything to your photos in the library in finder. iPhoto keeps those originals for a reason -- so it can operate the way it was intended. A much better solution to your space problems would be to invest in an external hard drive and keep your library there. Externals are cheap these days, and a much better solution. This is the way to do that: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229


If you purchased an external that is big enough, you could partition it so that you could do a complete clone (SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner) of your internal drive for backup, and have a partition to keep your photos (and maybe even your music) off your internal.

This would leave your library intact and would allow iPhoto to function the way it should. There is never a need to go into the library in finder, and if you do, you are risking your photos and risking even more time cleaning up afterward. I would not TOUCH my photos in finder -- did that once when I was new to macs, and have lost permanently some photos I wish I still had.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

There is no easy way of doing it because it is only safe to delete the original if it has been modified.

iPhoto displays the original if a photo has not been modified, but the modified version (making the original redundant) if it has been modified. There is no easy way in the finder to tell if a photo has been modified or not.

The best solution would be to use the Send Feedback button. There should be an option called 'Delete originals of modified photos' which could be applied to either the whole library OR to the current selection. With all this talk of space and speed efficiency in Snow Leopard, and the release of the MacBook Air and its small storage space specifications, Apple must now start taking this seriously.

 

[Rojo]

A much better solution to your space problems would be to invest in an external hard drive and keep your library there.

Sadly, I HAVE an external hard drive, which is now completely full up too. I suppose I can get another one, but those suckers are expensive... (for me).

The best solution would be to use the Send Feedback button. There should be an option called 'Delete originals of modified photos' which could be applied to either the whole library OR to the current selection. With all this talk of space and speed efficiency in Snow Leopard, and the release of the MacBook Air and its small storage space specifications, Apple must now start taking this seriously.

I agree! Seems crazy that this option isn't already there. It should only be in advanced settings, and something that can't happen accidentally -- but it should definitely be a choice for people who know they don't want the originals of modified pics.

Unfortunately, I can't wait for whenever Apple may do this, and need a quicker solution within the next couple of weeks -- my computer's slowed down to a glacial pace.

 

[Rojo]

Ok, I found a logical solution from Apple's own discussion boards:

Export all your pics from iPhoto using the File -> Export command. Set the Kind: to Current. This will give you the current version of your pics. Put the pics in your library into the iPhoto trash and empty it. This removes all the pics from iPhoto. Then re-import the current versions.

This will still take a while, but sounds like the safest way to get rid of the originals, without ever touching the complicated library structure (which can mess up iPhoto a lot, apparently).

 

[glasserp]

do you think you can post back your results? I'm curious how it worked out for you.