Move iPhoto Library to External HD?

[ShaggyLR]

I'm seriously running out of HD space on my computer (down to under 1gb). Most of the space is currently taken up with photos, as I've moved my iTunes library to an External HD. Is there anyway to move the photos onto an external HD and have iPhoto know where to find them? Or does it HAVE to be on the local drive?

I could of course back up the photos elsewhere in case the drive fails at some point.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Super Macho Man]

You can move them wherever you like. I would recommand a program like iPhoto Buddy or iPhoto Library Manager.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

No need for a support app.

Just move the library folder to the external drive, delete the original, create an alias to that folder in its new location, drop that alias in your "Pictures" folder (where the "iPhoto Library" folder used to be), and rename it to match the old folder name (usually just removing "alias" from its name).

This creates a symlink to the folder in its new location and iPhoto is none the wiser.

 

[ShaggyLR]

Excellent. Never occurred to me, yet so simple.

Thanks!

 

[Le Big Mac]

Excellent. Never occurred to me, yet so simple.

Thanks!

If you go to Apple's support site, it explains this.

I did it, and it seems to work without a problem. I have not yet deleted the original photos folder. I want to wait a little longer before ditching that, to make absolutely sure it's pointing to the right one, and I won't lose all those photos.

 

[misterellis]

You can also click on Option - iPhoto and a box will appear asking you to create or choose a library. If you click on Choose, you then click on the external HD library from the list that appears and, voila, iPhoto opens and links to that one from then on (unless you do another Option-iPhoto to create/choose another library).