New to iPhoto - Data and Originals folders

[joshua_msu]

New to Mac here. I have a question. I noticed looking through finder that my iPhoto library has two folders, one titled Data, the other titled originals. Each folder has a copy of each JPG that I have transferred to my iPhoto through importation. I was wondering if this is normal for iPhoto to do? If not, I dont really want two copies of each picture, as I dont want to waste hard drive space. Thanks.

 

[TheAnswer]

The best tip is just to ignore the existence of that folder in the Finder. Just access all your photos from within iPhoto: import, export, etc from within the program.

Just pretend that folder doesn't exist (except to back it up now and then).

 

[mrkgoo]

It is normal. What you'll notice is that the 'data' folder contains smaller versions of your images. I presume these are the ones that are displayed when scrolling through your library to make it smoother and faster.

It doesn't end there - any changes to photos are made on a copy of the image, which are kept in modified.

I think it's time that people let go of the notion of 'wasting space'. People are always asking, "What the Heck do you need 250GB of hard disk space for?". Well, Apple's philosophy is to use the space not just for storage, but to add speed and features to their software, such as non-destructive editing. Sure, it takes up so much extra giggage, but it's not like many people are really maxing out their storage.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

The best tip is just to ignore the existence of that folder in the Finder. Just access all your photos from within iPhoto: import, export, etc from within the program.

Just pretend that folder doesn't exist (except to back it up now and then).

Considering the name of your avatar, you could have at least answered the question. I mean why bother to post if you're not? Like to hear yourself talk?

 

[skybolt]

The REAL answer is to stay out of the library in finder! Users are not meant to muck about in there. Doing so will cause iPhoto to not function correctly, and ultimately cause corrption of the library. Don't worry about what's in there, just work from within the app itself. iPhoto will take care of its business, you take care of your photos in the app.

 

[26139]

Yep...

Considering the name of your avatar, you could have at least answered the question. I mean why bother to post if you're not? Like to hear yourself talk?

He gave the correct answer, just not the one you or the OP probably wanted to hear.

There is no spoon.

 

[GGJstudios]

The REAL answer is to help the OP understand what the folders are for, and the implications of deleting one. This should be helpful:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300808

 

[muppetmo]

a similar question!!

I 'cleverly' had not read this or anything i ought to have before i went to 'tidy up' my hard drive and deleted the Data folder. As it was merrily doing so i had a wave of realisation that that was a pretty dumb thing to do and managed to save a lot of it but not all.

I then managed to copy back what was left of the Data folder from the Trash to the iPhoto Library but not in the correct original area.

It had been iPhotoLibrary/Data right beside iPhotoLibrary/Originals but now I could only get it to iPhotoLibrary/Originals/Data and cannot move it back up to where it had been.

Is this possible to move it back and even if i did would that work somewhat to restore the original files? Essentially i have thumbnails of all my affected photos but when i maximise there's a big '!' mark and no picture.

CAN ANYONE HELP A MUPPET?