An external hard drive is, for many, the best solution. You can offload your data from your MacBook's SSD or your iMac's Fusion drive when it fills up, or keep one plugged in 24/7 as a store for. An external hard drive to store your photos on is an ideal solution. And after spending hours of research looking closely at over 20 models of external hard drives I can recommend the WD My Passport for Mac as the winner of the best external hard drive for storing photos when you have a Mac.
Not sure if this is the best way but with iPhoto not running I deleted the iPhoto library file (on the internal drive, Pictures folder). I then launched iPhoto and it asked if I wanted to create a new iPhoto Library, which I did and placed in the same folder (Pictures), this then gave me a clean slate to start from. I then selected 'Import to Library.' And selected a folder on my external hard drive where I keep all my photos. Worked just fine. Note #1: I have almost 8,000 photos combined from my wife's camera and mine so it took a while to import them all (about 20 min). Note #2: In the iPhoto preferences (under the advanced tab) make sure that the 'Copy items to the iPhoto Library' is NOT selected.
That way you won't take up space on your internal drive with a duplicate set of photos. Hope this helps! Billrobe and Verbal Kint: The procedure described by Verbal Kint is impossible in iPhoto 4.x and earlier, to which this discussion forum is devoted.
To store your photos on an external drive in iP 4 and earlier, copy the entire iPhoto Library folder.as a single unit. from your internal drive to the external drive. Then open iPhoto while holding down the Option key until you're prompted to Create or Find a library. Choose 'Find Library', navigate to the iP Library folder on the external drive, and select it. If the library opens OK, you can trash the iPhoto Library folder from your internal drive. Note that the iPhoto Library on the external drive will not be backed up once the copy on the internal drive is deleted. A backup copy of the entire iP Library folder on the external drive should be created on a third drive.
It is not possible to make a functional backup of an iPhoto Library on CDs or DVDs unless the entire iP Library folder will fit on one disc. Hi, Johnkelm. Drag the icon of your iPhoto Library folder from your Pictures folder (its default location) to the flash drive and drop it there. A copy of the folder and all its contents will be made on the flash drive (assuming there's enough room on the flash drive for the whole thing). That's your backup. If something should happen to the Library folder in your Pictures folder, just drag the backup copy back into the Pictures folder, replacing the one that's there, and you should be back in business. If your iPhoto Library folder is too large to fit on the flash drive, you can't make a viable backup on it.
The iP Library folder must be copied as a unit, in its entirety, to one location. It can't be divided up into pieces, or it will no longer function as an iPhoto Library. Note that whenever you drag the icon of a file or folder from one storage volume to another, as you're doing when you drag it from a hard drive to a flash drive, the item is always copied, not moved. If you drag it from one location to another on the same volume, it is moved, not copied. Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only.
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You have plenty to spend and you want an external drive that is as fast as your internal SSD. You like the idea of an electronic drive without the moving parts that cause drive failures on the mechanical hard drives. When you have lots of large digital pictures and you want to be able to access them fast then a Solid State drive is for you and the Samsung T5 looks good, works better and is oh so fast. Has USB-C connections for easy connections to the latest (2015 and later) Macbooks. As with most SSD's the more capacity you want the more you have to pay, but if you want the best.
It is kind of obvious to say that your budget, and the amount of snapshots you have to store will come into your decision on which external drive to buy. But what else should you consider.
Convenience, as in size, weight and default format. To be fair most of the portable external drives are within ounces and tenths of an inch of each other so there is really not much to worry about there.
You may be concerned if the default format the drive is supplied in is and you feel you are not technical enough to change. Sure you can go for a HFS+ formatted drive and plug straight into your Mac. But and the will to do. An formatted drive can be plugged in and is understood by a Mac and a Windows PC but doesn't support backups without reformatting.
Most portable external hard drives are bus powered. This means that the power for the drive comes from your Mac. And it means that you have no need to worry about carrying an external power supply. Assuming your Mac is able to power the drive. More on that later. It is worth knowing what the ports are you have on your Mac computer to physically connect your external drive into.
Do you have an older Mac with a 2.0 port, or do you have USB 3.0, or USB 3.1/USB-C. The ports are all backwards compatible which means you can put a USB 3.1 drive on a USB 3.0 Mac.
The Mac will use the drive at the speed it can support, you'll just need to check you have an adaptor or cable suitable. This because the physical port interface changed between USB 2.0/3.0 and 3.1.
Adaptor cables are easily sourced on Amazon. One thing you may not have thought about is the file format your picture collection is saved in. With physical photos without reasonable care being taken on their storage you expect the colors to fade over time, and the photo paper to get dirty. Your digital photos also need consideration over time. Are they on an old device? Is the file format they are saved in getting old?
Remember to move forward with the latest appliances and keep to the popular file formats so that you can always access your photos. As an everyday user with a passion for taking snapshots, or maybe you just love to record your memories and daily events with your iPhone or iPad, you'll quickly find that you have used up the 5GB of space on your free iCloud account. Unless you are prepared to pay for extra space on a monthly basis you will then need to decide what to keep and what to delete? What if you feel that your photos are too sensitive to have them stored in the cloud? Or what if they are and you'd prefer not to have them out there in the cloud where they could be hacked? Not to mention that cloud services can and have failed in the past - fires, earthquakes, other disasters affect the large service providers as much as they can affect you as an individual. Those digital services may decide to close, get taken over by another company and you may then need to find a home for your photos super quick.
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So you have decided to pay for cloud storage for your photos. Should you find your circumstances change in the future and you can no longer afford to pay for the service then when your account closes you had better have your photos moved or say goodbye to them. There is no doubt cloud services are useful as one place to have your photo collection, and as part of your strategy for keeping copies of your photos in multiple places. But they shouldn't be the only place you have your photos and that is where having an external drive for storing your photographs comes in. Yes the most basic of all strategies. Have your external drive connected to your Mac, plug in your iPhone, iPad or digital camera, using your lightening cable or camera's USB cable. Preview allows you to view your photos on your iPhone, IPad or digital camera, select them all or just the ones you want and choose your external drive as the destination.
Create folder names dedicated to particular events and you have a basic directory system that allows you to find your photos, particularly when the name given to the photos by your iPhone, iPad or digital camera is indecipherable. Creating a good directory structure is crucial when it comes to searching through and finding that one photo you want to look at. Samsung T5 Pros.
Electronic data storage means this drive is ultra quiet when working. More resistant to bumps and shakes than mechanical drives. Beautiful clean sleek look. Preformatted in ExFAT means that you can connect this drive to Mac or a Windows PC Samsung T5 Cons. Typical for SSD's (Solid State Drives) the price per GB is high compared to mechanical drives. The largest available size is 2TB. Preformatted in ExFAT means that you'll need to reformat to HFS+ to use with Time Machine.
Some problems experienced with Samsung's Mac software provided on the drive. When you have a generous budget with some bucks to spend and want good and you want fast then this solid state drive gives you both for your picture collection. Similar to the WD My Passport for Mac this drive comes with two cables, a USB-C and USB type A cable to allow you to connect to Macs with USB 3.0 and older ports. Sized to be ultra portable - it is the smallest and lightest of the drives featured. The Aluminum casing emphasizes this high end drive. With finishes in blue and black - Blue for the 250GB and 500GB versions, black for the 1TB and 2TB capacity drives. Though this drive is not a rugged drive has tested it to take up to a maximum six and a half foot drop, which is impressive for a non rugged drive.
Silicon Power A85M Pros. Meets IP68 dustproof and waterproof standard. Can be under water for an hour in nearly five feet of water. And can stand up to 1102 pounds of weight on it. Silicon Power A85M Cons.
The USB-C cable supplied is designed to be easily stored with the drive. This means for the cable to be curled by the side of the drive it has to be a short cable. Older Macs with USB 2.0 interface? You will need an adaptor to go from the USB-C cable to type A. Plus with an older Mac with USB 2.0 ports it is best to consider using on a powered USB 3 hub. A great rugged drive which ticks a lot of the boxes for a ruggedized drive. Formatted in HFS+ for easy connection to a Mac.
Means you can plug straight in, use and setup for Time Machine without reformatting. In smart silver Aluminum outer, rubber inner cover on the disk allowing the dustproof and waterproof features. On top of all that a suspension system allowing the external hard drive to meet the 26 on each face, edge and corner 4ft drop standard. The extra ruggedization means this drive is the largest and heaviest of the drives reviewed. The A85M comes with a USB-C type cable which is short. I would suggest you consider buying a longer cable if you want to use this drive any distance from your Mac. If you want to use this drive on an older Mac with a type A interface you will need an adaptor cable and be aware this drive takes quite a bit of power.
Your Mac and its older USB 2.0 ports may just not have the power to drive this beast and you may need to use a powered USB 3.0 hub.