TimeMachine & iPhoto

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I assume since iPhoto stores all the pictures inside of a single file that every time I make a small change to iPhoto (say, add a single picture) that TimeMachine see the file as changed and has to backup the entire file.

If my assumption is correct this can really impact the how much "history" TimeMachine can keep if my iPhoto file is really large.
 

chscag

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Yes, that's correct. Time Machine does the same thing when backing up the very large files which are used by Parallels and Fusion to store the virtual machine. The only way around that is to exclude them.

Or, you can do as I do and not keep the Time Machine drive attached but only attach it whenever you wish for it to make a backup. The downside to that method is it's easy to forget to make the backup.
 
C

chas_m

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No, sorry, this is not correct. Time Machine does NOT back up the entire iPhoto Library every time a single change is made.

The iPhoto Library is a package, and Time Machine (wot with it being made by the same people) is smart enough to just back up the *part* of the package that changed, not the entire package.

I tested this on a 65GB iPhoto library and confirmed this in the TM log.
 

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