iPhoto library and Mac HD

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I have so many picture on iCloud that I need to delete to make room.I frequently open iPhoto and drag the pictures from iCloud under an album in my iPhoto library. But I can't find those pictures on my Mac HD if I don't open iPhoto. Does this mean that I just import a shortcut of the images and what is in my iPhoto library doesn't necessarily resides on my computer HD?
OR it means I just don;t know where to look on my Mac?
Thanks
 
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Go to your home folder --> Pictures then right-click "iPhoto Library" and then "Show Package Contents." Then open the "Masters" folder, and you pics will be in one of the folders underneath.
 
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chas_m

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The photos in Photo Stream (iCloud) do not count against your 5GB free account, so I'm not sure what you're actually talking about there. The stream will hold up to the last 1,000 photos added to it, but these are JPGs and don't take up much room.

On my copy of iPhoto, each month's pictures from Photo Stream get automatically put into a "month" album by themselves, so I think you may actually be duplicating photos, which could be the root of the issue. Bottom line: don't even think about that Photo Stream pictures, it's not a source of any significant space on your computer.

and DO NOT mess around inside the Photo Library unless you enjoy losing your precious photos!!
 
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DO NOT mess around inside the Photo Library unless you enjoy losing your precious photos!!
OOPPS. I read this too late I renamed the folders!!! but I believe I didn't lose anything because in the past, I have been copying all my pictures from iPhoto to the main home>pictures folders manually ...: Does this mean I have been duplicating them?

The photos in Photo Stream (iCloud) do not count against your 5GB free account, so I'm not sure what you're actually talking about there.
I have read on this forum as week as apple website that I need to download my photos off of iCloud as it is just a temporary space- and that's what I have been doing.
Question is: when I open iPhoto, it does show my iCloud folder and my iPhone's pictures ( when connected via usb). Correct me if I am wrong but I am assuming that I have to drag the pictures from those folders and save them in a library in order to be securely transfer them on my MacBook.
 
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iPhoto photo management is horrid. I really hate the way it incapsulates the files into its library. Makes it really difficult to find them if someone doesn't understand this. The easiest and safest way is just to use iPhoto's photo manager and drag-n-drop or copy-n-paste the files into another folder on your desktop you want moved.
 
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chas_m

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OOPPS. I read this too late I renamed the folders!!! but I believe I didn't lose anything because in the past, I have been copying all my pictures from iPhoto to the main home>pictures folders manually ...: Does this mean I have been duplicating them?

Yep.


I have read on this forum as week as apple website that I need to download my photos off of iCloud as it is just a temporary space- and that's what I have been doing.

This was incorrect. As I mentioned in my previous post, ALL PHOTOS placed in the Photo Stream are copied into an event *on your Mac in the iPhoto library* called "(Month) Photo Stream." So there are already local backups of your photos.


Correct me if I am wrong but I am assuming that I have to drag the pictures from those folders and save them in a library in order to be securely transfer them on my MacBook.

Nope. As explained previously and above, no manual user management is necessary.
 
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I really hate the way it incapsulates the files into its library. The easiest and safest way is just to use iPhoto's photo manager and drag-n-drop or copy-n-paste the files into another folder on your desktop you want moved.
I agree...because I have to empty my picture folder off of my macBook and back them up on external drive once a month or I get as much as 10GB stuff in that folder...the iPhoto is messing me up but the main issue I have here is that by connecting my iPhone5s to my MacBook Pro via USB, I won't be able to see the content of my phone the way I used to see my android phone. There should be something I am missing - as I believe I should be able to see my phone just as I can see any external HD connected to my Mac and drag files back and forth. Am I correct?
 

chscag

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Actually, using iPhoto with your iPhone 5s makes things easier:

When you attach your 5s to your MacBook Pro and then open iPhoto, you should "see" your iPhone 5s. That allows you to move photos back and forth if you choose or use the method described by member chas_m.

iPhoto and iTunes are apps that you either learn to love or wind up hating because of how they work. You can also sync photos, wallpapers, and other images by using iPhoto while your iPhone is attached or even attaching it later on.

In other words, adding new wallpapers to your iPhone.... You just need to try some things and forget what you did before with your Android phone. If you need further help with this post back.
 
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No one has mentioned here to check the Advanced Preferences in iPhoto to see whether the 'Copy photos to iPhoto' option is checked. Many people think they have imported photos into iPhoto and then delete the originals only to find that iPhoto only 'pointed' to the original location.
 
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I have spent so many hours today clicking on my pictures in my iPhoto and try to locate them in my finder. For me, that my main point was to empty my pictures folder to open up some space on my Mac which only has 10 GB free left. I found that not only I have all the originals on my Mac but also I have a preview and a modified version of them as well...this tells me that I have basically 3 versions of each picture on my Mac with different sizes. I tried to delete those originals that I didn't want, but still there were stored so many places that I just gave up. For one image: I had to delete original, modified and one under some strange folder name with all kind of letters. something like:(hkjfhkflskjlaiel53pi44ljsldj)
One of my biggest fear is I have to redo all of these works or I may lose everything I have done when the next iOS upgrade comes around ( as it happened to my previous versions of iPhoto). even tags in finder.
I am sure there should be a way that I can import my pictures on the folder of my choice with out a version of it be stored somewhere on my computer.

Do I make sense?
 
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I have spent so many hours today clicking on my pictures in my iPhoto and try to locate them in my finder. For me, that my main point was to empty my pictures folder to open up some space on my Mac which only has 10 GB free left. I found that not only I have all the originals on my Mac but also I have a preview and a modified version of them as well...this tells me that I have basically 3 versions of each picture on my Mac with different sizes. I tried to delete those originals that I didn't want, but still there were stored so many places that I just gave up. For one image: I had to delete original, modified and one under some strange folder name with all kind of letters. something like:(hkjfhkflskjlaiel53pi44ljsldj)
One of my biggest fear is I have to redo all of these works or I may lose everything I have done when the next iOS upgrade comes around ( as it happened to my previous versions of iPhoto). even tags in finder.
I am sure there should be a way that I can import my pictures on the folder of my choice with out a version of it be stored somewhere on my computer.

Do I make sense?

If you do not want iPhoto to store your photos then you do not have to - see my post above and if you do not want to store modified versions then simply do not make any changes. Finally if you do all your editing (incl deleting) in iPhoto then you won't have to worry about multiple copies as iPhoto will handle 'multiples' automatically.
 
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If you do not want iPhoto to store your photos then you do not have to
As soon as I connect my phone, the only place I can see it is in iPhoto and iTunes...none of them is my choices. iTunes is the least favorite as the main goal is syncing and I do not want to sync anything.
- see my post above
the box you mentioned is checked. But that doesn't show how I can import my photos directly into a folder of my choice without multiple copies.

if you do not want to store modified versions then simply do not make any changes.
Honestly, I do not edit ANY of them. I may double click on them to enlarge it or click on info....but to make any changes::iPhoto is not my application. That's why I never understood that many modified pictures-almost all of them.

Finally if you do all your editing (incl deleting) in iPhoto then you won't have to worry about multiple copies as iPhoto will handle 'multiples' automatically.
I thought if I delete them from iPhoto they will be deleted but I still could find them on my MacBook. I started to empty trash afterward to see if I could find a version of the deleted ones, but I was so frustrated with iPhoto to play with it the other day.

Please let me know if there is a way to connect my phone and move my stuff where I want to.
Also how can I stop all my junks on photo stream getting automatically downloaded on my Mac via iPhoto.
 
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As soon as I connect my phone, the only place I can see it is in iPhoto and iTunes...none of them is my choices. iTunes is the least favorite as the main goal is syncing and I do not want to sync anything.

the box you mentioned is checked. But that doesn't show how I can import my photos directly into a folder of my choice without multiple copies.


Honestly, I do not edit ANY of them. I may double click on them to enlarge it or click on info....but to make any changes::iPhoto is not my application. That's why I never understood that many modified pictures-almost all of them.


I thought if I delete them from iPhoto they will be deleted but I still could find them on my MacBook. I started to empty trash afterward to see if I could find a version of the deleted ones, but I was so frustrated with iPhoto to play with it the other day.

Please let me know if there is a way to connect my phone and move my stuff where I want to.
Also how can I stop all my junks on photo stream getting automatically downloaded on my Mac via iPhoto.

OK, so why not let iPhoto import them, then export them to where you want and delete them from iPhoto?
 
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OK, so why not let iPhoto import them, then export them to where you want and delete them from iPhoto?

So finally I figured it out ..thanks to you guys...
I needed NOT TO check the separate by event checkbox. Apparently that checkbox was separating them by dates so one album may have saved in several places based on the date of the pictures. ( that is solved)
Also, I deleted them pictures from iPhoto but apparently never cleaned up the iPhoto trash.
Still not loving it....but I can manage it better.
Thanks
 

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