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moving an iPhoto library to new Mac mini via thumb drive

I have a new Mac mini M2 with a 1tb hard drive and two very old Macs (2009, 2010) one of which has iPhotos. I do not want to use migration assistant because I only want to move the libraries and select files. I moved the iPhoto library onto a thumb drive but did not format it first. it is formatted in fat32. do I need to start over and reformat? How do I import the library into photos on the new Mac ? Are multiple photos libraries useful and if I start with multiple photos libraries can I merge them later? if I merge them, will duplicate photos be recognized so I can delete them? Finally, will all the data (dates, editing and etc.) be saved when the iphoto library is imported onto my new Mac?

Thank you for any assistance! I love my new pristine Mac and want the cleanest install I can have!

Mac mini (M2, 2023)

Posted on Aug 31, 2023 6:01 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 31, 2023 6:38 AM

Yes, you need to start over and format the drive MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS . With a FAT32 format you may encounter problems with the filenames of the internal files in the library and lose images. Prepare the thumbs drive as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


Once the iPhoto Library is on the thumbs drive, connected to your new Mac, you can import the images and videos into a Photos Library. Open the Photos Library in Photos, then use "File > Import" and select the iPhoto Library. Photos will show you all new photos, that are not yet in your Photos Library and you can then import all new photos (and videos).


It is up to you to combine all libraries into one or to keep them separate. Photos you will need to use together for a project should go into the same Photos Library. Otherwise it helps to keep the Photos Library small. Photos is doing a lot of background processing to analyze the photos to recognize the scenes, recognize faces, pets, objects, read the text on the photos, so we can ask Siri to find our photos for us. Photos is also using artificial intelligence to suggest photos for sharing or to create memory movies. This can take weeks, if the library is large.



There is one problem - your new Mac mini probably came with macOS 13 Ventura. On this system version you can no longer convert iPhoto Libraries to Photos Libraries. You can only import them into an existing library. That will save the photos and videos, but not the album, folders, events. The structure of the library will be lost. if you still have a Mac with an older system version, you can convert your iPhoto Libraries there to Photos Libraries and save the structure of the libraries.

The older Photos Libraries can simply be opened in Photos on your new Mac.



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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 31, 2023 6:38 AM in response to tolpuppy

Yes, you need to start over and format the drive MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS . With a FAT32 format you may encounter problems with the filenames of the internal files in the library and lose images. Prepare the thumbs drive as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


Once the iPhoto Library is on the thumbs drive, connected to your new Mac, you can import the images and videos into a Photos Library. Open the Photos Library in Photos, then use "File > Import" and select the iPhoto Library. Photos will show you all new photos, that are not yet in your Photos Library and you can then import all new photos (and videos).


It is up to you to combine all libraries into one or to keep them separate. Photos you will need to use together for a project should go into the same Photos Library. Otherwise it helps to keep the Photos Library small. Photos is doing a lot of background processing to analyze the photos to recognize the scenes, recognize faces, pets, objects, read the text on the photos, so we can ask Siri to find our photos for us. Photos is also using artificial intelligence to suggest photos for sharing or to create memory movies. This can take weeks, if the library is large.



There is one problem - your new Mac mini probably came with macOS 13 Ventura. On this system version you can no longer convert iPhoto Libraries to Photos Libraries. You can only import them into an existing library. That will save the photos and videos, but not the album, folders, events. The structure of the library will be lost. if you still have a Mac with an older system version, you can convert your iPhoto Libraries there to Photos Libraries and save the structure of the libraries.

The older Photos Libraries can simply be opened in Photos on your new Mac.



Aug 31, 2023 9:20 AM in response to tolpuppy

You might want to consider using an external 1TB SSD to house and run your combined Photos library on.


I recommend drives from OWC (MacSales.com) as they have proven reliability, excellent customer support and warranties.  Consider this one as it small in physical size, big in storage and easy to carry along with the laptop: 1TB OWC Envoy Pro mini.


OWC is considered by most here to be the premier 3rd party hardware supplier for Macs.


Aug 31, 2023 7:39 AM in response to léonie

What a great and detailed answer and I thank you for taking the time to help me. I will use the mini to reformat the usb.

The iMac is running snow leopard and the iPhoto library Is 131 gb. the other old MacBook is running Sierra and the Photos library on it is 70 gb. There is not enough room on the MacBook to import and convert the the photos library. I think I will import the Macbook's library to the Mac mini and then clear enough space to use it to convert the iMac's library before moving it to the mini. If you have any further suggestions, they are appreciated. I've been really anxious about this and so haven't done anything even though I've had the mini since April.

Blessings


moving an iPhoto library to new Mac mini via thumb drive

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