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Resolved Question

PC to Mac picture transferring.

by Dec 5, 2013 5:02AM PST

So I recently got a macbook pro and transferred all my pictures from my pc to my mac. On the pc, it organizes all my pictures into separate folders in the pictures folder in windows explorer. Now on my mac, I just copied over those folders into the pictures folder in finder. Then I imported them into iPhoto. I have a large picture library, at least 40-45 GBs but my mac is saying I have like double that! (and I have to be frugal with my HD space because I only have the 256 SSD) Is it showing such a large number because they pictures are both in iPhoto AND the folders in the pictures folder? If so, can i just delete the folders in Finder since the pictures are in iPhoto?

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Jacobrg has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
4 Posts
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Re: deleting
by Forum moderator Dec 5, 2013 5:19AM PST

Worth a careful try. Nothing better than convincing yourself. The prerequisite is that you have a good backup. Possibly your PC still can function as such.

Delete a few pics from Finder and see if they still are in iPhoto. If yes, delete a few more. If stell yes, cross your fingers and delete all. If some are totally disappearing, just get them again from your PC.

Speaking of backup: it seems vitally important that you know how to backup the contents of iPhoto. And how to restore them. And even how to restore them on a PC. Suppose your Mac suddenly breaks down and all you have is a backup you can't read on anything else, because it needs iPhoto. You wouldn't like that, would you?

Kees

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Re: deleting
by Jacobrg Dec 13, 2013 11:31AM PST

I have a 1TB LaCie external I use with TimeMachine...I'm supposing TimeMachine backups iPhoto, right?

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Sure does.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Dec 13, 2013 10:58PM PST

but to the point that Kees made about backups.

You might want to take a weekend and copy ALL your pictures onto DVD's. You'll need about 15 of them to copy all your pictures.
Once done, put somewhere safe. Bank Deposit box is an idea.

Should the worst ever happen, Mac and Time Machine disappear, you will still have your pictures ready for the next machine.

To answer your original question, once the pictures have been imported into iPhoto, you can delete the originals, bearing in mind my statement about copying to DVD. Once you have the DVD's done, delete away and free up that space.

P

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A single backup is a copy.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 14, 2013 12:24AM PST

And we only lose what we don't backup. A single TM backup is just that. Without another copy, I don't call that backup.
Bob

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