One of the most used and loved applications on the Mac is the photo application that comes with iLife and each new computer, iPhoto. Mac owners use iPhoto to store, share, edit, and group their pictures.
Since iPhoto is the central location for all the digital memories and collection of photographs taken for an individual or family, it becomes incredible important that the pictures and photos in iPhoto are protected from damage to a computer or software corruption.
Essentially, everyone should make sure to implement iPhoto backup measures to keep their digital photos protected.
iPhoto Backup Measures
There are a number of different ways to make sure that iPhoto is backed up. One way to complete iPhoto Backup is to ensure that the library that stores all your photos is being saved to Time Machine, the backup software available to Mac owners. Time Machine back’s up your data to an external hard drive and can include all your files, or as few as the files you select, such as the iPhoto library.
To check to see if Time Machine is keeping your iPhoto library backed up:
- Open Time Machine
- After entering Time Machine, Navigate to Pictures on the left Finder window
- Verify that the iPhoto Library appears in the window to the right
iPhoto Backup Online
While you may feel comfortable enough with your pictures backed up on an external drive, it may be a good idea to utilize Mac online Backup options to secure your data.
Recently, a friend of mine went to restore from Time Machine a previous version of their iPhoto library after they were having trouble with their computer only to find out that the external hard drive connected to the computer had failed. At first he didn’t think he had any other iPhoto Backup options to restore from.
But Luckily he had his data backed up online and could restore their iPhoto library. If you don’t already backup your data online you should consider it so that you can keep your photos safe when your other backup methods fail.
Since iPhoto keeps a copy of all your files in one library, you essentially can keep those pictures safe by just copying the library. If you have computer problems and loose your original data, restoring an iPhoto library is as easy as downloading it from your backup method and holding down the option key when you click to open iPhoto. A window will appear and ask you which library you’d like to open, and you can select your restored library.
