How can I remove the RAW image files from my iPhoto Library?

Solution 1:

No there isn't. Pretty much the point of iPhoto is that it treats the original file as a "digital negative" and the non-destructive editing feature is based on that. So, iPhoto (and Aperture) never perform any operations on the Original, only on a copy.

It doesn't make multiple versions, tho. There's only one edited version.

What you can do: Export the Edited Versions. Delete the photos from iPhoto. Re-import the edited versions. You'll lose a lot - not least the ability to edit non-destructively - but if that's what you want.

A better solution is to use an app that does what you want - that is, edit the pics directly.

You know that you can store an entire iPhoto Library on a disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?

Solution 2:

Make a smart album that shows only RAW images, select the ones you want to delete, and make a new Event from the selection. This will move them to the new event. You can now delete the event, and your RAW images are gone.

If you want to make sure you actually have made JPG's of the images, then do the above, but flag them instead of making a new event. Go back to your library and compare the flagged ones to the ones you want to keep. Use some method to mark ones to keep, removing the flags, star them, tag them, whatever works. Update your RAW smart album to ignore the RAW files that have whatever you used to mark ones to keep.

Before doing all this.. Make a backup ;-)