How can you share a iPhoto library with another account user

Question

I have recently seen the light and swapped from Windows to my lovely new iMac. However I am rather confused how I can configure my iPhoto library so my wife can view the same library in her account on the same machine (this was a simple thing within Windows, using shared folders). Am I missing something or do I have to duplicate the same library and place into my wife's account and then update each time we upload some photo's? Please help!

Answer 1

This may not be the "neatest" solution possible, but it's one that works. Just as iPhoto makes it easy to share photos between computers on the same network, you can also share photos between accounts on the same computer; but you'll have to be logged in with iPhoto running.
1) Configure iPhoto in your account for photo sharing (from iPhoto, select Preferences > Sharing> Share my photos).
2) Enable fast user switching from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Options. This is the key to the process, which will allow you to remain logged in while your wife is also logged in. It's also a very handy feature if you and your wife use the computer a lot from your own accounts.
3) Enable "Personal File Sharing" and "Remote Apple Events" from System Preferences > Sharing > Services. [I had already done this step, so I'm not sure if it's strictly necessary]
4) With iPhoto up and running in your account, use Fast User Switching to log into your wife's account (ie, you remain logged-in). [The Fast User Switching menu will be in the upper right of the main menu bar.]
5) From her iPhoto preferences, select Sharing > "Look for shared photos" if it's not already switched on.
Your photos will magically appear in the left hand column of your wife's iPhoto application using the name you designated in your copy of iPhoto.
Caveats: performance is not very good, you must be logged in and have iPhoto running, HP printers (if you have one) don't work well with fast user switching
Other solutions might be possible by "drilling a hole" into your account by altering the Unix permissions. I've used this technique to make my iTunes library available to other users on my machine. Such a solution would no doubt improve performance.
Finally, there are third-party products that allow you to manage multiple iPhoto libraries. I've never used these, but they might allow you to load the iPhoto library from another account assuming permissions are properly set.
Hope this is of some use; I'm sorry if it's a little more complicated than you might have expected.