Sharing an iPhoto Library over an external drive with multiple Macs

I have a library of photos that is around 30 GB. All of the photos are already on an external drive, which is accessed through Xserve, and I have begun creating an iPhoto library on that same external drive. I have seen mixed opinions on whether or not an iPhoto library is able to be shared with multiple users (we have about 6 other Macs that we want to have full access to this). Unfortunately, none of us are on the same iPhoto version, so we have not been able to test this out yet, as they have been incompatible with each other so far. Is this something that is possible?

1 - sharing in a very limited sense is possiible -  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198  -  IF and only if all versions of iPhoto that will access it are the same version
2 - since you have different versions of iPhoto on different systems you can not share amoung them - only amoung ssytems using the same version of software
3 - I have no idea what XDrive is - but note tha tthe iPhoto library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and should be on a drive that is directly connected with a wired connection
LN

Similar Messages

  • Sharing iPhoto Library on an external HD with 3 macs

    I had this all set up very easily at first. I had the iPhoto Lib on my external HD and was sharing it with my G5, iBook G4 and Powerbook G$ all with iPhoto 08'all running 10.4.11. Then I upgraded my G5 to a new iMac running 10.5.5 and I can choose the library on my iMac but when I tell the iBook and powerbook to chose that library it is "grayed out" in the browser and it will not allow me to choose it. Also i have always had "connect 360" working off my computer for my xbox 360 to see my photos downstairs on my tv but now that too will not reconize the library. My external drive has the "ignore permissions" selected and I have tried to create a new library to test it but I am still having the same bad luck...
    Any thought and help would be greatly appreciated.
    Than you

    1 - sharing in a very limited sense is possiible -  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198  -  IF and only if all versions of iPhoto that will access it are the same version
    2 - since you have different versions of iPhoto on different systems you can not share amoung them - only amoung ssytems using the same version of software
    3 - I have no idea what XDrive is - but note tha tthe iPhoto library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and should be on a drive that is directly connected with a wired connection
    LN

  • Using a seagate external drive with multiple macs

    i got a 1TB seagate external hard drive for backup and transfer purposes... it had a little program to help set it up and i set it up for use with mac and pc ( only onther option was stricty this computer.) it works on my computer and a pc but when i tried transfering files from another older mac i have it showed that i could only read on that computer...
    how can i get it to work with multiple macs...?

    I have the oldest macbook (1.83. 2 gigs ram, 60 gig internal hard drive)
    I have all my logic content on my external maxtor firewire 400 drive (usb 2.0 is actually faster than firewire 400) and everything is fine. the good thing is if your external drive has 7200rpm, but the ones with 5600rpm should do as well.
    Once you drag your apple loops to logic from your external drive, logic will remember for the next visit. And when you are opening a project which is on the external drive , just find it with logic finder and all should be fine.

  • Sorry folks, I did something bad, I was looking how to save my current iphoto library to my external drive and I hit a wrong button, lost my current iphoto and now have only the backed up version from 2007, Woops I never was the quick witted one... PLEASE

    I switched my current iphoto library out for the saved one on my external drive by mistake. It said, Switch Libraries.... Do you want to switch the current iphoto library from AAA iphoto library (what I called the old one I guess - in my OWC) toOWC Mercury on-the-go and relaunch iphoto? cancel or relaunch
    Sorry, I was looking for a way to save my current iphoto images to my hard drive. Yeah, I guess just drag something over right? Anyway, now I cannot retrieve my last 2 or 3 years of photos, Can You HELP me?
    Mac os X  version 10.6.8
    2.66 GHz Intel core 2 Duo
    etc

    Depress the option key and launch iPhoto = use teh select library option and select the correct one
    yes to move your library to an external drive
    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    LN

  • How do i manage 1 iphoto library on 2 external drives?

    I'm trying to find the most efficient way to manage 1 iphoto library across 2 external drives. In case one of my external drives dies, I'll have a backup.
    I know how to copy my iphoto library onto another drive, but my question is how to manage the 2 drives when i add photos/videos to them from my iphone.
    Currently, I import photos/vids from iphone onto 1 drive. Then unmount the external drive and hook up another drive. I direct iphoto to use the new drive as it's library and then import the photos/vids again onto the second drive. I make sure the event is named the same, so I have the same iphoto setup across both drives. Then i delete the photos/vids from my iphone.
    Is there a more efficient way to do this? Or software that can do this in one step?
    Thanks in advance for any help! 

    You want to have a backup of your working library on your MacBook Pro on each of two external HDs, correct? 
    If yes then use a backup application like Synk or Synk Pro that can incrementally backup the library, i.e. copy only those new of modified files.  If you go to MacUpdate.com and do a search for "backup" you'll get a list of potential candidates.
    Then all you need to do is connect EHD#1 and run the backup app to update the library then connect EHD#2 and do the same.  It only takes several seconds to make the incremental backup.  Synk Pro can be configured to automically start the backup when the external drives are connected.  I'm not sure but believe some of the other backup apps could do the same.
    OT

  • Moving iphoto library to an external drive

    i want to move my iphoto library to an external drive to free up space. i've copied my library to the new drive. i hold down the option key when launching iphoto and when i try to select the new librbary, iti isn't highlighted/clickable. any suggestions?

    but when i hold option key, the only photo library that comes up is the one on my internal hard drive.
    In that case try clicking on the Choose button, navigate to the USB drive and select the library there:
    OT

  • I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

    I just backed up my photos by copying my iPhoto Library onto an external drive. Now the Library on my MacBook won't open. I can only open the photos if the external is plugged in. How can I resolve this issue?

    Exactly what did you do?
    The correct steps are
    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    My guess is that that you have not switched iphoto to use the external drive yet - opttion launch and select libary
    LN

  • Moved my iphoto library to an external drive and now I can't import photos from my camera or iPhone - will only import previously impoted photos - why?

    Anyone else had this problem?  Anyone know how to fix it?
    I haven't deleted my photos of my computer's hard drive yet so can go back to using that if it will fix my problem
    Thanks

    No that is not a problem and no one has reported it here
    to change the library depress the option key and launch iPhoto and use the select library command - see if the behavior is the same on both frives
    How did you move the iPhoto library to the external drive?
    What format is the external drive?
    LN

  • How do you get Photos to recognize the "old" iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

    How do you get Photos to recognize the “old” iPhoto Library on an external drive without it copying it to the internal drive on the computer which is low in HD space?

    Launch Photos while holding down the alt/options key.
    This will show the Library Chooser panel. Select the library on the external drive. Photos will create a Photos Library on the same drive.
    Photos may not be able to open the library, however, if your external drive has an incompatible file system. It needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) and locally mounted, not a remotely mounted volume, as described here:  Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

  • What is the best way to copy my iphoto library to an external drive?

    I want to free up space on the internal drive by copying the iphoto library to an external drive and then either deleting the library entirely from the internal and using the external as my working library or continuing to use the internal as my working library, but deleting lots of old pictures.  I have TC and use TM for backups and have a Seagate HD that I want to use for extra storage.  Thanks,

    To move the Library
    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
    4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
    To have two libraries:
    1. Quit iPhoto.
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the external drive.
    Now you have two full copies of the Library. To choose between them:  Hold down the <b>option (or alt)</b> key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
    3. On the +Internal+ Library, remove the pics you don't want with you all the time.
    Now you have one full library on the external and another smaller sub-set on the Internal.
    A couple of comments:
    a. The external disk needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    b: When you're removing the unwanted pics from the Internal Library you need to delete them in batches of about 100 or so. Trashing more at one time can cause problems with the database.
    c:
    Managing Multiple Libraries - including moving pics/albums/rolls and metadata between them - is greatly facilitated by using
    iPhoto Library Manager
    Regards
    TD

  • How can I transfer my iPhoto library safely to external drive?

    How do I transfer pictures from iPhoto library to external hard drive without losing information? What hard drive would work best for this? I have no more space available on iMac hard drive.

    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    LN

  • I want to copy my iPhoto library to an external drive but I cannot find the folder on my Mac Air. When I open Finder there is no Picture folder showing so I cannot find the iPhoto library.

    I want to copy my iPhoto library to an external drive but I cannot find the folder on my Mac Air. When I open Finder there is no Picture folder showing so I cannot find the iPhoto library.

    Choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu and provide ~/Pictures/ as the path. If that doesn't work, control-click a photo in iPhoto, show it in the Finder, and Command-click the folder's name in the window's title bar to find the path.
    (112151)

  • I have Mavericks and I want to transfer my iPhoto library to an external drive

    I have Mavericks and I want to transfer my iPhoto library to an external drive to free up a ton of space on my hard drive.  Can't transfer the whole thing. It says part of it is being modified. When it started it said it would take 56 days also. Is there an easy way to transfer it? In older versions of iphoto It had a lot of folders in the pictures folder under users. I could transfer bit by bit each day if I wanted.  Seems that there is only one gigantic iphoto Library now and I can't transfer the whole thing.  Can you please help?

    Hi Terence,
    My OS version is Version 10.9  My iPhoto version is 9.5 (9027)
    I was trying to bring it to my external drive that I use for placing random files (not a TimeMachine backup). It's a USB connection and it has a 2T storage capacity with plenty of room.
    So I dragged it into the icon of the external drive and it "prepared" to transfer for a long time.  Then at the end of that, it said it couldn't tramfer because part of it was being modified.  (I can try it again to get the exact wording of this error message if you need it).  Then I clicked ok, then there was a small window that looked like a small part of the iphoto library was transfered with the timeline there and the beginning portion blue with the rest of the line empty. At the right it said 56 days remaining. =)  But that little window was frozen and wasn't doing anything.  I tried it three times and it did the same thing each time exactly as I've described.
    Thanks for your help!

  • How I do recover iPhoto Library from an external drive?

    I stored user files on my Mac Mini on an external harddrive. The Mac Mini is now not functioning so I am trying to recover files from the external harddrive. Specifically I'm trying to recover pictures from iPhoto.
    I can plug the external drive into another Mac and see its contents in Finder. I can see the "iPhoto Library" on this disk. It shows up in the Finder as a single 41 GB file instead of a file system. I want to be able to extract the photos from this library and back them up online.
    I tried running Import from iPhoto on my functioning machine, but iPhoto won't let me click on the "iPhoto Library" file. I don't know if I need to reset my iPhoto library location, or if this is a application version issue. (I'm running iPhoto 6.0.6 on the working machine, but the library I'm trying to get into was created by a later version, I think from iLife '09.)
    How do I read the photos in this iPhoto Library?
    Thanks.

    If you want to preserve that Library you'll need to upgrade from iPhoto 6 to iPhoto 09 on this other machine. The v6 version cannot read the 09 library.
    Doing anything else will destroy the library - you'll lose Albums, Slideshows, keywords, Faces, Places, books, calendars etc etc erc and basically have to start over from scratch.
    How to do it? Go to the external diks and find the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.
    Your Photos are in the Originals Folder.
    The Edited versions are in the Modified Folders.
    If you import both you'll have duplicates.
    Regards
    TD

  • How to Time Machine backup iPhoto library stored on external drive

    Hi Mac users.
    Can you kindly teach me how to backup iphoto library stored on an external drive to my external time machine drive. My internal drive is full so I moved my iPhoto library to a separate drive and deleted the library to create space. Thank you.

    Actually there's nothing to do.  TM backs up all connected volumes automatically.  One has to exclude a volume or folder(s) to keep them from being backed up in the TM preferences.
    If you find that the EHD is not being backed up exclude it and the "unexclude" it and force a new backup.
    OT

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