2 iPhoto libraries possible?

In order to free up internal hard disk space on my iBook G4, I moved a couple of years of photos off to an external drive. Ideally, what I would like is a few photos I'm currently working on, and a few long-term favorites, to also be accessible on my internal drive, if I have disconnected my external for some reason (for example, maybe I'm out of the house, or maybe I need the USB port for something else). Is it possible to do this, and can iPhoto be made to look in the right place (the external if connected, internal if not) fairly automatically?
Thanks.

Steve
Yes it is. Simply hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto and select 'Create Library'. To choose between libraries select 'Choose Library'. The best way to manage multiple libraries and to move pics and metadata between them is with iPhoto Library Manager.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Can I merge multiple iPhoto libraries in the new Photo's app. This was not possible in iPhoto but is possible in Aperture.

Now that iPhoto is 'Photos' on 10.10.3 is it possible to merge multiple iPhoto libraries. It is possible to this this in Aperture but not in iPhoto (I'm using 10.10.2 and can't upgrade until other software I use is qualified for 10.10.3). Here's the deal - I changed my drive to an SSD and backed up my old hard drive (which had the original iPhoto library on it. I did a clean install with my new drive so iPhoto created a new (blank) library. This upgrade was done a few months ago so now I have 2 different iPhoto libraries. Note that the newer library is connected to iCloud and if I was to 'Switch Libraries' it will delete my current photo stream. There is a way to do this manually - I could switch to the old library and locate the root folders in the 'newer library', move them to a new folder and import. This procedure is awkward and not my preferred route. So if there's anyone using the new 'Photos' app on 10.10.3 please let me know thanks!

To merge the libraries manually use "File > Export".
To save the high quality originals, set the export panel like this, with "Kind Original":
If you have edited versions with added titles, caption, places, etc, use these export settings to save your work:

Want to grab all old hard drive backup iPhoto libraries. Possible?

Hey guys! So I want to get all my old backup iPhoto libraries and put them all into my current library without duplicating photos or overlapping my current photos. Is this possible?
Thanks for all contributions!

The paid version of iPhoto Library Manager can. Select the Library ➙ Merge Libraries menu option:
Then select the destination library and the source library and merge:
Be sure to have a backup copy of your destination library before starting the merge process.
OT

Is it possible to sync multiple iphoto libraries with the iPhone?

I have two libraries in iPhoto 08 but iTunes only lets me pick the default iPhoto library to sync with my iPhone. Is there a way to sync the iPhone with multiple iPhoto libraries?

You are correct. This used to work in the past although admittedly I haven't tried it for some time as it was of no direct use for my purposes.
If the goal is to see another MobileMe account's calendar(s) on your iOS device then an alternative would be to share the calendar(s) in question to yourself.
Example:
Assume you currently have MobileMe user account A on your iPhone.
Login to MM user account B with me.com which has the calendar you wish to have access to on your iPhone
Click on Calendars
Click on the Share button for the calendar you wish to see added to your iPhone.
Type in the MobileMe email address for MM user account A and set it for read & write access
Login to MM user account A on me.com
Go to calendars and accept the invitation to join the calendar you sent from MM account B
Go your iPhone (you may need to turn it on and off to make the calendars refresh ) and check your calendars, you should now have the other calendars added to your MobileMe account A's calendar
Note: You can repeat step # 3 for each of the calendars you wish to see on your iPhone.

Multiple iPhoto Libraries

I have over 25,000 photos and use several iPhoto libraries to manage and organize them. One library lives on my Powerbook 17" hard drive and the others are on external FW800 drives.
Because I take so many photos away from home, I usually import photos to my Powerbook library temporarily, then transfer them to one of the libraries I have on the external HDs in my studio and delete them from the PB.
One library consists only of photos I have taken for a client, another contains family photos, a third one is abstract and artistic photos, a fourth is all antique cars, a fifth all nudes, etc...
I would like to be able to include some photo albums from each library on my 60G iPod Color. Is there a way to do this without combining all of my photos into the same library?
I guess what I am asking is: is it possible to get photos from multiple libraries on the same iPod at the same time? if so, how?
If not, is there a way for me to create an iPhoto library that consists of photo aliases (I don't want to import duplicates of the photos to include on the iPod) and then use that library to sync with the iPod?
PB G4 17, G3 Pismo, Yosemite, iMacDV Mac OS X (10.4.1)

you should probably post this question in the iPhoto Forum
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=143

HT1229 How can i combine two iPhoto libraries together?

Hi all,
I am just transferring all my music and photos new a new computer and have photos in two separate libraries. Is there an easy way to combine these?
One is a folder from pre '08 and the other is a package from post '08.
Any assistance would be great. Thanks

fsumax wrote:
I exported the photos from one library into a folder and imported them into the library I wanted as a default. Then deleted the library I did not want to keep. It worked well.
Not really
You did not merge libraries - you now have one version of the photos in the old library with some (probably not all) metadata - the only possible ways to actually merge iPhoto libraries is using Aperture or IPLM - exporting is not an option to merge libraries - it is a way to include a selected version of a photo in another library
LN

Sorting out multiple iPhoto libraries

Hello
This is my first time posting on apple support....
I've looked through many discussions and can't find the full answer to my questions so am posting a new question (apologies, if I am duplicating something I missed).
Ok, so we (Husband and I) are new Mac users so not very familiar with Macs in general, but so far liking the transition away from PC etc
We both set up iPhoto libraries under our own user accounts, naively thinking we could share each other libraries and be able to edit each other's photos. We were hoping to be able to have access to all our photos, edit etc and thus avoid duplicates and generally be much more efficient in organizing our photos.
I have subsequently discovered this is not possible as we had hoped, and from my research I believe the best approach is to have one library on a shared folder that we both can access and edit. And we are aware that we can only have this one library open under one user at a time, i.e. one user needs to quit iPhoto before the other user logs in and opens iPhoto.
So based on what I have read, my plan was to:
1) Set up a sparse disk image on the shared folder that we can both access with read/write permissions
2) Back-up existing libraries via time machine
3) Rename my iphoto library (let's call it W library)
4) Back up via time machine
5) Move W library to disk image
6) Move husband's iphoto library to disk image
7) Back up again
8) Use iPhoto library manager to merge both libraries into one "master" library
9) Back up
10) Use single master library from either account
However, this hasn't quite gone to plan and I would like to ask for some help. BTW, we have Mac OS x version 10.6.7 and iPhoto version 9.1.3.
Is this a sensible plan to achieve a shared iPhoto library that we can both edit (given that we have already set up libraries under each account that have different photos in)
If so, what is the advantage of setting up a disk image over just using the shared folder as is?
I got in a bit of a muddle with setting up the disk image in the first place, and by accident, didn't make it big enough for both libraries, so I deleted it (I think) and set another one up. I gave everyone read & write access via "get info" in the finder. Trouble is I didn't use very good names and now I'm not sure if a) I did actually delete the first one, and b) if I didn't actually delete it, I am using the correct disk image for the next steps. Is there a way to verify which disk image is which, and delete the smaller one?
Regardless of this problem, I ploughed ahead with steps 2, 3, 4, and 5. I dragged my renamed library to the disk image icon I could see on the desktop.
I then used the option key to choose the W library on disk image when I opened iPhoto in the dock and all I get is this message: Caution The iPhoto library is on a locked volume. Reopen iPhoto when you have read/write access, or reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.
So, if you've managed to read this far, please can anyone tell me where I've gone wrong, and how to sort this out? Bear in mind I'm a new Mac user (although that's probably pretty obvious by now!)
Thanks in advance for any help

You don't need the Disk Image. Assuming you have copies of the Libraries you can delete them all.
For iPhoto 09 (version 8.0.2) and later:
What you mean by 'share'.
If you want the other user to be able to see the pics, but not add to, change or alter your library, then enable Sharing in your iPhoto (Preferences -> Sharing), leave iPhoto running and use Fast User Switching to open the other account. In that account, enable 'Look For Shared Libraries'. Your Library will appear in the other source pane.
Any user can drag a pic from the Shared Library to their own in the iPhoto Window.
Remember iPhoto must be running in both accounts for this to work.
If you want the other user to have the same access to the library as you: to be able to add, edit, organise, keyword etc.
Quit iPhoto in both accounts. Move the Library to the Users / Shared Folder
(You can also use an external HD set to ignore permissions, a Disk Image or even partition your Hard Disk.)
In each account in turn: Double click on the Library to open it. (You may be asked to repair the Library Permissions.) From that point on, this will be the default library location. Both accounts will have full access to the library, in fact, both accounts will 'own' it.
However, there is a catch with this system and it is a significant one. iPhoto is not a multi-user app., it does not have the code to negotiate two users simultaneously writing to the database, and trying will cause db corruption. So only one user at a time, and back up, back up back up.

Consolidate multiple iPhoto libraries to Aperture

I recently purchased Aperture 3.2.2 in order to perform a consolidation of my various iPhoto libraries. I primarily have two libraries, one on my MacBook Pro which contains photos from about the last 2 years (and is about 220GB), and one on my old PowerMac G5 which contains a few more years worth of photos, and size is difficult to determine as that one is partially managed (at about 130GB) and partially referenced (most of the older photos are referenced).
To add to the complexity, I find it very difficult to tell exactly where the referenced photos are in iPhoto. When I go to open a referenced photo that is unavailable, iPhoto gives me the equivalent of a blank stare. If it would at least tell me the expected drive (of the few external Firewire or USB drives I have), I'd be able to connect and point to it.
As I have keywords and stars for quite a few of my photos, I'd prefer to avoid going the route of pulling in the original photos rather than trying to import the iPhoto libraries.
The more recent library (on the MacBook Pro) seems to have imported to a fresh Aperture library successfully. The library from my PowerMac (connected in Fireware target disk mode to the MacBook Pro) got about half way through the import process, and then proceeded to hang in limbo doing nothing but spin.
Ok so
a) Best way to bring in the remainder of this other iPhoto library? (just trying to import and not import duplicates does not seem to work, it looks like it's trying to bring in the whole thing again)
b) Best way to resolve the challenge of finding and importing all referenced images, even if they are residing on unattached drives? Quite honestly I'd be happy to export a spreadsheet of the metadata with photo names, dates, and filepath references, if that was possible, just to know where things are supposed to be as far as iPhoto is concerned.
Thanks :-)

Referenced Libraries on iPhoto are a bug bear. Referenced Libraries on iPhoto where the library is on one volume and the original files on another are a disaster waiting to happen - or in your case, happening rght now. iPhoto 09 and earlier uses aliases to track the location of the actual file, and these break if you move the file after importing, when the file is on another volume.
iPhoto has no tools to fix this problem.
You're not going to be able to get this material into Aperture until you do.
No point in hoping that iPhoto will magically provide the missing information, you're just going to have to make all the drives available to it. If it still can't find the images then you'll need to use an app like FileBuddy to fix the aliases.
iPhoto has no ability to export a spreadsheet with the data you require.

Multiple users, multiple iphoto libraries?

Does anyone know if it is possible to have two seperate iphoto libraries when you have two seperate users. We share a computer but I do not want to share the iphoto library.
ADAM

Yes, create a new account for the other user and they will have their own set of Home folders, Documents, Library, Movies, Music, etc. They will be denied access any of your data.
-mj
[email protected]

Multiple iPhoto libraries & on MobileMe Gallery on iPad

I have multiple iPhoto libraries on my Mac (multiple work related project libraries & personal library). I'd like to be able to view them on an iPad. Is that going to be possible? If not, I'm hoping that MobileMe galleries will sync to the iPad. Does anyone know if either of these options is possible?

I upgraded to Lion OS and suffered multiple crashes necessitating a complete rebuild of the system - reformat the main hard drive and install Lion OS from a disk In an effort to be absolutely sure I didn't lose data I have been overenthusiastic in transferring photos to the backup disk dragging and dropping files that contained images as well as a full transfer of "mymac" before reformating. Time machine backup was not realistic as this was the one operation which caused most of the "hangs" System now appears to be working well with Lion OS but I have masses of duplicate jpeg files in multiple folders and libraries - I am considering purchasing Duplicate Annihilator to deal with the duplicates then perhaps I should try to merge the libraries with iPhoto manager?

Multiple iPhoto Libraries and iPhone syncing

Hi-
Thanks for reading. I recently used iPhoto Library Manager from Fatcat (highly recommended) to take a 23,000 photo library and chop it down into several iphoto libraries. It seems that my phone by default wants to sync photos with the original library, and not one of the new ones. I am wondering a few things:
1. when i hold down the "option" key when opening iphoto i have the choice of opening any of my libraries. Perhaps the iphone will sync to which ever iphoto library i used last???
2. perhaps iphoto will always recognize my original library as "default" and i need to look into making one of my new libraries the master default?
Is this possible? Can I create a new iphoto library and use this as default across all apple programs going forward?
Any clarity on connection between new iphoto libraries and how the computer, and most importantly, my iphone, will recognize them is appreciated. thanks in advance,
Joe
Message was edited by: Joseph Walker

1. when i hold down the "option" key when opening iphoto i have the choice of opening any of my libraries. Perhaps the iphone will sync to which ever iphoto library i used last???
When you launch iPhoto it opens the last used library - so when you force a launch by connecting a camera or iPhone you will be syncing to the last used library
LN

Multiple iPhoto Libraries in Aperture?

I have been an iPhoto user since the beginning, and thus have about 7 iPhoto libraries of about 5000 keyworded pics each. Up till now I have not combined them even though the current version of iPhoto should handle them all.
I am considering a new Intel-based Mac and Aperture purchase, but a key feature need I have is to "see" all 7 iPhoto libraries in Aperture without importing all these libraries into the aperture library. I get the impression this is possible with 1.5, but have not seen it discussed specifically. Ideally I could see these old iPhoto libraries as 7 projects; from then on out I would import from the camera directly into Aperture.
Anyone doing or done this?

Ok, I don't know if this would count but here's what I did:
I have two Macs and use iPhoto on both, populated with different content. So I guess that would count as multiple iPhoto libraries.
I'm on my MacBook Pro and I mounted my home volume on the remote PowerMac G4.
I launch Aperture and created a new project called "say "Import->iPhoto Library…".
The file browser drops down. I navigate to "Remote User Home->Pictures->iPhoto Library". I also chose "Store Files: In their current location". Then I clicked Choose.
Aperture started chugging along. I had created a new project and selected it for the import, expecting the imported photos to be stored in the new project. Instead, Aperture created an iPhoto Library folder on the root level, and a Rolls folder inside it. Each roll in the iPhoto library became a Project in the Rolls subfolder. Each Album in the iPhoto Library became an album in the iPhoto Library folder in Aperture. Slide shows in the iPhoto library did not get imported. Trash in the iPhoto library did not get imported.
Next, I imported the local iPhoto library to see what it would do with a 2nd iPhoto library.
Again, I said "Import->iPhoto Library…".
The file browser drops down and points automatically to "Local User Home->Pictures->iPhoto Library". I also chose "Store Files: In their current location". Then I clicked Choose.
Nothing happened. Background Task List shows nothing.
Thinking that Aperture could only allow one iPhoto Library photo, I renamed the folder and tried again. Still nothing.
I created a new folder and moved all the imported items into the new folder. I then deleted the original iPhoto Library folder that was created. Still nothing.
I then deleted all the items imported from the remote iPhoto library, quit and restarted Aperture and tried to import the local iPhoto library again. Still nothing happened.
So my bizarre interim conclusion is that I can import an iPhoto Library from a non-standard location but not my primary iPhoto Library.
I'm stumped.
I need to take care of other stuff. Will continue the experiments later.
Anybody care to try?

Any way to restore iTunes and iPhoto libraries from failed Time Machine backup?

Is there a way to restore iTunes and iPhoto libraries from an unmountable Time Machine backup?
Background: I received an update alert on my iMac (mid-2010, 1TB) from Time Machine (wirelessly connected to a Time Capsule, 2TB 2013) that it required an update and required rebooting, of course, it happened when I was in the middle of a project and I postponed the restart for later. That evening I turned off the computer and coincidentally the next morning, the iMac would not start; it loaded to the Apple logo and about an 1/8 of the progress bar would load before the iMac would turn off.
The iMac had been fine to that day (OS upgrades and all since 2010) so I was assuming something misfired when I declined the Time Machine update. I tried the PRAM and SMC resets mentioned in the forums but no dice. I then went into Disk Utility to try repairs and there were errors on the hard drive that could not be fixed. My next step was to erase the drive and restore from my Time Machine backup. Before doing that I checked Disk Utility and to my horror, it told me that my Time Machine backups were unmountable so of course my first thought was that all my files were gone.
The TC was under warranty so I called support and they referred me to the local Genius Bar. The Genius was great and showed me that my files weren't lost even though the Time Machine backup was unmountable. They recommended I erase the partitions, starting from scratch and I would have to transfer the Time Machine backup files manually by directly connecting an ethernet cable from the TC to the computer. If that didn't work, the hard drive was bad and needed replacement which they could take care of.
I followed their recommendation and the hard drive is fine. I was so relieved to hear that my files were safe that I forgot to ask about all of the metadata that was lost in iTunes (de-selected songs, playlists, rankings, play counts) and iPhoto (geotags, names, etc). Any ideas / help? I sank considerable time into my music and photos and would love to have that time back.
FWIW, I'm in the process of buying an external hard drive as a secondary backup to the TC as my confidence is a little shaken on the product line - the first time I ever actually need a backup and the backup is unmountable. My whole point of spending a little more and buying into the Apple ecosystem for a backup solution was to streamline the backup process and avoid these types of issues.

Thank you for the reply. I tried the Disk Utility to repair my TC's Time Machine backup disk with no luck, it stopped with the message:
Disk utility stopped repairing "iMac"
Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
It took a night but I was able to copy all the TC Time Machine files to the external hard drive as a backup to a backup just in case. I'm still pretty bummed the TC's backup didn't allow for Disk Utility's restore functionality. Fortunately, the iPhoto library backup I dragged to the iMac from the Time Capsule backup worked without a hitch. On the downside, the "iTunes Library.itl" backup I dragged over is locked so now I'm checking out the forums for any ways to fix that. I temporarily created a new iTunes library with all my apps and music but plan on reverting to the old iTunes library if possible so I can start syncing my iOS devices again.

HT5129 I have 30+ iPhoto Libraries, so every time I open one, iphoto wants to copy the 3 events I had out there when MobileMe shut down. Those 3 events are saved in the appropriate iPhoto libraries. Wish I had deleted them on MobileMe! How do I turn this

I have 30+ iPhoto Libraries, so every time I open one, iPhoto wants to copy the 3 events I had out there when MobileMe shut down. Those 3 events are already saved in the appropriate iPhoto libraries. Wish I had deleted them on MobileMe! How do I turn this process off?

As Larry mentioned I use a different DAM (digital asset management) appliclation, Media Pro 1. For other possible DAM apps visit The DAM Forum which is for professional photographers. There the various apps are discussed along with workflows. If nothing else you'll get some good information on managing digital "negatives".
Media Pro lets you manage the folder organization of your photos and write metadata, keywords, titles, and other metadata directly back to the files. No matter what app you go with have a backup plan in place to keep current backups of your source photos on separate hard drives.

Burned iPhoto libraries from 2002 show up as 0 photos when re-opened

I have iPhoto libraries from 2002 (and possibly other years) burned to CD's that when re-opened in iPhoto show up in the album list but show as 0 photos. Newer burned to disc libraries are available but the old ones are not. The burned photos are available on the disc by exiting iPhoto and going through all the folder prompts, so the jpeg images are there. The disc also has the data and thumbnail folders. Is there some kind of update that is needed?

If TD's suggestion is unsuccessful open the library folder and drag the Originals folder to the Desktop.
Then drag the subfolders in the Originals folder, a few at a time< into your open iPhoto window. That will import the original files into Events with the same names as the subfolders have.
OT

2 iPhoto libraries possible?

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