How do I make an iPhoto Library accessible to all users of one computer ?

My wife and I use our new iMac, and we log in independently. However it seems all the photos from our family album can be seen only by me - when she logs in, iPhoto says there are no photos stored. How do we share these photos across both user accounts ? Same question would go for music

The point of having different log-ins is that you can keep your data - that's your photos and your music - separate. If you don't, why have separate log-ins? So, the easiest and most simple solution is to use the same log-in.
Other than that: what do 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 (but note: some users find ongoing permissions issues with the Library in this location. It might be better to 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.

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i've got a family. a few kids and one itunes library. i am the only one who can buy stuff (as i assume its impossible to keep on library in synch with multiple owners ??) - but what i want to do is have the library available to all the kids - that way they can sign in as themselves and not keep signing in as me everytime they want to synch their ipods etc. is there a way to do this ? thanks so much.

Move the Library to Users/Shared.
Point each user to the new location:
iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > General > iTunes Music folder location > Change.

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ITunes Shared library with all users on one computer

I am trying to share my iTunes (version 8.2) library with all the users on my computer. So far, this is what I have done:
1) I have moved the music folder into the shared folder.
2) I have selected "Add to Library" in all three accounts.
3) I have tried checking and unchecking the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library."
Since then, I have added some CDs that had some songs that I already had. When I loaded these CDs, I deleted the duplicates that had the worse sound. Since then, everything is unwinding. The additions on one user account are not being added to the others. When I delete a track, iTunes (obviously) says that it can't find the song anymore. What's odd is that I then delete the one that is missing, and both are missing now: the one that I deleted on the original account and the one that I did not delete on the original account.
I am starting to think that I need to start from scratch. So, to make a long story short (too late), how can I share my iTunes library with all users on one computer, where I can make a change in one account that will update automatically on the other accounts. If it can't be updated automatically, how can I add/delete files without causing the headaches I am currently having?
Brian

I actually followed this, but I still had problems that I listed above. Is there any way that when you make changes to one account (even if there is only one main account where changes are made), the changes are automatically (or at least easily) applied to the other user accounts?

How can you share a iPhoto library with another account user

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!

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.

ITunes library synchronization across multiple users on one computer

I've got a PC running MS XP/Home, with a separate user account for each family member. I also repointed all the iTunes library file pointers to the SAME file on the "D" hard drive (taking all that pressure off the "C" drive, which is filling up!)--so each iTunes incarnation for each user points to the same (master) file.
But when I download music from the Music Store into the library from my user account, it doesn't show up in the iTunes library listing when my daughter logs in using her account--and she can't download it to her iPod.
Why? I bought it for her; why should she have to download it? It's all on one computer!
Is it that iTunes really can't handle multiple users on one computer??????? I don't get it...this isn't any copyright or license issue.
I'd appreciate any tips to get the iTunes on one user's account to "restudy" the library to see if it's been changed by another user. We're all one family on our one computer!
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See this thread for answers: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1285867#1285867
Post back here with questions if you have any.

How do I make my iPhoto Library's version number appear in the Get Info window?

I recently (within the past 2 weeks) purchased a new 27 inch iMac and have been importing data (applications and files) from my 2010 Macbook Pro via AirDrop. One of the first files I migrated over was my iPhoto Library. I doing so, I noticed a few differences between its file attributes and those of the iPhoto Library file created by default on my new computer - two of which I'll note here. First, I noticed that the file resident on my new OS was labeled iPhoto Library.photolibrary while my older version did not have the ".photolibrary" extension. That seemed simple enough to correct so I added that extension to my old library file. The second difference I'd note - and the source of my question - is that the default iPhoto Library file displayed a version number (9.5.1) in its "Get Info" window, while mine did not. I checked my file's info.plist file and the correct information seems to be listed. It reads (in part):
<dict>
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</dict>
</plist>
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In terms of the info.plist file, I only reviewed it to see why I wasn't seeing the version number in the GetInfo window.
The string "<key>CFBundleGetInfoString</key>
               <string>iPhoto Libary 9.5.1</string>"
is exactly what will be shown in the Get Info panel. I tested that by simply editing this string in a test library using XCode. I could "Get Info" to show ridiculous versions numbers this way.
However, none of my older iPhoto libraries will show the version string in Get Info, only libraries I created with iPhoto 9.5.1. or Aperture 3.3 or later.
There is probably one of the other database files in the folder "database" - *.appdb and *.db interfering. None of the Library First Aid options did make the version number show for my older iPhoto libraries - not even rebuilding the iPhoto library. The only way I could make the version number show in "Get Info" was by exporting the library as a new library using Aperture. But this exported library is now showing as Aperture library.

IPhoto Library Sharing by Multiple Users on Same Computer

Is there a "tried and true" way to set up iPhoto08 to allow my wife and I to share/access the Photo Library? I prefer not to set up external drive for library. It appears that photos I download from camera to iPhoto on my "login" do not load to the library on my wife's login and vise/versa.
Any help would be appreciated. Hopefully not too technical please. Thanks.
Jeff

There are two ways to share, depending on 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.
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. then:
Quit iPhoto in both accounts
Move the iPhoto Library Folder to an external HD set to ignore permissions. You could also use a dmg.
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In each account in turn: Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting dialogue, select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new library location. 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.
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ok i recently installed a new hard drive and when I set up iTunes I found I needed to set up iTunes the way i used to have it... which was that all users shared the same library... and if one user added a song we all had it... without manually modifying anything... also playlists created by one would appear for others.
A scan of the forum caused me headaches and little help.
SO... a couple of hours palyng around and I am where i want to be!!!!
please note... save time and modify permissions at the correct stage... or it won't work!!!
Step By Step...
Go To...
Main users iTunes folder (iTunes Library, Album Artwork, iTunes Music Library.xml, iTunes Music)
AND... do a get info...
Under... Ownership & Permissions...
Change the group to admin and give this group 'read & write' and others the same or leave it at read only.
Hit the 'apply to enclosed items' button!!!
THEN... drag this folder to a shared location... IE Users / Shared.
THEN... make an alias and drag it back to the Music Folder in your own home library. (where the original folder was previously)!
DELETE the word ALIAS.
Log in as another user and get rid of the iTunes folder. (if the other user has different songs etc... then save them to a separate location for re-importing later!
Go to the Shared location... Make another Alias... drag it to the music folder and again DELETE the word ALIAS.
Do this for all users...
Any user who adds a song to iTunes... is shared by all.
Any user who creates a playlist... is shared by all.
One downside to this... if a user is logged in using iTunes and you switch users iTunes will not be available to the new user... unless the application is quitted...
G4 iMac 20 1.25ghz / G4 iBook 14 1.33ghz Mac OS X (10.4.9)

That steps above are far too much (and unecessary) work.
Drag the iTunes folder to a shared location.
Make sure all users have REad/Write permission to the iTunes fodler.
Each user start iTunes holding the Option key, select Choose existing library and pick the iTunes folder in the Shared folder.

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See if this helps: iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

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Here's a worflow for that:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
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