IPhoto 08: to recover lost photos after a sync

Question

I have an iMac and a MacBook. I stored some new photos on the MacBook. But before syncing (with FoldersSynchronizer 3.6.1), I opened iPhoto on the iMac and made some changes. After syncing, the MacBooh iPhoto looks like the iMac one! The new photos are missing and, I suppose, have been deleted during the sync. They are 200 photos of my last holidays. How can I recover them?
Thanks in advance
Stefano from Italy

Answer 1

Stefano:
Unfortunately, You'll have to start over with the iMac Library and import the Originals folder from the MabBook library, telling iPhoto not to import duplicates in the process. That will give you a fully updated iMac library which you can then copy to your MacBook and use there.
In the future you CANNOT just sync the two libraries. That's because you have to sync the contents of the Library6.iPhoto file and syncing application cannot do that. You can try the following in the future. Keep all new imports into each library in their original Events. Then you can use iPhoto Library Manager to copy the appropriate events between the two libraries to make them identical. Any keywords, comments and titles will be copied also.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.