IPhoto 09 library locked!!!

I installed iLife '09 this morning, everything installed ok and i started to have a look at iPhoto. All seemed fine, the people section was scanning my photos (it takes ages 900 mins+ !!) and I was going through putting in my places info. Then it crashed, probably because I was doing too much, the iPhoto library is stored on an external hard drive connected to the airport extreme (because the library size is just over 30GB) which I connect to through wifi, so it often runs slowly when doing a lot of stuff. I tried to re-open, but it came up with the message 'The iPhoto Library is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have permission to make changes to it', I've had a look at the other posts and it seems this problem has happened before in previous versions of iPhoto, but no-one's had the problem in '09 yet as far as I can see. I haven't tried anything yet, as I want to make sure I don't mess it up any more, unfortunately (stupidly) the library isn't backed up, and with years worth of photo's in the file somewhere (30GB+), I don't want top do anything wrong!! Please Help!!

The good news is that your photos are quite safe, inside the iPhoto Library on that external.
That said, as I’m sure you’ve read now, editing and organising an iPhoto Library over a wireless connection is simply not reliable.
Try rebuild the library: hold down the apple and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
Regards
TD

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I have mac book air os x 10.8.2 i create a photo library on iPhoto and i moved it to my time capsule disk now i try to access library from my wife mac book running on mac os x 10.5.8 i always receive library locked on locked disk

i have mac book air os x 10.8.2 i create a photo library on iPhoto and i moved it to my time capsule disk now i try to access library from my wife mac book running on mac os x 10.5.8 i always receive library locked on locked disk

Unless you can set the Time Capsule's drive to have it's ownership ignored
you won't be able to use the library on the same volume as the Time Machine backups.
OT

Moving iphoto 5 library to iphoto 6

i recently purchased a macbook pro, and i want to move my iphoto 5 library from a g4 desktop onto my macbook pro, which has iphoto 6 installed on it.
i guess i'd make the actual transfer in target disk mode, but my concern is, would i mess up iphoto 6 by dragging an iphoto 5 library into it? do i just replace the iphoto 6 library in my home folder with the iphoto 5 library? will iphoto know to convert the library over? if i had the same version on both computers i wouldn't worry, but that's not the case.
can someone talk me through this process step by step?
thanks for all your help.
Ken

Ken:
Yes, you just need to replace your iPhoto Library folder on the Macbook Pro with the V5 iPhoto Library folder, completely. Then open iPhoto which will detect the V5 library and inform you that it needs to update it to the V6 format.
I would, however, download and run BatChmod on the V5 iPhoto Library folder before it gets converted to V6 with the settings shown here, substituting your account name for mine. You can either type in the path to the folder or just drag the folder into that field. This is to insure that after the copying process all of the files get assigned with the correct permissions and access. Sometime a file will get locked or set to no access and that produces problems. Just a precaution.
Do you Twango?

Backup iphoto 09 library error

Arrrggghhhhh, please help me.
I am trying to move my iphoto 09 library to my 2 TB Time Capsule. The library size is showing as 96GB and my poor imac hd (intel) is only 320GB so is being dominated by images and movies (approx 16000). I thought I could put the library on the time capsule and keep the hd for music and documents. My question is two fold:
-Why when I am copying and pasting this library as a whole to the Time Capsule would it be aborting after about 8 hrs saying error -36? (Iphoto is closed and energy saving options are off)
-Is there a way for me to reduce the size of the library and rebuild to just include the photos that I can physically see in iPhoto? (any originals are long forgotten about.) That way I can use the time Capsule as a back up rather than a single storage place.
Many thanks

1. This is not a suitable location for the Library and not an intended use for the Time Capsule. If you want to move the Library off your internal HD buy a Firewire or USB disk, format it Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and use that.
2 A -36 error means that the process has hit a file that cannot be read or written - locked or damaged in other words. Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Include the option to check and repair Library permissions.
3. The only part of an iPhoto Library that can be removed safely is the iPod Photo Cache, but that's pointless as it will be recreated the next time you sync with an iPad/iPod/iPhone. Other than that Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Regards
TD

I am trying to move my wife's iPhoto '08 library to my new iMac for iPhoto '11.

I am trying to move my wife's iPhoto (2007) library on a Macbook to my new iMac for iPhoto '11. First, when I opened iPhoto on the iMac it asked me to create a library, which I did. Then I imported her photos via a wireless network to my "new" library. However, when it finally finished importing, it had imported 3 copies of each photo from her library. I deleted the "new" library and started over.
Second, I opened iPhoto on the iMac and chose to use "other library." I chose my wife's shared iPhoto library and it began transferring the photos to the new iMac (or so I thought). This worked beautifully as it only brought over single photos and not 3 copies like discussed above. After editing the new library and adding some photos from an old PC, I shut down iPhoto. A few hours later I tried to open iPhoto on the iMac and it gave me the opening screen again with choices to create a new library or use a different library. As it turns out, my wife's Macbook and been disconneted from our wireless network. I was able to figure out that that unless my wife's Macbook is connected to the network then I cannot access the iPhoto library on my iMac. I was under the impression that I had copied her library to my computer and that the photo files were now on the hard drive of the iMac. So when her computer is offline I can no longer access the imported library. I want her library to stay on the iMac as we plan to sell her Macbook. As you now know, we cannot access her iPhoto library on the Macbook since she is running an older version of iPhoto.
So, what I would like to do is to completely transfer the photos from her Macbook to my new iMac and be able to access them on the iMac regardless of whether she is on the network or not because we plan to sell her Macbook to a friend. Thank you for any help you can provide.

To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
and select the Library that you moved. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Your first option didn't work because you imported one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.
Your second option didn't work because you simply referenced her library on the old machine.
Regards
TD

IPhoto '08 Library won't open in OSX 10.6.7

I have moved an iPhoto '08 library to a new iMac running OSX 10.6.7 and I can't get the library to open - any suggestions?
Thanks in advance....
Sunny in Eugene, Oregon

I backed up the user to an external hard drive then dragged the iPhoto Library into her Pictures file. When I open iPhoto, I get 2 error messages: "To use iPhoto '11 you need to upgrade your photo library" - I click on "continue to upgrade. Simultaneously I get another message saying: "You can't open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto...Please quit & use the latest version".... I AM using the latest version??? Huh?
Thank for any help.....

How can i share my iphoto 11 library with another user on the same mac?

hi
i recently added a new user account for my wife on my macbook pro. now we want to share the existing iphoto 11 library, which is on my account, with the new user account. i'm using os x lion.
many thanks!
davide from sitzerland

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.

Manually migrate iPhoto 8 Library to iPhoto 9.5

Hi, I have a new MBP. Instead of using the Migration Wizard, and I want to manually move documents from my old MBP to the new one. I want a clean system, as there is a lot of cruft on the old machine from many prior migrations from machine to machine.
My first attempt at moving the iPhoto Library did not go well. I got the Unreadable Files error (1300 files) and iPhoto just hung thereafter. So, I want to try again. But, perhaps I'm not clear on the process of how to manually migrate the iPhoto Library. I did the following - is this correct, or should I have done something else?
Carbon Copy Cloner backup to external HD
Copied iPhoto Library from backup HD to /User/Pictures/ folder on new MBP
Opened iPhoto. It started importing and I went to sleep.
Awoke to review iPhoto import: Result was Unreadable Files error and a hung iPhoto
I had the following folders in /Users/Pictures: iPhoto Library_2 (this is what I copied from backup), iPhoto Library.photolibrary
System details:
Old MBP:
OSX 10.6.8
iPhoto 8.1.2
New MBP:
OSX 10.9.4
iPhoto 9.5.1
Should I have followed a different process?
Thanks in advance.

You screenshot does not display for me so I'm answering with the benefit of seeing it.
Opened iPhoto. It started importing and I went to sleep.
Did you try importing the iPhoto 8 library into a new library or just try to open the V8 library directly with iPhoto?
Get a fresh copy of the library from the EHD into the Pictures folder on your new Mac and do the following:
1 - copy the iPhoto 8.1.2 application from the EHD to the desktop, rename it iPhoto 8.1.2.app and place in your Applications folder.
2 - launch iPhoto 8.1.2 with the Option key held down, select the library and try to open. If it opens OK close iPhoto 8.1.2.
3 - launch iPhoto 9.5.1 with the Command+Option keys held down to open the First Aid window. Be sure to follow the circled recommendation in the screenshot.
3 - run Option #4, Rebuild Database.

How can I share a large iPhoto '11 library on multiple computers (I am the user on all) through iCloud?

I have three residences, and in each I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro (sixe devices in total, I do not like carrying computers through airports :-)) and I have an iPhoto '11 Library with 3,000 photos+. I know I can use Photo Stream to access recent photos via iCloud from these multiple devices. My question is: can I create a single iPhoto library stores in iCloud so that all my devices can in fact sync their libraries through iCloud?

No
That is not a feature of iPhoto or iCloud
LN

Removing EXIF and other Metadata from iPhoto 5 Library

This post is intended for users who have upgraded to iPhoto5 and have suffered extensive slowdowns because of metadata that has accumulated in their iPhoto library, specifically in the Library.iPhoto file.
This occurs if certain Pentax, Canon, and other digital cameras are used for pictures. Search this forum for "metadata" or "EXIF" or "makernote" (no quotes) for additional information about this issue.
If you are affected by this issue and want to rid your iPhoto 5 library of this extra garbage, follow the steps below.
1. Make two copies of your complete iPhoto Library folder and put them someplace else other than in the normal location. If something goes wrong, you'll have the backups. In any event, understand that if you follow these instructions, you are responsible for any problems, errors, or loss of photos. If you aren't prepared to take that responsibility, then do not read any further.
2. Go to http://www.versiontracker.com and search for and download the free SmallImage application. Install it in your Applications folder.
3. In your original iPhoto library, trash the Library.iPhoto file.
4. Launch SmallImage by dragging your entire (ORIGINAL) iPhoto Library folder on top of SmallImage.
5. There are 5 categories (checkboxes) of metadata (called profiles) that you can eliminate. I selected them all. Uncheck the "Recompress at quality:" checkbox. You don't want your photos altered. Uncheck the "Add Suffix" checkbox so that SmallImage will overwrite your photos with ones without the metadata. Select whether you want keep any custom file icons or not. Then, hold your breath and push the "Process Files" button in the SmallImage toolbar. If you have thousands of photos and/or a slow computer, it might take many hours.
6. When SmallImage is finished, lauch iPhoto5, holding down the command/apple, option and shift keys. Before iPhoto fully loads, you'll be presented with the library rebuilding dialog box. Check ALL 4 options (especially the last one) and then allow iPhoto to rebuild the library. This also can take a very long time, depending on computer speed and the number of photos you have. When iPhoto is finished rebuilding the libary and reloading your photos, you'll have an iPhoto library without any the metadata that seems to be slowing it down. If you hold down the wrong keys and don't get the library rebuilding dialog box, don't panic. Quit iPhoto, and try it again. Your photos are still there.
7. If you stay with your current camera (that is generating the metadata), manually transfer your picture files to your computer (but not directly into iPhoto) and use SmallImage to remove the metadata BEFORE you manually import them into iPhoto5.
Hopefully, future versions of iPhoto5 will include an import option to strip metadata from photo files. If SmallImage can do it, why can't our favorite fruit company?
Best of luck.
12 inch 1.5Ghz Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.3)
12 1.5Ghz Powerbook Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Link the two Macs together and use iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

I just saved my iphoto original library to my external hard drive, now how do i create new space on my hard drive and create a new iphoto library

i just saved my iphoto original library to my external hard drive, now how do i create new space on my hard drive and create a new iphoto library

Trash the copy of the library you just moved. Then Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
But do you want to have two iPhoto Libraries? Why not just use the one on the External?

I backed up 6000 photos from Snow Leopard iMac v.10.6 to new Western Digital External Engine "My Book." In attempting to COPY the pictures to My Book in order to free space on HD, I made a mistake. When I first dragged the iPhoto 11 Library folder to My

I backed up 6000+ photos from Snow Leopard iMac v.10.6.7 to new Western Digital "My book" successfully, I think! But when I attempted to COPY my photos to it in order to free up space on my HD, I made a mistake. When I dragged the iPhoto (11) Library to My Book and re-named it to "iPhoto Library.old" nothing happened. So I dragged it again, re-named it again (same name--that was the mistake, I guess!) and then it took about an hour+ to do its thing. When finished and I launched iPhoto by holding down the Option key, the dialog window listed two libraries: "iPhoto Library.old" and iPhoto Library.old (default)". So now what? It seems that I still have the originals when I open iPhoto, and do I have two copies, also? Should I delete one of them and if so, which one and how? Or should I eliminate both of them and start over again? And if so, how do I do that? Right now, neither my HD nor the My Book have changed the number of GB available or free since before I began this process. Will the numbers only change after I actually delete my original Library AND empty the Trash? I appreciate any light you can throw on this subject for me. I could lug it all to the local Genius Bar, but now I'm afraid to unplug anything for fear I'll lose everything! Thank you, you wonderful, bright people. (An 83-year-old Grandma, trying to keep up a little, at least)

Oh my! Obviously, I don't know what I'm doing. But I do know that my goal was to do both---backup AND free some space. My iMAc is old (2006) and I upgraded it a year or so ago to Snow Leopard. I didn't think I had the capability of backing up without an external drive, but maybe I do since I upgraded. Do I?
But I bought this My Book mostly for freeing space because I like to make cards in Photoshop and I'm forever running out of space when I get too many layers (don't really know what I'm doing there, either).
Is there some way that I can rectify my mistakes and start all over?
Thank you so much for beng so prompt with your reply and patient with mine. I tried for so long to see the dialog box with the library listings. When I launched iPhoto, even with holding down the Option key, it kept immediately launching into the full screen. Finally, after an hour of doing it over and over again, it worked when I held the key down for 5 minutes. Then when I was typing my reply, I kept getting a message to "Request Time Out." Didn't know how to do that, so kept hitting the OK button and kept typing for another half minute. Finally, when ready to send, Safari couldn't do it. "Try again" exasperated me until I realized I would have to begin again and use Firefox. When I got there and ready to type, I got the message that my message had been retrienved and did I want to use it?!!
So your kindness is very much appreciated.

Iphoto 6 : library structure

Greetings ;
I'm new to mac. I've been reading thru the various posts and haven't found a matching situation at least described this way.
i've done what i now know what not to do by somehow through finder altering something in the IPhoto Library.
This is a finder view of the 2006 library structure:
Iphoto 6 Library
Data (this i understand to be thumbnails)
2006
rolls 1 - 13 exist (each populated)
Originals
2006
rolls 1 - 13 exist (each populated)
Iphoto 6 was used to import photos from Canon.
The photos were viewable from within Iphoto 6.
Now they are not.
While in Iphoto 6
Library - has some photos in it
Early Photos (no photos)
2003 (no photos)
2004 (no photos)
2005 (some photos)
2006 (no photos)
Last 14 Months (changed via preferences)
Last 12 Months
Trash
The good thing is Rolls 1 thru 13 (data and original) contain all the images per each download via iPhoto 6 (even tho they are repeats as i was experiencing download problems with my camera and repeated the download about 8 times hence rolls 6 - 13 are partial duplicates of each other.
i created a duplicate of the iPhoto Library in the desktop for now.
by the various posts i attempted the command option iphoto rebuild and selected the all options - it completed ok but the rolls 1-13 in the HD file structure are not corresponding while in IPhoto app.
While in iPhoto app:
i see no rolls and the 2006 year is completely empty.
likewise the 2005 year and the library have some pictures in them but there is no corresponding 2005 or library in the finder view of both the data and the original.
The Finder view of the structure only shows 2006 (rolls 1 -13) for both data and original.
Further : I'm not positive of the sequence here as i'm new to mac and did what i thought was ok but now know otherwise. I created albums and copied/moved (not sure) photos from the library to the albums then moved/ copied from the library to the iPhoto trash (most of which are still there).
I can only tell you where things are now and not exactly how they got this way.
So...
1) So How do I sync up the 13 rolls viewable in finder with something that makes sense while in iPhoto ?
2) What did the rebuild do for me as I hoped it would solve the 13 roll phenomenon?
The per import from camera creating a new roll within iPhoto as I now understand is the way it operates is where i'd like to get back to so I can at least start from ground zero.
Thanks for the assistance.
wb

restuart:
Isn't the cache folder titled "iPod Photo Cache"? It has to do with adding photos to an iPod. Even if you don't sync photos to an ipod there'll be that folder if you've ever connected an iPod.
The Data folder contains the thumbnail files for each photo.
Regarding the year folder with the old structure, I believe it's like our appendix, no longer needed. I had a 2005 folder with just photo in it. I moved it to the desktop and opened iPhoto, went to the roll that had that picture in and it was there and useable. I've since trashed that 2005 folder. Give it a try. and see if there's any problems with removing it. Make a backup of the library folder beforehand just in case.
There is some sort of bug with the roll dates. When you import an old folder of files it uses one of the modified dates instead of the captured date on many of the rolls. I haven't figured out how it determines which date on which photo to use. It's easy to change the date of the roll so it is located in the proper chronological position among the other rolls.
The current folder structure is a result of many requests to get iPhoto in line with other more professional image management applications. iPhoto's new capability of being able to use alias files instead of copying the entire file into it's new folder system allows it to be able to use soruce image files that are on another HD/CD /DVD and if the source files are not mounted iPhoto can still see the thumbnails, make and manipulate albums but cannot edit or work with books, slideshow or calendars. Once the photos come back on line iPhoto can use them again. This way users can develop their own folder/cataloging system and iPhoto will construct it's library in accordance with it.

Using iPhoto '08 Library w/ Adobe Bridge?

How can import my iPhoto '08 Library into Adobe Bridge?

Mason
I'm not sure that this will work, so back up first.
The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves. If you're willing to risk database corruption, you can restore the older functionality simply by right clicking on the iPhoto Library and choosing 'Show Package Contents'. Then simply make an alias to the folders you require and put that alias on the desktop or where ever you want it. Be aware though, that this is a hack and not supported by Apple.
Regards
TD

Problem with opening iphoto 6 library in iphoto08

I just copied my old iphoto 6 library into my new macbook, picture folder. Then I opened iphoto08, but iphoto shows no pictures,even though the "new" library is 6,3 GB large...
Any ideas?
The only thing I ca think of is that my old iphoto library seems a bit "messy" when I open it...

Macbubel
What does "a bit messy" mean?
Some things to try:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and point iPhoto at the library. If it finds a valid library then it will update and open it.
If it doesn't find a valid library: was iPhoto working normally on he old machine? Try copy it over again if it was - maybe a damaged copy.
Otherwise:
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums back.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD

IPhoto 09 library locked!!!

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