IPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup

As of yesterday I am unable to open iPhoto and get the message ‘The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another library.’
This may have come about because I recently loaded some irreplaceable pictures on iPhoto and was trying to check that they had been backed up on my external (OneTouch 4) hard drive. I opened the hard drive and double-clicked on various files from the latest back-up. I wasn’t able to identify the photos for certain but assumed that they had been backed up OK. Anyway, I guess this procedure has given me the problem with iPhoto! I should also mention that, several months ago, I put a copy of the iPhoto application on my external hard drive thinking (no doubt wrongly) that it would enable me to view backed up photos. I have never used it but it is still there.
Doing a search for the latest photos shows that my photo library in general appears to be intact on my iMac (the path is -home folder-pictures-iPhoto library-originals-2010-event-individual photo) and each photo can be opened in Preview. But how do I get them back on iPhoto, please?

I have no idea -you tell us nothing except for the error
certainly selecting the correct library is critical - it is possible that that is your problem - it also is possible that something else is the problem - pointing to the correct library can not create any problems so do it
As to keeping all of your photos together - do nothing and iPhoto will do that - the only way anything else can happen is if you mess with the iPhoto library or create multiple libraries - iPhoto always uses the same library until you direct it to change
LN

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How do i import an iPhoto library from a time machine backup?

how do i import an iPhoto library from a time machine backup? I did a back up and i formatted my machine. How do i get iphoto to be the same?

This screenshot shows how to restore a library from Time Machine.
There is NO importing necessary. One should never import one library into another. Just restore it to your Pictures folder and launch iPhoto.
OT

Trouble with restoring an iPhoto library from a time machine backup.

I'm having trouble restoring my iPhoto library from a time machine backup.
I have created a new library in my pictures file.
When I try to restore the library the restore process is trying to copy it to an external drive that no longer exists - it failed and I had to have it recovered and all the recovery (including backups) data is now on a different external hard drive.
iPhoto had been using that old external drive location to start. iPhoto is now pointed to the newly created iPhoto library in my pictures file on my MacBook Air.
Is there a way to have the restoration process point to that new iPhoto library that is now empty and not to the old external drive?

You might try this with the restored library:
Starting over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Open the library package like this.
2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.
This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.

I recently tried to look up my pictures on my time machine back up on an external hard drive. As soon as I try to open it I get the following message.
"The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library."
I have tried holding down the option key but still couldn't few the photos.
I want to know if there is anyway I can actually view these photos. I have over 85gbs of photos on the hard drive. I have tried googling and looking at pervious forums with the same problem but nothing is working.
Please help!

Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu. Search for "Restore items backed up with Time Machine."

IPhoto won't open. Says CAUTIONThe iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library.

I tries to verify that my photos were being backed up on Time Machine to an external harddrive, because I would like to delete my Camera Roll on my iPhone. I was not able to view any photos in my backed up photo library, after entering Time machine. Now, I can't even open iPhoto on my iMac with the pop up box warning me that the library is a Time machine backup....which it shouldn't be, because I'm openning iPhoto on my Mac...NOT the external HD.
What happened, and how do I access my photos?

It sounds like you went into the Time Machine hard drive, found a library and "dragged" it to your Pictures folder or wherever on your hard drive. That's not the way to do it.
Go to your Pictures folder and enter Time Machine via the TM menu in the menu bar:
Then follow the instructions in this screenshot:
OT

Cannot restore iphoto library correctly from time machine backup

Hi all,
Yesterday I had to reinstall my mac with no particular reason. Suddenly the startup screen with the "circle" went on indefinitely for 10+ minutes before shutting down the system. Yes, the power cord was plugged in. No, I didn't manage to start it in safe mode...
I thought it wouldn't be a big deal since I regularly back up my mac on an external drive by Time Machine. So I reinstalled and restored the system.
I could log in fine, but here's the catch:
1) only 3 iPhoto events out of 30 are restored
2) for all other events I seem to have the thumbnails but not the original or modified files
3) trying to browse into the Pictures folder shows that:
- the iPhoto library file does not appear with the usual icon
- if I examine the package, for all events that don't show up in iPhoto, the event hierarchy (e.g. 2008/eventxyz) exists but the folders are empty in both the "Original" and "Modified" hierarchies
- same if I click on the same file in ANY of the 4 backups I have on the time machine disk
By the way TM restored the system to MacOSX 10.5.2 even if I'm sure I had a later version. In fact, I can't open iTunes either because it says the library has been created with a later version of iTunes. But what really worries me is that I can't even find the .JPG original files.
Can somebody please help? I relied on Time Machine and there's 6 years of memories there...
Thank you

I have the same symptom, but as the result of an external hard drive failure. My Time Machine backups from June 2009 - August 2009 contain the iPhoto library. When I restore the iPhoto library (pick any random backup date) I can see the thumbnails or a blank dashed outline of the old photos. When I click on the thumbnail I can get the metadata (photo location, photo date, etc...) but the photos are gone. When I am in iPhoto the lower left corner of the interface shows the library size is 42Gb, but the restored library package is only about 3Gb. My guess is the difference in file size is equal to the size of the original (and modified) files that didnt get backed up. None of my iPhoto library packages in Time Machine are larger than 3Gb.
I brought my backup drive to the folks at the Genius Bar. They were perplexed. They suggested I bring in my Mac Mini so they could look at the console. I took a look at the console at home and searched for "Time Machine" and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Not sure why Time Machine would appear to run so smoothly yet selectively not back up my original photos. I can restore everything else from my Time Machine backup to my new external drive just fine.

Restoring a single iPhoto library from multiple Time Machine backups

My daughter traveled for six months in SE Asia with her MacBook Air with the Lion OS. She routinely deleted all iPhoto 11 content after backing up with Time Machine on a 1 TB external drive as the drive on her Mac reached capacity. My question: how can she create a single, complete iPhoto library on an external drive from these multiple backups?

Your daughter will have to restore the iPhoto Libraries by going back in time on Time Machine and extracting the different libraries at the points in time before they got erased.
iPhoto does not have a feature to merge these libraries. So she could either export the images from each library and then reimport those into one selected library or use the iPhoto Library Manager application to extract photos from one library and to import them into another. Using iPhoto Library Manager she could preserve keywords and captions, but this software is not free.
Next time your daughter should simply create her iPhoto Library on her external volume, so that she has enough space to collect all pictures in one library.
Regards
Léonie

Iphoto library missing from Time Machine backup

I recently backed up my Mac Mini (Mac OS X v10.7.5) to a Seacoast 1TB external hard drive with the Time Machine feature. I wanted to double check a few key files to ensure they were backed up. Upon searching I was able to discover all my files transfered over EXCEPT my iphoto library or rather I might be looking for it in the wrong place. I made sure iphoto was closed during the back up. I currently have about 17,000 photos and I would like them preserved above all else. Can anyone provide some suggestions?

Have a look at
 > System Preferences... > Time Machine
Click the padlock (bottom left) if its not open, and enter an Admin password.
Next, click the 'Options...' button (bottom right)
Is iPhoto listed in the window? If so, it means it's been excluded from the backup.
To include it, highlight it in the window, click the -minus button and hit 'Save'.
In the menu bar, click the TM icon and choose 'Back up now' from the menu to start the backup.

I can't access iPhoto any more??? This is the message I'm receiving......The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library." Help!!!! Please!!!!!

What does this mean? I had my computer restored and now i cant use iphoto..... i had it restored from a back up from feb 2013... my mac is missing a few things since but iphoto is a necessity these days..... Help me.... Help me please.....!!!

SOrry - that is not a result of launching iphoto while depressing the option key - to help you we need to know what you have and the results of this question are important to that
LN

Tijdens het terugplaatsen van de Iphoto library van de Time machine back-up na vervanging harde schijf krijg ik steeds de volgende foutmelding: U kunt 'iPhoto Library' niet kopiëren, omdat het dezelfde naam heeft als een ander onderdeel op het doelvolume

While replacing the Iphoto library from the Time Machine backup after replacing the ard drive I get the following error message:
You can use iPhoto Library not copy, because it has the same name as another item on the destination volume, and that volume does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters in filenames.
Who knows a solution?

Hello Hans,
It seems the TM drive was formatted Case Sensitive!? And this drive is Case Insensitive!?
So with case Sensitive we could have 2 different folders like...
Music
music
But with Case Insensitive they both appear as the same name & only one can exist.
I'm not sure the fix for yjis, but it seems the current one would have to be renamed or something. And no idea how iPhoto would react to that, possibly no problem if not running while you do this.

How do I Restore my iPhoto library from my time machine if it does not give me the restore option?

How do I Restore my iPhoto library from my time machine if it does not give me the restore option?
When I go into my backups and click on the iPhoto library it does not come up with an option to restore it just says open and of course then won't let me open it because it is a back up in time machine? I need these photo very important.

Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support
For detailes TM support post in the forum for your OS rather than the iphoto forum
LN

Restore an individual iphoto event from a time machine backup!

Can you restore an individual iphoto event from a time machine backup or do you have to restore an entire library?
Whilst deleting some old photos from my library i seem to have accidentally deleted an entire event of photos. I regularly backup my iMac using TIme Machine, so was hoping that i could restore this one event. Is this possible and if so how do you do it?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Greetings Martyn,
You can restore events from TimeMachine if you like. Read here.
Rather than clicking on individual pictures, you click on "Events", highlight the events you want, and then click restore.
Hope that helps.

Restoring "iPhoto Library" file with Time Machine

My iPhono Library file (which is about 32GB in size) was corrupted by a system crash as I was uploaded new photos. As a result, I was unable to open iPhoto. I tried to restore the iPhoto Library file from the back-up I had from yesterday in Time Machine. For some reason, the restore gets about 3.5GB through and then give me a message that it can't perform the function because I don't have permission ot access the iPhoto Library file.
I need to get this file back up and running. The original file is gone now, as it was over written by the failed restore attempt. I have about 10 years worth of photos of my kids I need back! ANyone have any idea why I can't restore the iPhoto Library file from Time Machine?
Thanks!

You need to remove the new library file you created. Then locate the one you want restored from your TM backup using the Time Machine application. If you're not sure how a restore is done the select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." One of the articles will outline the procedure for restoring individual files.
Also, see User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

Iphoto Library is a time machine back up!!!! Where are my photos??

Please help. Yesterday I opened Time Machine for the first time and set it up to do my backups. I then went to open iphoto (12 hours later) and I got the error message "The iphoto Library is a time machine back up, and so cannot be used as the main library". How can I get iphoto to work again and where are my photos??? Thanks in advance.

Is it possible that iPhoto is pointing to the wrong iPhoto Library file? First verify that you have a file called iPhoto Library in your pictures folder. Next, while launching iPhoto hold down the option key. You will be prompted to locate your iPhoto Library file (or to create a new library). Make sure that your iPhoto library shows up, and that it's located in your Pictures folder and not somewhere else. Select the iPhoto Library and choose it.
To make sure that your pictures are still in the iPhoto Library file you can hold the control key down while clicking on the iPhoto Library file. If you choose the 'Show Package Contents' option you will be presented with a list of folders. If you open up the folder titled 'Masters' you will see another list of folders by year. Digging deeper you should find your pictures in additional folders listed by month/day/roll. At a minimum this should help you confirm that your pictures are still intact.
If you continue to have issues you might need to give Apple a call. I have successfully used Time Machine for several years without any issues.

How do I retrieve my iphoto library from the Time Machine back-up drive, when the original iphoto library was on a separate external hard drive that has crashed?

I recently backed up my iMAC and Simpletech external hard-drive to a 1 TB WD Passport external hard drive, using Time Machine's back-up utility. Today, I tried to access my iphoto library from the back-up drive, but received a message saying "the iPhoto library is a Time Machine back up, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPHoto with options key held down to choose another library." Since my Simpletech died on me, what other iPhoto library is it expecting me to access? I know approximately 169 GB were backed up, and my iPhoto library is roughly 54 GB.
Angie in Charlotte

Thanks. I will try going through TM. Since my Simpletech is on the way out, I'll be plugging in a new external hard drive (other than the back-up drive) and trying to restore the library to the new drive. Any advice or warning if this is NOT the right thing to do?
Meanwhile, that is a great tip to do an alternate back-up using a different means. It's been tough to figure out how to "preserve access" to digital images and files for posterity, knowing the hardware will always fail/obsolesce sooner or later, and that "clouds" are only as good as their consistent and reliable accessibility. Upping the odds with redundancy will help dull the edge of my "access anxiety", though logically, it can never relieve it. Will look into
Carbon Copy Cloner.

IPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup

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