IPhoto Library Selection at Start Up

iPhoto asks "which iPhoto library do you want to use?" every time i open iphoto, but i only have one iphoto library?
please help me, i want to get rid of this, so it doesent ask me every time i open iphoto.

Try trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder.
(On 10.7: Hold the option (or alt) key while clicking on the Go menu in Finder to access the User Library)
(Remember you'll need to reset your User options afterwards. These include minor settings like the window colour and so on. Note: If you've moved your library you'll need to point iPhoto at it again.)
What's the plist file?
For new users: Every application on your Mac has an accompanying plist file. It records certain User choices. For instance, in your favourite Word Processor it remembers your choice of Default Font, on your Web Browser is remembers things like your choice of Home Page. It even recalls what windows you had open last if your app allows you to pick up from where you left off last. The iPhoto plist file remembers things like the location of the Library, your choice of background colour, whether you are running a Referenced or Managed Library, what preferences you have for autosplitting events and so on. Trashing the plist file forces the app to generate a new one on the next launch, and this restores things to the Factory Defaults. Hence, if you've changed any of these things you'll need to reset them. If you haven't, then no bother. Trashing the plist file is Mac troubleshooting 101.

Similar Messages

IPhoto library selection menu lists library twice

Hello,
I am running iPhoto '11 9.3.2 on a MacBook Pro running 10.7.4. I moved a few iPhoto library folders from another laptop to my MacBook Pro Pictures folder this afternoon. Now, when I hold down the Option key and start iPhoto, the library selection menu lists one of the libraries I moved twice. Filepath shown for each listing is the same, but oddly one of them is in all CAPS. Choosing either one seems to open up the correct library, but having it listed twice worries me. Why is this happeing and how can I correct this? Please see my 3 screenshots below for clarification.
This screenshot shows the libraries in my Pictures folder. iPhoto Library Olive is only in the Pictures folder once. The filepath can be seen at the bottom of the screenshot as /Users/erin/Pictures/iPhoto Library Olive.
When I hold down the Option key and start photoshop, the above library selection menu pops up. Here, iPhoto Library Olive is listed twice. Filepath for the 1st iPhoto Library Olive selection shows /Users/erin/Pictures/IPHOTO LIBRARY OLIVE. I am not sure why the library name is in all caps here.
Above, I have selected the 2nd iPhoto Library Olive (default). The filepath reads /Users/erin/Pictures/iPhoto Library Olive. No caps in this iteration of the filepath.
What is the problem?
Thanks for any assistance.
- erin

Try the following: make a temporary, backup copy (if you don't already have a backup copy) of the library and try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home()/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home()/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder.
Click to view full size
3 - launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
OT

Copy items to the iPhoto library selection doesn't work?

Hello,
I'm new to OS X, and new to Macs in general, so this may be a n00b question . . .
In iPhoto '11 (9.5, 902.7), I have cleared the "Copy items to the iPhoto library" entry in Preferences, then imported all my photos. However, the size of the iPhoto Library file is still enormous (40 GB), and it's the same size as when I imported the photos with the checkbox enabled.
So does this checkbox function as designed and I'm just not doing it right?
Thanks,

1 unchecking this option is very strongly NOT recommended. Doing so builds up massive problems for the future. And it accomplishes nothing
2. Checking or unchecking itpt does nothing to the existing library. It only affects future imports
I strongly suggest that you start over with a new library leaving the copy preference checked
LN

Can I make my iphoto library a screensaver that rotates repeatedly selecting randomly

I understand how to make one or more pictures my desktop picture. But what I would like to do is have the pictures in my IPhoto library selected randomly be a screensaver that rotates across the screen when I am not using my computer. How can I do that?

The available options for SceenSavers are found in the Desktop and Screen Savers Peference Pane. Yes the iPhoto Library is available for use by screensavers, but what exactly is done with them is a matter for the Screensaver options there.

Accessing old Iphoto library on external hard drive in new iphoto

We recently bought a new macbook pro with iphoto 9.5.1. Previously, we had a 2008 macbook and had transferred the very large iphoto library onto our Toshiba external harddrive. After downloading Tuxera NTFS to be able to use the external hard drive on this computer, I tried to open the iphoto library. It said that the photos needed to be upgraded to be usable on the new iphoto. So I downloaded the iphoto upgrader. When running it, it says the iphoto library selected (the one on the external hard drive) does not need to be updated. When I try to open it through iphoto, it says that it needs to update and starts the process. Within a minute is says that some of the permissions on the library are incorrect and asks if I want to repair it. After clicking to repair it, iphoto stops responding and we have to force quit to stop it. Any ideas on how to access the library? I have over 20,000 pictures in that library and would like to be able to access them on a regular basis.

fter downloading Tuxera NTFS to be able to use the external hard drive on this computer,
An iPhoto library MUST be on a volume formatted OS X Extended (journaled) in order to be used from there. So your NTFS server won't work. You'll need another external hard drive formatted as I described:
There is just no way to make it work on your drive as it is configured now.
OT

Missing iPhoto library - replaced by MacFort with sparse bundle image

Hello to everyone!
I am new to the community and to Apple in General! Got my new Macbook Air abouth a month ago and one the first thing I did was to transfer all my pictures to iPhoto (about 18k or 55Gb). I sorted them in Events, Albums, etc - all cool. Then, I decided to password protect my iPhoto library using MacFort. I guess thhis was a big mistake from my part as I didn't really understand how this software really worked...
Anyway, here's what I did step by step and what was the rather unpleasant outcome:
1) Installed MacFort; found my iPhoto Library there and started encrypting it straight away
2) Once the encrypting was finished, iPhoto started to request a password everytime it was launched - so far so good
3) After the trial of MacFort expired I decided to uninstall the App. Stupid as I am, I did it with CleanApp and not using the uninstall option through MacFort
4) When decided to launch iPhoto it couldnt find any libraries as if none really existed before .. :X
5) I then restored MacFort as it was still in my Trash and tried to load the encrypted file.. Unfortunately the App doesn't find any files and I cannot decrypt the vault I had previously created for iPhoto...
- even worse: it doesn't find iPhoto nor its library when scanning for files to encrypt
- the only thing that MacFort recognises is the a vault which I can lock or unlock:
6) I then did some searches and found out that all my pictures (about 50gb) are considered as 'Other' storage (i.e. the sparse bundle disk image) and I have nothing considered as photos in Iphoto
7) Right then I found out that I approached the entire encrypting process in a very wrong way. I did not create a copy of my iPhoto library and then encrypt it but insted I worked directly on my original iPhoto library file.
Now I have a single file called Valentin.sparsebundle that contains my entire iPhoto library. I thought I had lost everything when mis-uninstalling MacFort but I can still access my photos when selecting the sparse bundle file when iPhoto asks to 'Choose Library'
So my question now is: Is there a way I can change this Sparse Image and return my original iPhoto library in order then to unistall MacFort and delete any encrypted disk images? In other words, put back everything the way it was before installing MacFort?
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give you as much detail as possible. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Valentin

Not sure how I can do this.
So I can see the image file is located in Users->MacFort (again no storage allocated to Iphoto...) :
The file itself:
I can open my entire library and as you can see all of my pictures/events/albums are visible under Media in the open file command:
However in the Pictures folder there is barely anything:
I think the second file (45bytes) is only an alias(shortcut) to the sparsebundle image.
So in fact I can access my iPhoto library but it doesn't really exist :/

Iphoto library rebuild

Hi All.
Have had to resort to posting on here for assistance with an issue on my mid 2010 macbook pro, purchased January 2011. Never had any issues with it until now. I recently updated software and now can't access iphoto. I am not sure what the update was and whether this is related or not.
On trying to open iphoto, the message is that the library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iphoto and my iphoto library will not be readable by previous version of iphoto after the upgrade process. The only options were quit or upgrade so on clicking 'upgrade' the message becomes "iphoto is unable to open this library...it has issues that require rebuilding to correct." Options are quit or rebuild so on clicking 'rebuild', message becomes "iphoto library is missing required database files and must be rebuilt before it can be opened". On clicking the further 'rebuild' option, the message becomes "iphoto will open as soon as the library is available. However having left it running overnight, it still appeared to be trying to rebuild with no discernable progress made. As a result, i have cancelled the rebuild after 12 hours.
Having looked at a few postings on here with apparently similar issues, i have tried the CMD/ALT option when opening iphoto and selecting various options available. Option 1 - repair iphoto database seems to produce the same effect as above, ie says it is rebuilding though no progress can be seen, though there is a secondary 'rebuilding library : examining library' box which never makes any progress. The 2nd option - rebuild iphoto library database from automatic backup, doesnt work and results in the message 'your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please restore from a backup. I do have a backup on a separate hard drive.
I have the following questions and would be grateful for any assistance that can be given. I am by no means a computer expert but figure with a bit of pointing in the right direction, i should be able to sort out basic issues.
1 - I am not sure how to restore from a backup so assistance would be appreciated.
2 - Is the problem with iphoto itself or, as has been suggested in some postings, the library? What is the difference?
3 - Do i need to delete the version of iphoto i have and replace either from the discs or with a downloaded version? if so, what version do i use? My mac uses osx 10.6.8.
4 - Are my photos still on the macbook somewhere and assuming i can get a working version of iphoto again, how do i access them? Or, do i have to use the backedup photos on the separate drive?
Many thanks
Mike

Here is what I suggest you do.
(a) Download iPhoto Library Manager. I think it costs $20 or $30 but it is worth it.
(b) Make a copy of your iPhoto Library from your backup that presumably is in better shape than the one you have been working from. I don't know what format your backupo is. If you can simply copy the iPhoto Library file (it's actually a type of folder but looks like a file) over from the backup, do that, and work with that copy, leaving the backup copy alone, untouched (in case something goes wrong). If you used Time Machine, run Time Machine and go back in time to before you started trying to update the iPhoto Library file and copy that earlier backed up copy over to work with. If you instead wish to work with your current version of the iPhoto Library, which I don't recommend but which might be ok, you can do that.
(c) Run iPhoto Library Manager. Choose Add Library and navigate to and select the copy of your iPhoto Library backup from above (or your current copy of the iPhoto Library if that is the approach you are taking).
(d) Once you have that iPhoto Library selected in iPhoto Library Manager, under the File Menu select Rebuild Library ...
(e) It will save this rebuilt library as a separate file, not modifying the file you are rebuilding. This is a big plus.
(f) As the rebuild proceeds, it will show you each photo as it processes it, so you can gauge the progress precisely.
(g) When done, the rebuilt iPhoto Library (new) file should work properly with iPhoto.
My daughter's 22,000 iPhoto Library was rebuilt this way and it took ~ 4 hours. But it worked. Hers stopped working when her computer froze while working in iPhoto.
This iPhoto Library Manager program is more successful in rebuilding these photo databases than is iPhoto itself.
Answers to your questions:
(1) Depends on your backup. I gave some hints above for Time Machine.
(2) The iPhoto Library is a database of all the photos. I suspect from what you describe that it is the iPhoto Library itself that has become corrupted. This is the most common problem. The database is complex and is prone to this sort of thing.
(3) You should use the most recent version of iPhoto. Click ONCE on the iPhoto application in your Applications folder and in the File Menu select Get Info. It should be version 9.3 or later. You can update it through Software Update or through the App Store if necessary.
(4) Even though your iPhoto Library file/database appears to be corrupted, the photos are all still there. Just the pointers have been corrupted so iPhoto cannot access them in an orderly way. You can see the original photos by going to the iPhoto Library, RIGHT-CLICKING on it, selecting Show Package Contents, and looking in the folder there called Masters (or Originals). If you really had to, you could copy those originals out into a big new folder and re-import them all into a new iPhoto Library, but I doubt that will be necessary. By the way, do not change or modify anything that is inside this iPhoto Library file/folder, but you can look in there to see that your original photos are still present.

Uploading photos from iPhoto library

I need an explanation of how to resume an upload of all my photos in the iPhoto library on my iMac. I started to upload them last week but got interrupted and am not sure where I left off. Photos are all numbered/named with long, esoteric numbers (e.g., 355575043_4e333_m). In other words, what is the easiest way to pickup where I left off. Also do duplicate photos get up;loaded, or, will iCloud just ignore those?

Signed into my icloud drive > clicked on upload > navigated to my iphoto library > selected pix I wanted to upload to the cloud. This was last week. I got about 1/3 of my iphoto library uploaded when had to stop. Came back to resume the upload process only to discover I have no idea where I left off. Being the lazy lad that I am, I never rename my pix no give them any unique identifiers.

IPhoto Library Won't Load After 10.4.10 Combo Update (PPC)

After updating to 10.4.10 on a G4 desktop the iPhoto library will no longer load. Tried several times to rebuilt it and program quits unexpectedly just as it finishes rebuild. Ran repair disk permissions from HD and Repair Disk from DVD and re-installed 10.4.9, but problem remains. Had some trouble importing the last few photos (downloaded from an e-mail) before this problem occured (possible it is not related to 10.4.10 upgrade?). Been everywhere looking for a way to solve this, but to no avail. Any suggestions?

Hi, redwood. You had trouble with the emailed photos because they had been compressed by the sender using Stuffit (that's what the .sit suffix indicates), and you didn't unStuff them before importing them. I'm surprised that iPhoto was even willing to try to import them. It certainly couldn't have displayed them in that form.
If you then trashed them and emptied the trash *within iPhoto*, I'm not sure why they should have continued to cause you trouble — but since I don't understand how they could have been imported in the first place, I wouldn't really expect to understand all the consequences.
If, instead, you trashed them from within the iPhoto Library folder using the Finder, doing so corrupted your iPhoto Library database and necessitated a rebuild — which ordinarily produces better results than it apparently did in your case. Perhaps there were files left in the iPhoto Library folder that still referenced the files you deleted, and iPhoto didn't know how to handle references to files that weren't in an image format.
Setting aside what we don't understand and may never understand, I suggest that you leave your present defective iPhoto Library just as it is for the moment, and try to determine whether the backup copy is usable. (Good for you for having one, by the way!):
Connect or insert the drive or disc that contains the backup iPhoto Library folder. Start iPhoto while holding down the Option key, and continue to hold it down until you're asked whether you want to Create or Find a library. Choose Find, then navigate to the backup Library folder and click Open. If it opens normally and everything seems to be in order in it, simply replace the bad library folder inside your account's Pictures folder with a copy of the backup library folder, and you're back in business. It if doesn't open correctly, post back with details of what happened.
Note that the only way to make a successful backup copy of your iPhoto Library is to copy the entire iPhoto Library folder *as a unit* to another storage volume (a volume is a hard drive, a partition on a hard drive that contains more than one partition, a CD, DVD, flash drive, or other storage medium). If your backup wasn't made this way, it won't be usable.
EDIT: Well, I was busily churning out my long reply while you were solving the problem. I'm glad it turned out well.

Copying of iPhoto library going very slowly

Hello, all,
Yesterday I purchased a brand new 1TB firewire 800 external drive. It's correctly formatted for my Mac. I had wanted to put my iPhoto library on this drive, OR use it as a backup location for the library. Either way, I needed to copy it over from my iMac's internal drive.
I tried twice to copy the library (using the Finder), which lists itself as 89GB. Each time the Finder progress bar indicated the copy would take two to three days. That sounded like way too short a time over Firewire 800. To test things out, I did a different backup copy of my *iTunes* library, which is also over 80GB. That library lives on a different external drive, using Firewire 400. THAT copy took less than an hour, and it had to go downstream from one external and then upstream to the new external. A second copy of other files from that external drive also went swimmingly: 22GB in about 12 minutes.
Does anyone have any insight into what might be happening? Is there something unusual about iPhoto libraries that makes them copy more slowly than other kinds of files?
Thanks for your help!

I found a fast soution 45 Gb Library copied in ~30 min. over USB 2.0
I did a semi-manual copy, by opening the iPhoto Library - "Show package contents" (in right click menu) then copying the contents to a new iPhoto libaray "Package"
Instead of copying all at once copy the small files/folders in one batch, wati to complete, then copy the larger files folders. You can copy the package contents one folder at a time or a few at a time. I found that copying the Library files in one batch, then copying the Masters, Previews, & Thumbnails in a second batch seemed to work well without choking up.
Here's the steps
Connect your hard drive or Mac in Target disk mode
navigate to the folder containing the iPhoto Library you wish to copy
'Right click' Show Package Contents
You'll see apx 19 files - select all but exclude 3 folders: Masters, Previews, & Thumbnails you'll come back for theses later
Copy these files to an empty folder on your destination drive/Mac (Later you'll use iPhoto to make a new libary "Package" then you'll put these files inside it) The copy should take a few minutes, high volume + tiny files
When the first copy is finished, go back and copy the remaining 3 folders Masters, Previews, & Thumbnails. This is the opposite as previous step, lower volume + larger files. Copy speeds should be normal ie 30 min. for 45 Gb over USB 2.0.
Once all these files and folders are copied you need to put them into an empty iPhoto Library container. An easy way to do this is
Launch iPhoto holding the Option key
Choose 'New Library' (choose an apprpriate name)
Quit iPhoto
in Finder go to the new Library you just created (User/Pictures/) - be sure its the one you just made
Right Click (Control + Click) the iPhoto Libraray
Choose - Show Package Contents (now you're looking at the contents that makup an iPhoto library)
Select all these files and folders and delete them to the trash Open the folder that has your freshly copied files and put them in this empty iPhoto Library package.
Close finder windows (disconnect your hard drive or Mac)
Launch iPhoto (you can hold the Option Key while launching iPhoto to choose the correct Library if you have more than one).
Viola. You should have a functional copy from your old Mac/External hard drive.
REMEMBER!
The easiest way to mess up your iPhoto Library is to move things around inside the "Package contents" of your iPhoto Library. Its hidden in there for a reason, so don't go mucking about under the hood. Best practice is to touch nothing inside the "Show Package Contetns" of your iPhoto library. As described above, we're merely just speeding up a file transfer and copying files so they mirror their source in a new destination. Good luck.

How to organize and backup iPhoto library

I'm a slob anyway, and then there were the hard drive troubles, and now I have an iPhoto library on my internal HD, and an external drive (not the same libraries) and loose photos here and there on the internal HD and both externals.
How can I clean up this mess? I want the main library on one extHD and a backup on the other extHD and to not have a library on the intHD at all, and of course, I don't want to loose a single frame!

I did download and pay for iPhoto Library Manager and started to merge libraries as you suggested. But iPLM listed the current Library as "iPhoto Library_2." So, I wondered where was _1, and did a Find file search. There are three iPhoto libraries in my internal HD in my user folder in the "Pictures" folder, and there is a smaller Library on an external HD with only one annual folder in it.
On the internal HD, "iPhoto Library" has folders marked 2000, 2001,...2004, a folder marked "Albums," and 4 documents: Dir.data, Library.cache, Library.data, and AlbumData.xml which seems to be some Real Basic thing. Within the folders marked as years are folders for months and days and then the .JPG photos. The folder Albums contains a bunch of Album folders (with a data doc for each) and in each a bunch of docs that look like JPG photos with an arrow in the lower left corner. These albums don't appear in iPhoto Library_2
In iPhoto Library_1 are folders for 2005 and 2006, a folder marked "Albums," and 3 documents: Dir.data, Library.data, and AlbumData.xml. The month and day folders contain only 1 to a few photo JPGs.
In iPhoto Library_2 are folders for 2003...2006, and foldera marked "Albums", "Data", "Modified", and "Originals", as well as documents: Dir.data, iPhoto.ipspot, Library.data,Library.iPhoto,Library6.iPhoto,Thumb32Segment.data,
Thumb64Segment.data, ThumbJPGSegment.data, and AlbumData.xml. The year folders that overlap with those in "iPhoto Library" above, have different month and day folders, and contain only "data" folders containing numbered documents in pairs, one with a number and one with same number and the suffix .attr, but no photo JPGs.
So, what is all this, what should be preserved, and what can be thrown away?
733 G4 Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Iphoto 9.5 won't import photos from iPhoto 7.5. Library will not update using the iPhoto library upgraded application.

iphoto 9.5 won't import photos from iPhoto 7.5. Library will not update using the iPhoto library upgrader application. Repeatedly says it can't locate photos even when told to cancel. I think the photos in question are in Nikon RAW format.

iPhoto 9.5 immediately tries to "upgrade" my library using the upgrader.
iPhoto 9.5 asks you to run the upgrader to prepare the library for 9.5. It then will update the library to its format.
You need to do the following:
1 - go to your Applications/Utilities folder and double click on the iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 application.
2 - select Choose Library, navigate to your iPhoto library, select it and let the upgrader do its thing.
3 - launch iPhoto 9.5 to open and finish the conversion of the library.
OT

Using IPhoto Library In Aperture

I would like to just use the IPhoto library and NOT create a duplicate library in Aperture. I had heard there was a way to do this and with Preferences I set the pointer to my IPhoto library and when i reopened nothing.
Any help?

When you go to File -> Import -> iPhoto Library, select "In their current location" in the "Store Files" option.
This would keep the files where they are, building a reference into the Aperture's library.

Size of iPhoto Library

Hi, where can I idnetify the size of the iPhoto Library?

Is there a maximum photo number for the iphoto library? I started having lots of issues when I reached the 20K range. I don't remember what the issues were, but I remember deleting 10K that I had backed up on disc, and continued backing up the other 10K.

IMove Won't Import Photos from iPhoto Library Album

Tried to import photos from iPhoto Library/Selected Album. Pictures appeared in photos window but a high lighted photo did not appear in the large window. Tried dragging photos to build project, received message: ERROR DURING IMPORT: The file could not be imported: (-4960).
The files are 5 Megapixel JPEG, I tried to import photos from another Album (200 dpi) in size and received the same error Message. My Mac OS is: 10.4.2, iMovie HD 5.0.2 (111)
e-mail: [email protected]
Richard

"/* Core Foundation errors*/
enum {
coreFoundationUnknownErr = -4960
That is NOT a good error. Your Mac may be in serious trouble.
Prevent Mac Disasters
Eight Simple Steps You Can Take Now to Keep Your Mac from Falling Apart
http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/features/preventmacdisasters/index.php
(Article is in 3 parts, don't miss parts 2 and 3)

IPhoto Library Selection at Start Up

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