IPhoto shared library on two Macs

I'm running iPhoto 9.1 on an iMac and also on my MacBook Air. My 8,000 photos are stored on the iMac but I'd like to see them and edit them from the MacBook Air too.
I know you can share them and then I can then import them on my MacBook Air but isn't that just copying them across to the MacBook? I'd like to be able to edit my library (delete some, create new Folders etc.) from the comfort of the MacBook without going to the iMac.
Is this possible?
Thank you.
Richard.

The easiest way to back up a Library is to simply copy it - so link the two machines together and copy the Library from Machine A to Machine B. Result: two identical copies of the Library on both machines. Obviously there are lots of apps out there that will make this process automatic and incremental, but the basic priniciple is the same.
However, this is not the same as syncing - depending on how you define syncing:
What do you mean by "Sync".
The general term means when two Libraries (A and B) are compared and files in Library A are copied to Library B, while files in Library B are also copied to Library A so that both Libraries are identical.
This is bi-directional copying and you cannot do this with automatically with iPhoto. No Syncing software is capable of parsing the iPhoto Library in this manner. One or both of your Libraries will be damaged if you try this.
s described above, you can have uni-directional copying - files in Library A are copied to Library B - this is essentially backing up. Obviously you can also copy from Library B to Library A.
The nearest you can get to syncing is to use iPhoto Library Manager to move files/Albums/Events plus associated metadata between Libraries. This process cannot be automated.
I want to merge them so that the work done in each is preserved.
Merging means combining the two Libraries into one - that's a whole other thing from backing up or syncing. You can merge Libraries with iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Can I sync iphoto library between two Mac's?

I have two Macs (an iMac and a Macbook Pro) and want to sync the iPhoto (6.0.6) library between the two so whenever I change one the other is updated. I thought about using iDisk but my library is apx 5gb. I am new to Macs- is there a utility built into OSX 10.4.9 or hopefully some freeware or very-cheap ware... preferably automated. Thank you very much.

brettjbyers
No you cannot sync an iPhoto library between two macs. If you do you will corrupt the iPhoto Library file. iPhoto is a consumer level app, and this feature is not supported.
What you can do is share the photos but not the library. Each machine will need to have it's own library file.
The easiest way to do it this is to enable sharing (in the iPhoto Preferences) on both machines (one sharing the library, the other looking for the share). When you do this the shared library will appear in the Source (or left-hand) pane and pics can be dragged from that to the library in the other machine.
Regards
TD

Sharing iphoto library on two macs?

Hi Folks,
I have two macs in the house. One a mini linked to a tv and an iMac. The iMac holds my primary iPhoto Library. What I would like to do is share the same library with the mini mac, without having to use the sharing option. Can I place it on an external drive and link both macs to that library? I am running 10.5 if that makes any difference. Thanks, Andrew.

Andrew
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.
(Some people have had success putting the library in the Users/ Shared folder. If you do this make sure the file permissions are set to allow read/write access to everyone.)
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.
Regards
TD

Sharing iTunes library between two Macs on Time Capsule

Hi there
I've just about persuaded my fiancee to get a MacBook, which would give us a mac-only household. If I got a Time Capsule, could we share an iTunes library? We each have an iPod and it would seem like a pain to have to recreate two entire libraries on the Time Capsule, much of which would be the same music.
I'm also assuming we could both use the TC as wireless Time Machine backup for our Macs - is this correct?
Finally, does anyone have a view on the likely range of TC relative to a standard Linksys 802.11g wireless router? The Linksys doesn't quite reach to the other end of my apartment and I'm wondering if the TC is likely to be better.
Very many thanks in advance.

Hello
You will run into pain. I just tried every found solution on Internet. Whatever you will do, it ends up in a hack. Fact is: iTunes administer your library only local. You CAN share your iTunes library on one Mac by menu settings in a network, BUT the Mac sharing its iTunes library MUST run all the time you want to listen to music from shared iTunes library even if the shared library (music files) is on the Time Capsule. It even wont work turn on "Wake up on LAN activity". The shared library will only be available as long as the Mac sharing its iTunes library is up and iTunes opened. That way it makes no big sense to have the music files in library physically on your Time Capsule. Another problem might come up when you stop listening shared iTunes library: As soon as the sharing Mac goes into StandBy mode (time depending) you can't access its library again. Standby must be stopped.
The other "solution" is also to have the whole library on a shared drive (Time Capsule) and to import it on both Macs. You will run quickly into Sync problems, beside its a pain to administer the song library that way: You have to import further songs twice, on both Macs to hear them on every one.
And of course, there are third pary hacks around nobody really wants to use.
After implementing Time Machine into Lepoard Apple wanted to make money out of it and offered Time Capsule mainly for storing data and backups (what both works great, also WLAN works fine).
I hope Apple will find a way in iTunes not to handle the music libraries so restrictive, so it can be accessed f.e. on Time Capsule while the Mac sharing its library must not run all the time.
Hope I could help.
Message was edited by: Tayger

Sharing a library between two Macs

Our main photo library is on my MB Pro and I want to share that with our other MB. I haven enabled sharing on mine and "Look for shared" on the MB and my library does show up. However, there are two issues:
1) Only the main folder shows up on the MB, it does not show the sub-folders. All of the pictures are there, but they are all shown under the main folder. Are the sub-folders not supposed to show up?
2) On the MB I want to be able to export the photo to the desktop, but I cannot do that. The Export option on the menu is grayed out and iPhoto will not let me drag the photo to the desktop. Is it possible to export these photos on MB?
Thanks,
Mike

Second Question first
First drag the pics from the Shared Library to the Library on the MB - you can do this in the iPhoto Window. Then you can export it.
First Question:
What do you mean by Folders? Do you mean Events? Events don’t share, Albums do.
Regards
TD

OSX iPhoto App: Sharing Library Between Two Users

Despite the limitations of the new Photos app I am considering migrating our iPhoto/Aperture library to it so that I can take advantage of the iCloud Photo Sharing facility. However the library, which is stored on a suitably formatted ext HDD attached to our iMac, is shared between two Apple IDs, mine and my wife's. This enables us to add photos via either Apple ID and view the entire library on all our devices (we both have iPhones and iPads as well as sharing an iMac and MacBook Pro).
How do we continue to share a joint library using the Photos app and iCloud Photo Library? Trying to keep two libraries in sync is too much hassle and would also require both of us to buy additional iCloud storage. We need a solution that enables both of us to view and add pictures to the library on all devices but only requires one of us to buy additional storage space to store it.

brown_sm wrote:
I recently bought my parents a new MacBook Pro (they switched from Windows). I was able to get all of their songs over and into my dad's iTunes library. My mom and dad each have separate accounts on the MBP, but they'd both like to be able to see (and listen to) the same iTunes library, not at the same time, obviously.
Is that possible? If so how?
the easy way is to use itunes sharing. start itunes in your dad's account and enable sharing in itunes preferences->sharing. then other users including your mother will be able to listen to the songs from your dad's itunes library but ONLY while your dad is logged in. so in order for this to work both of them should be logged in at the same time. to make that possible enable fast user switching in system preferences->accounts->login options. However, this is not terribly convenient.
it's possibly (but surprisingly tricky) to use the same itunes library without having both users logged in at the same time.
Is it enough to point my mom's iTunes to the same folder? Do I need to put special permissions on that iTunes folder while logged into my dad's account?
yes. not just permissions. you need to put inherited ACLs on your dads Music folder to give both of them read+write access to all current and future files in it. so log in as your dad and run the following terminal command (copy and paste please)
chmod -R +a "username allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,\
addsubdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directoryinherit" ~/Music
instead of username put the short user name of your dad's account. it's the same as the name of his home directory in /Users. then repeat the command with your mother's username instead of your dad's. after that log out of your dad's account, log into your mom's account and point her itunes library to his itunes library. to do that start itunes while holding option.

Synchronising iPhoto library across two Macs

I have a MacBook and an iMac both with iPhoto '09 installed on them. When I'm travelling I take the MacBook with me and download any pictures I take from the camera to the MacBook, and when I get home I will copy the pictures across to the iMac.
Is there a way of keeping the iPhoto libraries on the two machines synchronised, so that pictures downloaded to the MacBook are (automatically) copied across to the iMac, and any changes made to pictures on the iMac are then synchronised across to the library on the MacBook?
As my photo library is quite big I don't particularly want to keep the library on my iDisk.

Is there a way of keeping the iPhoto libraries on the two machines synchronised, so that pictures downloaded to the MacBook are (automatically...
No.
What do you mean by "Sync".
The general term "Sync means two Libraries (A and B) are compared and files in Library A are copied to Library B, while files in Library B are also copied to Library A so that both Libraries are identical.
This is bi-directional copying and you cannot do this with automatically with iPhoto. No Syncing software is capable of parsing the iPhoto Library in this manner. One or both of your Libraries will be damaged if you try this.
You can have uni-directional copying - this is essentially backing up.
The nearest you can get to syncing is to use iPhoto Library Manager to move files/ALbums/Events plus assoicated metadata between Libraries. This process cannot be automated.
Regards
TD

How to optimize my Aperture/iPhoto shared Library configurations?

Hi, Dear All:
I just got a new Aperture 1.5 installed on my Mac Pro two days ago, and I decided to use the iPhoto Library as my Aperture's defualt vault, however, I also relocated my iPhoto Library from primary HD (Macintosh HD) to 2nd HD (Media HD).
However, When I launched the Aperture, I found out that I now have two iPhoto Library on my Aperture Project Pane (shown as iPhoto Library and iPhoto Library (1)...)
How can I clean up the old iPhoto Library and set the new iPhoto Library (1) as the defualt vualt of the shared iPhoto/Aperture Library?
Do I better up to let Aperture using a separate dedicated Aperture Library?
Thanks in advance!!
KC

I found the right answers from the replies.

Sharing Photos between two Mac's

Hello,
I do have two MBP at home both with SL. How can I share the iphoto library in one Mac, in order to save disk space in the second Mac. If I share the pictures folder and connect from the second Mac, I can see the Iphoto Library file but, cannot open it. Maybe is there also any easy solution like Home Sharing in Itunes? Thank you. Evren

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
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 move to the other machine. There, 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 machnes 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 on both machines. 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.)
On each machine 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 machines will have full access to the library, in fact, both machines 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.
Regards
TD

ITunes library on two Macs

My entire iTunes library is on my Mac Desktop. Macericks/iTunes 11.1.5, and I sync my iPad mini to that.
I am travelling for a month, and the iTunes library is greater in size than the iPad can store.
I am also taking my MacBook Pro with me.
How can I have one library on two computers at the same time, so that I can sync my iPad to my laptop?
Many thanks.
Derek.

Derekhandforth wrote:
Thanks.
When taking the Home sharing option, when I select all in the Home share library, there is no Import button at the bottom right.
You are not selecting a Home Shared library.
That is a Shared library. You have 3 Shared libraries and no Home Shared libraries.
A Home Shared library will have a House icon.
See this -> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819
A Shared library is only for playing music.
A Home Shared library will allow you to transfer music.

Sharing iTunes across two macs?

Hi Folks,
I have two macs in the house. One a mini linked to a tv and an iMac. The iMac holds my primary iTunes Library. What I would like to do is share the same library with the mini mac, without having to use the sharing option. Before 10.5 I had the library on an external drive that both applications could see and use, since upgrading to 10.5, it will still see them but front row will not??? Also if I do use the share option none of the album art can be seen? Anybody have any ideas? Thanks, Andrew.

If you want all users to access the same music, ratings, playlist, etc, do this.
1 Quit iTunes.
2 Drag your entire iTunes folder from /Username/Music to /Users/Shared.
3 Log out.
1 Log in on your other account(s).
2 Start iTunes and immediately press an hold the Option key.
3 iTunes will ask to *Create new library* or *Choose existing library*. Select *Choose existing library*.
4 Select the *iTunes library file* in the iTunes folder in /Users/Shared.
5 Now go to File -> *Add to library* and select the iTunes folder located in /Username/Music.
6 - iTunes will add all the music in from this account to the main iTunes music folder/library.
7 Delete the iTunes folder in Username/Music
8 Restart iTunes normally (don't hold Option). Everything should be there.
9 Quit iTunes and log out of the account.
10 Do the above steps for all users. Don't do the first 1-3 steps. Start at the second series.
Log into your account, start iTunes normally and all music should be there.
Whenever any of you do anything in iTunes, it will be seen by all since you are using one and the same iTunes library file.
Create a "main" playlist for each user with their own music. Create a smart playlist and set it to *Playlist is not the playlist* you created above. Select this and it will show you everything NOT in your playlist. Do the same for the others. This will help when adding only the music you want your own playlist.
Note that iTunes can only be opened by one user at a time. If you have Fast user switching enabled, the other users must quit iTunes in order for anyone else to use it.

How do I share iPhoto 11 library in two accounts on same iMac?

My husband and I want to share out iPhoto library but we have set up two accounts on our iMac. How do we share iPhoto so that both of us have the same level of access?

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.

Transfering iPhoto '08 library to new mac iPhoto '11

I have a new iMac OS Lion with iPhoto '11. I wanted to migrate my huge (67,000 photos) iPhoto '08 library from my older Snow Leopard iMac. I've got them hooked up via ethernet.
Since it looked like the newer iPhoto had some different little files inside the "iPhoto Library" compared to the older version, I showed contents on both and transfered the older files/folders into the new virgin library, so as to keep the fresh empty files untouched, just in case there were new prefs etc.
But when I open the new iPhoto it still seems to think its empty.
Should I have just copied the entire old iPhoto library over and replaced the new one? Or is there a special command to tell the new iPhoto to start whatever conversion process etc?
Thanks.
ps: I didn't use the migration assistant since I didn't want any legacy crap from the past three mac to move over, so that is why I am manually moving music, docs, etc over.

Should I have just copied the entire old iPhoto library over and replaced the new one?
yes
NEVER make any changes of any sort to the contents of the iPhoto library - it is a SQL database you there are no user servicable parts within it
Migration assistance does not handle the iPhoto library well sometimes - the best way is to drag the existing iphoto library from the pictures folder on the new system to the desktop if you have any photos you want in it, connect the two systems together (network, firewire target mode, etc) and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity from the old system to the pictures folder of the new system and launch iPhoto on the new system - it will open and convert the iPhoto library as necessary and you will be fine - once you test the iPhoto library you can delete the one on the desktop
LN

Sync Aperture Library between two Macs

I apologize if this is an obvious question; I've searched this community and can't find an answer.
My wife and I currently have iMacs, and we both have iPhoto, and the problem is that we both tend to import pictures we take into our respective iPhoto libraries, but there's no way to easily sync them so we both have all pictures.
I'm intrigued by Aperture's purported "sync" capabilities. Hopefully, an Aperture expert here can tell me if AP3 has the ability to do what I described above - keep two individual copies of Aperture across two Macs on the same network in sync automatically?

csk wrote:
I apologize if this is an obvious question; I've searched this community and can't find an answer.
My wife and I currently have iMacs, and we both have iPhoto, and the problem is that we both tend to import pictures we take into our respective iPhoto libraries, but there's no way to easily sync them so we both have all pictures.
I'm intrigued by Aperture's purported "sync" capabilities. Hopefully, an Aperture expert here can tell me if AP3 has the ability to do what I described above - keep two individual copies of Aperture across two Macs on the same network in sync automatically?
Unfortunately it will be difficult to do this even with Aperture. I'm thinking the the 'sync' capabilities you heard of are Apertures merge library command.
Merging libraries is meant to facilitate what happens when a single user takes all or a part of their library out into the field and then wishes to merge the changes made when they return. So for instance I take a part of my library make changes to it, add new things to it and then merge it back into the original library. When I do the merge I have to tell Aperture which library to use to resolve conflicts. That is one of the libraries has to be made the master.
In a situation like you are describing where two independent users make changes to their respective libraries and then try to merge them which library is designated the master? If you make changes to image A in your library and leave image B alone but your wife does the opposite what should the merged library look like? As Aperture is now one or the other would have to rule.
If its just a question of images you each add independent of the other to your respective libraries you could work something out along the lines of exporting the new project from one library and importing into the other but trying to sync changes between two independent users would be difficult.

Merge iPhoto 09 libraries between two macs

How do I move some iPhoto 09 events to another mac but keep the faces and places data?

wait for iPhoto Library Manager's update to handle that - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
LN

IPhoto shared library on two Macs

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