IPhoto user accounts

I want to give access to various user accounts on my Mac Book to the same Iphoto Library. Does anybody know how?

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.

Similar Messages

Iphoto user account issues

Hi all,
I use my user account on my MacBook to copy pictures from phone, camera etc. When we try to view them using another user account, we can see the thumbnails but can not run slideshows, etc. The first image appears as you would expect, but the main screen then goes blank. At the bottom of the screen, it appears as though the slideshow is running as the yellow frame moves across the images, however nothing appears in the main view.
Any thoughts? I have tried to share the folder, but maybe haven't done it correctly...
Thanks
KJ

The Library is in the shared folder. I am not sure if I need to do anything other than place it here, so any guidance gratefully received.
Thanks
KJ

Duplicate user account OR migrate iPhoto/iWeb between users

I've seen this question asked several times before, but have not seen an answer!
So, with as many details as I can muster:
I have, on my computer, 4 user accounts: my admin account, my user account, my boyfriend's user account, and our business account... All separate, keeps things nice and tidy (sort of!).
I have a new and separate project that I'm starting to work on which involves lots of images, and new websites, and new and different stuff that's necessary for the project, but just clutter in any of the other accounts.
Because this project started out as something my man wanted to play around with, all of the beginnings of this are in his iPhoto and his iWeb, and they're well organized. I've not had luck so far moving the iPhoto and iWeb libraries to a new/blank user and maintaining the organization that I've spent time and attention making right.
He's not so great with technology, and gets very frustrated (and unproductive!) when anything on the computer doesn't work exactly like he expects it to. (When Lion came out and the scrolling went "the wrong direction" he was afraid to use the computer at all for a week, because "everything changed, I don't even know how to use it anymore" that's between us though, personal issure ). So I'd like to keep the user experience the same for him. I'd like to duplicate his settings, preferences, etc. into a new user for him, and take over his current account to isolate this project.
So, in summary:
I want to create a new account with the same user experience as a current account without having to find and reset all of his settings.
OR
I want an exact copy of the iPhoto and iWeb from this user account to another one, on the same machine.
I am currently running OSX 10.7.2, iPhoto '11 9.2.1 and iWeb 3.0.4
Thanks in advance for any help!

Kenzishly wrote:
I want to create a new account with the same user experience as a current account without having to find and reset all of his settings.
That's easy, if you have Time Machine or "bootable clone" backups. (If you don't, you should anyway. Post back if you need info on them.)
Use Migration Assistant to transfer just that user account from the backups; it will put up a screen saying it can't transfer it under the same name as the existing account, and allowing you to rename it.
Other than having a different name, the transferred account will be identical to the existing one. Then you can modifiy them separately as necessary.
EDIT: see Using Migration Assistant on Lion for detailed instructions. Be sure to un-check the boxes for eveything except that one user account.
Message was edited by: Pondini

Can I share my iPhoto library with other users accounts on my computer?

My wife and I both have our own user account on the computer. Right now all the photos are on my account. If we put the iPhoto library in users/shared will this allow us both to access the photos?
Thanks.

Yes, this is exactly how I use iPhoto on my system.
You do need to update the permissions on the iPhoto directory after it's moved to the Shared folder. the default permissions will only permit your account to fully access the files, your wife's account will get errors or not see thumbnails correctly when accessing the pictures from iPhoto in her account.
After moving the iPhoto Library into Shared (and with iPhoto closed), Get Info on the iPhoto Library folder and change the Others access to Read+Write. Let it apply to all enclosed folders, also. Then hold down the Option key while starting iPhoto and choose the Shared version of the folder as your Library. Repeat the iPhoto launch w/option key on the other account as well and each user will access the same set of pictures, albums, keywords, etc. Just make sure you don't open iPhoto from both accounts at the same time. Close iPhoto before walking away from the computer or letting the other person logon.

Sharing one iphoto library between 2 user accounts

Hi all,
I know there are lots of questions on this, so thank you for your patience and assistance. I have spent so many hours on the phone to Apple care with no joy
I made the jump to Mac from PC several months ago, and I really like it, except for this issue. Please forgive me if my Mac tech talk is not up to scratch. It's like learning a new language (kind of).
My wife and I are using iPhoto 11 with one shared library. Computer shipped with Snow Leopard and I set up the shared folder/library using Apple article HT1198. It worked perfectly. We could add, edit, delete photos with the change being visible and fully accessible by the other user.
The day Lion got released, I upgraded. That's when all the problems started. If I add photos or videos, the thumbnails are visible, but you can not open them/view them (Permissions error) and the problem occurs vice versa as well if my wife adds photos.
So, trying to work out a solution, both with the advice of Apple support and from research:
have tried repairing the library
have changed permissions settings on hard drive and on iphoto library file
moved the library to Shared and also to the root directory of the hard drive
I have deleted the mounted virtual disk volume and now have the library file on the Macintosh HD
I have reinstalled Lion (repaired)
I have formatted the Hard Drive, reinstalled Snow Leopard, updates & then Lion - same problem!
I have used Batchmod
I have considered taking too many sleeping pills
So what does work?
When I hold down Command & Option when opening iPhoto I have the various repair options. When I select the Repair permissions option, ALL of the previously non-viewable content becomes viewable. Problem solved? Nope. When I add new material and go to my wife's account, only thumbnails visible again (if I rename an event that shows perfectly well). Close iPhoto, hold down CMD & Option, repair permissions, and again, all content accessible. So I'm assuming the permissions of what we are adding is for some reason being changed to a different setting to that of the library and the hard disk (both set to read write everyone & for each user account).
Is this my only option now? Add content and then repair permissions everytime we open iPhoto?
I'm so suprised that for what is marketed as such a user friendly computer that sharing photos is so difficult, or convoluted at least.
Anyway, I look forward to any suggestions.

Time Machine prefers to have a disk to iself, you'll find. You could, however, partition the disk.
That said, having the Library and it's back up on the same disk is unwise. If the disk fails - and that's one of the more common issues - you have no library and no back up.
Regards
TD

How do I share one Iphoto library with other User accounts on the same iMac

I have created a shared Iphoto Library. When I add this to one of the user accounts, it copies all the pictures instead of sharing the same library. The result is that it uses memory.
Is it possible to create a shared library that is shared by all the users without actually copy all the pictures to each users Iphoto library?

Hi MikaelK,
SHARING IPHOTO LIBRARIES
Sharing libraries between users on the same local network
You can also share a library on the same machine between users the same way.
Sharing libraries between users on the same machine...
-both users must have sharing enabled in their iPhoto Preferences
-both users must be logged in and have iPhoto running
-Remember that you can only view the other library. You can't edit the photos or play the saved slideshows or view the made books or burn them to CD or DVD. The books and slideshows will show up as an album. You can play that album as an "on the fly" slideshow. You can drag images from the sharing library to your library in the source column to import them to your library. You can then edit, add to albums, books, slideshow, etc.
Sharing links from Apple....
Sharing your photos between computers
About shared photos
Turning off photo sharing
Looking for shared photos
SHARING ONE IPHOTO LIBRARY BETWEEN USERS ON SAME MACHINE
You can try one of these three methods:
1- Use iPhoto Library Manager-the paid version
The documentation page will give instructions on how it is done.
2- Sharing one iPhoto library between several users on one machine
3- Share an iPhoto Library in tiger Using ACL's
4- I have also read about ShareAlike
There is no other info on the site about how it works.
I strongly urge anyone wanting to try any of the methods for sharing one iPhoto Library folder among more than one user to backup all iPhoto Library folders before attemptin anything.

Sharing iPhoto library between two user accounts on the same Mac

My wife and I each have an iPad and we share the same iMac. We each have our own user account on the iMac. She syncs with her account, and I sync with mine. This works fine in general, but we store all our photos within iPhoto on my account. She is therefore unable to sync the photos to her iPad. The same is true with the music that we keep on the iTunes in my user account.
Is there a way for her to sync so that the photos and music sync with her iPad also?

I have used a program called iPhoto Library Manager (http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/) for years and it has worked like a charm. The program handles all of the permission/subfolder aspects transparently. Our iPhoto library is stored in my wife's default location, but I have seamless read-write access to it. When I open iPhoto, I see the same thing she does, and I have complete control.
To answer your question about music, there are a couple of approaches. If you turn on Sharing in iTunes, and your wife's iTunes is set to look for shared libraries, she'll be able to have complete access to play anything in your iTunes library (as long as you have iTunes open). I believe she also has rights to copy files from your iTunes library into hers.
That's great for playback on a Mac, but what you can't do is sync an iPod/iPad/iPhone with someone else's shared library, so here's how I do it:
1) My iTunes library is our "primary" library, located in my Public folder (where other users have read-access).
2) In my wife's iTunes, library, I hit keystroke Apple-O to add content to her library, and navigated over to my iTunes Library in my public folder to select it. Once I did this, her iTunes library looked like mine.
3) The key thing is that under her iTunes Advanced Preferences, I ensure that "Copy content to iTunes library" is deselected. Otherwise, it would make a copy of my entire library on her side, and that would chew up a ton of disk space.
Note that I don't think it's entirely necessary to have the iTunes library in the Public folder. It could stay in the default location as long as you changes your music folder to have read-access by other users. I moved mine before I knew any better.
When I add new content to my library that my wife wants, we hit Apple-O from her side and add it to her library. This setup is kludgy, but a) both users can sync the music to iDevices and b) it doesn't require having two copies of everything. Note that unlike the iPhoto Library Manager solution, this is a static thing. You have to manually update the "satellite" library to keep it up to date with the main one.
I'm not in front of my Mac, so some of my notations may not be completely accurate.
Good Luck!

How can I share my iPhoto '08 Library with another user account?

I found a post that tells how to share my library so that two user accounts on my iMac have full read and write access to my iPhoto Library, but I can't find the Library. It should be under /users/myname/pictures/iphoto library/data according to a Spotlight search I used to find a photo in my library, but that folder can't be seen in Finder.

Mike
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
No, your Library should not be under
/users/myname/pictures/iphoto library/data
That's the location of a thumbnail within the Library. Using Spotlight to search the Library is dangerous as Spotlight doesn't understand how the Library is structured.
By default - unless you moved it - the Library is in your Pictures Folder.
/users/myname/pictures
As to Sharing with iPhoto 08:
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. The problem here is that OS X works very hard to keep your data safe and secure from the other users. You're trying to beat what's built in to the system. So, to beat the system
Quit iPhoto in both accounts
Move the iPhoto Library Folder to an external HD set to ignore permissions. You could also use a Disk Image or even partition your Hard Disk.
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.
Lastly: This method seems a little clunky at first, but works very well. Most importantly, it uses the System to do the job for you.
Create a new Account on your Mac, call it Media. Create an iPhoto Library there. (BTW: This will work for iTunes too.)
Enable Sharing on the Library:(Preferences -> Sharing), leave iPhoto running and use Fast User Switching to open the other accounts. In those accounts, enable 'Look For Shared Libraries'. The Library will appear in the other source pane.
This means that both users will be able to see the pics. If you want to use a pic then simply drag it from the shared Library to your own in the iPhoto Window. This means that each user can have their own edits.
If you want to add photos to the Library: Log into the Media account for that purpose.
To make it all seamless: Set your Mac to log into the Media Account automatically. Set iPhoto to launch on log-in. Then switch to your own account using Fast User Switching.
Net result: a Library that's permanently available to all users but also protected. Each user can have their own versions of the pics if they want.
No partitioning, no permissions issues. Uses no extra disk space. What's not to like?
Note: This process is simple in iPhoto 09, and requires none of these hoops. If this is a key feature for you you might consider upgrading.
Regards
TD

Sharing iPhoto Library between Two User Accounts

Is there any way to fully share a single iPhoto library between two user accounts on one machine (iMac 2.0GHz dual core Intel, 10.5.1, iPhoto '08), without using an external drive (because I don't have one)? By share, I mean each user has full rights and priveledges to the entire library, regardless of who uploaded the pics. Holding down the option key on iPhoto startup does not work because my wife can't access the pics I loaded even though she's pointing to the shared library in a shared folder.

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. But that's unlikely to work on 10.5 because of the way that the permissions have changed with the new OS.)
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

How to use iPhoto with 1 photo library and 2 user accounts on 1 iMac ?

Title says it all.
I don't want to have a double picture library, it takes enough space from my harddisk already.
My wife and I share the same camera too. We want to see the same pictures when using iPhoto.
Possible solution: Do I have to make a softlink from 1 user account to the photo lib that belongs to the other account ? [in Terminal: ln /Users/.... etc.)
(Yes, I'm an ex-Linux user)
Thnx
Fred4711

If you want to have the same data, do you need separate accounts? A surprising number of people think that must have separate ccounts and they really don't need to.
Anyway:
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.

IPhoto '11 works on one user account but not the other

I upgraded to iPhoto '11 from iPhoto '08 a couple of weeks ago using the MacApp store. After doing so, I opened the application on my main user account, received a message that the library had to be updated, the application did so, and it has been working wonderfully since. The problem I'm having is with my wife's user account. I did not open the application and upgrade the library immediately on this account. Before I could do so, my wife hooked up her iPhone to sync, which automatically opened iPhoto. I get the gray screen with the large spinning wheel in the center, and her library never appears. I have tried two strategies to fix this, and so far, have had no luck. The first was to hold option while launching the application, and selecting her library. I get the exact same result doing this. My next strategy was to completely delete iPhoto from my system, then re-download and reinstall it, and try to open the library once again. Unfortunately, this did not work. I thought the next step should be to delete iPhoto '11, reinstall iPhoto '08, open my wife's library using iPhoto '08, then reinstall '11 and upgrade her library. Since iLife came preinstalled on my mac when I purchased it years ago, I'm not certain how to reinstall iPhoto '08. Does anyone know how to do this, or have another suggestion for solving this problem? Thank you in advance for your help!

In your wife's account:
Try trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder. (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.
Regards
TD

Iphoto 09 crashes on start up, but only on 1 user account

I know this has been discussed, before, I just wanted to start a thread on this particular proble to see if there are any other users are experiencing similar problems and/or may have any solutions for this.
Upon installing ILife 09 I opened Iphoto. It started by updating the library and everything worked for a couple of minutes after that.Then the app hung up, when I started playing with the faces and places feature and I got the beach ball. Had to force quit the application. I restarted iphoto and it started hanging everytime I opened it. I know the library file is fine because it works fine from iphoto on all other user accounts.
So I went on an reinstalled Iphoto 08 and old library from my time machine backup on my main user account (which is experiencing the problems) Iphoto 08 works fine no problem. I ran the Ilife 09 install again, but to no avail. Exactly the same problem.
I have repaired disk permissions, rebuild the library, disk repair, deletes preference files, same problem.
What baffles me is that iphoto seems to work fine on all other user accounts and on my wife's laptop, with the actual library on my main user account. I just cannot open Iphoto on this one account. Has anyone got any ideas that don't involve me wiping my HD and reinstalling OSX or creating a new user account?
Thanks,
Alex (Really trying hard not to loose his cool in this heat)

ZestyTang:
If you import the modified folder you'll just end up with duplicates as the ratings and other metadata will be lost. It's starting over from scratch.
alexkess:
Since it works OK in the other account it might be a preference file other than iPhoto's. Try the following:
Trouble Shooting Preferences in Leopard
1 - Create a folder titled "Preferences A" on the Desktop.
2 - Open the working Preferences folder, HD/Users/your_name/Library/Preferences, and move the contents to the Preferences A folder on the Desktop.
3 - Make a duplicate copy of the Preferences A folder on the Desktop as a precautionary backup.
4 - With the working Preferences folder empty run the application again and determine if the problems is fixed.
NOTE: you may have to drag the contents of the working folder to the trash and empty if moving the contents to the A folder only copies them instead of moving.
5 - If the problem is fixed:
A - open the working Preferences folder (HD/Users/your_name/Library/Preferences).
B - Open the Preferences A folder on the Desktop, select all of the contents and drag them into the working Preferences folder.
C - When the Copy window pops up check the "Apply to All" check box and then click on the Don't Replace button as seen here.
6 - If the problem is NOT fixed, empty the working Preferencess folder and move the contents of the Preferences folder on the desktop back into it.
OT

How can I set up a new user account that has access to iPhoto data on Admin account?

I have set up a new user account for my son. I have set up his parental controls but I would like him to have access to the data in iPhoto and iTunes from the Admin account. I do allow him access to the applications with the parental controls, but they are empty. Thanks for your help!

Is your regular user an Admin?
Yes. So is the new account I tried to set up.
Are these apps installed in the main /Applications folder?
Yes.
Are they App Store apps or installs from disc/download?
Both, but App Store purchases are a clear minority, and aren't much of a problem, due to the ease of re-downloading and activating. The downloaded programs are the ones that present the problems. I have not been good about archiving serial numbers and the like, mostly because I've never had a problem like this before.
What specific apps are you having trouble with? For instance, I know that MS Office and Adobe CS5 for perfectly well for all users on my MBP.
This is a very long list. Let me give you some of it, and if you really need all of them, I'll add to the list later.
1Password 4
ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap
Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 plus On ONE add-on filters
Burn
calibre
DiskTracker
Dragon Dictate
Flv Crunch 1.5.0
GraphicConverter
Harmony Assistant
iBank
iSkysoft iMedia Converter Deluxe
MacX Video Converter Pro
QMidi
Screenium
Unison
WireTap Studio
Also, what troubleshooting steps have you taken so far?
Not much, since I have no idea where the problem is. I looked for some central repository of software serial numbers or activations, but didn't find one.

Problems syncing photos with two user accounts on one Macbook pro in iPhoto

Hi, I hope someone can help. I've have a Macbook Pro with two user accounts, my wife and myself. My wife and I both have our own iPhones. We log onto our own accounts and sync perfectly with itunes - so far so good.
The only issue is we have a shared iphoto 'database'. When each of us go into iPhoto we're looking at the same photo library (i.e we can both see the same photos, events, etc), although we make sure we don't both go in at the same time as I've heard this can cause issues.
In iTunes if I sync photos from iPhoto to my iPhone it works fine. If I then log out and my wife logs in and tries the same she gets a permissions error. We've worked round this by deleting the photo cache folder, however if this is done on my wifes account, for example and then she logs out, when I log in I get the same permissions error until I delete the photo cache myself - and round and round we go.
Is there a way that we can setup iPhoto and/or iTunes so we can both sync with iPhoto to our own iPhomes? If its means me 'owning' the iPhoto database and my wife having some sort of read access/view only access, that would be fine.
We're using the latest version of iTunes (9.2.1) and the iPhone OS (4.0.2) and Snow Leopard (10.6.4)

Yes I moved the iphoto library to a mounted volume, as suggested in the apple support pages, and it works fine now.
I also made sure the volume was mounted at log on automatically. The only downside is that I have to make sure may wife doesn't log on and use iphoto whilst I am logged on.

Iphoto doesn't show photos in other user-account

Hi,
I have the iPhoto-Lib in the public folder of my user-account. All other users have full access to this folder and subfolder. When another user logs in and opens iphoto (no other user has iphoto open) it shows the preview off all pictures. He can open older pictures by double click. Newer Photos are not shown after double click. An triangle with exclamation mark shows up shortly after the picture was shown.
When I login all the pictures are shown as preview and after double click.
Any ideas?
Peter

Using that form of sharing the Library should be in the Users/Shared folder, not the Public folder.
However, lots of people report permissions issues with this form of sharing and instead I suggest using an external HD set to ignore permissions and formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Regards
TD

IPhoto user accounts

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