Merge Two Macbook iPhoto libraries Onto 1 External HD

Hi. I have backed up my iPhoto library from what I'll call MacBook "a" onto a 1tb external hard drive. I did this buy dragging the iPhoto icon over. It worked.
I also have a very small iPhoto library on Macbook "b." I would like to merge this Macbook "b" library onto the same external hard drive. When I have tried exporting the files from macbook b, however, they photos are copying to the hard drive, but not to the iPhoto library.
Is there a way to merge two distinct iPhoto libraries, from two distinct computers onto 1 external hard drive?
Thanks.
John.

If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later you can merge libraries with Aperture.
Otherwise the only way to merge Libraries is with the paid ($30) version of iPhoto Library Manager

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Two different iPhoto libraries on the same iPod

Is it possible to synchronize two different iPhoto libraries on the same iPod Touch ? And, if yes, how ?
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Please explain in more detail what you are wanting to do.
Do you want to have two different versions of iPhoto, have two different Libraries or Share iPhoto with multiple users?
Two different iPhoto versions (06 and 08, 08 and 09 for examples) is a problem and I say no because the older version can not use a Library that the newer version has modified.
For iPhoto support articles, see > Apple - Support - Mac Apps - iPhoto
To Share a Library with other users, see > iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users
To Move a Library, see > iPhoto '11: Move your iPhoto library to a new location

Merge iphoto libraries onto an external HDD

We have 3 macs at the house and they all have different Iphoto libraries. I would like to merge them all onto the one Library of the Imac with an External HDD. The problem is that a bunch of the pictures are on more than one of the computers. I was hoping that there was a way to import them but not import the duplicates like when I import from a camera.

You'll need to use iPhoto Library Manager to merge the Libraries. There is no other way to do it without losing versions or metadata.
Regards
TD

Moving iPhoto library onto external hard drive

I would like to transfer all of my photos over to my external hard drive as my MacBook is filling up fast.
I followed the directions on moving the iPhoto library onto my external hard drive. I can see the iPhoto icon on the external drive. I no longer see it under Me/Pictures.
If I select the iPhoto icon on my external hard drive to open iPhoto, it opens without any photos. If I press "option" while opening iPhoto from the icon at the bottom of the screen the only option I have is from the following: Users/Me/Movies/iMovie Projects.localized/iPhoto Library. This option does open iPhoto so that I can see my photos. There is an option there to "Create New" so I added my hard drive. But if I use that as my default, I get no pictures.
A couple of questions. How do I complete this process? Where are my pictures now? I'm assuming they are on my external hard drive. I didn't delete them from my MacBook so I'm also assuming they are there but not visible.
Thanks

As we're not sure what you have done exactly it's hard to be certain how to progress.
This is how you move an iPhoto Library
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
There is no way you've done that if you can no longer see the Library at Me/Pictures.

Aperture not seeing iPhoto Libraries on external drive when trying to do a REFERENCED import.

I am trying to bring all my iPhoto libraries (one for each year) together into one REFERENCED Aperture library. I have the iPhoto libraries on an external hard drive and want the Aperture Library on my main drive. Whe I go to the Import window I do see my external hard drive on the list of drives, but the files do not show up. It shows folders and any readable files in the folders, but not the iPhoto Libraries, which are not in any folders. I am running out of space on my hard drive, so want to do a referenced import, not a managed one, but I can't seem to get it to work. I have tried doing the copy drag and drop method (holding command+option and dragging and dropping from finder to Aperture, but it still copies the whole library to the main drive, it does not reference it). Help, please!

Whe I go to the Import window I do see my external hard drive on the list of drives, but the files do not show up.
Aperture will not show you files in libraries in the import panel. iPhoto libraries are not imported using the import panel. Importing the files using the import panel would result in importing a mess of thumbnails, previews, and originals, and you would lose your organisation in events and albums and probably most of your metadata tags.
You import iPhoto Libraries as library:
File > Import > Library
If the library you are importing is referenced, it will be imported referenced, if it is managed, the images will be imported managed. You can relocate the managed originals to your external volume directly after import using the command "File > Relocate originals"
See: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries
Regards
Léonie

Best way to merge two i photo libraries

I have ended up with two versions of i photo on the same laptop - just stored in different places. One has 30K photos and the other has 80K photos. What is the best way to merge the two photo libraries as whenever I try to do it - it ends up crashing.

no sure how you are doing it - the only way is to use the merge capability of iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
LN

Compare two different iPhoto Libraries

Is there any program that could compare two iPhoto Libraries and let me know the difference between them? I've got two libraries, they should have the same pictures, but for some reason one is 80GB bigger than the other one.
I know there are duplicates, but 80GB seems a lot for only duplicates, so I want to compare both of them and see what pictures are missing.

How many photos does iPhoto indicate in each of the libraries? Open the Photo mode, do a select all and see how many are indicated at the bottom of the window. See if that corresponds to the number beside the Photos icon under the Events library. Be sure to turn on Item Counts in iPhoto's General preference pane.
Which is the larger: the old or the new?
OT

How do I save 2 iphoto libraries onto one external drive?

Hi
I have an iphoto library on my MacBook Pro and I have an older library of different photos on my graphite iBook.
I'd like to store all my photos onto one external drive.
How can I do this without losing either library in the process?
I actually have the same question regarding music on iTunes.
Thanks
AS

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Do you want to merge these libraries into one? If so, then you'll need the paid version ($20) of iPhoto Library Manager
It's the only way to merge Libraries while preserving all metadata, versions and so on.
Otherwise, simply rename one of the Libraries (so they don't overwite each other) and Copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder to the External Disk. in each case.
To choose which library to open: holf down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location.
Regards
TD

Merging iphoto libraries onto a new computer?

I recently purchased a new macbook to replace my aging powerbook and imac.
Each of these computers has its own separate yet redundant iPhoto library and associated files (meaning there are plenty of duplicate photos, but many are unique). Addtionally, the iPhoto programs on these older computers are 2-4 years old. Is there any easy way to merge these two libraries and their associated image files and move it all onto the macbook without losing data about the photos or generating a lot of redundant images/files?
Thanks!

Rename the two Libraries: Library A and Library B.
Copy the two libraries to the new machine.
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. It will ask you to choose a Library. Choose Library A. It will update it to an iPhoto 08 Library
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. It will ask you to choose a Library. Choose Library B. It will update it to an iPhoto 08 Library
Now you have two iPhoto 08 Libraries.
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its Merge feature to merge the two libraries.
Regards
TD

What is the best way to consolidate Aperture and iPhoto libraries onto an external drive? I am just starting out and not used to Aperture filing system.

I would like to use the drive as storage/aperture backup rather than use it to back up my whole Macbook. Would like to keep the majority of the photo files on the ext. drive and be able to add files there directly. BUT, when workng in aperture would like to be able to select some from the ext. drive and work them on the laptop directly without having to have the ext drive attached.
So do i, have the aperture library path mapped to the ext drive, and then import the iphoto library? and then how do i add additional from the camera? Or, do i move everything together (imported iphotos and new from camera) in Aperture on the Macbook first, and then transfer that library to the ext drive?
For the life of me I can't figure out how to do this in a way that seems logical. Vaults? Masters on ext drive, versions on the macbook? Consolidating libraries? The endless possible answers are baffling me.
Thanks for any help!

Kirby Krieger wrote:
Hi Shane. Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
How is the drive attached?
Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
Can you reformat the drive and try again?
Hi Kirby,
I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
Thanks,
Shane

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I've had to save 2 libraries on an external drive and going on my 3rd. I had to do it because the computer was running super slow and giving me warnings. Each library is about 115GB.
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I think you get my point.....any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you again Larry.
Unfortunately some horrible thing just happened . I was getting ready to put your advice to work and...........
I went to verify all my libraries were in the External drive (My passport for Mac) before I did anything else. I couldn't find the drive. I called the company and apparently the is a problem with the drive and my only option is to try recover the data from a recovery data service....
What did just happen???? I'm still hopeful I can recover it. and I may have a back up in another drive.
So this is semi-related question. How many back ups of your pictures should you have to be safe? and How do I know which devices are reliable? I thought these two Mt Passports from Western Digital were ok? Any advice?

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thank you so much.

Possibly Target Disk mode will work:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph3838
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
Ciao.

Should I merge my multiple iPhoto libraries into one?

I have used iPhoto to organize my photos since I started using a Mac in 2004. Back then, when iPhoto was at number "5" or perhaps even less, I found it more convenient to divide my library into several libraries, one for each calendar year, since, as I recall, iPhoto didn't yet have nearly as many ways of searching for photos as it does today, with iPhoto 11. Today iPhoto is much more sophisticated, and offers many options for organizing and finding photos, by date, faces, location, events, etc. I am wondering if it no longer makes sense to keep my libraries separate by year, and would it be easier to re-merge them all back into one library in iPhoto 11. It is kind of a pain to have to open and close different libraries each time I am looking for an old photo because I can no longer remember what year the event occurred in. Yet I am also afraid that merging my libraries (one for each year since 2002, when I went digital with my photography) might open the proverbial "can of worms" and create more problems than it solves. I'd love to hear from any who have had similar experience.

iPhoto does not have yet the option to merge libraries, unlike Aperture. You would have to use the paid utility "iPhoto Library Manager" to do this.
But iPhoto certainly can cope with larger libraries than before, and it is very useful to have the ability to search all photos at once or to use photos from many years in albums and books. For example, if you want to make a book for an anniversary with pictures from different years, it would be more involved, if you have the photos in different libraries.
Regards
Léonie

Saving all iphoto libraries to external harddrive

Hi,
I have been using iphoto for a couple of years now and find it good but it slows down my computer alot. I would like to save all the pictures/libraries to an external harddrive, but need to know how to do this - i have searched iphoto help but cannot find anything. We have over 10,000 photographs and lots more added each day (on average 300+). Thanks to all in advance.
Hannah. x x

will it matter if the external harddrive is formated to ms-dos (fat32)?
Yes. iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.
if so, is there a way through disk utility to partition and re-format external HD without losing previous stored information?
I've no idea. I would post that one on the Using Mac OS X forum for your version of the OS.
Regards
TD

Merging 2 separate iphoto Libraries.

I have bought my father an Apple TV and want to be able to give him my iphoto library to boost his photos of holidays / grandchildren with pictures from my library. He has a 24" imac which has its own library of iphotos running Snow Leopard too. Is there a straightforward way of merging the 2 libraries ?
Thanks in advance!
& Merry Xmas!

obviously. You guys make the boards shine!
Interestingly I've never owned a PC, and your other assumptions are wrong too, collectively. I've been organizing my whole extended family's collection of children's photos from several different machines, with current duplicates and random filenames for the same photos here and there. So I must allow duplicates to be imported. Fortunately there are few edits to deal with, and I'm running iPhoto '08 so your facial recog problem isn't one I share (pity). The problem, you see, if you carefully read my post (which you obviously did), is that iPLM treats each event as a separate import. With 2000+ events across libraries, and given I obviously value my time as you so swiftly nailed on the head, I can't babysit the merge as it asks me 2000+ times if I want to import duplicates. Obviously.
Since I need to sort through the collection manually later anyway, DA (not TA) will be my first filter to catch checksum matches, etc. Great tool, and cheap for what it does. While iPLM serves you so well, at any price it's wasting my time and money.
But why waste YOUR time- I don't expect circumstances and personal conditions to matter so much to gurus like you, since you're so absolutely and obviously Gods to the Mac community (less the PC converts). You know the one and only way to solve everything. I have learned here that patience and tolerance is inversely proportional to postcount in your paradigm, while arrogance and group-think are directly so.
Have fun with yourselves, brightening all us peons' day.
Regards (obviously)
Oh, and Terence, no, I couldn't, amusingly

Merge Two Macbook iPhoto libraries Onto 1 External HD

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