Need iPhoto library management help

I've been trying to organize and archive my photos and videos for the past few weeks. I have well over 250GB, spread over several iPhoto libraries on an external drive. Many of those libraries contain duplicate images, and are taking up way too much space. I am looking for an app that will scan multiple iPhoto libraries stored on an external drive for duplicates, so I can remove them and consolidate all of my libraries in the smallest amount of space possible.
I haven't had luck with: Dupe guru, Duplicate cleaner for iPhoto, Photos Duplicate Cleaner or iPhoto library manager. I know that I had found one before that scanned the libraries and showed me which duplicate images were on which library and gave me the option to delete them. That was a while ago, and at that point, I hadn't organized things to the point that I was ready to start deleting. It may be one of the apps listed above that I'm just not using correctly. If so, and if someone can walk me through getting started doing it the right way, it would be much appreciated. If not, and there is a different app available, please let me know which one it is & I'll try it.
Not sure if this matters, but I'm using OS X 10.7.5, iPhoto '09, version 8.1.2 (424)
Thanks in advance.

Duplicate Finder apps for iPhoto all search the contents of one library for duplicates. There is none that compare across Libraries.
If you are seeking to consolidate your Libraries, then using Library Manager to merge them can be done while also eliminating duplicates.

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Iphoto library manager - help!?!

hi all
not sure exactly how or why but i have 2 iphoto libraries on my mac - iPhoto Library and iPhoto Library old
i am working on mergign the 2 libraries - i purchased iPhoto Library Manager and it has been runny for almost 2 day (sheesh! too many pics)
well..... what happens when it is done and all my pics are in the 'Merged Library"
did it physicall move all my pics form both libraries or did it just copy them into a 3rd library?
do i delete/remove both - iPhoto Library and iPhoto Library old
and what do i do to set my new Merged Library as my primary, one and only iPhoto Library?
thanks in advance for reading and helping me out!!!
=) joeanna

Type iPhoto into the search window at the top and see how much CPU iPLM is using. Click on the Disk Activity button at the bottom and see if there is any disk activity. The graph will show if there is any.
If iPLM is plugging along on its task its CPU usage will be high and the disk activity graph should show the line to be rather high on the chart.
If it appears that there is no activity then things have stalled and you can quit out of iPLM.

Having trouble restoring iphoto via Iphoto Library Manager HELP

I have been trying to restore I photo ( cant open it just spins) I downloaded Iphoto Library Manager as directed in other discussions but when I click add library there is nothing to choose from unless I choose manually (wouldn't know what to choose) There left side does have a check next to Default Library...and all my photos show up. I really need these pics & hopefully my videos too ( Many are of my daughter that died and these are my only memories)

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Workflow help needed, transitioning from iPhoto/iPhoto Library Manager

HI all, I am using latest Aperture, iPhoto, and 10.6.3 on lan connected macs and need some help setting up a workflow/libraries that represent some sanity amid the tens of thousands of photos that I have. Before getting Aperture3, i was using iPhoto and iPhoto Library Manager to work between an imac and an mbp; i would create a temp library to travel with on the mbp and then when I returned to the office I would merge the updated temp lib with the master lib housed on a huge external drive hanging off the imac. Using iPhoto Library Manager this is a lot of work and very slow indeed.
So with my new install of Aperture3, I am sure there is a better way, I just have not found a coherent tut that explains what I should be doing under these circumstances. I see that I can import iPhoto libraries, and that I can also use referenced files to get things into Aperture no matter where they are, or I can ??? Really confused on all the options.
Ideally, I think what we all want is a cloud like repository for all photos where users could check in and check out photos and have all the metadata preserved, but I guess they also want ice water down under, and haven't gotten that yet either.
Short of the above fairytale, what can I do? I do expect to have another mbp in the field soon, so that will be two machines/users that will need to pull things out of a master repository and check back in updated files as well as add new files to the collective.
Thoughts? Thx.
coocoo
Message was edited by: coocooforcocoapuffs

1) Import my one massive iPhoto Library into Aperture 3 - but do I use referenced or embedded options? Is there any advantage to leaving everything in iPhoto and just referencing from Aperture? Or do I get everything into Aperture and then just blow away iPhoto?
I see no reason to leave the files in iPhoto. If you agree you can do one of two things: either move them elsewhere and reference them or manage them in Aperture. Many folks recommend referencing them, but it's a choice only you can make.
I see no reason to continue with iPhoto.
2) In Aperture, I can export a set of projects from the main repository into a "traveling library", say when I take the MBP out on assignment,
Correct: File -> Export Project as New Library
and then when I return, I just import that library back and the updates I made on the road will get integrated with the whole again? If so, that's worth the price of admission!
Correct.
Regards
TD

I am not able to open iPhoto, when I have used the iPhoto Library Manager, I get the message that "the iPhoto Library folder could not be found" Help!

Help! I can't open the iPhoto! I have os x 10.5.8 and I have tried using the iPhoto Library Manager only to find out that the folder for the iPhoto Library could not be found.
I have also tried the Fix #1 from the user Old Toad who said to delete the preference file :com.appleiPhoto.plist - I could do that, but I couldn't figure out how to delete iPhoto's cache fie, Cache.db because I couldn't find it? I'm not sure how to find the file by it's directory path name of HD/User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto .
Help is very much appreciated!
vernawithav

Download and use Find Any File to search for "Library6.iPhoto". It's a file that is present in every iPhoto library. If you don't find one on your hard drive then your library has gone missing entirely.
Another thing you can try is to use the Search For - All Images feature in the Finder window to see if you can see any of your photos.
That will tell you if they are on your hard drive but somewhere other than the library.
What do you see when you insert the DVD into the optical drive? Can you open it and any folders on the disk? If the disk is titled iPhoto Library then open the disk, the the iPhoto Library folder and finally the Originals folder. Check the subfolders to see if your photos are there.
Your original photo files will be in the Originals subfolders.

Help/advice using iPhoto library manager

I got the pay version of iPhoto library manager, and it seems to work well. But I'm looking for some advice on how to best organize my photos between the two libraries. I'm using the following basic system:
I have my entire photo library containing all my photos on my external drive, and I named this library Lacie.
Then I have a subset of my photos, basically my favorites and recent photos, on my laptop. This library is called Macbook. I am running low on space on my laptop (and soon will be running out on my external too and will need to get another one, but I can probably put that off for a bit).
When I import photos, I usually import them onto my macbook, play around with the events, delete fuzzy photos, etc. Then periodically I move the new events over to my Lacie drive so that everything is on Lacie. I then delete photos that I don't like that much to make space on my Macbook.
Now here's the problem. I went on a trip to France and I put all my photos on my Macbook, and I moved the events over to Lacie. Then at one point I organized all the france photos on my Macbook into albums. Now I'm trying to move that organization to Lacie, so I tried to drag those albums over to Lacie using Library Manager. However, it asks if I want to import duplicate photos and I don't, so nothing ends up happening except that empty albums are created. Is there a way to do this, or do I need to do all of my organization directly on my Lacie? Any advice about better ways to organize this? I'm new to this multiple libraries thing so maybe other people have worked out better systems.
Thanks!

Ok, so, say I import a bunch of photos from a trip. I have these photos in events by day, say 7 days worth of events. Now I want to put some of them in albums: photos to send to mom, photos to post to flickr, etc. I don't necessarily want all of them to go into albums, but I don't want to lose the ones that don't go into a particular album. What's the best way to copy those over to the Lacie once I'm done? Is it better to make one folder with all the photos from that week and then have albums within it containing the subcategories, so that I can just copy all the albums? If I copy the albums and then also copy the events, will that work?
I guess mainly what's bugging me is that in iPhoto, photos exist in events and then are also organized into albums, like the library and playlists in iTunes. Having to think about them as separate things to copy over is confusing and I'm not sure how best to do it. I want to keep the organization in events AND albums without having duplicate photos taking up space.

IPhoto library manager can't open iPhoto for rebuilt. i need trouble shooter!

is it possible to eliminate iphoto program and replace it with a new one????????
Fortunately i have saved previously all my photos on external HD.

Terence, first I had problems with iphoto and your recommended to use iphoto library manager for re-built, which worked perfect. The problem (blocking- forcing exit) reaapered in iphoto so we wanted to re´built the re´built the library and now the manager could not open iphoto....iphoto must have a problem in my mac, therefore i thought to reinstall iphoto. Is it now understandable??

HT2638 I tried absolutely every trick, from reinstalling Mountain lion and iPhoto to buying iPhoto library Manager. NOTHING worked

Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please restore from a backup.
I went through all the repair/rebuild options when pressing cmd/optn and pressing the iphoto icon
I reinstralled Mountain Lion, ran software update, reinsalled Iphoto and ran software update,
I restored old copies of the iphoto library from Time Machine.
I bought Iphoto Library Manager and tried to retrieved and/or rebuild the library
ABSOLUTELY nothing worked and I still get this error message.
I went to the Apple store in Geneva and they told me that deleting Iphoto, reinstalling it and running software update will fix it. It didn't
Can anyone please help or shed some light on what could be wrong ?
OSX 10.8.2 and Iphoto 9.4.2 on Mac Pro 15 in

Library Manager opens the Iphoto Library and I can see all of the photos, about 12,500 of them. But when I open Iphoto afterwards, I get the error message again "Your photo library is damaged or unreadable and cannot be opened. Please restore from a backup."
I tried to create a new Iphoto Library using Library Manager, but LM was unable to create one as it needed to access Iphoto back and forth and Iphoto would not allow it access because of the error, therefore LM was unable to create a new clean library.
After opening the iphoto LIbrary within the Library Manager, I opened Iphoto and tried to repair/rebuild etc.. without success.
The problem first occured after I upgraded my Iphone to IO6.02 then I transferred my Iphone photos to Iphotos. I alo synced the Iphone with itunes.
Thank you for looking into this on Christmas day !!!!

Will Photo Library Manager help without library file

I recently upgraded to Leopard and added ilife to upgrade my iphoto from a reeaaally old version. I imported photos from the old version and Iphoto was working fine a couple weeks ago. Today, however, when I tried to open it, I got the Choose Your Library message. There is no library listed, nor can I find one. I have not done anything to iphoto or the library file since it was last opened and working fine. Will Photo Library Manager help if there is no library file? Is the albumdata.xml file in the iphoto database or is it somewhere else in my computer? Surely the files are there somewhere! What else can I do? I have a back-up but it has run since I last opened iphoto and I can't find a library file in there either. What is the library file called? Maybe I'm not looking for the write thing...
Thanks for your help. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Did you use Spotlight to try to find your library. If the library was inadvertantly moved to certain areas of the HD Spotlight will not find it. Download and run Find File to search for "Library6.iPhoto". If you get a hit it's a good chance it's the library. Good Luck.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

Aperture vs. iphoto library manager

I have > 37,000 photos, and am adding constantly. This seems to have brought iphoto to its knees. It keeps re-dating half of my photos to 2041, and runs slowly. At the Apple store they advised switching to aperture. Someone else suggested iphoto library manager. I am less concerned about the cost ($70 vs. $24) than saving time-I work 80-100 hours a week, and I do not have hours and hours to "make things work." I would greatly appreciate comments and suggestions. Thanks.

If iPhoto is slow when browsing the iPhoto library, apertre will probably slow too. Both applications are sharing the same library format.
I have > 37,000 photos,
That is no reason for iPhoto being slow, unless your libryr is so large, that there is not enough space left on your drive. How much free space is on your system drive and the drive with your iPhoto library?
Keep at least 20 GB free on your internal drive and more on the drives , where you are storing your photo libraries. Libraries may need temporarily more storage, when they are being repaired or rebuild.
What is your iPhoto version and MacOS X version? And how much RAM has your Mac?
Did the slowness start, after you imported new photos? Then this may be temporary and iPhoto still be processing faces, previews, etc. Or one of the photos or videos you imported is not readable and needs to be removed.
Did you install or upgrade any new software recently?
Also, iPhoto may be slow, if the library needs repairing.
Try to repair the library as described by Old Toad ':Rebuild iPhoto Version 11:
If repairing does not help, update the backup pf your library and try rebuilding.
-- Léonie

IPhoto Library Manager info

So, I've been getting the dreaded "you've got waaaaaay too much stuff on your computer" messages so I have been reading up on Time Machine and then wanted to know what to do with my photos. As soon as I back everything up my iPhoto decides to "not respond" when trying to open it. So, I read here on the forum about the iPhoto Library Manager which I downloaded and have created a rebuilt Library.
Now here is what I want to know and I realize this is going to sound incredibly remedial but, once I have created this rebuilt library, is this a duplicate library and I can basically "throw" the old one away? The original iPhoto is still "not responding" so I'm clueless as to what is going on there.
Any wonderful help from anyone out there?

Yes, if you used iPhoto Library Manager's Rebuild command then it creates a new Library. So, go to your Pictures Folder and trash the old one.
OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on. Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially. Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do. Purchase an external HD and move your Photos and Music to it. Both iPhoto and iTunes can run perfectly well with the Library on an external disk.
Regards
TD

IPhoto Library Manager issues

Last month I downloaded this software called Sponge to get rid of duplicated pictures. I had about 6000+ pictures then. Now when it found a duplicated pic, they went in the trash and I kept it in there till I got the job done. So then I opened my iPhoto and to my surprise almost all of my pics had the exclamation point. I got really scared. So I checked the Pictures>iPhoto Library folder and all my pics are still there. So thankfully I still had all the duplicated pics in the trash, so I pulled them out and imported them back to iPhoto thinking that will solve the problem. That only made things worse! Now I have over 11000 pics and still exclamation points!
So I have been reading all the forums here and they say to use the iPhoto Library Manager . So i have used that but i have some problems with it. It seems like it is rebuilding my library but it always stops because its running out of room. I know i need to delete some pics but if i do that what will happen?
I was also wondering : If I take everything out of iPhoto , will it also be gone in the iPhoto Library Folder?
I'm just so confused on which approach I should take to recover my beloved pics.
Thanks for all your help in advance

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
Your problem begins here:
Last month I downloaded this software called Sponge to get rid of duplicated pictures.
Using this on your iPhoto Library Folder has broken the cardinal rule of using iPhoto: Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
This app does not understand iPhoto and so it has damaged your Library:
Unfortunately you compounded the problem:
I still had all the duplicated pics in the trash, so I pulled them out and imported them back to iPhoto thinking that will solve the problem. That only made things worse! Now I have over 11000 pics and still exclamation points!
The ! turns up when iPhoto loses the connection between the thumbnail in the iPhoto Window and the file it represents. Re-importing the files will mean new files, it will not reconnect the old one.
You have a back up, right? These are your beloved pics, so you've got them backed up? The easiest solution to this mess is to restore from your back up and overwrite the ruined Library.
Regards
TD

Photos says iphoto library cannot be repaired--yet it loads fine in iphoto and iphoto library manager

photos cant load my iphoto library. It says there are errrors and that iphoto library cannot be repaired--yet it loads fine in iphoto and iphoto library manager. Any help would be appreciated

pneb wrote:
photos cant load my iphoto library. It says there are errrors and that iphoto library cannot be repaired--yet it loads fine in iphoto and iphoto library manager. Any help would be appreciated
You probably have to run one or all of the IPHOTO resets/repairs over your library. Its in IPHOTO help which keys you have to hold down while opening IPHOTO.
Sorry don't remember which keys.
these sites may be of interest to you
photo getting started
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204655
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204410
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204414

IPhoto 6 crashes when opening with iPhoto Library Manager with external sto

I've had stored many iPhoto libraries on my Freecom Mobile Drive 160gb, accessing them via iPhoto Library Manager, for years. Suddenly, when I try to open a library, iPhoto crashes. I'm still able to go into the storage disk so I don't think this is damaged. I've also reinstalled IPLManager (using original 3.2.3), without any luck.
I get this crash report (greatly abbreviated)
PID: 809
Thread: 0
Exception: EXCBADACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00000000
Does this make sense to anyone? I can't understand why one minute everything is fine, and then the next a procedure which has worked for a long time, doesn't. BTW, I've taken off lots of junk from the Freecom external drive (have 44gb available) and 3gb available on my iBook.
Many thanks in advance for any help or advice.

That
Exception Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE
is always a Data Related issue.
So use iPhoto Library Manager to rebuild the Library. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

Iphoto library failed to finish opening (iphoto library manager)

My iphoto library is on an external harddrive and opens (however, without showing the actual picture thumbnails but only the frames where the pictures should be; as long as i am scrolling, i can see the actual pictures). The Iphoto library manager gives an error message that iphoto "failed to finish opening" the library.
What can I do?
Thanks for you help.

What format is the EHD? (Note - it must be Mac OS extended (journaled) to have the iPhoto library on it)
and how is it connected to your Mac? it must be on a fast hard wired connection like ThunderBolt, ISB or FireWire
LN

Need iPhoto library management help

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