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

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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 do i share iPhoto library between two user accounts

I need to share my iphoto pictures between two accounts on the same computer

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.

Sharing one library with two user accounts.

I want to share one iTunes library with two user accounts on the same iMac.
I've followed the tutorial where you move the iTunes Music folder to a shared location HD/Shared/iTunes and then pointed both iTunes to that location via the advanced menu, but only the admin account has the music. The other user account iTunes shows nothing.
Also, I've now moved the music folder back to my area on the HD (not shared any more) and now the iTunes music folder shows all the album folders where before I guess they were hidden. Why and how do I get it back to how it was...?
All we're trying to do is share one mac. My wife and I have our own log in user accounts, but want to have the same music and iPhotos accessible on our own set-ups.
Thanks for any help.

Out of interest I got this to work.
I made a folder called 'All Music' and put all the album folders in it.
Moved this folder to User/Shared/ and then clicked on the file, and Get Info.
In Get Info added my wife to Sharing & Permissions as Read & Write.
In iTunes / Advanced found the folder on my user account, and then did the same on my wife's account and hit add to library.
I hope this was the right way to do it..... It seems to have worked.

Sharing one iphoto library between multiple user accounts

I hav an extensive photo library and would like to share this across multiple users on the one computer. Am I able to do this without having to move the library to an external hard drive?

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?
Regards
TD

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

Sharing iPhoto Library between Two Accounts

I've read many threads on this topic and have some limited understanding.
My situation is same as many others, I wish to have one person (me) to have full control over the library and like the other accounts on the iMac to have "read" privileges of the "master" iPhoto library only. But I would like them to be able to "copy" photos from the "Master" library to their own library for editing or using in class projects.
At the moment I moved the Library to the Shared Folder and enabled sharing. However I ran into the "Disk is locked" problem and the other accounts can't access the "Master" library in the "Shared Folder".
I looked at the "Media" account suggested by Terence Devlin but I think that means the other accounts will see the shared photos but can't use any of the iPhoto features such as viewing by Event.
Is there a way to setup iPhoto so each account can view both the "Master" library while inside iPhoto, with all the Sorting features working, and have their own local library setup where photos from the Master can be copied over and then manipulated?
Can this be done if setup on external hard drive?
If iPhoto can't do it, is there a third party software that allows this to be done? That is view/copy from Master library into local library?
Message was edited by: iMacaroon

I wish to have one person (me) to have full control over the library and like the other accounts on the iMac to have "read" privileges of the "master" iPhoto library only. But I would like them to be able to "copy" photos from the "Master" library to their own library for editing or using in class projects.
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.
Remember iPhoto must be running in both accounts for this to work. To use a photo in their own account they can simply drag the pic from the shared Library to their own inside the iPhoto Window.
I looked at the "Media" account suggested by Terence Devlin but I think that means the other accounts will see the shared photos but can't use any of the iPhoto features such as viewing by Event.
It doesn’t mean that. Viewers will be able to see the Events, Albums and so on. To use a photo in their own account they can simply drag the pic from the shared Library to their own inside the iPhoto Window.
If the other users have no ability to add or edit the Library there is no point whatever in using the Media Account.
Is there a way to setup iPhoto so each account can view both the "Master" library while inside iPhoto, with all the Sorting features working, and have their own local library setup where photos from the Master can be copied over and then manipulated?
See above.
Can this be done if setup on external hard drive?
This will allow users to manipulate the Library, so you won’t be the sole owner.
There are no third party apps that can share the Library.
Regards
TD

Sharing iTunes library between different user accounts

I recently purchased my imac and made the leap from the PC world. I set up another user account aside from the general administrator and followed the steps of having itunes folder go to the users/shared folder in an effort to be able to share files between users. I am able to now share the library between users but find that when I load new songs onto one user I then need to go into the other user's account and manually copy the new songs from the shared folder into itunes.
Anyone know how I can have it so when I load songs into one users itunes they will automatically appear in library of the other user's itunes without having to take the step of copying/importing?
Also when I was downloading and importing over 4000 songs my imac had the transparent black box which informed me I needed to shut down my computer at least twice. Should I be concerned? I'm assuming this notice is very similar to the "blue screen of death" known in the PC world so that can't be good especially when I paid the extra $ for fully loaded imac.
Thanks for the help!

DANMAC808, Welcome to the discussion area!
See KB 93195, iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer.
Also when I was downloading and importing over 4000 songs my imac had the transparent black box which informed me I needed to shut down my computer at least twice. Should I be concerned?
That is not normal at all.

Sharing iTunes music between two User accounts

hey all,
my mom and i share an iMac G5, each with our own user account. we both listen to a lot of the same music and it seems silly to use double the Hard drive space by each maintaining separate iTunes libraries. What is the best way to share music between user accounts? is there a way to make it so that when she opens iTunes, it will open as if it is opening iTunes on my account, giving her immediate access to all my music? any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanx much!
David

This article describes two methods:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
If you want only one library, use the second method.
There are some disadvantages:
If one of the users deletes a song, the other can't play it no more.
If one user adds a song, the other has to add it to his/her library too.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

How do I move an iPhoto library between two users (secondary user to admin user) on the same mac?

Hi there,
I accidentally created a second profile for myself on a mac some time ago in a migration and am now starting to move all my files from the second profile to the admin profile.
I want to move my iphoto library from the secondary user to the admin user but I don't know which file to move.
Is it as simple as copying the iphoto library in the pictures directory to the shared users drive and then copying that file over to pictures directory in the admin profile?
What if there already is an iphoto library under the admin user? Should I uninstall iphoto, then copy the file over and then install iphoto?
What is the best way of doing this?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Philip

Is it as simple as copying the iphoto library in the pictures directory to the shared users drive and then copying that file over to pictures directory in the admin profile?
Yes.
What if there already is an iphoto library under the admin user?
Are there photos in this Library? If not, overwrite it. If there are then you'll need to rename one of the libraries to prevent overwriting. Then you can use iPhoto Library Manager to merge them
Should I uninstall iphoto, then copy the file over and then install iphoto?
No.
Regards
TD

Sharing iTunes library between two users on the same Mac

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? 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?

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.

Sharing a library between multiple user accounts on the same PC

I have an XP pc setup for the kids and each has their own login so they can have their own bookmarks, shortcuts, desktop, etc. They each have an iPod and use iTunes. I want them to share the same music library so that when one downloads or rips a song, It's available to each of them. Using the default installation, it is currently not working the way I want it to. Is what I'm describing possible? If so, how do I configure it?

You need to have all the music stored in a shared folder.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
If you move all the files around with Win Explorer, itunes will lose the paths to the files. It might be best to move everything to the shared folder and have them start over with a blank library (new ratings, playcounts)
The last lines in that article state
+When another user of the computer has imported new music from CD, repeat steps 6 through 8 to add the music to your library.+
You might want to use a little program like "itunes folder watch" to do it automatically for you.

Any improvements in sharing an iPhoto Library between multiple users?

It is possible and Apple Approved to share an iPhoto Library between multiple users, but the Library must be stored on a drive or disk image that ignores permissions:
http://tech.kateva.org/2008/10/apple-supports-multi-user-iphoto.html
This doesn't work for me. Has Apple changed anything with iLife '09 to make it easier to share a Library? For example, have they changed from the prior Package format?
Message was edited by: jfaughnan

Alternatives to a trip to the Terminal:
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?
Regards
TD

Hello there - how can I share my iTunes library between two users on the same computer? I put the library in a shared folder between both and have selected this library on both as well, but when I update iTunes with music etc it only appears on one?

Hello there - how can I share my iTunes library between two users on the same computer? I put the library in a shared folder between both and have selected this library on both as well, but when I update iTunes with music etc it only appears on one?

Thank you Joe - I tried this but it's only showing a teensy amount of music - the stuff on the second users account as opposed to the giagntic library on the 'main' account. I actually went to a Genius Bar and they said that apple doesn't really want you to share music between accounts - parents don't want to hear their kids music etc. Which seemed strange, but it might be the case sadly Thanks anyway!

TS3981 After migration files are now shared between two user accounts. How can I combine them into one account?

After migration, from PC, files are now shared between two user accounts.I have to switch users to access files. How can I combine them into one account?

See Pondini's Transferring files from one User Account to another, for starters

Sharing iPhoto Library between Two User Accounts

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