Splitting iPhoto Libraries

I have an iPhoto 08 library that contains a multitude of images. I would like to split them into two different libraries (one for work and one for personal images) how can this be done?
Thanks

Download and use the iPhoto Library Manager.
(31975)

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Splitting iPhoto libraries and it's impact on Flickr & Facebook?

Hi! I currently have one library on my MacBook for iPhoto, running iPhoto 11. I have been using the built in exporter for Facebook and Flickr, but because of space I want to split the library into 2 and move some of these files to an external hard drive. If I move these files to the external hard drive, and then delete them from my MacBook hard drive, what impact will that have to items aleady posted on Facebook and Flickr if any?

True.
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.
Regards
TD

Merge two iPhoto libraries into an Aperture library for my Macbook Air

Hey,
I've searched around a bit for this but can't seem to figure out how to to it.
I'm trying to manage my ~140GB photo library on my Macbook Air which has 128GB of HDD. On top of that, you can imagine that most of that 128GB is filled with system stuff.
My objective is to keep most of my library offline from the Macbook Air, but still keep it all together.
I kinda went "all-in" with iPhoto a few years back to organize my photos so gave up on Aperture. I'd always wanted to move to Aperture or Lighroom but the migration appeared to be a complete disaster. Now with "transparent" compatibility it seems like a no brainer to get the best of both worlds.
I thought that Aperture allowed you store files on external hard drives but still have "thumbnail" access to them even when the drive wasn't connected. Or did I misread that? (Is that Lightroom?)
Anyway with the new update I thought that I could merge my available iPhoto libraries into one Aperture library that I could always have access to, while offloading the actual photos somehow to an external HDD.
This would be a real winner for me. It seems tho that an iPhoto library stays an iPhoto library. So while merging might be helpful for someone with a big hard drive, it's completely useless for me as if anything, I need to split. Or create more. Or some other form of adding complexity.
Any ideas here?

Figured this out on my own.
Make a backup of everything - Aperture seems to require rebuilds and stuff and stories abound of "things going a bit wrong."
Did you make a backup? If you don't want to or can't, I wouldn't do this. After all, it's your photos!
Setup your Aperture library on a USB drive.
Update iphoto to the newest version. Open all your libraries in iPhoto to update them. This may take awhile depending on library size.
Import whatever iphoto libraries you have to Aperture. This make take awhile (hours!) - if your stuff is more than say 25 gigs I'd recommend setting it up for overnight.
Once everything is in Aperture - check its all working right. Then go ahead and maybe make another backup
Then migrate your photos out of the library. This takes all the originals and stores them elsewhere, called "offline". Once they're there, you can't move them around, so pick a good spot!! This also takes forever.
Once this is done your Aperture library should be smaller and just copy it to your MacbookAir
I'm still working on this as it looks like something went funky and I have to rebuild my thumbnails, another overnight processing thing. Like I said, keep a backup But I have a slimmed down Library on my Macbook Air now which is what I wanted.
This whole thing is kinda a mess and while it's feasible Apple hasn't made it easy. There's also some crazy stuff Aperture does with thumbnails and "previews" so that they take a bunch of space up (in my case almost as much as my photos), so you might have to work with that.
The guy at Apertureexpert.com is a genius.
Check out this post for more on slimming your Aperture Library:
http://www.apertureexpert.com/tips/2010/1/20/reducing-library-sizedramatically.h tml
Edit:As a side-note I put some HTML in my message and it looks like it isn't used in the forum - why does Apple bother having the formatting tools if they don't work? Kinda like the close-door button on an elevator?
Edit2: Haha it shows up in the answer but not in the normal thread. Strange, eh?

Confused about import iPhoto Libraries Aperture 3.2

When I first purchase Aperture 3.2.3 back in May I had many iPhoto librarys split out by year. I wanted an integrated view so when I imported them to Aperture I chose the "leave iPhoto library in place" option. That may not be the exact wording. I was under the impression that this meant that Aperture would point to those libraries, but not duplicate them. I'm not so sure of that now. My Aperture library is around 25GB. My iPhoto libraries add up to at least 120GB.
I have upgraded to Aperture 3.4.2. I know about the library switching option, but I still want an integrated look at all my photos in one place. I got Aperture so I didn't have to do the iPhoto library switching I was doing.
Yesterday I spent a good amount of time deleting a bunch of extraneous photos I had from a project I did throughout 2011. My Aperture library shrunk 1GB. The iPhoto library didn't change size. That makes me think that the import actually put the files in the Aperture Library.
So, now I'm not sure what's going on. Is there a way to see which libraries are pointed to the original iPhoto libraries?

Is there a way to see which libraries are pointed to the original iPhoto libraries?
When you select an image in the Aperture library and use the command "File > Show in Finder" you can see the location of the original image file. If this points into a folder inside an iPhoto Library, you are really referencing the iPhoto Library. But if the command "Show in Finder" is disabled for an image, it is managed inside the Aperture library.
But frankly, I do not think it is a good idea to use Aperture to delete images inside your iPhoto libraries. Ypur iPhoto Libraries may be corrupted this way.

HT1229 I have several iPhoto libraries. How can I combine them to make one?e new library?

I have several iPhoto libraries. How can I combine them to make one?

iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ -
or the current version of Aperture can merge libaries from the current version of iPhoto
LN

Have THREE iPhoto Libraries...How can I combine them? Plus most ALIASES!

I have read some of the forum topics that I hope can help me. I have iPhoto 2 and when I messed up my iBook OS 10.2.8, I lost the iPhoto ( about 2K pictures :-()
Now i have the 'puter back but still missing the iPhoto. I have found Three(3) iPhoto Libraries with "Find"...all are just labeled "iPhoto Library".NONE have numbers after the iPhoto Library...each has a different amount of "items" listed as being in the folder. 156 items, 126 items, and 30 items . ALL have photos NOT in the other Library folders.
All three have different pathways:
156 items:(user name)/Desktop 2/iPhoto folder-12/07**/iPhoto Library;
127 items:(user name)/Desttop 2/iPoto folder1/26/08**all alias/ iPhoto Library;
30 items: (user name)/Pictures 2/iPhoto 2/iPhoto Library.
My question is:
1. Is there a simple way to combine these so I have ONE iPhoto Library with ALL the photos in it???
2. Most, not all, of the photos are "Aliases" but I can see the photos in "Preview"..but can't move them into an iPhoto blank folder.
I gather I need to solve the "Alias" problem FIRST? right?I need to match the "Aliases" with their originals...
Then hopefully move photos into the largest iPhoto Library with the 156 items in it. Is there a simple way to do this???

OK...so I now have the MAJOR iPhoto Lib. I thought I'd lost (thanks to all your help steerin' me in the right direction).:-)
I want to get the photos FROM the other two smaller Libraries and switch them to the BIG Lib. I now have....Is there a KB that will tell me how to do that...without having to move the BIG Library I have retrieved???
Like, can I move the smaller Lib.s to the desktop and take out the photos by dragging them into the BIG iPhoto Lib.?...as there are many duplicates in the two smaller Lib.s that I don't need to add to the BIG iPhoto Library.
The iPhoto Help " Switching between photo libraries"sez
"1. Quit iPhoto;
2. Rename your current Photo Library folder in the Finder or move it to a new location on your HD.;
3 Open iPhoto;
4 Click Find Library;
5.Choose the library you want to display.;
6. Click open.
The library appears in the iPhoto viewing area."
I DO NOT want to switch between lib.s, I want to MOVE photos FROM the smaller lib.s to the BIG iPhoto Library, so I will have only ONE iPhoto Lib. to deal with.Consolidation NOT switching....
Am I making sense here?????

Multiple iPhoto Libraries

I have over 25,000 photos and use several iPhoto libraries to manage and organize them. One library lives on my Powerbook 17" hard drive and the others are on external FW800 drives.
Because I take so many photos away from home, I usually import photos to my Powerbook library temporarily, then transfer them to one of the libraries I have on the external HDs in my studio and delete them from the PB.
One library consists only of photos I have taken for a client, another contains family photos, a third one is abstract and artistic photos, a fourth is all antique cars, a fifth all nudes, etc...
I would like to be able to include some photo albums from each library on my 60G iPod Color. Is there a way to do this without combining all of my photos into the same library?
I guess what I am asking is: is it possible to get photos from multiple libraries on the same iPod at the same time? if so, how?
If not, is there a way for me to create an iPhoto library that consists of photo aliases (I don't want to import duplicates of the photos to include on the iPod) and then use that library to sync with the iPod?
PB G4 17, G3 Pismo, Yosemite, iMacDV Mac OS X (10.4.1)

you should probably post this question in the iPhoto Forum
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=143

I am migrating to a new iMac via TimeMachine back up. My iPhoto libraries are on external drive. I'd like to migrate only the internal hard drive data to the new internal Drive then just plug in iPhoto library drive. Is this going be a problem?

I am migrating to a new iMac via TimeMachine back up. My iPhoto libraries are on an external drive. Both drives are backed up on Time Machine. I'd like to migrate only the old internal hard drive data to the new internal Drive and then just plug in iPhoto library drive to the new iMac. This would save having to transfer several hundred GBs of data. Will this work using Set Up Assistant?

Your user account on the new Mac must have a different UID than on the old one. See the pink box in Problems after using Migration Assistant for an explanation.
You'll need to change the permissions on the iPhoto library on the external HD. Do a Get Info on it, click the padlock at the bottom of the Sharing & Permissions section of the Info window and enter your Admin password.
Then click the plus sign, select the user account you want on the next screen, and click Select. Then change Read only to Read & Write for that user via the little arrows. Finally, click the "gear" icon and select Apply to enclosed items. That may take a few mintutes on a large library.

Trying to backup one of my iPhoto libraries I keep getting a error message that basically says that the file could not be backed up because there is another file on the external drive with the same name, etc. There is no other file.

While trying to copy one of my iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive I get the following error message "You can’t copy “iPhoto Library old” because it has the same name as another item on the destination volume, and that volume doesn’t distinguish between upper- and lowercase letters in filenames." There is no other file on the external drive with this name. I have asked this question before and was told that there are some duplicate photos (files) in my library and I needed to go to "show file contents" and look at certain files to find duplicates and delete the duplicates. I did all of this and the library will still not copy and always stops copying in the exact same place on each attempt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You've been deleting your actual Photos.
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, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Best way forward now is to recover the surviving Originals from this library and start over from scratch.
Regards
TD

How do I rename the iphoto library on one computer before importing it to another location with other iphoto libraries?

How do I rename the iphoto library on one computer before importing it to another location with other iphoto libraries?

How do I rename the iphoto library on one computer before importing it to another location with other iphoto libraries?
Quit iPhoto.
Select the Library in the Finder, click the name, and edit the name like for any file.

How do I consolidate multiple iPhoto libraries on multiple machines into a single Aperture libraries?

Hullo all,
I run a smallish studio at a University, and I have inherited multiple Macs (2 Powerbooks, 2 Mac Pros) running multiple OS (2 on Mavericks, 2 on 10.7) and multiple versions of iPhoto. These have been used for photo and video work over the years, and each has its own stash of content, project files, etc. In an effort to organize, I wish to consolidate all the various iPhoto and Aperture libraries into a single library. I have a 16TB Pegasis RAID available via Thunderbolt to hold the material. Can anyone tell me the best way to go about this? My background is 20 years production work in film and video and I am rather new to still photo work and as such, do not know much about maintaining archives etc.
If I read correctly from other questions, I need to update all versions of iPhoto to be the same, establish the library on the Pegasus, then export all the files to that library? Is this correct? I am not sure I can update all computers to the current version (one is a late 2009 MacPro) Is there any easier way to do it? I am happy to purchase software if that makes the process easier.
Cheers! Thanks for any info!

iPhoto does not support to merge libraries into one.
The utility iPhoto Library Manager can merge libraries -
download here: iPhoto Library Manager
If you have access to Aperture, you can also use it to merge your libraries (see: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), but if you need to buy a tool, iPhoto Library Manager would be the more economic solution, and it is a must-have with iPhoto anyway.

How do i set up a slideshow with pictures from multiple iphoto libraries?

How do i set up a slideshow with pictures from multiple iphoto libraries? One library is in my Macbook Harddrive, the other 2 libraries are in an external harddrive. Thank you!!

You can't, simply. An iPhoto Slideshow can only draw from a single library, so you'll need to get all the images into one.
Alternatives to iPhoto's slideshow include:
iMovie is on every Mac sold.
Others, in order of price:
PhotoToMovie $49.95
PulpMotion $129
FotoMagico $99
Final Cut Pro X $299
It's difficult to compare these apps. They have differences in capability - some are driven off templates. some aren't. Some have a wider variety of transitions. Others will have excellent audio controls. It's worth checking them out to see what meets your needs. However, there is no doubt that Final Cut Pro X is the most capable app of them all. You get what you pay for.

How can I import multiple iphoto libraries into Photos beta

I have successfully imported a single iPhoto Library into the Photos Beta app. However I have several other iPhoto libraries that I would like to import into the Photos library. Think of is as merging everything into one now that there's iCloud backup.
I started with iPhoto back in 2005 and have created a separate library every three years ever since. Each one is quite large, ~40 gigs.
What is the best means to import additional libraries into my new Photos library. Unfortunately the File import option on Photos does not allow for a selection of iPhoto Library file type.
Thanks,
Brian

Merge all iPhoto Libraries into one before migrating them to the new Photos.app.
You cannot add additional libraries to a Photos library, only additional photos. Or have several Photos libraries, but only one of them can sync with iCloud.
To merge your iPhoto Libraries into one, use either Aperture, if you have it (see: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), or the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager: Download it here: iPhoto Library Manager

Can I combine two iPhoto libraries?

Following on from my previous post - "Missing Photos" - (what an idiot I am).
I now have two iphoto libraries with approx 10% differing content, ie they have about 90% the same. The largest is around 36GB.
How do I combine the two libraries?
One way I guess, would be to dump the smaller into the larger, and then run a program to eliminate the duplicates.
(iPhoto only rejects duplicates with the same name, many of mine have been renamed.)
Or is there a better way?

You can use iPhoto Library Manager and it’s Merge feature.
Regards
TD

How can I save iPhoto Libraries that are in Trash?

Hello. I have been having troubles with iPhoto which are basically cured at the moment. However during the process I had to drag two iPhoto Libraries to my Trash.
My iPhoto is working fine at the moment, but I do not want to delete those two in the Trash for awhile yet. How can I get them out of Trash into a Folder to save them until I am sure I want to trash them? Can I create a Folder in Documents or Movies and save them there or some other place I can create a Folder to save them. I do not want them on my Desktop as they are quite large (15 and 22GB).
Thanks for any ideas.

Create a new folder on the desktop. Drag the libraries from the trash into that folder. Then put the folder where ever you want, including your Photos folder.
The desktop and trash are just like any other folder on your Mac. Their contents are stored on your hard drive, so they are taking up the same space where ever you put them. (You have to empty trash to regain the space the contents of trash take up.)
Larry posted the same info while I was composing
Message was edited by: Peter Bannon

Splitting iPhoto Libraries

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