Trouble making an iPhoto library copy

Hi.
I've just dragged my iPhotos library to a new EHD but can't seem to create a copy of it - the message says I don't have the permission rights. I want to be able to delete some of the albums on my internal drive but keep them on the external copy. Please advise how best to manage this.
Thanks in advance.
Jodi

What format is the external drive?
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.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

Similar Messages

How to open iPhoto Library copied from Macbook onto external HD, on my iMac ?

How to open iPhoto Library copied from Macbook onto external Hard Drive, on iMac? "Not enough storage??" is message that appears.

How much free storage do you have on your iMac's system drive and on the external hard drive?
And how have you been trying to open the library? Do not import the library into iPhoto.
You simply connect the hard drive with the library and double-click the iPhoto library on the external drive to open it in iPhoto. That will work, if you are using iPhoto 9.6, the only version of iPhoto, that is compatible with MacOS X 10.10.
Or hold down the alt/options key while double clicking the iPhoto icon. This will bring up a library chooser panel. Select your library on the external drive.
If the iPhoto Library has been created by an older version of iPhoto it will need to be upgraded to the new version, and that may require temorary additional free storage on your system drive and the drive with the library.
If the library has been created by iPhoto 7.1.2 or earlier, you need to install and run iPhoto Library Upgrader, see: iPhoto '11: About the Library Upgrader

How does an "iPhoto Library Copy" folder get created? It has an icon that looks like a stack of photos with a pink flower. It contains all my photo's (as far as I can tell) and the original "iPhoto Library" only contains "AlbumData.xml?

I upgraded to Lion last month AFTER wiping the hard drive for the second time on my 2011 macbook pro. I am now suspecting that transferring my photos (I have over 8,000 saved on sd cards) to my computer is bringing all this trouble.
I was able to rectify some problems by dragging import file from library to desktop etc... But I am worried that these Copied Libraries and recovered photo files and AlbumData.xml file are a sign of something darker loomng ahead...

Sorry but we have no idea what's going on, or gone on, on your machine. Neither can we see it. We only have your somewhat sketchy post. You mention that you can rectify "some problems", you mention "all this trouble" but neglect to mention what these problems and trouble actually are. So, I'm afraid it's hard to respond to your post in a meaningful way.
A couple of thoughts: 8,000 photos is not a problem. iPhoto is good for 250,000 in any one library. So, unless you have very limited HD disk space, this is not the source of whatever issues you are having.
If you're dragging parts of the iPhoto Library around the place, yes there could be trouble ahead. 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.
There are two ways to get a copied library: one is to duplicate the Library yourself (either accidentally or deliberately) or while restoring from back up.
Regards
TD

IPhoto Library Copy Issues

Hello all,
I'm having some issues copying (backing up) my iPhoto library to an external disk and I really hope somebody can help!
I usually make a monthly backup of my iPhoto library to an external drive and did so before going on vacation a few weeks ago. It's always copied with no problems whatsoever. I just came back from vacation and added about 25GB of new photos (long vacation!) and the only thing I did differently with my new imported photos was that I used HoudahGeo to add GPS data to my new photos. I'm not sure if that would cause a problem, but the library seems to be functioning fine when I use it.
I went to make a backup of my iPhoto library to my usual Mac OS Journaled external disk (A Western Digital 3TB 3.5" drive in a Firewire 800 cradle), but the transfer stalled (or at least severely slowed down) at around 1.4GB and the timer went from several hours up to several days. I thought that was strange, so I canceled the transfer. I tried a different disk (a Seagate 320GB drive), but same thing so I went back tried my original drive again. No luck. I tested my drive by copying another large file (iTunes library) and it copied with no problem. Strange, I thought.
I repaired disk permissions on Mac OSX and copied again, but it didn't seem to help. I then repaired disk permissions on iPhoto using the repair menu, but no difference there either. Then I repaired the iPhoto library using the last option on the repair menu, but it didn't seem to help either! It always stalls around 1.4GB and I cancel.
I thought that maybe it was a Finder issue, so in the end I used terminal (cp -R) to copy the library and that worked, but the size of the finished library file is much bigger than what my finder is currently reporting for the original. It's 551GB vs. the original 289GB.
My software is up to date with: Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.5 and iPhoto 9.5.1.
If somebody can help me, I'd be so grateful! I'm moving back to America soon and want to sell my iMac here and get a new one back home. I need to be able to move this iPhoto library to an external drive since I destroyed my pre-vacation backup when I cancelled my fist copy attempt!
Thanks so much!

This is a finder issue, copying from disk to disk is a finder operation.
One way around it is to use a back up app like Chronosync to make the copy for you - that will deal with permissions kludges and so on.
Going forward, copying the whole library every time as a back up is - as I'm sure you've noticed - slow and tedious. Consider Using an app that will do incremental back ups. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.
Example of such apps: Chronosync - but there are many others. Search on MacUpdate or the App Store

Can't load iphoto library copied from old computer

I copied the photo library from my old laptop onto my new imac. The pictures are all there (LOTS) and all album data, etc. I tried launching iphoto while holding the option key. I select the iphoto library but none of the new photos come up. Did I miss step?

I still can only view the previous pictures (one roll) that was downloaded onto iphoto even though all of my pictures (3K+) from my other computer are in the iphoto library.
Do you have two iPhoto Library Folders? Or is these pics visible in one library, but the others are not?
IF the latter, it sounds like a corrupted database. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library Folder allowing it to overwrite the damaged file. If not, then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same film rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library Folder to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual rolls to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD

Trouble with sharing iPhoto library among multiple users

I followed the directions in this guide to share my iPhoto library between two accounts. However, it does not allow both users to open the library. One user gets a message that it is locked. I have ensured that the disk image and the library give everyone read/write access and that ownership of the volume is ignored. I've also ensured that the other user is logged out of iPhoto. However, I still get the error.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198?viewlocale=en_US
I am, however, able to share the iPhoto library if I don't use the disk image and if I just store the library in the Shared folder and by giving both users read/write access. However, I'm afraid that this will someday crash on me based on this article.
Does anyone have any experience with this??

The disk image approach looks complex. I'd avoid it. Note that all the users need to have read/write access to the disk image plus the folder that it's inside of ...
The use of an external disk looks simplest and I've done that myself so I know that it works.
Also, here is another solution: http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Documentation/iPLM/pgs/sharing.html

Trouble with restoring an iPhoto library from a time machine backup.

I'm having trouble restoring my iPhoto library from a time machine backup.
I have created a new library in my pictures file.
When I try to restore the library the restore process is trying to copy it to an external drive that no longer exists - it failed and I had to have it recovered and all the recovery (including backups) data is now on a different external hard drive.
iPhoto had been using that old external drive location to start. iPhoto is now pointed to the newly created iPhoto library in my pictures file on my MacBook Air.
Is there a way to have the restoration process point to that new iPhoto library that is now empty and not to the old external drive?

You might try this with the restored library:
Starting over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Open the library package like this.
2. Launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
3. Drag the subfolders of the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package into the open iPhoto window a few at a time.
This will create a new library with the same Events (but not necessarily the same Event names) as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

Trouble opening iPhoto library in Aperture that has been transferred to an external hard drive.

I am having trouble opening my iPhoto library in Aperture now that it has been transferred to an external hard drive.
Versions being used:
MacBook Pro 13-inch mid-2010
OS X v. 10.9.1 Mavericks
Aperture v. 3.5.1
iPhoto v. 9.5.1
Order of events: got MacBook > took pictures > created an iPhoto library > upgraded to Mountain Loin > added more photos to iPhoto library > upgraded to Mavericks > purchased and downloaded Aperture > copied iPhoto library to a 750 GB WD My Passport.
When attempting to switch to this iPhoto library while using Aperture an error stating, “Unable to Switch to Library. Aperture cannot switch to the selected library because the file system of the library’s volume is not supported.” iPhoto can access this iPhoto library with no problem. What is missing? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

“Unable to Switch to Library. Aperture cannot switch to the selected library because the file system of the library’s volume is not supported.”
Aperture 3.5.1 is checking for file system compatibility, iPhoto not always.
copied iPhoto library to a 750 GB WD My Passport.
Check the filesystem on your WD drive. Did you remember to format the drive for MacOS, before you copied the library there? It needs to be formatted MacOS X Extended (Journaled) to be used with any photo library. iPhoto may be able to open the library, if the filesystem is not supported, but you are risking data loss.
You can reformat the drive with Disk Utility, if the file system is wrong (after backing up your iPhoto library to a different drive). See:
iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives
Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
Regards
Léonie
You see the File System in the Finder's "File > Get Info" panel, when you select the drive in the Finder and use "File > Get Info" from the main menu bar or press cmd-I.

IPhoto won't open copied IPhoto Library

We just bought two new MacBook Pros and imported all our 11,000 plus pictures into the first MacBook. After investing quite a bit of time organizing the pictures into 166 Events we have IPhoto on the first machine very much the way we want it. The resultant IPhoto Library file is 18.15 gb.
Now it is time to bring that library into the second MacBook Pro. We connected the two MacBook's via ethernet and successfully copied the IPhoto Library file from the one machine to the other.
Now we get to the problem. The result of the copy was a file in the second McBook named IPhoto Library copy. Whenever we try and open that file, IPhoto opens the main IPhoto Library.
How can we open the copy?

IScarl
Welcome to the Apple user to user assistance forums
launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key and use the select library option to change to a different library - repeat to change back
LN

Move an iPhoto Library to another user account on the same computer - File Permissions Error

I am having trouble moving an iPhoto Library from one user to another. I copied the library to a shared location, then on the same computer I switch to the other user only to find that there is a little red - in a circle on the folder. I am unable to do anything with the folder. I have checked the "Get Info" and permission to read and write is selected for all users. From everything I have read I should be able to just copy the Library to any location I would like and then open the Library on other computers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Further information: I am running on OSX Lion (10.7.3) with iPhoto 09 (8.1.2). I have my iPhoto Library working in the account of an admin on the computer. Unfortunately I have redundant users on the computer and want to consolidate everything to the original user on the computer, or the user that set up the computer originally. This "original" administrator cannot be delete so I am moving everything from user "B" into the "original" administrator on the computer.

Because I had no idea what I was doing! :-P
I see now that I needed to move the library into the new user's Pictures folder, not import it.
My biggest problem was that I couldn't get rid of that dumb red circle. I think this happened because I just moved the user's Picture folder into the Shared folder before adjusting the permissions. Of course, I'm a bit like a kid trying to explain how the rocket got the moon. I could be mistaken...
Still, here was the work-around that worked for me:
- go into the user with the iPhoto library ("first") that I wanted to move to another user ("new")
- right click on the iPhoto library file, located in the in "first" user's Pictures folder
- unlock the folder and then change the permissions to allow everyone to "Read & Write"
- copy the iPhoto library into the "Shared" folder
- copy the iPhoto library into the "new" user's Picture folder
Because I didn't want two copies of that library, I then deleted it from the "first" user's Pictures folder. I assume iPhoto will just create a new one, which in my case will remain empty because that user doesn't use iPhoto.

IPhoto library. How does it work ?

Hi there. I am new to the whole iPhoto thing. But I went out and bought the iLife 08 and for me it just rocks. Everything I need to do.. It´s there. Great.
But I can´t really figure out how the iPhoto library work !?...
Normaly I just had all my pictures on my hard drive. I imported all those pictures (around 6000).. But instead of making a iPhoto library with the same size as all my pictures it´s only 5Gb instead of 25Gb !??! What´t the deal here ? Can a delete all my pictures and only work with the iPhoto library or is that only the size of the thumbnails it created ? and is useing my "original" photos on my hard drive ??
Any help on this would be great
THANKS

Your Advanced preferences in iPhoto should look like this:
If not then you're only using alias (link) files in the library pointing back to the "source" files that you imported. NO you can't delete those files you've imported. If your preferences are not as displayed, I suggest you move the library package to the Desktop, launch iPhoto and create a new Library. Then set the Advances preferences as shown above and the Events' preferences like this:
Now reimport your "original" photos again by dragging them into the open iPhoto window. The Evenrts preferences will insure that each folder imported from the Finder will remain in one Event instead of being split into multiple events based on the time frame set in the Events preferences.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto 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 written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), 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. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

IPhoto Library corrupted

iPhoto 11 crashed while importing a jpeg photo and I had to do a force quit. The library is now corrupted and the icon is blank rather than iphoto. When I try to restore from TM it asks if I want to replace the file and I click replace. It starts to copy the file then quits and says I do not have permission to complete that task. How am I going to be able to restore the library?

Hi folks, I solved the problem myself. I went into Time Machine to an earlier backup that I knew had a good copy of my iPhoto library. Instead of selecting ~>pictures>iPhoto Library, I selected ~>Pictures and clicked Restore. Time Machine then asked my for my password and after entering it, TM started to copy the entire Pictures folder into my Home folder. This took awhile as it was about 30gb, around half an hour but it completed the job and I have my photo collection back. Eureka!
I hope this may help someone else who has had trouble restoring their iPhoto Library.
Paco

I can not open my Aperture or Iphoto library

Hello everyone,
I have the application Aperture where I edit pictures and can not seem to open it today when I try the message "To open this iPhoto library in Aperture, it first needs to be upgraded.Verify that you have iPhoto 9.4 or later. Then open the library in iPhoto to upgrade it." I upgraded Iphoto and then tryed to open Aperture while Iphoto was closed and I got the same message. Then I tried to open the Iphoto library and now the message "Your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable.Shut down and restart your computer, and then open iPhoto again. If the problem persists, try rebuilding your photo library. To do this, quit iPhoto, and then reopen it while keeping the Option and Command keys pressed. You can also try restoring your photo library from a backup. Aperture was not open at the time so I shut down then restarted my computer. The same Message Appered. Then I tried to rebuild the library by holding down the option and command key I tried all of the rebuilding options and when I went to rebuild it the same message opened in iphoto. Help me! I am a photographer with a website and need to get this up and running fast. I wanted to cunsult with Apple Support Communities before I make the trip out to the apple store.

Also when I went to finder to see it the library existed its now labled Iphoto library copy. I have a time capsule and restored it back by a day and it didn't work I still got the same message in aperture and Iphoto.

IPhoto library on external hard drive will no longer open

I'm hoping that someone will be able to point me to a simple solution to my problem...
I'm running iPhoto 9.6 on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, mid-2014). The OS is Yosemite 10.10.1. Because the flash storage is only 250GB I have my main iPhoto library (146GB) on a partition of an external 1TB Lacie Rugged drive. The external hard drive also has partitions for Time Machine Backup and SuperDuper Bootable Clone. I have a separate, much smaller iPhoto library on the MBP which contains recent photos.
Yesterday I failed to reconnect my MacBook Pro to the power source when I put it back on my desk. The result was that the battery went below 5% and the MBP turned itself off and also ejected the external hard drive (some time after I reconnected the power cable there were dialog boxes on my screen informing me that each of the three partitions had been ejected incorrectly). I waited until the MBP was fully charged before I tried to open my 'main' iPhoto library on the external hard drive. I received a message that the library would have to be upgraded to work with the computer (very odd, because it had already been upgraded last October when I upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite and has been working without any real problem ever since then).
After some hours when the only message on the screen was 'Rebuiding Thumbnail Caches' I pressed Cmd+Option+Esc I saw that iPhoto was 'Paused' - that message subsequently changed to 'Not Responding'. I 'Force Quit' iPhoto but the iPhoto library will not open at all from the external drive.
As a test I quit iPhoto and re-started using the Option key and chose to open the iPhoto library which is on the internal drive and it opened without any problem.
I recall that it used to be possible to fix this sort of thing (perhaps not) by trashing the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file, however, I don't seem to be able to find it :-(
I'm really at a loss as to how I should approach this problem and I would be very grateful for any suggestions that can be offered.
Cheers
Tricia

Further update ....
I downloaded and installed iPhoto Library Manager and then chose Library - Rebuild Library. Unfortunately, when it had finished the result was 0 images in any file or folder. I checked the log (which is incredibly long) but here's the beginning of it which seems to indicate that the problem is that an essential file is missing -
2015-01-21 10:49:18.671 iPhoto Library Manager 4.1.11; iPhoto 9.6; OS X 10.10.1; unregistered
2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilding library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library
2015-01-21 10:49:19.033 Rebuilt library located at /Users/Tricia 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library (rebuilt).photolibrary
2015-01-21 10:49:19.035 Building preview…
2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Photo transfer settings: source libraries = /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library, copy faces = true, copy places = true, combine album contents = false, photo attributes copied = (comment, date, flagged, hidden, latitude, longitude, name, rating)
2015-01-21 10:49:19.042 Loading data for library /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library…
2015-01-21 10:49:19.056 Version number: 9.6
2015-01-21 10:49:19.057 An error occurred: Trying to load database for library “/Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library” failed. Some information such as faces, places, and edit history may not be transferred succesfully. (error = Error Domain=PLDatabaseErrorDomain Code=1 "The SQLite database file could not be found." UserInfo=0x10e9c1c10 {PLDatabaseErrorVendorErrorKey=14, PLDatabaseErrorVendorStringKey=unable to open database file, NSLocalizedDescription=The SQLite database file could not be found.}
After this each entry has a dialog that basically says the image file is missing from /Volumes/Pictures/iPhoto Library.
As mentioned in an earlier post I do have another iPhoto Library on my 2008 MacBook.
Can someone advise the best way to proceed? I'm thinking that I should erase the partition of my external hard drive that is called Pictures and then connect the external hard drive to my 2008 MacBook and simply drag and drop the iPhoto Library to the Pictures partition. IIRC, that's the way I moved the iPhoto Library last October when I bought my new MacBook Pro which didn't have enough storage for me to be able to store my iPhoto Library on the MBP. I could then reconnect the external hard drive to my MBP and the iPhoto Library should reappear, shouldn't it?
Looking forward to more input ...
Tricia

Updated iphoto library does not import to iphoto 9.6?

Hello,
I recently updated to Yosemite on my MBP and I'm having trouble uploading my iphoto library to the new iphoto 9.6. I have my iphoto library on an external hard drive and I did install and run the iphoto upgrader programand it says that my iphoto library has been updated. I tried holding down alt/option key while I open iphoto to select my iphoto library and still no photos load. The image below is what my iphoto looks like. I hope I didn't lose any photos.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Sara

iPhoto version 9.6
External Hard drive format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
It is connected by usb
Thanks!

Trouble making an iPhoto library copy

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