Updating multiple libraries

When I upgraded iPhoto to version '08, it said that my library would be updated and that my photos would no longer work with older versions of iPhoto.
The update went fine, but afterwards I remembered that I have thousands of older photos that are archived on an external hard drive that wasn't connected when I did the update.
Do I need to update those older photos in some way?
James

Jim
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
Nest time you access those libraries they, too, will be updated.
Regards
TD

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ITunes Updates & Multiple Libraries

In Windows 7 I use iTunes V 10.7 with three iTunes Libraries. Before attempting any updates I always Backup MY MUSIC, & make sure that I have a very recent Windows System Backup. Every time I attempt an Update, I always end up with three Libraries that are totally mixed up. It does not help that I copy my Backed Up Libraries into My Music & reopen iTunes with those Library files, because they get mixed up too. I end up using 'Restore System Settings' to restore my system to the happy days of V 10.7.
Now I'm sure that there are lots of other iTunes users with multiple Libraries.
I'm hoping that one or more of them can tell how to do a 'clean' update with clean Libraries.

Thanks. I think that the first part of your response is not relevant in my case. But the second part is definitely relevant, because I get hung up at the message 'The file iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes'. That is the point where I give up & 'Restore System Settings' to put me back to V 10.7. Yes - technically I'm doing a 'downgrade'.
Now, when I was in V 12, after resetting my displays - Playlists etc. on the Left side, & Music showing in a Song list the way I like, I didn't see any benefit of V 12 over V 10.7. Moreover, in V 12 the 'iTunes Store' doesn't work - it just closes the iTunes program!
So I'm not in a big hurry to try reinstalling V 12.
But I'm up to the academic challenge, so at the end of the week - which will be the New Year - I might try a more thorough job of Backing Up my three Libraries, & downloading/installing V 12 & see if anything has changed. Of course, I will do a Windows System Image Backup first, so that if I end up ****** off, I can do 'Restore System Settings' & thereafter live forever happy with V 10.7.
Remember that in the software world "New does not mean better". Very, very true.

Multiple libraries/computers

I have one library at work that is my "master". Every couple of weeks, in order to keep my home library up to date, I would copy the "itunes library" file to my work external hard drive and replace all music at my home external from that hard drive and then replace my home "itunes library" file with the one from work...whew! My question - now that the ipod can update multiple libraries with new music, if under the same account, is it possible to change my home library file now without wiping out all playlists created so that I can use the ipod for this tedious chore? The problem is that the ipod thinks both computers (home and work) are the same since the library file is/was the same. Plese, Anyone? Pretty please??!!!
G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I now know it is only for itunes store purchases. Nevermind

Multiple libraries, Pbook/Pmac, advice for management & updating please.

Hi Everyone,
I travel frequently, and am looking for suggestions to keep all my iPhoto libraries up to date. I currently have a g5, Powerbook, and Mini.
I just upgraded to iPhoto 6 and I have several thousand photos on my Dual g5. I just came back with 1000 more from my diving trip. The problem is, they are on my Powerbook, and taking up alot of space on the relatively small hard drive. I managed to work through the rough upgrade from 5 to 6, and now I need some more help...
1) What is your advice for managing multiple libraries of photos.
2) What is the best way to transfer the iphoto pics (and movies) to my desktop, which of course has the larger storage capacity, after travelling...
Thanks,

Jason:
There are several different approaches to what you want to do. Let me just throw out a couple that I'm familiar with.
To get the new photos from your PB to your G5 and maintain any keywords, and other organization effort you put into them, you'll need the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager. It will allow you to merge libraries or copy between libraries and maintain the metadata, etc. That's the only way currently available to move photos from one library to another and keep the roll, keywords, comments, etc. with those photos. You can connect the two Macs with one in the Target Mode, probably your PB, and then run iPLM to move the photos to the G5 library.
Now there is a way to have a library on your PB that reflects the one on your G5 but is only a fraction of the size. That's to have an alias based library on your PB that uses the Originals folder as its source of source files. (My 25,600 files, 27G, are represented by an iPhoto Library folder of only 1.75G). When the PB is not connected with the G5, say with a LAN, it will have limited capabilities which are in part: you'll only be able to view the thumbnail files, be able to add comments, create, delete or move albums around, add keywords (but with some hassle-but it can be done). You can't do anything that requires moving thumbnails around, work with books, slideshows or calendars. Once the two computers are networked together again the library will act as normal.
Now while on the road you can have a "normal" library to import new full sized files, keyword them, add comments, etc. and then transfer to the G5 library. Once in the G5 library they will be represented in a roll(s) and corresponding folder in the Originals folder. You then fire up the "alias" library, and import those new folders in the G5 Originals folder.
It may be a lot of work but it may be one way of doing it.
I've not done any of the "sharing" with iPhoto so don't know if that's another possible candidate for transferring.
P.S. FWIW I've created this workflow for converting from a conventional library to an alias based one.

Multiple Libraries in iTunes 7 (Windows)

Another whinge about iTunes 7!
The multiple libraries feature in the Windows version (I don't know about the Mac version) is very poorly implemented and, quite frankly, useless.
When changing libraries in iTunes 7, the preferences for the new library are not copied across; in effect, iTunes 7 retains the preferences for the previous library. This becomes very annoying if the user has libraries with different preference settings, as I do. I have two libraries, one of which is located on the hard drive of my PC and the other on a network drive. The two libraries have different preferences, ie music location and the encoder used when importing files (one lossless and the other AAC).
Whenever I switch libraries in iTunes 7, the preferences for the previous library are retained. Consequently, when I select a new library I have to change the preferences to match those required for that library. Otherwise, iTunes 7 updates the new library according to the preferences for the old library. Very frustrating, I can tell you!
I have now removed iTunes 7 and restored iTunes 6, along with a third party library manager until such time as Apple comes up with a decent way of managing multiple libraries.
Windows XP

No, it's the same Windows XP user account, but I have two separate music libraries - the music files in library are in a lossless format, while those in the other are in AAC. For convenience, I wish to keep the two libraries separate.
In iTunes 7 it is possible to have separate libraries - start iTunes and hold down the SHIFT key (Windows) while the program starts. A dialogue box then appears where the required library can be selected. However, as far as I can tell, it's not possible to have a different set of preferences for each library.
Say the preferences are set up for my lossless library, which is located on a separate network drive. If I then make the AAC library active and open iTunes, iTunes reindexes the library according to the settings for the lossless library and I end up with the AAC library full of lossless files. I've tried unchecking various things in the preferences box, but I've had no luck fixing the problem. Thanks for your suggestion - I have already reported the problem.
The whole thing is a rather inelegant way of managing multiple libraries in iTunes. Surely the Apple developers can come up with a way of doing it from within iTunes??

Multiple libraries on one Mac recognised by iPods?

I would like to have all my music in one location but have multiple libraries for different members of my family. When I plug in an iPod, say my daughter's, I want it to know whose iPod it is, and open the relevant library (my daughter's) so that I can sync that iPod with that library. Possible? Thanks.

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Option key (or Shift key in Windows) when launching iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. The new library will be empty until you add content to it. To get back to your original library you need to close iTunes and open it again while holding down the shift key, this time choose to open an existing library and navigate to its location. Multiple libraries can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Mac
Another option is to create a separate Mac User account for each person on your computer. Different user accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses, sync all, manual or sync specific playlists

How do I collapse multiple libraries into one library?

I have a couple of dozen libraries, created over multiple versions of FCP, and now I have equivalent copies of events and resources strewn across multiple library files across three drives. Plus, FCP has been automatically creating new instances of projects and storing them in files named with dates; I can't find the latest version to open it!
How do I collapse all these libraries into one? Hopefully not by moving event by event from one to another! It takes a couple of minutes per event and resource; the program keeps wanting to "reload" resources after each move.

It looks like you updated your libraries multiple times. Yes, the only way to consolidate them is to drag the events from each library into a master library.

I want to set up an iPod for my dad... (Multiple Libraries Question)

My dad has a early Shuffle (back when HP made 'em), and has grown tired of no screen and all. Being technologically deficient as he is, I was going to give him my old iPod Video for Father's Day (since I'm getting the iPhone, hopefully), and have it loaded full of stuff.
If I use that Multiple Libraries deal, I can make a library for him, with his taste in music (that I want to stay far away from my library), and it won't affect my library at all, right? Max, I'd go into this library once a month, while I use my library every other day.

It is possible to have multiple libraries in a single account and use each one for a different iPod without affecting the other. To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Option key when launching iTunes 7. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. This can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library but if you are only going to update your Dad's iPod periodically this shouldn't be an issue:
Using multiple iTunes libraries -Mac

Can multiple libraries be sync to the same iPod?

As I start upload songs to iTunes library, quite quickly it has increased to 4 GB with the library big enough to use the side scroll bar. I guess we can have multiple libraries in iTunes in the same computer. But can multiple libraries be sync to the same iPod? i.e. Can I see more than one library in the ipod?
I find it uneasy to see too many entries in the library all the time. There is no way to make it invisible, hence this question.

If you want to connect and use an iPod with more than one library (or more than one computer) you need to change the update preference in the iPod Summary tab to "Manually manage music and videos" and click Apply. The content of iTunes and the iPod are not syncronised in this mode so the two can be different. You can directly access the content of the iPod and play it through iTunes and you can drag and drop whatever you want to the iPod from either library:
Using iPod with Multiple computers
Managing content manually on iPod
Syncing Music to iPod
Using multiple iTunes libraries -Mac
Something else to be aware of when using an iPod in manual mode is that the "Do Not Disconnect" message will remain on the display until you physically eject the device: Safely Disconnect IPod

Support for multiple libraries...?

Hi, I have a question as how is the best way to manage y music libraries given my usage scenario.
First let me set the context of what I have. I have over 35GB of ripped music, that resides in an external drive. Currently this music is available through my iTunes application, but it is NOT part of my lybrary (meaning I imported but did NOT copy it into the library). I do NOT want to have 35GB of music in my notebook's HD.
My iTunes library is in my local HD (music folder). This is a small file that basically has the 'podcasts' and the 'artwork'.
What do I want? I would love to keep all my music and videos on the external drive, and have my podcasts in my local HD. This way when I am on the road, I can update the podcasts, without having to carry with me all my music.
This all works fine the way I have it now, except that every time I rip a new CD or buy music from the iTunes Store, they go to my local HD and not my external drive.
Any ideas on how to work this out? I would love support for multiple libraries, but I don't thnks it's possible as far as I looked into it.
Thanks SO much!

This all works fine the way I have it now, except that every time I rip a new CD or buy music from the iTunes Store, they go to my local HD and not my external drive.
Set the 'iTunes Music folder location' (Preferences>Advanced>General) to the music folder on your external.
The next time you rip a CD or purchase music, it will be stored there.
Note: the 'iTunes Music folder location' is not the folder where your music is, but the location where iTunes stores imported music (and added music when 'Copy files to.....' is checked)
If you ran iTunes once with your external drive not attached/mounted, this location is reset to the internal drive.
iTunes 7 has support for multiple libraries. Press and hold the Option-key on launching iTunes until a window pops up which asks you to choose a library or create a new one.
Libra and iTunes Library Manager both work with iTunes 7 and older versions. They also save the preferences for every library you created.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 200 GB HD, DL burner Mac OS X (10.4.8) iTunes 7.0.1

Multiple Libraries - Best practice

I have been using iphoto for the last 5 years, At the end of the year I move the library to an external drive and use iphoto buddy to point to it. Now I have 6-7 libraries and I would rather have everything, together.
What has people found out is the best way to combine libraries so that all files end up in 1 directory on the firewire drive and then the best way to move this years photos from the hardrive to the ext drive, later? Or is having multiple libraries the best?
Seems like i am always moving files to and from libraries and i loss any structure and backing it up is a pain. am i missing something here? Thanks in advance
jf

Jeff:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. The only way at present to merger multiple libraries into one library and retain keywords, rolls, etc, is to use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager. That will get you one library. If that library gets very large then you might have a storage problem on your boot drive where you want to keep adequate free space for optimal performance. In that case multiple libraries might be best for you.
FWIW here's my photo strategy. I keep my photos in folder based on the shoot (each upload from the camera after an event, usually family get togethers) in folders dated for the event and a brief description. I then import that folder into iPhoto to get a roll with the same name. Since I take the step to upload before importing to iPhoto I also batch rename the files with the international date format: YYYY-MM-DD-01.jpg and so forth.
With iPhoto's new capability of using only aliases for the original/source files (I kept my original folders as a backup on a second drive) I used those original source folders for my combined library by importing those folders into a new V6 library using the alias method. So, for 17,400+ photos that take up 27G on my second drive, my iPhoto library on my boot drive only takes up 8G. This is very valuable for PB owners who can't afford that much library space on the boot drive. The one downside to the alias method is that if you delete a photo from the library the source/original file does not get deleted. Hopefully that will be in the next update.
If the external is dismounted the library is still useable in that you can view thumbnails, create, delete and move albums, add comments and keywords (but with some effort). You can't do anything that requires moving the thumbnails or edit. I've created a workflow to convert from a conventional iPhoto library structure to an alias based one.
The downside to converting as I mentioned is that you will lose keywords, albums, etc. due to the conversion. So it's not for everyone.
Bottom line: for combining/merging libraries iPhoto Library Manager is the only option at the present time. Hope this has bee of some help to you.

Multiple Libraries: DON'T MESS WITH MY ORGANIZATION!

Many music/audio fans are obsessive about how they organize their collections (see the movie/book "High Fidelity"), and I am one of them. I've spent HOURS organizing my iTunes Library, and I'm very protective about my genres.
About 50% of my iPod use is listening to audio books from Audible.com. I've always kept these books in a genre called Spoken Word, along with other spoken files (podcasts, etc.)
Low and behold, I install iTunes 7, and my Audible files are gone. I try to re-import them, and noting happens. I spend a couple of hours searching around online but turn up no info.
Finally, I notice that iTunes 7 has created a new Library called "Audiobooks" and moved all my Audible titles into it.
Well, I'm relieved that they aren't gone, but I'm still really ****** off. I don't want two Libraries. I want my titles to be organized the way I organized them. Why is Apple pushing their organization on me?
And, as-far-as I can tell, there's no way of changing this. If iTunes is going to create multiple Libraries, I should be able to drag titles from one to the other. Or I should be able to right-click a title, choose Info, and be able to switch Libraries, just as I can switch genres.
Now some of my spoken content (Audible) is in one Library and some (non-audible) is in another. I HATE that.
Worse, there no way (unless I'm missing something) to search all Libraries. For instance, I listen to "The Ricky Gervais Show." Some I downloaded from Audible and some I got from elsewhere. If I search for Gervais, I only get the items in the currently-selected Library.
This makes me really scared to install future updates. I don't want iTunes to mess with my organization any more. I have thousands of files, and I want to be able to fine them easily.
DON'T MESS WITH MY LIBRARY, APPLE!
5G 60Gig Windows XP Pro

Yes, that's what is showing as "modified time" by windows explorer.
In a sense, it is indeed operating system dependent because everytime you write in a file (.doc, .exe, .whatever and in our case .jpeg), the modified date will change in windows.
Yes, But.
In other applications, such as Irfanview, you can tick "apply original exif time/date" and as a result, even though you have indeed changed the file, windows explorer will still show the original date, meaning when the file was taken.
I am looking for a similar option in Lightroom or a trick to get that result.

Using Multiple Libraries With iTunes 7.5

I recently updated to 7.5, using multiple libraries does not work anymore. The dialog to choose library if holding the option key while opening itunes will not appear anymore. anyone having a similar problem? Multiple libraries are a necessity for me.

I am also having this problem. I tried to create a separate library, but when I followed the directions (hitting shift when I open iTunes) I did not get the option to do so. My regular account just opens. Have you resolved your problem yet?
Message was edited by: phaedracat

IPhoto vs Photo multiple libraries

The Yosemite upgrade eliminated iPhoto and replaced it with Photos app, how do I use the multiple libraries that I previously set up in iPhoto? When I opened the Photos app after the upgrade it gave the option to choose a library, but not multiple ones. Now what? How do I switch to and use multiple libraries in Photos?

After I figured that out about the multiple libraries I have a new headache. I wonder if this is your issue as well? I can't sync one library for ex. work library to my ipad and my creative library to my iphone. The only option I am provided is to sync the main system.library Photo.app library which is my personal library.
I created 3 libraries initially using iphoto Library Manager. I wrote and asked them if they would be creating software or changing theirs to address this issue. I am disgusted with this role out. Nowhere was I told to merge all my libraries in order to have access while syncing. I have over 100gb so I created a work, creative, and personal library.
I back up on an external. I am not going back to the cloud as I don't need ALL my photos on ALL my devices, just my desktop. The cloud did not offer me the options I needed. I spent a whole workday trying to gain back some usability for my work library. I am completely updated in all areas.
I don't need "moments" I need dates and I need descending order, plus key commands and not three steps to do what was one in iPhoto. Ready to chuck it all and look elsewhere (Lightroom- perhaps) as this is costing me money and time from work. I keep filling out feature requests to no avail or help via searches on the internet.
I hope someone has figured out how to sync the additional libraries Photo.app allows for, if not, then why give the user the option?

Using Faces recognition data on multiple libraries

I have several libraries. Each needs to be updated with this upgrade. However, each needs to learn ALL faces instead of learning from the previously updated libraries. So, can one manipulate the data so all libraries can access the same Faces resources?

No - as far as iPhoto is concerned there is only one library - the current one - there is no current way to have multiple libraries share a faces database - it is a part of the individual library database
You can suggest to Apple - iPhoto menu ==> provide iPhoto feedback
After it is updated for iPhoto '09 - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - You may be able to merge the libraries using iPHoto Library Manager so you have only one which will have al the faces data in it but that probably does not give you what you want - unless you have multiple libraries due to the old fairly low capacity of iPhoto 5 and earlier
LN

Updating multiple libraries

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