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Photos for Mac

Q: How share Photos library on the same Mac without iCloud

Hi,

 

I have an iMac, with El Capitan OS X 10.11.4
I have an iCloud account but I use Photos on my iMac without iCloud, only local.

 

I have create a second account on my iMac for my wife. She hasn't an iCloud account.

 

I want to share my Photos library with her.

 

I have moved my Photos library in the shared directory, and I have give the read/write authorization on it for my wife.

 

For me it's ok when I open Photos, but for my wife, when she tried to open this Photos library there's an error message about broken permissions, and it's impossible to do something, there's no option, just Quit :-(

 

It's possible or not to do this ?
If yes, how to do ?

 

Regards.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 7:52 AM

by léonie,Solvedanswer
léonie léonie
Level 10 (106,946 points)
iLife
A:

There is one more big problem with sharing a Photos library on the same Mac - it is more restrictive than in iPhoto or Aperture.

If you want to share a library it cannot be enabled as your system photo library, so you will need a second library to use as your system library, or you could not use the Media Browser or Photo Stream. This is explained here:  https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/Help/sharing%20a%20library%20between% 20multiple%20user%20accounts%20on%20one%20mac.html

 

Sharing a library between multiple user accounts on one Mac

Photos is not designed with multi-user use in mind, which makes it very difficult to create a setup where a single Photos library can be accessed from multiple accounts on your Mac. If you wish to share a library this way, the following restrictions will apply (for the below discussion, assume we have two users named A and B that we want to share a library):

 

  1. Only one user account can ever have a given library open in Photos at a time. Before you can use the shared library as user A, you must first make sure to quit Photos as user B.
  2. None of the user accounts that are accessing the library can designate it as their "system library". The system library is effectively open at all times by OS X in the background as long as that user is logged in, so even quitting Photos will not free up the library so that another user can open it. You must either designate a different library as the system library, or fully log out user B before trying to access the library as user A. Note that this also precludes having this library sync with iCloud.
  3. The library cannot be stored on your internal drive, or any other drive where permissions are respected. Fighting against permissions on OS X is a losing battle; while you can play whack-a-mole trying to fix permissions on the library before you open it, something will eventually go awry and it's likely you'll be unable to access some portion of your library. You should store the library on an external drive, and in the Get Info window in the Finder, make sure that the "Ignore ownership on this volume" checkbox is checked.

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 9:15 AM

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Q: How share Photos library on the same Mac without iCloud

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  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Apr 24, 2016 4:43 AM in response to retrack
    Level 10 (106,946 points)
    iLife
    Apr 24, 2016 4:43 AM in response to retrack

    To share a library it needs to be in a separate disk partition or on an external drive with the "Ignore Ownership" flag enabled. A Shared folder does not suffice.

    The procedure is described here for iPhoto. You can try the same for Photos.  See this link:  iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 24, 2016 4:43 AM in response to retrack
    Level 10 (141,105 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 24, 2016 4:43 AM in response to retrack

    Using the Shred Folder on your Mac was disabled for iPhoto and Photos libraries a couple of versions ago.  The only way too do it now is to put the library on an external HD that is formatted exactly as shown in this screenshot and connected directly to your iMac via USB/Firewire or Thunderbolt cable:

    ignoreownership.jpg

    OTsig.png

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Apr 22, 2016 9:15 AM in response to léonie
    Level 10 (106,946 points)
    iLife
    Apr 22, 2016 9:15 AM in response to léonie

    There is one more big problem with sharing a Photos library on the same Mac - it is more restrictive than in iPhoto or Aperture.

    If you want to share a library it cannot be enabled as your system photo library, so you will need a second library to use as your system library, or you could not use the Media Browser or Photo Stream. This is explained here:  https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/Help/sharing%20a%20library%20between% 20multiple%20user%20accounts%20on%20one%20mac.html

     

    Sharing a library between multiple user accounts on one Mac

    Photos is not designed with multi-user use in mind, which makes it very difficult to create a setup where a single Photos library can be accessed from multiple accounts on your Mac. If you wish to share a library this way, the following restrictions will apply (for the below discussion, assume we have two users named A and B that we want to share a library):

     

    1. Only one user account can ever have a given library open in Photos at a time. Before you can use the shared library as user A, you must first make sure to quit Photos as user B.
    2. None of the user accounts that are accessing the library can designate it as their "system library". The system library is effectively open at all times by OS X in the background as long as that user is logged in, so even quitting Photos will not free up the library so that another user can open it. You must either designate a different library as the system library, or fully log out user B before trying to access the library as user A. Note that this also precludes having this library sync with iCloud.
    3. The library cannot be stored on your internal drive, or any other drive where permissions are respected. Fighting against permissions on OS X is a losing battle; while you can play whack-a-mole trying to fix permissions on the library before you open it, something will eventually go awry and it's likely you'll be unable to access some portion of your library. You should store the library on an external drive, and in the Get Info window in the Finder, make sure that the "Ignore ownership on this volume" checkbox is checked.