Migrating from one Mac to Another

[Short Version

Problem:
Need to move photos from G4 ibook to Intel macbook. Both run 10.5, so I assume iphoto 09. I don't know, because I don't use iPhoto. I use photoshop.

I would be happy to settle for extracting image files that can be imported into the new computer... but this process seems to fail each time.

attempted solutions:
copy "iPhoto Library" from pictures folder to hard drive, import on new computer.]


Detailed version:

I'm sure this has been asked before, as people tend to upgrade computers from time to time.

However, I've searched the boards and google for a half hour or so with mixed results.

A friend of mine has an old G4 ibook that she has recently replaced with a new intel macbook. Both run Leopard.

She would like to get rid of the G4, but can't figure out how to move her iPhoto library (or even the pictures without albums, etc.) from one mac to another.

She attempted to copy the iPhoto library in the G4 to an external drive, then attempted to import the library into the new macbook. This didn't work, files show up in the database, but will not open. They appear to be .jpg files, or at least have that extension.

My suggestion was that she use the File > Export command, but she can't seem to get that to work either. I'm not sure if she selected the correct options, both during export from the old system and import from the new system.

Another option that we haven't tried is to "Option + start iPhoto" trick, similar to my current iTunes setup (home LAN vs away) to access two libraries. To specify, holding option while launching iphoto then selecting the old iPhoto library that has been copied to an external.



Has anyone had success moving photos from one mac to another?

thanks in advance for the help.