How do I share my iphoto library

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Level 1

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How do I share my iphoto library

I have two or three macs on a home network and want each mac to access the iphoto library of my main computer.

The iphoto library of the main computer is on an external USB drive connected to that computer, and that drive is accessible by all other macs on my network.

When I try to use that iphoto lib as the library to use from another mac (not the main computer), I get the message that "the iphoto library is in use by another application..." even when it's not!

My question is how do I share my iPhoto lib to my other macs so that they can simply open, and manage the same library as the main machine?

Both macs I am trying to share the library between are using identical software - the latest 10.6 + the latest iPhoto update for iLife 11.

Any help would be great - has anyone created a walk through to achieve this?

Cheers.

iPhoto '11, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on May 22, 2011 11:56 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

May 23, 2011 12:43 AM in response to fatboy1040

If you want the other user(s) to have the same access to the library as you: to be able to add, edit, organise, keyword etc.

Make sure that external drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and set to ignore ownership and permissions.

On each machine in turn: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and select the desired Library. (You may be asked to repair the Library Permissions.) From that point on, this will be the default library location. All machines will have full access to the library, in fact, all will 'own' it.

However, there is a catch with this system and it is a significant one. iPhoto is not a multi-user app., it does not have the code to negotiate two users simultaneously writing to the database, and trying will cause db corruption. So only one user at a time, and back up, back up back up.

Secondly, and even more importantly, will any of these machines be accessing the Library wirelessly?

A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.

Regards

TD

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