Share iPhoto library between users on same Mac (Solution)

For iPhoto 09 (version 8.0.2) and later:

What you mean by 'share'.

If you want the other user to be able to see the pics, but not add to, change or alter your library, then enable Sharing in your iPhoto (Preferences -> Sharing), leave iPhoto running and use Fast User Switching to open the other account. In that account, enable 'Look For Shared Libraries'. Your Library will appear in the other source pane.

Any user can drag a pic from the Shared Library to their own in the iPhoto Window.

Remember iPhoto must be running in both accounts for this to work.

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

Quit iPhoto in both accounts. Move the Library to the Users / Shared Folder

(You can also use an external HD set to ignore permissions, a Disk Image or even partition your Hard Disk.)

In each account in turn: Double click on the Library to open it. (You may be asked to repair the Library Permissions.) From that point on, this will be the default library location. Both accounts will have full access to the library, in fact, both accounts 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.

The folder to use, if you must do it that way, is the Shared folder. You will have permissions issues on the files and library using the Public folder. You may still have them on the Shared...

Here's another way that works very well, even if it seems a bit clunky: Most importantly, safe and no permissions issues.

Create a new Account on your Mac, call it Media. Create an iPhoto Library there. (BTW: This will work for iTunes too.)

Enable Sharing on the Library:(Preferences -> Sharing), leave iPhoto running and use Fast User Switching to open the other accounts. In those accounts, enable 'Look For Shared Libraries'. The Library will appear in the other source pane.

This means that both users will be able to see the pics. If you want to use a pic then simply drag it from the shared Library to your own in the iPhoto Window. This means that each user can have their own edits.

If you want to add photos to the Library: Log into the Media account for that purpose.

To make it all seamless: Set your Mac to log into the Media Account automatically. Set iPhoto to launch on log-in. Then switch to your own account using Fast User Switching.

Net result: a Library that's permanently available to all users but also protected. Each user can have their own versions of the pics if they want.

No partitioning, no permissions issues. Uses no extra disk space. What's not to like?

Hi Terence,

Freshly minted mac user here (2 days!), still adjusting to a post-windows environment (after more than 20 years). I stumbled upon your solution for sharing photos between user accounts here and thought it was a great idea for setting up my macbook to use between several user accounts. Little did I know that iPhotos and Photos are different beasts! Unfortunately, as I new mac user I can't revert to iPhoto on my machine. The setup is working a treat for sharing iTunes, but is there a work around for getting it to work with Photos? So far it seems I can only do it via the cloud, adding iCloud ids. A bit convoluted for users on the same machine.

Best,

_arjuna_

Well that's from 5 years and 5 Operating Systems ago.

For iPhoto it will need to be on an external disk directly connected to the Mac, formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and set to ignore ownership and permissions.