Comments on: iPhoto hackery…kind of (How to change the default iPhoto Library location…)

By: Bud

Bud — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:59:51 +0000

Big problem and I need some help. It appears my iPhoto library is not responding. I’ve tried rebuilding it etc. The problem is with other programs that use the library such as Comic Life, Posterino, etc. Although my iPhoto appears to be working okay: iPhoto opens, all my albums, event, etc. are there…it just won’t show up in these other programs. As a test, I moved the library and began a new one, threw some photos inside and they appeared in Comic Life, Posterino, etc.

My fear is that I will need to export all my photos and re-import them back into a new library. This is where the big problem comes in: I will lose all my events, faces, albums. Is there another way?

I would be grateful for any advise. Thanks.

By: Dee

Dee — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:19:17 +0000

I have had my library on an external drive for some time. Then unplugged it while moving. I plugged it back in again, selected the library and.. NOTHING! Well.. all the originally are their , thumbnail etc just no library data or structure. The files all seem to be OK , tried reselecting the directory again but stupid i-tunes doesn’t give me any libraries.

If anyone could help that would be greatly appreciated as I have several thousand photos which were all well organised..

By: JA

JA — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:02:07 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I too picked up a 40D in early January and have tapped out my Mini’s HD pretty quickly. I was looking to drop my iPhoto library to the external drive I have attached to the Mini, but had yet to look-up the means to do so. This saves my bacon!

It’s also been a some time since I last visited…love the new layout.

Thank you.

By: Jason Burns

Jason Burns — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:32:05 +0000

Thanks for the feedback Brian, it’s interesting that Apple chose to surface the technique I mentioned in their knowledgebase instead of the option key way to go, don’t you think?

By: Brian G.

Brian G. — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:21:06 +0000

Just hold down the option key while launching iPhoto. Before it launches, iPhoto will give you further options, either to create a new iPhoto library or choose a different one.

It is sort of an Apple thing that the option key is used to, for lack of a better word, hide advanced options, ergo “option”.

By: Brian G.

Brian G. — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:40:13 +0000

Or, hold down the option key and launch iPhoto. It will then provide several options to you on which library to use or how to create a new library. Searching the macosxhints.com would also reveal this.

Not the most obvious way, but certainly the Mac way. Think of it this, way. The option key is there to provide more options. Try the option key before the command line and you’ll be surprised.