Sharing Iphoto Library Between Macs
I just got my first mac (24' imac) so I'm trying to figure out how to do some things..
I have a linux server that I've set shares up for a windows computer, my imac and my girlfriends mini.
Between my the two of us we have about 30,000 photos and around 10 gigs of music.
We would like to be able to both have access to the images and music without having to replicate all the files on both macs. What's the best way to have all the music and all the photos in a shared folder on the linux server and both have access to them and be able to add/remove files and keep updated on our computer?
If iphoto and itunes aren't the best programs to use for this, I'm open to other suggestions.
I've had a multi-Mac household pretty much since college, rocking a laptop and desktop in addition to miscellaneous iOS devices throughout the years. Dropbox and iCloud sync made most of the pains of using several Macs disappear, but iPhoto was always a problem. My laptop is tiny! My iPhoto library, not so much.
Thankfully, Photos for Mac — paired with iCloud Photo Library's Optimize Storage feature — makes working with and syncing multiple Macs a breeze. Here's how you can do it.
How to use Photos and iCloud Photo Library with multiple Macs
Here's a quick, simple breakdown on setting up your Macs to support Photos and iCloud Photo Library.
I recommend starting with your biggest iPhoto library; it'll usually be on your desktop Mac. When you open Photos for the first time, your library should import automatically; if it prompts you to create a new library, your Photos library may be stored in another location on your Mac, and you may need to manually open it.
Once you've imported your biggest library on your Mac, make sure iCloud Photo Library is turned on and syncing. You can do this by following these steps:
Sharing between libraries; issues A few readers have reported a new inability to copy photos between shared libraries on different Macs after the iPhoto 6.0 update. MacFixIt reader Mike Simpson. Feb 24, 2010 MacMost forum question: Sharing iPhoto Library between 2 Macs using a NAS? I use dropbox to share my iTunes database (located on a Western Digital Sharespace NAS) between my Mac Mini and my wife's MacBook. I tried it with iPhoto, but the performance was terrible. How can I share Photos across multiple users on Apple Photos, without paying for iCloud? Ask Question. Enable iCloud's Family Sharing and iCloud Photo Sharing. To share the same Photo library between multiple users on the same Mac, do the following.
- Launch Photos on your Mac.
- Click Photos in the menu bar.
Select Preferences (or do this quicker by pressing ⌘,).
Source: iMore
Click on the iCloud tab.
Source: iMore
Check off the box for iCloud Photos.
- You can also check off the box for Download Originals to this Mac if you have the space.
- You can check off Optimize Mac Storage to save space on your Mac by only saving a percentage of images and video locally — the rest will be thumbnails that you can click on to download when you want to.
Source: iMore
Now, open your other Mac, and launch Photos. If you have an iPhoto library on that secondary Mac, follow the same steps as above — import your library, then turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you have duplicates of the same photo on each computer, iCloud should automatically resolve those conflicts when it syncs, providing you with just one version of your photos when the sync process finishes.
Apr 01, 2020 Designate a System Photo Library in Photos If you have multiple photo libraries on your Mac, you can choose one to be the System Photo Library. The System Photo Library is the only library that can be used with iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream.
If you don't have an iPhoto library on your secondary Mac, create a new library in Photos and turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you want to save storage space on this secondary Mac, make sure Optimize Mac Storage is selected: This will save a certain percentage of images and video locally to your device, while providing thumbnails of all the others for you to download at your leisure.
After you've set up all your Macs with Photos and the sync process has finished, you're now good to go. From here on out, any time you add photos, they'll sync to every computer you've set up with Photos.
What syncs, what doesn't sync
Photos for Mac syncs a lot more than just your original photos and videos. According to a support document on Apple.com, here's what else you should expect to see sync:
- All folders and albums
- Smart Albums
- Keywords
- Memories
- Searchable keywords
- Key photo selections
There are a few things iCloud Photo Library won't sync, however. Here's Apple's list:
How To Open Iphoto Library
- Books, cards, calendars, and slideshows
- Keyword shortcuts
- Unused keywords
- Last imported album on the Mac in question
- Names and faces in the People album
For those not using iCloud Photo Library
If you've chosen not to enable iCloud Photo Library, Apple still offers you free syncing of your last 1000 photos via My Photo Stream, which doesn't count toward your iCloud disk space.
Sharing Iphoto Library Between Macs Mac
This will sync and download images you've imported or taken on other devices, but you won't have the option to optimize your storage or sync your albums.
Octoober 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.
macOS Catalina
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