iPhoto Library Manager Icon

Merging libraries


iPhoto Library Manager allows you to merge the contents of multiple libraries together into one, while preserving all your albums, events, and photo metadata.


To begin a merge, select "Merge Libraries" from the File menu. You will be presented with a sheet with two panes. On the left is the list of libraries available to copy photos from. You can choose one or more libraries to merge together here. On the right, you can choose the destination for the photos you want to merge. If you want to keep your original libraries intact, choose the "New Library" item. After clicking the "Merge" button, you will be prompted to choose a location in which to create a new library that will be the destination for the merge. You can also choose an existing library into which all the photos from the chosen source libraries will be imported.


In the example merge setup shown below, a new library will be created, then the contents from the libraries "Default", "Photo shoot", and "Powerbook" will all be copied into the new library


Pasted Graphic.tiff


When one library (which we'll call the "source library") is merged into another library (the "destination library"), the following steps take place.


  1. The source library is opened and all necessary information is gathered from it.
  2. The destination library is then opened.
  3. Each album that was in the source library is recreated in the destination library. If the "Combine albums with same name" option is enabled, then if the destination library already has an album of a given name, that album is used instead of a new one being created. In iPhoto 6, support was added for having multiple albums with the same name in a single library. If there is more than one album in the destination library with a given name, then preference will be given to one that is in the same nesting of folders as the album in the source library. If no such album exists, then the first album with the name in the library will be chosen.
  4. Each roll/event from the source library is then imported into the destination library. After the photos are imported, each photo's metadata and the original version of any modified photos will be restored, and, for each album it belonged to in the source library, it will be added to the corresponding album in the destination library.


If your merge has multiple source libraries, then the above steps will be repeated for each source library. Read here for more detail on what is and isn't copied during a merge


Here are a few tips for deciding how to go about merging your libraries




<< Copying individual photos
Importing new photos into a library >>