(This how to from 2013 was written for iPhot0. However, this trick works just as well in Apple’s new Photos for OS X app.)
Family computers can be complicated. Sometimes, if a family is smart and manages their Mac wisely, each person in the household will have their own Mac login. However, that doesn’t always happen – and when it doesn’t, using personalized things such as iTunes and iPhoto libraries can become a concern.
Fortunately, just as we showed you how you can use multiple iTunes libraries on a single Mac login, the same trick can also be performed with iPhoto! Besides the shared/family computer scenario, this could also be used for keeping various projects separate. For instance, if you are a photographer, you could have one iPhoto library dedicated to client projects, and a separate library for all of your personal images.
Setting up and using multiple libraries could not be more simple. To do so, simply press and hold the Option (or Alt, if you are using a Windows keyboard) button while launching iPhoto, and you’ll be able to select between multiple libraries you might have – or even create a new one if you so desire!
We hope you find this as helpful as we did – personally, I prefer to keep my personal images separate from my professional ones, and this does the trick quite nicely! For more helpful tips, check out our full collection of tutorials by visiting our How-To category!
