iTunes can't find / share Aperture photo library?

This is just weird. I've been using Aperture 3 on my iMac for quite a while and it's been going great, I love this program! Problem is, I just got an iPad and want to drop some photo projects onto it from Aperture on my iMac and when I click on "Sync Photos from Aperture" I get an error about the library not being visible and previews needing to be shared? But I can't figure out what needs to be tweaked for things to work!

Dave's Answer:

You've hit a fairly well-known bug with the way that iTunes and Aperture talk to each other. First off, don't panic, you don't have anything broken in Aperture (I know that for me, it'd be a nightmare to have my photo library corrupted, I have thousands upon thousands of photos therein!). In fact, there are a couple of ways that you can try to solve this problem, because anecdotally sometimes one of 'em works, and other times, well, it doesn't.

Also, it's worth noting that this can also affect iPad users who want to share photos from their Aperture library, it's not just an iPhone or iPod problem.

Let me start by showing exactly what the bug you're talking about is...

I duplicated this by going into iTunes on my MacBook Pro, plugging in my iPhone 3GS, then clicking on the Photos tab. On the top is a "Sync Photos From" option with a pull-down menu. Check it and select Aperture:

Looks reasonable, but iTunes instantly complains 'Your Aperture Library could not be found":

The first attempt at fixing it, therefore, is to do what they suggest and ensure that you have your Aperture library set up for sharing. This is done by going into Aperture and clicking on Preferences...

Once you're there, go to the "Previews" tab and look in the middle of that window:

What you want to select is any value that's not "Never", then quit Aperture to ensure that the change "takes". You'll see this:

Looks good. Now, go back into iTunes and try re-selecting Aperture as a source for your photos. If it works, congrats, you're done.

If not, what worked for me was switching to a Aperture Library (since I didn't have one, I created an empty one), then switching back. That can be easily done by choosing "Switch to Library" from "File":

Since I don't have any other than the standard library, I need to choose "Other/New...", which pops up this window:

Click on "Create New..." and give it a memorable name:

It'll take just a few seconds to switch to a new, blank, Aperture library. Now, switch back:

More likely than not, you just fixed the problem. Quit Aperture, then go back to iTunes, and hopefully this is what you'll see:

If not, I'd suggest you check out this thread in the Apple support forums on the subject. Lots of interesting suggestions and discussion. And if something else works, please do post a note about it here for others to find. Thanks!

More Useful Mac OS X Help Articles:

✔ Audacity can't find LAME library, I can't save Mp3?

Hey Dave. I read your article Audacity can't save mp3 audio files and am still puzzled because I downloaded the LAME Mp3 converter...

✔ How to remove Dashboard as a "space" in Mac OS X Spaces?

I'm a big fan of the Spaces utility in Mac OS X that lets me have multiple virtual screens [see Set Up Mac...

✔ Best place to buy a cheap MacBook laptop?

Hi Dave. I am looking for two gently used MacBook laptops for my teen daughters. Personal computers would greatly facilitate their studies as...

✔ File too big error copying to USB flash drive on my Mac?

I'm baffled. I have a 16GB Kingston USB flash drive that I use on my Mac system and I'm trying to copy a...

✔ Stealth image capture photo from webcam on my Mac?

Someone sneaks into my cubicle while I'm at lunch and takes candy out of my desk. Petty, but stupid too. I want to...

Let's stay in touch!

Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!

Categorized: Apple iPad Help , Mac OS X Help , iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help (Article 9441, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple aperture, apple ipad, apple ipod, apple itunes, mac os x, photo sync
Previous: Get traffic stats for a specific page in Google Analytics?
Next: Can I use my iPad as a second display for my MacBook Pro?

Reader Comments To Date: 27

Michael Rowe said, on May 28, 2010 4:14 AM:

Thanks Dave, that tipped just saved my butt. I have a shiny new iPad, and I couldn't get any photos on it, which was breaking my heart. ;-)

FWIW, I had exactly the symptoms you described. I had to pull the "switch library" trick to get iTunes to see my Aperture library.

Thanks again!

Scott said, on June 12, 2010 9:32 AM:

Thank you for this solution!

Ken Davies said, on June 17, 2010 2:18 AM:

Thanks for the hint. It solved the problem for me but only with a slight variation.

I created a dummy library as suggested then exited Aperture. Found the dummy library in the pictures folder and double clicked it to start Aperture with the new library. Exited Aperture again then double clicked on my original library. Problem disappeared!

Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

TC said, on June 25, 2010 1:11 PM:

Been searching for the solution whole day, and this is the only tip on the web that actually works. Thanks a ton!!

Gary Bridger said, on June 29, 2010 10:44 PM:

Still stuck . I get The I pod "gary Bridger's iPos"cannot be synced. The required file cannot be found.
i have managed to delete I photo 09 cache and it work with that down loading photos but does not with aperture 3 . help!

Sarge said, on July 3, 2010 12:08 AM:

Hey mate that done that trick and thank you!

Tommy said, on July 4, 2010 1:27 PM:

You are a genious!
It worked great, thanks

thom said, on July 28, 2010 10:02 AM:

following those steps it still didn't work for me.. however i've then tried repairing the aperture database which fixed the issue.. you can invoke a repair by closing aperture and then opening it again while holding down the option and command key..

SouthPawBrown said, on August 22, 2010 10:46 PM:

My aperture library won't even open. I have 9.5 GB worth of photo's on my "Aperture Library" however it won't let me open it for some reason? The icon on my dock just keep bouncing up and down?

When I click on the icon itself an icon always appears and says:

"The Application Aperture quit unexpectedly.
Mac OS X and other applications are not affected.

Click Relaunch to launch the application again. Click Report to see more details or send a report to Apple."

I have tried both the Relaunch and sending the Report to Apple but still no luck.

Here are the more specific details,
Process: Aperture [1871]
Path: /Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/MacOS/Aperture
Identifier: com.apple.Aperture
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: Aperture-908252102~1
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [85]

Date/Time: 2010-08-23 00:42:44.795 -0400
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 97F28135-BEF1-4D08-9E09-4D782D274F0D

Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0

Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: _BKItemKeywordsKey
Referenced from: /Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/MacOS/Aperture
Expected in: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/BrowserKit.framework/Versions/A/BrowserKit

MY SYSTEM CONFIGURATION IS:

Model: MacBookPro4,1, BootROM MBP41.00C1.B03, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 GHz, 2 GB
Graphics: GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, spdisplays_pcie_device, 256 MB
Memory Module: global_name
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.21)
Bluetooth: Version 2.1.9f10, 2 service, 0 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
Serial ATA Device: FUJITSU MHY2200BH, 186.31 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-867
USB Device: Built-in iSight, (null) mA
USB Device: USB to Serial-ATA bridge, (null) mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, (null) mA
USB Device: IR Receiver, (null) mA
USB Device: BRCM2046 Hub, (null) mA
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, (null) mA

THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ALL OF YOU PEOPLE!

oz said, on September 8, 2010 2:58 AM:

this worked perfectly to resolve the aperture 3.0.3 not sync'ing photos with my appletv ... thanks!

frank said, on December 5, 2010 10:44 AM:

Hi Dave,
that helped really!
Thanks a lot!!!

PhilC said, on January 6, 2011 11:57 AM:

brilliant! iPad now sync'd with Aperture. Thank you

chris said, on January 23, 2011 12:10 PM:

Switching to an empty library and back did the trick; thanks for the tip! Still having some issues but at least it's working better than it did... whew.

Scott Waite said, on February 7, 2011 12:44 AM:

Thanks for being so thorough. I wish more problems were solved this easily with such clarity from people like you.

Mark said, on February 12, 2011 1:32 PM:

Thank you, Dave!!! The last suggestion about creating the dummy aperture library did the trick. I would never have thought of that one.

Mark D'Amato, Bellevue WA

iMac x2, iphone x3, MacBook Pro x1, Apple TV x1 all working on Timecapsule WiFi.

Oscar said, on February 15, 2011 9:52 AM:

ah! thank god i solved this! the second solution worked really good. Thank you Dave

Rob said, on February 17, 2011 10:34 AM:

Thanks. The Switch Library trick worked.

Adrian said, on March 11, 2011 3:11 PM:

Thanks, that solved my problem!

Thomas Kuca said, on June 2, 2011 6:01 AM:

Fixed the problem! Big thanks!

manzog said, on June 27, 2011 1:45 PM:

Great! it works perfectly for me with the switch of library!
Thanks

luke said, on September 12, 2011 6:28 AM:

Thanks a ton, that helped me a lot ;)

arbs said, on March 10, 2012 8:10 PM:

Thanks Dave. It works :)

Craig Sheppard said, on April 27, 2012 5:01 PM:

If this hint does not work for you, quit Aperture, then right click your Aperture library, and choose "show package contents". Navigate to the iLife Shared folder, and delete the ApertureDatabaseTimestamp file.

Fire up Aperture again, quit it, and then it should appear in iTunes.

Mel said, on June 22, 2012 5:55 AM:

Fan - frikkin - tastic!!! Thanks for the info!!

Brad said, on July 9, 2012 6:31 PM:

Thanks for the tip. Two years later, still works! :-) Much appreciated!

Adam Lowe said, on August 11, 2012 10:39 AM:

Thank you! Just did a fresh install of Mountain Lion on my MBP and was stumped with this.

tDave said, on January 4, 2013 2:36 PM:

I am streaming photos to apple TV and this trick works to recognize the original library I ever created. But I have multiple aperture libraries and apple TV can't see the others even after opening that new library in aperture closing and reopening aperture several times.

Anyone else have this problem and how to solve it?
Will this previous post solve the problem?

Craig Sheppard said, on April 27, 2012 5:01 PM:
If this hint does not work for you, quit Aperture, then right click your Aperture library, and choose "show package contents". Navigate to the iLife Shared folder, and delete the ApertureDatabaseTimestamp file.

Fire up Aperture again, quit it, and then it should appear in iTunes.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

iTunes can't find / share Aperture photo library?

Reader Comments To Date: 27

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Check This Out Too...