Apple Releases iPhoto 8.1

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/08/18/apple-releases-iphoto-8-1/)

Apple today released iPhoto 8.1 (http://support.apple.com/downloads/iPhoto_8_1), adding several new options for ordering printed products.This update adds several new print product options to iPhoto '09:

- Hardcover books can now be ordered in a new extra-large (10" x13") size
- Includes three new book themes with travel-oriented designs: Tropical, Asian, Old World
- A variety of new holiday greeting cards themes are now availableThe update weighs in at 160.4 MB and requires OS X 10.5.6 or later.

Article Link: Apple Releases iPhoto 8.1 (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/08/18/apple-releases-iphoto-8-1/)

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

Some nice additions. Will update later this afternoon.

[celticpride678]

Downloading now. It is 161 MB on my UniBody MacBook.

EDIT: Installed fine. No problems, no restart required!

[Doctor Q]

I've never ordered one of the printed books (I use web pages for photo collections, or we get individual photos printed to frame), but a friend who got one of the books for some family photos was very proud of it and liked how it turned out. It looked very professional.

[JFreak]

Takes a long time for first start after update. My library is +30GB and it is apparently doing something before it lets me do/view anything.

[MaskingTape]

Don't know if anyone else had this problem but, it fixes when you go into recovery mode and check off Recover Orphaned Files and it finding EVERY SINGLE picture and faces thumbnail as an orphan then messing up your library.

[aardwolf]

We have really enjoyed the 8.5" x 11" hardcover books. My wife has created two of them and had multiple copies sent to family members.

The $49.95 for a 13" x 11" book seems a little pricey though...

[martynmc7]

I wish Apple would optimise iPhoto for fullscreen editing on the 9400M as mine can lag pretty bad at times.

Though maybe this is more of a driver issue, in which case NVidia should do something about it.

[Cubert]

Don't know if anyone else had this problem but, it fixes when you go into recovery mode and check off Recover Orphaned Files and it finding EVERY SINGLE picture and faces thumbnail as an orphan then messing up your library.

What??? Please repost coherently so others can see if they have the same problem.

[rhaleuk]

Cool update. The photobooks are awesome.

Does anyone know of a discount code for the photobooks? They release them occasionally and there hasn't been one for ages.

I'd really appreciate it if someone would post a code.

[Blue Fox]

Cool update. The photobooks are awesome.

Does anyone know of a discount code for the photobooks? They release them occasionally and there hasn't been one for ages.

I'd really appreciate it if someone would post a code.

I agree, those photobooks turn out amazing. So much in fact that when I posted my online artist portfolio, I had a few of these books made with my portfolio items and shipped them to the companies I applied at. Needless to say, it makes a big statement for yourself when your resume is binded in a professionally bound hardcover book along with your portfolio items in one, clean package.

[twoodcc]

sounds nice. i'm sure my wife will love this. i'll download now

[stewy]

I wonder if this will fix the the problem with songs starting to fade out way to early in slideshows. Actually I should be more clear.... they playback fine in iphoto, but once exported the songs in the movie file fade far too early.

edit: It did not fix the slideshow problem.

[peeeter]

Inside iPhoto there is a file called IPNSTouchSupport.h

[ipoppy]

We have really enjoyed the 8.5" x 11" hardcover books. My wife has created two of them and had multiple copies sent to family members.

The $49.95 for a 13" x 11" book seems a little pricey though...

I do the same for my family. They so impressed of quality and idea itself that they can't stop talking about it. Yes, its pricey a bit:(

[Love]

I've made a couple. My family always compliments them but yes, they are kind of pricey.

[nomad01]

The $49.95 for a 13" x 11" book seems a little pricey though...

Seems to work out even worse for us in the UK.

I converted a book I was about to get printed. I think the price was around £24 for my current book. It leapt to over £40 for the new size. :-o

Would like to try the larger format but think that price is just a bit too much.

That said, I've always been impressed with the books I've had made and when I did have an issue with one, they shipped a replecement immediately.

[lamina]

Takes a long time for first start after update. My library is +30GB and it is apparently doing something before it lets me do/view anything.

Strange. Mine is ~70GB, 18,000 photos, and started up just as fast as usual. Maybe it's Snow Leopard.

[JFreak]

Strange. Mine is ~70GB, 18,000 photos, and started up just as fast as usual. Maybe it's Snow Leopard.

Yep, strange indeed. It imported system resource pics (arrows and such) for no apparent reason. Second launch was okay, business as usual.

[SFStateStudent]

I don't know, but I can make nice themed postcards on my iPhone; I just think that's 160MB too large for very little content.....:eek:

[iCAR]

I don't know, but I can make nice themed postcards on my iPhone; I just think that's 160MB too large for very little content.....:eek:

What app is that? I would love to do that on my iPhone..

[MichelleAK]

We have really enjoyed the 8.5" x 11" hardcover books. My wife has created two of them and had multiple copies sent to family members.

The $49.95 for a 13" x 11" book seems a little pricey though...

It does, but as someone who has done traditional scrapbooking for a number of years, I can state that the photo book prices are on par with that, if not less, especially once you take into consideration the "start up" costs for traditional scrapbooking, and the ongoing costs of printing out the photos, designer papers, stickers, album covers/protective sleeves, etc.

The price of the 13"x11" is $2.50 a page (additional pages over the included 20 are $1.49 each), which if I remember correctly is comparable to (or cheaper than) what Costco charges to print out 12x12 digital scrapbook pages. And the Costco charge doesn't include the actual album; just the loose pages.

I know -- tl;dr -- but I just wanted to help put the price in perspective as compared to the "competition."

[jmcguckin]

Takes a long time for first start after update. My library is +30GB and it is apparently doing something before it lets me do/view anything.

that's odd considering my library is about the same size, and after downloading/installing this update, iPhoto still started up as quickly as usual (one bounce of the icon and everything was completely loaded)... in any case, the new features in this update don't really affect me, but it's still good to know I'm running the latest version.

[SeattleMoose]

More useless features with hype and hot air.

BUGS!!!, FIX BUGS!!!

Make what you already have "just work" before adding new features of questionable value.

[MTShipp]

I agree, those photobooks turn out amazing. So much in fact that when I posted my online artist portfolio, I had a few of these books made with my portfolio items and shipped them to the companies I applied at. Needless to say, it makes a big statement for yourself when your resume is binded in a professionally bound hardcover book along with your portfolio items in one, clean package.

That is a great idea!

[jmcguckin]

More useless features with hype and hot air.

BUGS!!!, FIX BUGS!!!

Make what you already have "just work" before adding new features of questionable value.

you know, it's the craziest thing, but in the year or so since I started using iPhoto, I haven't run into a single issue (and as I've already mentioned, I have a fairly large photo library)... exactly what is it you're doing with your copy that you've got enough "bugs" to justify such a ridiculous post? I've been nothing short of impressed with iPhoto, not only with its straightforward/user-friendly interface, but with how well it manages and keeps all my photos organized.

about this latest update- just because the new features like larger photo books and additional themes aren't something you'd find useful doesn't necessarily mean that they're "useless features" to the remainder of the general public... and exactly where in this update's description did you get the impression that Apple "hyped" it up? oddly enough, the phrase "full of hot air" seems to apply quite well to your post...

[sladey]

you know, it's the craziest thing, but in the year or so since I started using iPhoto, I haven't run into a single issue (and as I've already mentioned, I have a fairly large photo library)... exactly what is it you're doing with your copy that you've got enough "bugs" to justify such a ridiculous post? I've been nothing short of impressed with iPhoto, not only with its straightforward/user-friendly interface, but with how well it manages and keeps all my photos organized.


I agree iPhoto is pretty impressive, and I'm not the guy you were flaming, BUT here are a few gripes / bugs...

1. Sending a slideshow to iDVD can't be done in PAL format. So it results in re-coding and basically crap quality video. I have the same problem with iMovie. High definition video results in worse than VHS quality output.

2a. Apple keeps changing the way photos are "shared". If you burn photos to disc using the intuitive "Share\Burn" it burns the files in iPhoto library format. Resulting in my Windows friends not being able to work out what the hell is wrong with the disc and also the morons at the photo lab printing the thumbnails. Not the easiest way to convince my friends to get a Mac. Of course there is are workarounds. But you can't just drag the photos to Toast because if you've made multiple copies of a photo (eg b&w / colour / full / cropped) you end up with multiple photos with the same filename, and Toast ignores the duplicates. So you have to use a two stage process, exporting photos to a separate folder, including renaming them, then burning a disc from that folder. That's all right if you've got time to figure it out, but my wife gives me an earful every time I upgrade iPhoto and they change the default export settings again and the "it just works" intuitive way doesn't work. She's the one who has to take the phone calls from her friends who spent the money at the photo lab...

2b. Sharing the photos by email means I have to choose the photo quality / file size in iphoto and then choose it again in Mail. Why twice?

3. Slideshow music ALWAYS ends early and loops back to the start of the song on the last photo. Sounds crap.

4. Not sure what the photo book quality is like in the US, but in Australia the books are expensive and they look cheap and nasty. Snapfish is cheaper and much better quality. No point having all the maps / themes in the world if in the end the print quality is rubbish.

(Thus ends my rant. I really do love iPhoto. Just fix the bugs... :rolleyes:)

[michael.lauden]

More useless features with hype and hot air.

BUGS!!!, FIX BUGS!!!

Make what you already have "just work" before adding new features of questionable value.

what are you talking about. my iPhoto has worked perfectly from day 1 of the iLife 09 install.

and it's not like you can complain about a free update. if you don't want it. don't install it

[jmcguckin]

I agree iPhoto is pretty impressive, and I'm not the guy you were flaming, BUT here are a few gripes / bugs...

well first, I didn't intend to come across as flaming the user I was replying to... honestly, what bothered me is that unlike you, he/she simply made the statement that iPhoto had "BUGS!!!" and left it at that (whereas you at least went into detail about the issues you're having- which I can respect). meanwhile, there were a couple things I thought I'd mention about your issues:


1. Sending a slideshow to iDVD can't be done in PAL format.


actually, it may be because I have QuickTime Pro, but I have the option of doing a "Custom Export" from directly within iPhoto, and from there I'm able to access plenty of options for PAL export... and if you're trying to burn the slideshow directly to iDVD using the Share -> Send to iDVD route, all you have to do is go into the Preferences in iDVD and choose "PAL" under the Video Mode tab.


2a. Apple keeps changing the way photos are "shared". If you burn photos to disc using the intuitive "Share\Burn" it burns the files in iPhoto library format. Resulting in my Windows friends not being able to work out what the hell is wrong with the disc and also the morons at the photo lab printing the thumbnails.


I'm not sure where the confusion is here, since when I choose Share -> Burn, it prompts me with this: "If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Burn Disc command in the Finder." seems pretty self-explanatory.


2b. Sharing the photos by email means I have to choose the photo quality / file size in iphoto and then choose it again in Mail. Why twice?


that's a good question- why, if you know it's going to prompt you twice by starting the process from iPhoto, would you not just open a new message in Mail and browse to the photo and choose the new size from there? I tried it, and it worked like a charm.


3. Slideshow music ALWAYS ends early and loops back to the start of the song on the last photo. Sounds crap.


well, this is pretty obviously bound to happen if you've picked a track that's shorter than the slideshow... it's going to try to fill the remaining space with something other than silence, so naturally it will try to work with what you've given it and restart the song from the beginning- hardly a bug by any means.


4. Not sure what the photo book quality is like in the US, but in Australia the books are expensive and they look cheap and nasty. Snapfish is cheaper and much better quality. No point having all the maps / themes in the world if in the end the print quality is rubbish.


I can't really argue this one way or the other since I've never seen an example of a photobook ordered through Apple in person (and I can't really give input here since I've never ordered one using Apple's services)... unfortunately, that's a shame that you found their photobooks to be of "rubbish" quality only after you'd ordered one, but at least you have the option of ordering them from Snapfish in the future.

needless to say, I can see where you'd be frustrated, but hopefully the ideas I threw out there were either helpful or at least gave you some food for thought... good luck either way.

[sladey]

well first, I didn't intend to come across as flaming the user I was replying to...

Sorry about the "flaming" comment... maybe I misunderstood...

Thanks for your detailed reply. You have some very helpful suggestions. I have responded below... not trying to be picky, just elaborating on my thought process...

... and if you're trying to burn the slideshow directly to iDVD using the Share -> Send to iDVD route, all you have to do is go into the Preferences in iDVD and choose "PAL" under the Video Mode tab.

Therein lies my problem. When my iDVD project is in PAL (576 lines), iPhoto still sends the slideshow across as NTSC (480 lines), then iDVD re-encodes the video to PAL, thereby reducing the quality.

I think I have the Quicktime Pro license. In fact I have just found the custom export, which I'm guessing will work. This is surely much less intuitive for the non-advanced user in the PAL world... maybe iPhoto could simply have a PAL/NTSC switch in its own preferences...

I'm not sure where the confusion is here, since when I choose Share -> Burn, it prompts me with this: "If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Burn Disc command in the Finder." seems pretty self-explanatory.

You're right of course. Except the average user isn't going to read that even though it's in plain view, especially if they've been used to a work process from a previous version, where they hit share - burn - ok. My main point here is about the software being intuitive. Unless the user knows to set up a folder for burning to disc (maybe 5% of users?) then trying to sort through the iPhoto library system in Finder itself to find files is a nightmare.

why, if you know it's going to prompt you twice by starting the process from iPhoto, would you not just open a new message in Mail and browse to the photo and choose the new size from there? I tried it, and it worked like a charm. You're right, it does work like a charm... BUT Mail's photo browser can't see your albums, making finding the photos you want to send more difficult (with 15000 photos and 1000 events the photo browser is very cumbersome). Also, my work process is to play around with photos, choose photos, then share the photos, so it's most intuitive to originate the process from iPhoto.



well, this is pretty obviously bound to happen if you've picked a track that's shorter than the slideshow... it's going to try to fill the remaining space with something other than silence, so naturally it will try to work with what you've given it and restart the song from the beginning- hardly a bug by any means. Maybe I didn't explain the bug properly. I always select the slideshow option "Fit slideshow to music". So iPhoto should get it right every time. But it gets it wrong every time. It always makes the photos run 3-4 seconds longer than the music so I end up with the song beginning again on the last slide.

Thanks again for your comments.

[aardwolf]

I can't really argue this one way or the other since I've never seen an example of a photobook ordered through Apple in person (and I can't really give input here since I've never ordered one using Apple's services)... unfortunately, that's a shame that you found their photobooks to be of "rubbish" quality only after you'd ordered one, but at least you have the option of ordering them from Snapfish in the future.


We've ordered probably 20-25 books from Apple, and the quality is excellent. I'm in the US though...