iPhoto Soooo confusing!!

I found these resources helpful when first learning iPhoto

http://help.apple.com/iphoto/index.html#pht4bac4114

http://help.apple.com/iphoto/index.html#pht2297c8d2

From the second link:

When you import your photos into iPhoto, you can choose to have iPhoto automatically organize the photos into a single Event or several. An Event is a group of photos taken during a certain period of time.

If you choose to import all the photos in your camera as a single Event, that Event can hold photos taken anytime over days, weeks, or even years.

If you choose to import the same set of photos as separate Events, iPhoto splits the photos into groups, based on the date and time they were taken. For example, photos you took at a birthday party last weekend are grouped into one Event, while a second Event contains the photos you took last night at a family dinner.

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You might also like the free videos included with iPhoto under Help>iPhoto Help>Lessons

Events are time based

Albums are "catch all"

iPhoto marries the best of managing events by time and allowing you to organize albums in whatever way you want.

Chuckstones said:

Ahh. So maybe I'm doing it the wrong way round!

Should I be concentrating on 'events' first. Then sorting pics into albums!?!!

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Yup.

Get your events cleaned up (meaning that those wedding pics shouldn't be intermingled with the fishing trip) then you can easily cherry pick the photos from the Events view into your Albums.

It does take a bit of an adjustment if you're used to other photo programs but when you get the whole splicing and dicing of events down pat you can get it done quickly and then create interesting Albums that can then generate great slideshows and books.

It can certainly be confusing at first.

Having a clean set of events allows you to Geotag and Keyword tag groups of photos so much quicker as well.

nuckinfutz said:

Yup.

Get your events cleaned up (meaning that those wedding pics shouldn't be intermingled with the fishing trip) then you can easily cherry pick the photos from the Events view into your Albums.

It does take a bit of an adjustment if you're used to other photo programs but when you get the whole splicing and dicing of events down pat you can get it done quickly and then create interesting Albums that can then generate great slideshows and books.

It can certainly be confusing at first.

Having a clean set of events allows you to Geotag and Keyword tag groups of photos so much quicker as well.

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Where do we set whether we want to sort by Events or Albums?

I love iPhoto's way of organising photos. But the way they are stored in the file-system is NOT nice at all and it's fairly easy to get a "broken" library.

I really wish they would re-do the way iPhoto handles the photo-library.

Tanax said:

I love iPhoto's way of organising photos. But the way they are stored in the file-system is NOT nice at all and it's fairly easy to get a "broken" library.

I really wish they would re-do the way iPhoto handles the photo-library.

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I have to agree. File management in iPhoto, including doing any sort of retouching in Photoshop, is rubbish. Sticking with Lightoom for now.

I can't stand iPhoto. Apple really needs to rethink it...like iTunes

I'm also a Lightroom user.

Good luck.

ericbreiter said:

I have to agree. File management in iPhoto, including doing any sort of retouching in Photoshop, is rubbish. Sticking with Lightoom for now.

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Ditto. It's almost as if they intentionally make it difficult to get to the original file in the finder - requiring you to use the menu instead of the standard right-click.

Bob right

When you go to import photos from your camera, iPad, what ever, at the top of the window there is a check box asking if you wish to split events.

I always split because it is easy to combine events. All you have to is drag one event onto another and it will combine them. Great for a weekend trip where you are not interest in having the photos stored as separate days.

uptownnyc said:

Ditto. It's almost as if they intentionally make it difficult to get to the original file in the finder - requiring you to use the menu instead of the standard right-click.

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Organize your photos, albums, events within iPhoto, NOT the Finder. Seriously, messing with iPhoto folders in Finder is almost guaranteed to mess up your iPhoto library. Once that's done it's nearly impossible to fix without starting over again. Trust me, I done messed it up myself several years ago on a PowerBook.

There was a really good thread here yesterday or the day before about how to think of iPhoto as a database with different ways of managing photos within it. I'll look for it.

Here it is:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1514326/

Look at Snberk103's comments about how iPhoto is a DAM, Data Asset Manager, then it'll start to make sense. Seriously good explanations here.

If you're coming from Windows, I think the hardest thing for a new user to do is lay off messing with folders. Just let OS X handle folders for you in the background.

Oh good! Snberk103 to the rescue.

Chuckstones said:

I just can't get my head around iPhoto on my new imac!!
...
If someone could explain in lay mans terms I would most appreciate it!

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Chuckstones: I do a fair bit of writing about iPhoto (and other Digital Asset Managers like Aperture and Lightoom). Do a search on my username... here is a thread you can start with... it links to another thread on this site. Link

I'm a little short on time this morning, otherwise I'd write my usual essay....

Also... Smart Albums are "Searches" - you don't drag things into them, when they are set up with your search terms photos will automatically appear. Read up on them, they are one of more powerful tools that iPhoto has for organizing photos. Apple has designed iPhoto so that you don't access to the original images. This a design feature to protect you from breaking the database. For now, respect the restriction and learn to use iPhoto as designed. That is my opinion, at least.

Tanax said:

I love iPhoto's way of organising photos. But the way they are stored in the file-system is NOT nice at all and it's fairly easy to get a "broken" library.

I really wish they would re-do the way iPhoto handles the photo-library.

Click to expand...

uptownnyc said:

Ditto. It's almost as if they intentionally make it difficult to get to the original file in the finder - requiring you to use the menu instead of the standard right-click.

Click to expand...

That is by design. You are not supposed to be directly "file managing" your images with iPhoto. This is common with all Digital Asset Managers, such as Aperture and Lightroom. Because Aperture and Lightroom are aimed at the professional, they will let you "file manage" through the interface itself. When you muck about with your images directly you are risking corrupting your the database.

Voicing my opinion on the terrible file-management practices of iPhoto. Like others, I've messed up my library before because I was previously accustomed to being able to do things within the file structure, like delete an original if I only wanted the modified version.

One reason I stay unhappy with the file-management system for iPhoto is it makes it nearly impossible to clean up your harddrive if one of the things you are trying to do is delete duplicate instances of a photo or video.

Otherwise, I do like iPhoto. I just hate how easily it can be corrupted.

jmcrutch said:

Voicing my opinion on the terrible file-management practices of iPhoto. Like others, I've messed up my library before because I was previously accustomed to being able to do things within the file structure, like delete an original if I only wanted the modified version.
...

Otherwise, I do like iPhoto. I just hate how easily it can be corrupted.

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Please don't take this the wrong way.... but that is because you using it, um, not as designed....

When you import a photo into iPhoto, that image stays untouched. Everything you do to that "original" is simply written to the database as instructions on what to do when you "Export" the image. Ideally, you will only have one copy of each "original" photo. By the way, when you delete that original you are also deleting the film equivalent of the negative.

If you want to have several versions of the modified original, then the best course of action is to clone it (I forget what iPhoto calls it off-hand) but essentially it is a virtual copy. It does not exist, except as a note in the database. You make your editing modifications to these virtual copies. Therefore there are no duplicates. When you Export the image, then the new modified version is created. Generally, once I've used the image - in my website, in a brochure, whatever - I delete the exported copy. It is the exported version that is the duplicate that takes up space. I can recreate it whenever I want, so why clutter up my HDD?

Gotta go... off for a couple of days...

I'm not "messing" with the files in the library. But the way it is now, I cannot set up my library on a NAS and have it shared with several Mac's because if the network for some reason goes down, you risk your library getting corrupted.

At the current time, there's no way of safely sharing your library across several computers.

Chuckstones said:

I just can't get my head around iPhoto on my new imac!!

I transfered all my pics from my old pc. And pics I had on my ipad. And thought I had them all arranged nice and neatly in albums!
Even created folders for say holiday snaps so I have sub folders for different holidays!

But then there is the 'Events'. Which I just do not understand!
Can I disable this? It just seems to complicate matters.
For example. If I transfer pics from my ipad or iPhone to albums on my mac. I then notice that they all need sorting in events!

And as for 'smart albums'. I tried creating one for movies. Dropped some in there and nothing!! so I just stick with folders so as to try and keep everything tidy!

Maybe I'm a bit simple. But is there something I'm missing!!?!
If someone could explain in lay mans terms I would most appreciate it!

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Nope you're not simple. I hate iPhoto and even Preview because of the way they handle changes and multiple iterations of the photo. I'd much prefer using an app that uses my directory structure and not move everything info some strange place and then when I make changes they aren't really new versions of the complete file. I'm with you on this. Never have liked iPhoto. The only thing I use it for is to check on sync'd photostream pics so I can export my files to a photos directory under my user account

Cheers,

Chuckstones - try Aperture 3.
free trial, video tutorials online, $80 if you decide to keep it.
all over iPhoto

oops, no free trial anymore - but still a great app

http://goo.gl/y8NOI

snberk103 said:

That is by design. You are not supposed to be directly "file managing" your images with iPhoto.

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That's great - but there are times when you want to do things with your iPhone pictures that require access to the original. Sure - I could select then export to another location but then I'm wasting storage unnecessarily.

uptownnyc said:

That's great - but there are times when you want to do things with your iPhone pictures that require access to the original. Sure - I could select then export to another location but then I'm wasting storage unnecessarily.

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Yes, sometimes you have to export to another location to do some things. Usually, I just delete these photos from that temporary export location once I'm done with them. I still have the originals, so there is no storage issue. For instance, if I need to put a Keynote presentation together, I may chose a bunch of photos... and export them to a folder that has all the material I'm pulling from to create the Keynote. Once the Keynote is done, I will either delete the whole folder or I will delete just the material that I didn't use and then zip up the folder and archive it. The Keynote, and the archive, are the final use.... everything else was just temporary. But of course, ymmv...

Chuckstones said:

I just can't get my head around iPhoto on my new imac!!

I transfered all my pics from my old pc. And pics I had on my ipad. And thought I had them all arranged nice and neatly in albums!
Even created folders for say holiday snaps so I have sub folders for different holidays!

But then there is the 'Events'. Which I just do not understand!
Can I disable this? It just seems to complicate matters.
For example. If I transfer pics from my ipad or iPhone to albums on my mac. I then notice that they all need sorting in events!

And as for 'smart albums'. I tried creating one for movies. Dropped some in there and nothing!! so I just stick with folders so as to try and keep everything tidy!

Maybe I'm a bit simple. But is there something I'm missing!!?!
If someone could explain in lay mans terms I would most appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Ahh yes, Events isn't my favorite feature either.

I just ignore it. It's just there to catagorize your photos by the date they were taken. If your OCD is bad enough you could merge and delete events.

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Tanax said:

I love iPhoto's way of organising photos. But the way they are stored in the file-system is NOT nice at all and it's fairly easy to get a "broken" library.

I really wish they would re-do the way iPhoto handles the photo-library.

Click to expand...

How so? I just surrendered my ways of manually controlling the file system and couldn't be happier.

Events caused me a headache initially. I saw them as folders to rename and move photos from one Event to another. I've now accepted that I need to ignore Events and leave them alone.

But i do wish that iPhoto didn't default its display to Events in the way it does. I'd prefer to see a screen of Albums or Folders, with Events tucked away in the left column list.

Big Stevie said:

Events caused me a headache initially. I saw them as folders to rename and move photos from one Event to another. I've now accepted that I need to ignore Events and leave them alone.

But i do wish that iPhoto didn't default its display to Events in the way it does. I'd prefer to see a screen of Albums or Folders, with Events tucked away in the left column list.

Click to expand...

Folders (directories) are very 1980s. As long as the asset is available does it really matter where the OS stores it?

No, but as I regard Events to be unimportant, I'd prefer to be able to choose to see Smart Albums on the main page rather than Events. Seeing as I always end up navigating to my albums.

I recommend the book "iPhoto - The Missing Manual" for a good explanation of how to do stuff in iPhoto. I readily before committing to storing everything in iPhoto.

For backup, in addition to time machine copies of the library, I export all my images to an external drive. That way they can be read on other systems.