what's the best way to migrate photos to iPhoto?

[btownguy]

I just got my first ever Mac yesterday - a 15" MacBook Pro. Pretty cool and I'm not having too much trouble migrating over to it. I have a question about migrating to iPhoto. I have a pretty huge photo library (don't we all?) and I want to know the best way to migrate this over to iPhoto.

I currently have all of my pictures in a careful file hierarchy based on events and years. I think when I import my library into iPhoto it will pull these over exactly as they are in the same hierarchy and put them into the "Originals" folder of the iPhoto Library. Any time after my initial import, when I import pictures from my camera, will I have an option to continue to create event folders like I have in the past? I'm a bit confused on how to best migrate everything over and safely continue my workflow.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by btownguy

I just got my first ever Mac yesterday .... I have a question about migrating to iPhoto. ...

I currently have all of my pictures in a careful file hierarchy based on events and years. ...

You may use iPhoto without importing them into the iPhoto Library. This will permit you to keep your existing hierarchy and manage your photos manually.