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iPhoto: importing from shared library loses ratings and original version

Tike1994

Tike1994

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 27, 2010
39
0
St. Charles, IL
I just purchased my first DSLR and have a 13" MBA and 27" iMac. After taking about 2,500 pictures over the weekend of kid waterskiing and tubing, I wanted to weed through the pictures before I added them to my iPhoto library on the iMac.

My idea was to import the photos from the DSLR to the MBA. I then could sit on the sofa and delete the bad pictures and put 4-5 star ratings on the best pictures. I also cropped some of the best pictures.

Once I had everything cleaned up the way I wanted on the MBA, I went to iPhoto on the iMac, clicked on the MBA's shared library, found the event for the weekend, and dragged it to events on the iMac. The iMac went through the import process just like I had connected a camera.

My problem is that when I opened the event on the iMac, none of the photos had any stars in "My Rating". Also, the photos that I had cropped only imported the cropped version and no longer had the option to "Revert to Original".

So it appears that iPhoto imported the "current" version of the photo only and not the original. It also did NOT import any of my ratings or flags.

Is there a way to have iPhoto import both the original and current version of the photo? Is there a way for it to keep the rating information?

If iPhoto can't do this, can Aperature?

Lastly, maybe I'm going about this the wrong way . . . Is there a better way to edit the photos on the MBA and then get them into iPhoto on the iMac?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!!!
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,244
127
Portland, OR
Tike1994 said:
I just purchased my first DSLR and have a 13" MBA and 27" iMac. After taking about 2,500 pictures over the weekend of kid waterskiing and tubing, I wanted to weed through the pictures before I added them to my iPhoto library on the iMac.

My idea was to import the photos from the DSLR to the MBA. I then could sit on the sofa and delete the bad pictures and put 4-5 star ratings on the best pictures. I also cropped some of the best pictures.

Once I had everything cleaned up the way I wanted on the MBA, I went to iPhoto on the iMac, clicked on the MBA's shared library, found the event for the weekend, and dragged it to events on the iMac. The iMac went through the import process just like I had connected a camera.

My problem is that when I opened the event on the iMac, none of the photos had any stars in "My Rating". Also, the photos that I had cropped only imported the cropped version and no longer had the option to "Revert to Original".

So it appears that iPhoto imported the "current" version of the photo only and not the original. It also did NOT import any of my ratings or flags.

Is there a way to have iPhoto import both the original and current version of the photo? Is there a way for it to keep the rating information?

If iPhoto can't do this, can Aperature?

Lastly, maybe I'm going about this the wrong way . . . Is there a better way to edit the photos on the MBA and then get them into iPhoto on the iMac?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!!!
Click to expand...

Strong recommendation for you to move to Aperture.

With Aperture... the fundamental organization structure is called a "project". In some ways, this is similar to iPhoto Events.

One of the most fantastic features of Aperture is the ability to transfer projects from one machine to another... and everything goes intact.

I use this all the time when I am traveling. Every night I might import the days pictures into a project... and during the trip (or on the plane home) I will organize, rate, stack, keyword, etc the project. When I get home, I just transfer the project(s) into my iMac and everything comes over.

Another thing that you can do is export a project from one machine (ex: my iMac) onto a 2nd Machine (ex: my MBA)... to work on it while away. All of the prexisting work on the iMac moves to the MBA... and of course... the final work moves back to the iMac.

The commands are:
Aperture >file > export project as a new library
Aperture > file > import library

During import, you can choose to "add to library" or "merge with library". The later is interesting in so far as you can actually work on two copies of the remote library... say you working on keywords and your spouse working on places... and when you import the two copies of the same project... all of your independent edits get merged in.

This is just a very small sample of how powerful Aperture can be.

/Jim
 
Tike1994

Tike1994

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 27, 2010
39
0
St. Charles, IL
flynz4 said:
Strong recommendation for you to move to Aperture.

With Aperture... the fundamental organization structure is called a "project". In some ways, this is similar to iPhoto Events.

One of the most fantastic features of Aperture is the ability to transfer projects from one machine to another... and everything goes intact.

I use this all the time when I am traveling. Every night I might import the days pictures into a project... and during the trip (or on the plane home) I will organize, rate, stack, keyword, etc the project. When I get home, I just transfer the project(s) into my iMac and everything comes over.

Another thing that you can do is export a project from one machine (ex: my iMac) onto a 2nd Machine (ex: my MBA)... to work on it while away. All of the prexisting work on the iMac moves to the MBA... and of course... the final work moves back to the iMac.

The commands are:
Aperture >file > export project as a new library
Aperture > file > import library

During import, you can choose to "add to library" or "merge with library". The later is interesting in so far as you can actually work on two copies of the remote library... say you working on keywords and your spouse working on places... and when you import the two copies of the same project... all of your independent edits get merged in.

This is just a very small sample of how powerful Aperture can be.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Thank you for the detailed response. That's exactly what I was wondering.

I was already planning to upgrade to Aperture, but thought about waiting until the newest version came out.

Based on the information you provided, I'll be upgrading to Aperture ASAP.

Thanks again!
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,244
127
Portland, OR
Tike1994 said:
Thank you for the detailed response. That's exactly what I was wondering.

I was already planning to upgrade to Aperture, but thought about waiting until the newest version came out.

Based on the information you provided, I'll be upgrading to Aperture ASAP.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

There are a bunch of really good $2 video training clips (about 45 mins each) on http://www.apertureexpert.com. I am also quite fond of Robert Boyer's ebooks http://store.rwboyer.com (Aperture 3 Organization & Aperture 3 File Management).

I would start with the ebooks first... it will set things straight... then start watching the videos.

/Jim

----------
flynz4 said:
During import, you can choose to "add to library" or "merge with library". The later is interesting in so far as you can actually work on two copies of the remote library... say you working on keywords and your spouse working on places... and when you import the two copies of the same project... all of your independent edits get merged in.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear... I have never actually tested merging two independent copies of a project into my master library. I don't trust my spouse (or anyone else) to be working on my photo library. I just give her a copy of her own on her iMac so that she can access all the pics without touching my library.

/Jim
 
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