naming pics in iphoto question?!?!?

[g30ffr3y]

hey guys... i recently got a digital camera and have started really trying to use the new iphoto and keep my pictures in order...

what ive noticed though is when you import pics and the names come up at a bunch of letters and numbers... if you rename them in the actual iphoto program... when you go to your iphoto library folder in home>pictures>iphotolibrary>etc... the names are still all weird numbers and letters...

in reverse... if you import the pics and then rename them in your home folder... they dont change in the iphoto program...

is there anyway to change them so that you just have to change them once???

also... ive noticed that if you rename them and cut the .jpg off the end you cant use the pics with .mac or uses across the computer...

sorry... im new to using iphoto in any depth...

 

[sethypoo]

This is a problem I ran into also.

When you rename photos in iPhoto, you only rename them in iPhoto, not the actual name in your home>pictures>iphotolibrary>etc... folder. You actually have to rename them in your pictures folder in order for it to take effect in you whole system.

 

[g30ffr3y]

but when i change them in the pictures folder... they dont change in iphoto...

 

[jelloshotsrule]

i would *guess* that if you renamed them in your folders, and then imported them... in other words, once they're imported they're imported...

that said, that might not work either, but it should....?

overall- i hate the way iphoto organizes... and unlike itunes, it's unclear that it's actually making full copies of your pictures in the iphoto library folder... i bet tons of people end up with 2x the number of photo files on their drives...

 

[g30ffr3y]

im beginning to see that iphoto is very redundant... even pictures i delete seem to be hidden somewhere... this naming thing is pissing me off...

 

[jxyama]

pics you erase are in the trash folder in iphoto. you have to empty that folder to remove the pictures from the library.

i strongly suggest that you NOT go into the iPhoto Library folder and start changing things manually. it will mess up the subtle connection between the folder structure/photo names/etc iPhoto stores in the xml files. this is why changing the names in the actual library folder won't be reflected in the iPhoto - because iPhoto didn't change the name, it doesn't know that the name (to be shown within iPhoto) has changed.

do everything on iPhoto and not worry about the names in the actual folder. if you want to export your pics with the names as changed within iPhoto, there's an option for that.

 

[jxyama]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule
i would *guess* that if you renamed them in your folders, and then imported them... in other words, once they're imported they're imported...

that said, that might not work either, but it should....?

overall- i hate the way iphoto organizes... and unlike itunes, it's unclear that it's actually making full copies of your pictures in the iphoto library folder... i bet tons of people end up with 2x the number of photo files on their drives...

your suggestion works, to a degree. if you want the "original" names to be different from the filenames given by your camera, you must pull pictures from your camera using image capture, rename them, then import them into iPhoto.

iPhoto's organization is pretty strange, indeed. but as long as you do everything through iPhoto itself, there shouldn't be any problems.

iPhoto makes duplicates for any pics you modify - red eye, enhance, crop, etc. this is so the "Revert to Original" option works within iPhoto.

 

[g30ffr3y]

so how about this... i want to email a picture... i click attachment... the iphoto library folder is there and all the names are nonsense... is there a different place i should look for the pictures so i can know which one is which without previewing everyone???

 

[jxyama]

unfortunately, the easiest way is to either drag the picture you want from iPhoto to a convenient place (say Desktop) to make a copy, change the name, then attach. or export the pic from iPhoto (using the option to put the name within iPhoto as the filename) to a convenient place and attaching that...

 

[7on]

There is a Mail icon in iPhoto to mail a photo.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I really wish iPhoto would RENAME the actual files - it was something I wish would have been included with v4. However, I'm very pleased with iPhoto 4 - it's a lot faster (except switching between photos in edit mode is now slower *sigh*) and the new features are great.

You can easily email from iPhoto using the email button as 7on said - this works well because you can get iPhoto to compress the images for you if you want. Also, if you want to send more than one in the same email, just multiple select the desired photos before pressing that email button.

As others have said, it's best to leave the iPhoto Library folder alone. Import/Export/view photos in iPhoto and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[amnesiac1984]

why name them? is it not said that a pictures is like a thousand words?

 

[jxyama]

Originally posted by 7on
There is a Mail icon in iPhoto to mail a photo.

ah, forgot about that. good suggestion!