Apple Releases iPhoto 8.1

[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... )

 

[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...