Can't access photos in iPhoto Library

[idesign245]

In iPhoto 06, in the finder, if you went to the iphoto library folder, you could select the photos in the original or modified folders.

I'm using iPhoto 08 on my iMac and I can't do that anymore. For example, when I'm in Photoshop/trying to upload a photo to a webpage and I want to open a photo thats in the iPhoto Libraries Original folder, it won't go any farther than the iPhoto Library, there's no arrow so I can't get to the different folders in the Library.

When I click on show file in iPhoto, it will show this location, but other than that I can't get at it.

I'm running the latest version, just checked to see if there were any updates and there wasn't.

Any ideas?

I've taken screen shots to try and explain...
the second one is when I try to get at it through the finder and the first one is when I click on "Show File" on a photo in iPhoto.

 

[yippy]

You know you can set iPhoto to open files in Photoshop directly by right clicking a photo in iPhoto and choosing edit in external editor, right?

If you insist on going into the library, right click on it and choose "show package contents". You will then see all the files as before.

 

[idesign245]

You know you can set iPhoto to open files in Photoshop directly by right clicking a photo in iPhoto and choosing edit in external editor, right?

If you insist on going into the library, right click on it and choose "show package contents". You will then see all the files as before.

Its more uploading to the internet that I'm worried about, than Photoshop. When I try to upload an image to a forum, it won't even let me select iPhoto Library. (see image below)

I saw the package contents, but is there a permanent way to have it do that?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mindflux]

It is not a good idea to mess with the iPhoto "package". Export the files (drag the images to your desktop) before uploading them.

 

[idesign245]

It is not a good idea to mess with the iPhoto "package". Export the files (drag the images to your desktop) before uploading them.

Kind of a pain in the butt, to do that beforehand if you want to load a bunch of different pictures up... why could I do it in iPhoto 06 but not 08? And does anyone else have this problem?

 

[yippy]

I find it less of a pain in the but to drag them out (you can do as many as you want in one drag) than to go through the library and find the pictures you want. The library separates them into so many folders that unless all the photos you want were shot in a single day it is a big hassle to retrieve them.

 

[mshepherd]

If you drop a file from iphoto into the upload file selector that usually works for me.

 

[mshepherd]

also, leopard has your iphoto library in the media section of the sidebar when you are uploading from a website

 

[idesign245]

How to you drag and drop into the upload file selector? (What area are you dropping it into?)

 

[yippy]

I never noticed that media section before. That is amazingly useful. Now I don't see any reason to ever go into the raw iPhoto library and I no longer have to export either.

 

[idesign245]

AHH!! Thank you so much, if I had ever scrolled down I would've noticed that it was in the Media section! Very very useful, as I would've expected!

Thanks again!

 

[SilverSpy]

Wow that is useful in Photoshop.
Also if you need to access your iphoto library directly for some other reason besides photoshop you can right click and choose "Show Package Contents"
(It's kind of an extra step of what it used to be, but it works)

 

[skybolt]

Going into the library in finder is the surest way to corrupt and/or lose your photos. Apple changed the way it was in previous versions so that people would stop corrupting their photos. Best to NEVER go there -- use the Media, or drag and drop to the desktop for uploading, etc.

This was intentional on Apple's part! They want users to stay out of the library in finder so that iPhoto can do its job!

 

[Floptop]

I came to this thread for the same reason as OP, but was wondering, when archiving the photo library, say to DVD, how do the new safety features affect that?

In the tutorial, it says simply burn the iPhoto Library. Does that mean if I try to read this disk on a Wintel computer or simply one without iPhoto installed, I won't be able to access the original photo files?

Thanks!

 

[skybolt]

I came to this thread for the same reason as OP, but was wondering, when archiving the photo library, say to DVD, how do the new safety features affect that?

In the tutorial, it says simply burn the iPhoto Library. Does that mean if I try to read this disk on a Wintel computer or simply one without iPhoto installed, I won't be able to access the original photo files?

Thanks!

When you use the burn function from within iPhoto, it burns in iPhoto format. If you want to access the files from a Windows machine or other non-iPhoto software, you need to use the export function, and then burn the output to a disk using disk utility or Toast or similar.

 

[Floptop]

^ Wow, that is stupid. Thanks for the info.

 

[txtbks]

I was frustrated that I couldn't access the iPhoto files directly, too. After taking the advice above to ctrl-click and select "Show Package Contents," I created aliases for "Originals" and "Modified" and dragged them to my pictures folder. It worked - now I can access all of my pictures straight from the pictures folder.

I agree this is irritating. In another post someone said iPhoto deals with photos like iTunes deals with media - but that's NOT true. iTunes actually lets you access your files!

 

[geisha]

lost iphoto

hello,two weeks ago,some of my apple application lost and i installed them again.But my iphoto still doesn't work.Everytime i open iphoto,they ask me for upgrade (i do it but still nothing).Also it shows me in my application that my iphoto has 408.8 Mb but when i open it is empty
I can see my photo just in a folder "ALL IMAGES" in hard disc,and there are no all ...i'm sure i lost some of my photo....
i use version 8.1.2.
PLEASE HELP ME

 

[Paul S]

Sorry to bring up an old topic. The above trick with creating the alias worked, but why do we have to do this? Did Apple screw something up? I guess 08 gets the shaft with further bug fixes.

 

[skybolt]

Sorry to bring up an old topic. The above trick with creating the alias worked, but why do we have to do this? Did Apple screw something up? I guess 08 gets the shaft with further bug fixes.

This is not a bug, and Apple didn't screw up -- they made the iPhoto library a "package" to help keep users from screwing up. Too many users had been messing about in the library in finder, making iPhoto unable to do its work, so Apple made it more difficult for users to get into that folder. We are to do anything and everything to/with our photos from within the app itself. There is NEVER a need to go into the library in finder (that is, if you want to use iPhoto).

 

[bonster]

There's also an easy way of exporting files out of iphoto and into another location on your computer. I find this to be the easiest way. Here are the instructions that iphoto help for how to export your pictures to other applications:


You can export photos or albums from your photo library so that you have access to a specific size, or so that you can import them into another application.
To export photos:

Select the photo or photos you want to export.
Choose File > Export.
Click the File Export button at the top of the Export Photos dialog.
In the File Export pane, change the desired options:
Kind: Choose a file format for your exported images from the Format pop-up menu.

“Current” exports the photo in its current format. If you imported a RAW-format photo and then edited it in iPhoto, the photo is saved as a JPEG file, so the photo will be exported as a JPEG file. “Original” exports the photo as it was originally imported into iPhoto, before editing.

If you choose JPEG format, choose the quality of the JPEG file from the pop-up menu. The higher the quality is, the bigger the photo is, so if you’re sending the images via email, you may want to choose Low quality so that the email is sent and received more quickly.

If you choose JPEG or TIFF, select the “Titles and keywords” checkbox if you want the titles and keywords to be exported with the photos. For the same formats, select the “Location information” checkbox if you want the photo locations exported with the photos.

Size: For email or web use, choose Small or Medium, depending on your connection speed. For higher-resolution printing, choose Large or Full Size, the exact size of the actual picture.

If necessary, select Custom to scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.

File Name: Choose whether to export photos in sequence, or by their filenames, iPhoto titles, or album name.

If you choose Sequential, type the word you want to use as the prefix for the number sequence. For example, if you want to identify all the photos as part of a surfing sequence, you could type “Surf” in the “Prefix for Sequential” field. This is optional, so you can choose to leave the field blank.

Click Export.
Choose a location for the photos you’re exporting, and then click OK.
It’s a good idea to create a folder to receive your exported photos.

 

[katmichelle]

Hi, I have a similar problem. I burned a dvd using iphoto in another macbook and opened it in another macbook with (probably) an older version of iphoto. It reads the disc but it doesn't show any content.

Is there another way of accessing the photos burned in the disc? I'm guessing it may be because of the iphoto versions. I'm using iphoto 09.