"copy items to the iPhoto Library" - or not?

[keaide]

What is the advantage of having iPhoto importing and copying all pictures into the iPhoto library file ("copy items to the iPhoto Library")? Is there any reason why that would be better than managing the picture folder structure manually and just having a reference to the pictures?

I think iTunes has the same feature and offers to import/copy the music files into its library.

I plan to get my first Mac next month and wonder if I should enable this "copy items to the iPhoto Library" when moving my 50k pictures from Windows to the Mac or if that's not a good idea...

 

[Dave Braine]

If you don't copy to the library, then if you import photos from an external drive/camera etc, then you will need to have that device connected to view the pictures in the future.

 

[keaide]

So if I have them on my iMac drive, there will be no difference between copying and not copying to the library?

I somehow think that not coying to the library would give me more control about where my pictures are and how I can use them with another program, in case I don't want to continue using iPhoto one day...

 

[nippyjun]

So if I have them on my iMac drive, there will be no difference between copying and not copying to the library?

I somehow think that not coying to the library would give me more control about where my pictures are and how I can use them with another program, in case I don't want to continue using iPhoto one day...

I agree. For someone who likes to manage file locations myself I don't import the actual files into iPhoto. I use preview to import media to a specific media folder I have setup.

 

[keaide]

I dug a bit into some other threads and found the following scentence in this tread:

If you set iPhoto to not use its own library, it will anyway. it will reference from your pictures folder, but when you alter a photo, it will make a copy to its library. Pretty soon, your iPhoto library will be huge, complex, and unnavigable.

Isn't that a huge reason for allowing iPhoto to import and manage the structure within its own library? Otherwise, I will end up with a big mess, in case I modify file in iPhoto. It would create a copy with the modified file within its own structure anyway. I intend to use iPhoto for quick and simple fixes and adjustments.

What's your experience with that?

 

[keaide]

After reading through several related threads in this forum, it seems to me that iPhoto and iTunes are something like special Finders or "Explorers" to manage a special kind of data - pictures and audio/video, resp., and that they serve as an interface to manipulate or (dis)play the content.

So from that point of view, it might be better to have the content copied and managed by the application... Did I get that right?

 

[Dave Braine]

That would be my opinion. Then you wouldn't have to worry about which photo/music track is which, and could stop problems in the future with missing files. However, some are pretty OCD about managing their files and would say the opposite.

 

[keaide]

Thanks Dave. Then it seems that I can tick off that item on my "switch-to-the-Mac" list...