iPhoto '06 Help

[phalewhale]

Hi, I'm new to iPhoto having made the switch and would like to know if it's possible to get rid of the

2004
2005
2006
2007
...

that appear in the library source. I don't want to sort them into years like this. Whenever I create an album and move my photos into a new albulm, they remain in the year folder - I hope that doesn't mean there are 2 copies of the same photo lurking around my machine... This is annoying. I want to control where the pictures are stored!

I would prefer to be using Photoshop Elements (since there are more editing options) but there's no way I'm gonna pay for a copy that won't run native on an intel mac. So for now, iPhoto will have to do.

Any help/suggestions out there?

 

[skybolt]

Stay out of the finder! Forget that it exists and do whatever you want to do to/with your photos from within the iPhoto app. The finder arranges the photos so that the app can find them. If you mess with that, your photos will be lost, corruption will ensue and you will be very unhappy.

Trying to micromanage your files is the Windows way, the mac way is much easier and more effective. You are trying to make things harder than they are!

Organize within the app. Rename rolls, create folders and albums and organize that way. You need the files in the finder to stay where they are so that iPhoto can find them. The photos in the app are actually aliases to the ones in finder. iPhoto keeps the originals and the modified (cropped, rotated, cleaned up, etc.) files in their own folder, but that is the only duplication. Do all your emailing, uploading to sites (like MySpace, etc.) from within the app. Use the export function to export folders, etc. to the desktop then upload from there.

I cannot stress enough that you should stay out of the iPhoto library in finder. You will (not might -- WILL) create havoc if you mess with that. Come on over to the mac side and things will be much easier for you!

 

[eRondeau]

Stay out of the finder! Trying to micromanage your files is the Windows way, the mac way is much easier and more effective. You are trying to make things harder than they are! Come on over to the mac side and things will be much easier for you!

My nomination for Best Post of the Month!

 

[theBB]

iPhoto does not duplicate photos unless you edit or rotate.

Organize your pictures into albums or folders in the sidebar of iPhoto. It does not really matter what the underlying folder structure looks like as you don't have to deal with it.

However, if you insist on your own way in case you leave Macs or iPhoto. Save them in the folder structure you want and set iPhoto so that it does "not copy files when added to Library" through Preferences. Then just drag and drop the folder onto an iPhoto album on the sidebar. However, make sure you do not move or rename your pictures from those folders.

 

[phalewhale]

Stay out of the finder! Forget that it exists and do whatever you want to do to/with your photos from within the iPhoto app. The finder arranges the photos so that the app can find them. If you mess with that, your photos will be lost, corruption will ensue and you will be very unhappy.

Trying to micromanage your files is the Windows way, the mac way is much easier and more effective. You are trying to make things harder than they are!

Organize within the app. Rename rolls, create folders and albums and organize that way. You need the files in the finder to stay where they are so that iPhoto can find them. The photos in the app are actually aliases to the ones in finder. iPhoto keeps the originals and the modified (cropped, rotated, cleaned up, etc.) files in their own folder, but that is the only duplication. Do all your emailing, uploading to sites (like MySpace, etc.) from within the app. Use the export function to export folders, etc. to the desktop then upload from there.

I cannot stress enough that you should stay out of the iPhoto library in finder. You will (not might -- WILL) create havoc if you mess with that. Come on over to the mac side and things will be much easier for you!

Thanks very much for your advice. You have really enlightened me. I used to spend bloody ages organising my folders/photos in Windows. As I'm getting used to it, it is becoming easier (much easier) to manage. But, within iPhoto is it possible to hide the year folders? Do I just have to condense the Library or can I remove them from the list?

 

[Cameront9]

Thanks very much for your advice. You have really enlightened me. I used to spend bloody ages organising my folders/photos in Windows. As I'm getting used to it, it is becoming easier (much easier) to manage. But, within iPhoto is it possible to hide the year folders? Do I just have to condense the Library or can I remove them from the list?

I don't think it is possible to delete these year folders. You can just collapse the Library folder (click on the black triangle to the left of "Library"), however, so you won't see them (and for all intents and purposes they aren't there). The year folders are basically just smart folders that sort your photos by metadata. They aren't duplicating anything.

iPhoto is exactly like iTunes. think of the Library as your bid huge, complete itunes library. the albums you create within iPhoto are just like Playlists. In fact, if you delete a picture in an album, it is only deleted in the album, NOT the library (use CMD+Option+Del if you REALLY want to delete the picture).

 

[maccmcc]

this link has been really useful as i'm also new to iphoto, another question is after i transfer picture files from my external HD to my mac, and then import in into iphoto, why don't doesn't it preview in frontrow, whereas when i import photos to iphoto via my digicam, those pics are previewed in frontrow, thanks

 

[luckywhitegirl]

Great. NOW you tell me! lol...

Okay, "stay out of Finder". I know that now. After I've had my new mac for a few months and tried organizing my photos through Finder thinking I could make folders and keep my photos organized in a similar way to what I used to do in Windows. And you're right it really REALLY screws you up. My photos now are a complete mess and I waste hours every day trying to fix things.

My question is what should I do now that I've made this mess? I would even consider wiping out all these old photos just to start over again with a clean slate (after saving a select few of course). Is that what I should do? How would I do such a thing?

My second question is this, how do I stay out of Finder if I need to upload a photo to something, say to attach it in an email or to upload it to Flickr? I have to go into it then don't I? And then it takes me forever to find the photo I want because I have to look first in the "modified" photos section and if it's not there, go back and look in the "originals" photos section.

Third, I would really like to understand better where my original photos are going when I first download them. Some are completely worthless and I try to erase them but I always find them popping up no matter how many times I've erased them (in I don't know how many different places)! It seems like the photos are in so many places I can never find them all! Wouldn't this take up a lot of memory? Where's the one place I can go to erase a photo completely once and for all?

 

[skybolt]

First, (after backing up, of course, just in case) I would move all those folders you created in the finder out onto the desktop. Make sure then that the library in finder is empty. Then, using the "import" function within the app, import each folder into iPhoto one at a time. That will preserve the work that you have done so far to organize. Once you are satisfied that your photos have been correctly imported, just delete what you have put on your desktop.

For uploading to Flickr or something, still in the app, use the "export" function and export your selected photos to the desktop. This takes care of the "modified", "original" dilemma - the most current photo will be used. Then upload to flickr from there. This goes for any uploading-type chores. Even for sending to a CD or to a photo finisher. Again, then delete from your desktop. If you have your photos organized within the app, it will be easy to find the photos you are looking for. To organize within the app, I suggest renaming the "rolls" to something more descriptive -- first line of organization (if you import as I described above, I believe the names of your rolls will reflect the names you gave to your folders). Then create folders (for example "Vacations") and albums (for instance "New York 2005") and then put the albums into the folders. Instant organization. You could use "smart folders" to organize as well. This makes finding something really easy.

To completely delete a photo, move it to iPhoto's trash from within the app, then empty the trash. Or you can Command-delete (I think, not at the mac right now and that is not the way I delete, but you can play with it and fibure it out -- or someone will post again in a little while) and they will be instantly, completely deleted.

Good luck -- keep us posted!

 

[luckywhitegirl]

Thanks Mary,
Okay I will try that (I will try ANYthing things are so messed up right now!)
but I still don't understand the whole concept of where my photos are located really. What you explained will work for Flickr or for uploading photos anywhere on the net but what about all the other times one might need to know where ones photos are located? Say, for example, I'm in a program like Photoshop and I want to open a photo in order to work on it. I go to file -->open and then what? Where the heck do I find the photo? That's the most basic thing in the world and I can't believe how much trouble it's giving me!

 

[skybolt]

Your photos are located in the library in finder. What you think are photos within the app are really just aliases to those photos in finder. So, the photos only reside in one place.

Do you understand how iTunes files things? If so, just realize that iPhoto is exactly the same.

If you want to use Photoshop, go to iPhoto preferences and set Photoshop as your external editor. Then when you click on the photo (in the iPhoto app) you want to edit, Photoshop will open, you can edit and when you save it will be in the same place as before. There is NO need to use the finder! Everything can be done via iPhoto app.

 

[luckywhitegirl]

First, (after backing up, of course, just in case) I would move all those folders you created in the finder out onto the desktop. Make sure then that the library in finder is empty.

I'm not sure what you mean here, actually. In my iphoto library folder there are about a dozen different things, most of which I have no clue about how they got there or what purpose they serve. Two of the dozen items are "modified" and "originals". Within both of those are all the photos I've taken since I got my mac. Are those what I should move to the desktop then try reimporting into iphoto?

 

[skybolt]

O.K., you said you had spent time organizing photos in finder. Just take those folders, move them to the desktop and then import them one folder by one folder into iPhoto. Each folder will be a "roll" and you can organize from there.