iPhoto - 3 questions that are stopping me using it ...

[aroundM21]

I really hope this isn't basic but I have a few concerns/issues with iPhoto (v08):

1 email attachments from web mail (eg Yahoo).
I can't see how to do this -- is it possible ??

2 my current iPhoto set-up has managed to duplicate all my files. I see Events twice. Hmmmm

3 shared access for all users on this computer
there must be a way of doing this but I cannot find it !!
I see the ability to share across different computers - like mounting a remote file system - but that doesn't seem to give what I want and in any case restricts ownership priviledges to only the 1 owner.

4 accessibility of backups.
I believe iPhoto backs up the whole file that contains many photos - this is a "black box" that only iPhoto can access. I have a concern about this, it just feels less accessible than a series of JPGs ... tell me I'm being irrational !!?

I like this Application but the above points are just holding me back from committing to it ...

Appreciate help or advice ;-)

 

[roger6106]

I really hope this isn't basic but I have a few concerns/issues with iPhoto (v08):

...
4 accessibility of backups.
I believe iPhoto backs up the whole file that contains many photos - this is a "black box" that only iPhoto can access. I have a concern about this, it just feels less accessible than a series of JPGs ... tell me I'm being irrational !!?
...

This "black box" is just a folder in disguise. If you right-click on it and choose "show package contents" you can see all the files in it. Apple did this because changing things in the folder can mess up the iPhoto library.

 

[QuarterSwede]

You can email photos from within iPhoto as long as Mail.app is setup to, at least, send your Yahoo email.

 

[Applespider]

1 email attachments from web mail (eg Yahoo).

Click your attachments link and when it brings up the window to tell you to select your files, look for the Media section on the sidebar. There's a link to Photos which will show you Photobooth or iPhoto pics - you can select an iPhoto Event or Album and see the thumbnails within it. Then just highlight the ones you want and attach them. From regular Mail, use the Media Browser in the message window. Incidentally, that works here on MR too although bear in mind that if they're full-res pictures, they're have big file sizes so you might want to export them as smaller ones first.

2 my current iPhoto set-up has managed to duplicate all my files. I see Events twice. Hmmmm

Can't help on that one - delete one set and then empty your iPhoto trash perhaps - remember it's separate to desktop trash.

3 shared access for all users on this computer
there must be a way of doing this but I cannot find it !!

Nope... not in terms of giving ownership to multiple people. For questions, two and three, it might be worthwhile looking on the Apple discussion boards since there are a lot of folks over there who know a lot more about iPhoto.

4 accessibility of backups.
I believe iPhoto backs up the whole file that contains many photos - this is a "black box" that only iPhoto can access.

Time Machine backs up the iPhoto library and yes, it looks like one file but you can always right-click and do 'See Package Contents' to drill down to a specific picture(s). It's probably good practice to make a secondary backup regularly (every 6 months or so, burn any new pics to a DVD and store it offsite).

 

[sigamy]

I really hope this isn't basic but I have a few concerns/issues with iPhoto (v08):

1 email attachments from web mail (eg Yahoo).
I can't see how to do this -- is it possible ??

2 my current iPhoto set-up has managed to duplicate all my files. I see Events twice. Hmmmm

3 shared access for all users on this computer
there must be a way of doing this but I cannot find it !!
I see the ability to share across different computers - like mounting a remote file system - but that doesn't seem to give what I want and in any case restricts ownership priviledges to only the 1 owner.

#1, as others have said, set up mail.app for Yahoo or you'll have to export photos from iPhoto to a temp folder on your desktop or something.

#2, not sure, that is a bad one.

#3, create a folder somewhere on your Mac. Give all users read/write access to this folder. Make sure iPhoto is closed. Move your iPhoto library to this new folder. Now each user will have access. But be careful with this setup you probably don't want iPhoto open under two accounts at the same time.

 

[mrkgoo]

iPhoto doesn't make any backups of your photos.

It has two settings - to either reference photos in your own library, or to copy them into ITS own library (~/Pictures/iPhoto Library). I always recommend to just have it import them to itself, and just leave management up to the software. This is not really a 'backup' - those are the working photos that iPhoto uses.

When it imports photos, these are contained inside the iPhoto Library in an 'Originals' folder, arranged within by year and then event. If you ever make any adjustments to the photos, iPhoto will first make a copy into a 'Modified' folder (arranged in the same way), and make edits to the modified.

The 'Original' is never edited, but that itself is not a backup, but can be accessed - though you should never modify the images in there - it stuffs up iPhoto.

 

[MllePrecieux]

Click your attachments link and when it brings up the window to tell you to select your files, look for the Media section on the sidebar. There's a link to Photos which will show you Photobooth or iPhoto pics - you can select an iPhoto Event or Album and see the thumbnails within it. Then just highlight the ones you want and attach them. From regular Mail, use the Media Browser in the message window. Incidentally, that works here on MR too although bear in mind that if they're full-res pictures, they're have big file sizes so you might want to export them as smaller ones first.



Can't help on that one - delete one set and then empty your iPhoto trash perhaps - remember it's separate to desktop trash.

These were very helpful for me! Thank you!

 

[mrkgoo]

About duplicate events:


I would be wary of deleting one set of events without knowing the cause. It's possible an artificial event is created from a bogus set of photos (never heard of this, but you never know) - and as such, you wouldn't want to be deleting the REAL set, would you? Alternatively, there could be two events pointing to the same set - deleting one might just delete your photos for both.

To get ANY information you will have to browse through the iPhoto library folder (this is assuming you have iPhoto manage your library, and not do it yourself - if you do it yourself, you may have already moved things causing this disruption). This is not risky, so long as you DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING INT HE FOLDER.

In your pictures folder, right-click the iPhoto Library file and select show packages - inside the folder you will see several folders- this is where all your photos are kept. Original photos are kept in "Original", organised by more folders by "year" and the "event". Check inside here to see what has happened with duplicate events. Again, DO NOT change anything here - just use it to take a look at what may be causing duplicate events.