iPhoto 4 Help

[faceonmars]

Hi,

I just 'Switched' from XP to OS X, and I need to manage thousands of photos in iPhoto... one of my most important requirements is to be able to manually change file names.

iPhoto doesn't seem to allow this, and this is creating a huge headache for me.. I import digital photos and get the typical gazillion ... "DSC.....jpg" files, but I need to use these files for web design, so how do I change the file names~!@$@#$^%$&!!!

Is there a 3rd party app that I can click and open an iPhoto pic to edit the file name? How Apple could overlook such a basic and important feature is mind-boggling, and I might have to go back to a PC if I can't manage file names in iPhoto.

Any suggestions?

 

[jxyama]

for each photo, there's a text area in the edit mode on the botton left where you can edit the name.

if you want these modified names to be associated with the pictures when you use them elsewhere, use export and choose the appropriate option. you can export pictures with the filename be the original filename, modified name in iPhoto or the comment in iPhoto, i believe. just don't go looking through the finder to make copies. use export within iPhoto.

don't be so quick to say "how can XXX not be able to do YYY" when you haven't tried looking around. iPhoto isn't windows explorer or finder. it's not a file management app, it's photograph management app.

 

[mslifkin]

Hi,

Welcome to the Mac world! Unfortunately, I don't have my PowerBook handy (I'm at work, on a [gag] Windows machine) so I can't try this, but if you click on an image in iPhoto, you'll notice on the left side towards the bottom, the title of the image, which is essentially the filename. It's in a field that is editable, so you should be able to change it there. Now I don't know (and can't try it right now) if that will actually rename the file, but you can give it a try. Another option would be to use Image Capture to do the import. This way the images can be renamed as they are imported (I think ... knew I should have brought my PowerBook with me today!) Another advantage to doing it this way is that you can apply a color profile to the image, and you can put the images wherever you want. Once the images are on your hard drive you open iPhoto and (essentially) reimport the images into iPhoto. And if none of these options work for you there's always GraphicConverter, which can batch rename, resize, convert, whatever else you could possibly think of. Only thing is, once the images are in iPhoto this might cause some problems. Oh, and both Image Capture and GraphicConverter come "in the box" with Mac OS X, so you've got them already.

What I just started doing is downloading my images to a 2nd hard drive using Image Capture, then import them into iPhoto. This way my original images exist in two places, "just in case". iPhoto will preserve your originals as well if you edit the image in any way.

Anyway, again, welcome. They say "once you go Mac, you never go back". I'll try this tonight when I get home just to make sure it works the way I think it will. Good luck.

Regards,
Marc

Hi,

I just 'Switched' from XP to OS X, and I need to manage thousands of photos in iPhoto... one of my most important requirements is to be able to manually change file names.

iPhoto doesn't seem to allow this, and this is creating a huge headache for me.. I import digital photos and get the typical gazillion ... "DSC.....jpg" files, but I need to use these files for web design, so how do I change the file names~!@$@#$^%$&!!!

Is there a 3rd party app that I can click and open an iPhoto pic to edit the file name? How Apple could overlook such a basic and important feature is mind-boggling, and I might have to go back to a PC if I can't manage file names in iPhoto.

Any suggestions?

 

[jxyama]

it was discussed in another thread, but changing the photo name field within iPhoto will not change the original filename (as viewed via Finder). that's why i suggested that one needs to export from within iPhoto for that filename to stick to the picture. (there are pros and cons to this...)

if the primary objective is to have the pics be "files" so they can be manipulated/organized/renamed at will, iPhoto should not be used.

 

[faceonmars]

Thanks for the Suggestions

Guys,

I do appreciate the suggestions.. I've used the Mac on and off for years, but never for any serious work... now OS X is my primary platform and I'm having to learn to do everything the mac way.

I think from what I've just read that I"m making a big mistake by trying to use iPhoto as an all in one app. Although the 'import' feature of iPhoto is convenient, to me it's the root of all evils because once I've taken that plunge, it's 10X the work to undue the damage... to my way of thinking. Hey, I like the app for it's convenience, and I know it's easy for newbies and amateurs, but call me old fashioned -- I want total control over the organization and naming of my files. I'll definitely use another app, probably Graphic Converter, but I'll go to Version Tracker and try some others, to import the photos, name and organize them, then store duplicates in iPhoto... I'll slice up the library into several/dozens of libraries. iPhoto's quirkiness was driving me bonkers, but I was expecting too much from it.

Many thanks!

Jim

 

[Mustafa]

Try this...

You need iView Media Pro -- there's a demo version available on their website.