iPhoto Question - File Duplication?

[bbalak]

I'm a new Mac user, and I have a question about iPhoto. I have transferred about 12 GB of pictures from my Windows Home Server to my MacBook Pro hard drive. I like to keep all my pictures in my Photos folder in a folder structure like this:

Family Photos - Year - Month - file.jpg

After getting all my photos on my MacBook Pro hard drive, I imported them into iPhoto. Now, I have my original files in the photos folder in my home folder as well as the 12 GB iPhoto database file. Obviously, there is a HUGE duplication here taking up precious HD space.

Here's my problem: When I go to my Gmail account and want to attach a photo file, I can't get the specific picture file from the iPhoto database file. I can't browse my hard drive past the iPhoto database file. Instead, I have to browse to my Photos folder... Family Pictures... Year... Month... file.jpg. I have noticed that when I browse folders in Finder, I can browse to the iPhoto database file, Ctrl+Click and click on "show package contents". I can then click on the Originals folder and select the file I want. I can't do this when I click on a browse button in Firefox to upload a pic to Facebook or Snapfish, etc.

I realize that iPhoto has an email photo function, but it only works with Mail. I can't make it work with Thunderbird or web based mail clients like Gmail or Yahoo Mail. Not to mention when I want to upload files to sites like Facebook, Snapfish, etc.

Does Aperture 2 work this way? I don't really need a program to "organize" my photos, just edit them. I do that inherently with the way I set up my folder structures on my hard drive.

It just seems ridiculous that I need to keep two "versions" of these files on my hard drive. 12 GB is a LOT of space to free up. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Bryan

 

[MurphyM]

There's a preference to tell iPhoto not to import your photos into its own folder structure - you can leave them in your structure. That would make them more accessible to you. And it wouldn't waste so much space.

You're not supposed to dig into the database looking for photos, you're supposed to do everything from iPhoto. It takes a little getting used to.

You were crafty to right-click and dig into the package, but that extra step was put in place to keep you out of there!

Check out this app for sending gmail from iPhoto.

Also, if you're more interested in editing I would consider Lightroom. Find a way to get student pricing and it's a very fair price. Or Photoshop Elements. I keep files organized the way you do folder-wise. Then I tag them. I find the tagging in Lightroom much better than iPhoto.

 

[richard.mac]

if you feel more comfortable storing you photos in Finder using your storing method then i would say keep doing that. iPhoto copies all your photos into into a library by default. so if youve still got all your photos in Finder you can comfortably trash the iPhoto library in the Pictures folder and either start over or continue using your storing method in Finder.

you can use the Image Capture application to import your photos into Finder if you dont want to use iPhoto. it can be set to be the default photo importer for your camera in its preferences.

iPhoto stores photos with the original date still intact in the meta data. so if you would like to keep using iPhoto you can mimic your storing method by sorting the photos from the View menu. theres a new feature in iPhoto '08 where it automatically makes new event/s after you import photos by date.

if you have a new Mac with Leopard theres a new media section in every open Finder window that will make it easier for you to choose pics in iPhoto to email with Thunderbirn. heres a pic to show what i mean.

 

[bbalak]

Thanks SO MUCH to both of you! I now have an extra 12 GB of free space

Bryan

 

[eRondeau]

TRUST STEVE!!! Forget how you used to do things in the PC world. Let iPhoto keep track of everything for you and you'll be just fine. I've been a Mac user since 2003 and I have around 25,000 photos in my iPhoto library -- and for the life of me, I can't see why anybody would ever want to look at any of them from the Finder, or outside of iPhoto period for that matter. iPhoto 7 (from iLife 08) lets me do everything I'd ever want to do with my photos, including dragging-and-dropping them into other applications that need them. I don't think I've ever -- ever! -- looked at my iPhoto Library via the Finder. There's just no need to do that. And iPhoto has rewarded my trust by never once losing track of a single photo in five years. Yes it's that good!

 

[bbalak]

So how do you upload photos to sites like Facebook, Snapfish, eBay, etc? From what I understand, you would need to export the photo file and then browse for it in Finder. Seems like a waste of time.

Bryan

 

[eRondeau]

So how do you upload photos to sites like Facebook, Snapfish, eBay, etc? From what I understand, you would need to export the photo file and then browse for it in Finder. Seems like a waste of time.

I've never used any of those sites. Besides only dial-up is available where I live and photos take a long time to transfer. But the essence of the Mac user experience is "drag-and-drop", so just select a photo in iPhoto and drag it right from iPhoto onto the Desktop, or directly into another program, and there it is. Select as many as you want in fact. To add new photos to iPhoto simply drag them onto the iPhoto icon in your Dock and they automatically copy in. Apple R&D puts a lot of effort into making common tasks easy, yet people are always trying to do them the hard way. I think this is why the newest iPhoto stores all its photo data as a hidden Package -- so the flood of PC converts won't be as tempted to go monkeying around with its file structure.

 

[Gray-Wolf]

I use photobucket, and all you do is create your account, use the upload link, find on your computer the file you want, then upload. No need to export.

 

[bbalak]

I use photobucket, and all you do is create your account, use the upload link, find on your computer the file you want, then upload. No need to export.

iMac-Knight... I think you might have missed my point. If you import your photo files directly into iPhoto, you CAN NOT browse for the photo. Finder won't let you browse past the iPhoto database file when you click on a browse "button" in your internet browser of choice. The only way you can browse for the file is if you choose NOT to import the file into the iPhoto database.

But the essence of the Mac user experience is "drag-and-drop", so just select a photo in iPhoto and drag it right from iPhoto onto the Desktop, or directly into another program, and there it is. Select as many as you want in fact. To add new photos to iPhoto simply drag them onto the iPhoto icon in your Dock and they automatically copy in. Apple R&D puts a lot of effort into making common tasks easy, yet people are always trying to do them the hard way.

So the "easy" way is to have multiple windows open, drag and drop files to the desktop, then browse to the desktop with Finder, then upload the photos. How is this easier or more simple than just having my internet browser window open and being able to browse for the file in Finder when I click on the "Browse" link in my internet browser?

I think I have my answer. Just simply don't import the file into the iPhoto database. Thanks for everyone's input and help.

Bryan

 

[skybolt]

So how do you upload photos to sites like Facebook, Snapfish, eBay, etc? From what I understand, you would need to export the photo file and then browse for it in Finder. Seems like a waste of time.

Bryan

Just drag the photo from the iPhoto app to the desktop and upload from there. No need to use finder.

 

[eRondeau]

I think you'll find that most of the big photo hosting sites provide free iPhoto add-on's that allow you to upload directly from iPhoto with one or two clicks. Maybe try thinking of iPhoto as an extension of the Finder used only for viewing, sorting, and transferring photos.

 

[kuwisdelu]

iMac-Knight... I think you might have missed my point. If you import your photo files directly into iPhoto, you CAN NOT browse for the photo. Finder won't let you browse past the iPhoto database file when you click on a browse "button" in your internet browser of choice. The only way you can browse for the file is if you choose NOT to import the file into the iPhoto database.



So the "easy" way is to have multiple windows open, drag and drop files to the desktop, then browse to the desktop with Finder, then upload the photos. How is this easier or more simple than just having my internet browser window open and being able to browse for the file in Finder when I click on the "Browse" link in my internet browser?

I think I have my answer. Just simply don't import the file into the iPhoto database. Thanks for everyone's input and help.

Bryan

Nah, from the screenshot above, on Leopard, any "Open" or "Browse" dialog provides a "media" section in the sidebar. The "Photos" section in it gets info from iPhoto and has your photos organized just like iPhoto does, so there's no need to dig into the iPhoto Library folder.

But personally, I hate dialog boxes, so I just drag the picture to my desktop and then drag it to the "upload" button.

 

[adamfp01]

Another new mac user iPhoto question

This thread has been great! Very helpful for this newbie. But I do have one more question. I just imported a few photos, and for some reason, two black and white photos in particular are showing up in a strange way. The originals are fine, and the duplicated file is fine in the library (when I drill down into the folders - though I do plan to take the advice here and not duplicate), BUT in iPhoto, the photos in question have an overlay that looks like a semi-transparent "contact sheet" of other thumbnail sized photos from the same "event." Again, the originals are fine... Any ideas??

Thanks!