iPhoto question

[Trix10]

Hey all, I have an external hard drive that has tonnes, and tonnes of folders on it.

Buried in very random places and sub folders are folders containing images.

I might have a backup from an old computer, with a folder that has photos in it.

I might have another one of a laptop back up, with images in etc, all just completely random.

So. I know i can File -> Import in iPhoto and locate these folders one by one, which is fine by me. But once iPhoto has imported them, does it leave the originals alone?

So if i import a folder of photos from the external hard drive, will it make a copy of it onto my computer, and anything i do to that photo, will be the copy on my computer? Even if i view it in iPhoto and click delete, will it only delete the copy that is sat on the computers hard drive?


If this is the case, does this also mean i could import every photo i can find. And then COPY the iPhoto bit from Pictures, onto a DVD or something as a backup? And i would then have every single picture backed up in one place?


Hope this makes sense, thanks everyone!

(Still getting used to my mac!)

 

[Dave Braine]

if i import a folder of photos from the external hard drive, will it make a copy of it onto my computer,

Only if you have the "Copy to iPhoto Library" option ticked in iPhoto Preferences. iPhoto then stores a full resolution version in it's Library.

With that option ticked, if you edit a picture, iPhoto shows the edited version, but still keeps the original, which you can revert to at any time. If you delete, then it deletes from the hard drive.

If you import a photo from an external drive with that option unticked, then iPhoto stores a low res version in it's Library. If you want to edit the photo, then you will have to have that drive connected to your Mac.

I copy to the iPhoto Library and use iPhoto to manage my photos, using Time Machine as a backup. Others will do it different. Just one thing, don't be tempted to go into the iPhoto folders to manage your pictures. It can lead to all sorts of problems.

You might like to read this for more info:
http://www.macworld.com/article/143828/2009/11/referenced_library.html