iPhoto quick questions

[JDN]

I have never really gotten to grips with iPhoto, and thought it about time i got into it! So i just have a few quick questions to clarify some stuff.

1) When photos are loaded on to my MBP using iPhoto three different copies are made. Data - Original - Modified. Are all of these really necessary? Even when i haven't modified any photos, the modified folder has a copy of all my photos in?

2) Is it possible to store all my photos on my external HD and access them in the same way through iPhoto? I only have an 80Gb HD in my MBP and am nearing 10Gb of photos already.

3) iPhoto only automatically loads my photos into it if i use the connection cable and my camera. Is there a way to get iPhoto to get my photos from a card in a card reader, say from an express card 34 slot reader?

Sorry to bombard people with questions.

Any input people can give me is most appreciated.


Cheers!!

 

[jeremy.king]

1) When photos are loaded on to my MBP using iPhoto three different copies are made. Data - Original - Modified. Are all of these really necessary? Even when i haven't modified any photos, the modified folder has a copy of all my photos in?

The Data folder contains the thumbnails. The Original is never touched and the modified is your "working copy" - so yes I guess they are necessary.

2) Is it possible to store all my photos on my external HD and access them in the same way through iPhoto? I only have an 80Gb HD in my MBP and am nearing 10Gb of photos already.

There are many ways to accomplish this. The easiest is to move your iPhoto Library folder from your Home folder to your external hard drive, then start iPhoto while holding down Option. It will prompt you to select a Library - then you will select the newly copied folder.

 

[tilman]

3) iPhoto only automatically loads my photos into it if i use the connection cable and my camera. Is there a way to get iPhoto to get my photos from a card in a card reader, say from an express card 34 slot reader?

Yes, that's how I do it. The default application that comes up when you plug in a memory card has a setting in it's Preferences where you can switch to using iPhoto.

 

[j26]

2) Is it possible to store all my photos on my external HD and access them in the same way through iPhoto? I only have an 80Gb HD in my MBP and am nearing 10Gb of photos already.

iPhoto Buddy is very useful for that - you can use multiple libraries, so keep some on your MBP and the rest on an external

 

[JDN]

Cheers for all the help people, it has been most useful.

I ended up just adding all my photo's to iPhoto and unchecked the 'copy photo's to iPhoto library' ... however, something has still been copied into the iPhoto library. All the photos look like normal files, except they have that little arrow in the bottom left hand corner like files do when you add them to a disk before burning.

What does this mean? All the files, with no exceptions, are 4Kb ... which is tiny, but i just wondered what they were for.

 

[jeremy.king]

Cheers for all the help people, it has been most useful.

I ended up just adding all my photo's to iPhoto and unchecked the 'copy photo's to iPhoto library' ... however, something has still been copied into the iPhoto library. All the photos look like normal files, except they have that little arrow in the bottom left hand corner like files do when you add them to a disk before burning.

What does this mean? All the files, with no exceptions, are 4Kb ... which is tiny, but i just wondered what they were for.

They are aliases pointing at the real location of the photo.

P.S. Unless you are very vigilant with file management, I'd recommend letting iPhoto manage the files within its own folder system. What I am saying is that its very simple to break an iPhoto library when your photos are scattered amongst folders and other drives, etc...

 

[JDN]

I will keep that in mind, thank you.