iPhoto where are the pics stored?

[iubhounds]

Why does iPhoto do this

I've been on a iMac for a week. I did a lot or reading before transferring any files from my pc to a mac.

I am more than willing to do things "the mac" way and have had no problems with a zillion excel sheets that are now "numbers" sheets.

But...I have a BIG problem with what iPhoto did with my 60,000 images that on my PC were sorted under Folders by Supplier Name. I have an online sales business and now find that iphoto after the transfer from an external drive into iPhoto, stripped those folders and mixed and matched not only photos from different suppliers but also with my personal images.

Any help in finding a solution or telling me what I did wrong is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

I've been on a iMac for a week. I did a lot or reading before transferring any files from my pc to a mac.

I am more than willing to do things "the mac" way and have had no problems with a zillion excel sheets that are now "numbers" sheets.

But...I have a BIG problem with what iPhoto did with my 60,000 images that on my PC were sorted under Folders by Supplier Name. I have an online sales business and now find that iphoto after the transfer from an external drive into iPhoto, stripped those folders and mixed and matched not only photos from different suppliers but also with my personal images.

Any help in finding a solution or telling me what I did wrong is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

You should have left "copy to library" unticked. That way the files stay where they were.

Preferences > advanced

Or use a different organiser that doesn't want to copy everthing into one single location it controls, either a paid one like photoshop express, or free like Picasa.

Hopefully your pictures are still intact on the external drive as well so you can start again.

 

[iubhounds]

Thanks Tumbleweed. Ill start over on the photo transfer. I don't remember ever changing anything in the preferences. I still have them and the WD external.

Thanks for you answer and help. Ill post here what I find out.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Thanks Tumbleweed. Ill start over on the photo transfer. I don't remember ever changing anything in the preferences. I still have them and the WD external.

Thanks for you answer and help. Ill post here what I find out.

Ticked is the the usual* default, so its my bad wording, I should have said "you should have unticked copy to library" rather than "left it unticked".

Note that AFAIK if you want your pics to be on your HD rather than an external, you'll have to manually copy them there first, and then run up iPhoto I dont believe you can do that automatically.

FWIW I'm not convinced its worth using iPhoto if you keep your pictures in your own folders, and you might find you are better off using applications that are more designed to work that way, such as the ones I mentioned. I'm not sure what happens for example, when you import pictures that you want in a new folder but in the same structure (say in your case, a new supplier) , I don't know how you bring that to the "attention" of IPhoto.

Make sure to keep good backups !


* though a few seem to have found the opposite !

 

[iubhounds]

I got bored enough last night to do some "manual" transfers of the images from my original WD external, where I put everything when transferring from a pc to a imac.

I loaded Picaso and it loaded everything I had on iPhoto and in similar ways. I need to learn more about that.

Anyway, I made a folder on my desktop and by name moved picture folders from the external to the desktop. After that from finder I named "new" albums in iphoto, same name as my original folders and moved them into iphones.

That was just for personal images. I am going to do the same with my supplier photos in a few minutes. I like the results so far and will learn more about picaso.

Basically I have all 60,000 images on a drive that I can upload from when needed.

 

[MacPC]

Who ever made this iPhoto and iTunes should be sent to China to face the fire squad!!!!

 

[Dave Braine]

Why??

 

[Lafog]

Corrupt/lost photos

The library in finder IS the location. They are not kept in the app itself. iPhoto references those photos when you use the app.

Do NOT do anything to/with your photos in the library in finder! You will corrupt and/or lose photos. You can look, but do not touch!

If you have iPhoto manage your photos in its library, you will not have 2 copies on your computer (unless you just want to). How are you importing so that you have 2 copies? If they are in your library in finder, they don't NEED to be anyplace else. Having said that, iPhoto does keep the original photo so that you can always go back and start your editing again. It keeps the modified photos in a different folder, so in that instance you do have 2 copies -- but they are different from each other. There are apps that will remove the original of an edited photo, but I personally would not recommend that. Too much margin for human error.

Just leave them alone in finder, do your organizing, etc. from within the app itself.

What can I do if I accidently touch the photos? When I tried to delete one, it deleted the whole folder and when I brought it back from the trash - I still have no photos in the entire library! Have you ideas about how to let iPhoto find the pictures again?

 

[Lafog]

Fixing lost/corrupted photos

I figured out how to fix the problem. I copied the iPhoto library, then viewed the package contents of that copy, then moved the folders (ie, 2010) to another location. I then imported all the folders in iPhoto and everything was back. Of course I'm going to have to organize them again... But at least no pictures are lost.

 

[kaielement]

No one said you had to use iPhoto. And if you liked the way you stored your pics on your Windows computer then just copy the folders over to the picture folder in the finder and all will be good. and use what ever program you want to edit your pics (i.e. like Photo Shop). And Please stop being a baby because you can't figure something out. In my mind people are over thinking a very simple program and need to relax.

 

[Dave Braine]

So what if i keep my photos on an external drive? Does Iphoto copy them onto the internal drive?

Only if you tick the "Copy items to iPhoto Library" option in iPhoto Preferences>Advanced. Otherwise you will have to have that external plugged in to view those photos.

 

[bennett.news]

The Problem I still have

So I have been dealing with the same problems as Captain Fry. All I want to do is put my files on a USB to give them to someone else.

I have tried dragging and dropping but it only seems to work sometimes and with a couple files at a time.

I've shown the contents of the iPhoto library but they are so unorganized I can't find the pictures I need.

Any suggestions?

 

[flottenheimer]

So I have been dealing with the same problems as Captain Fry. All I want to do is put my files on a USB to give them to someone else.

I have tried dragging and dropping but it only seems to work sometimes and with a couple files at a time.

I've shown the contents of the iPhoto library but they are so unorganized I can't find the pictures I need.

Any suggestions?

From the File menu, select 'Export.'
Select a format for exporting the photos. Among other options are:

Original: This will export the original image master in the file format used by your camera. (If the photo came a source other than your camera, it will retain the format it was when you first imported it into iPhoto.) This will produce the best quality image, but you'll lose any edits you performed or any metatags you added after you imported the image into iPhoto.

Current: This will export the current version of the image, in its current image format, including any image edits and any metatags.

Hit 'Export'.
Choose a folder for your photos — say, the USB drive you mentioned.
Easy.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Flottenheimer, Bennett asked that question in May, probably sorted it out now