Stop iPhoto from Copying Photos?

[mcmike100]

The major thing that's stopped me from using iPhoto regularly is the way it wants to handle the organization of my photos.

I unchecked the Copy Files to iPhoto Library Folder option, so at least it doesn't do that anymore. But for some reason it still likes making copies of a few photos to put in the Modified folder in the iPhoto Library Folder.

Firstly, I didn't even modify the photo (though I suppose it might be because I'd rotated it in Preview earlier?), but even if I had, is there a way to just have it replace the original? I have quite a few photos, so I don't want it making too many copies that will take up a lot of space.

Thanks!

 

[skybolt]

First of all, stay out of the iPhoto library in Finder -- you will cause yourself so much grief you cannot imagine! Lost photos, corrupted photos, etc. Just forget it is there -- do ALL of your work from within iPhoto app itself. You WILL regret messing around in there. Let the app handle the organization, that is what it was created to do.

Yes, if you rotate a photo, it is considered "modified". The originals are kept so that if you modify a photo, and later want to go back, you can. A little insurance never hurt anyone! So, what is happening is exactly what is supposed to happen.

 

[ero87]

c'mon Skybolt, let's not justify everything that an Apple product does. be reasonable- of course it's ridiculous that iPhoto makes a copy when a photo is simply rotated. stupid waste of space! I think we just hafta deal with it though

 

[aristobrat]

be reasonable- of course it's ridiculous that iPhoto makes a copy when a photo is simply rotated. stupid waste of space! I think we just hafta deal with it though

I think it's a great feature that iPhoto never touches the original -- it's saved my butt more than once.

I just wish that they could either do it like Aperture (where it just saves information about what you did to the picture, not another full copy of the picture itself) or at least have it be a feature that people can disable if they don't want to be able to recover from prior edits.

 

[rayjay86]

I realize this post is really old but hopefully someone can answer.

I just got my MBA13 and am switching from a Windows OS.

When I did photo editing I just opened individual files in photoshop and the original file would be modified in the original folder unless I saved it as a new one.

I don't want iPhoto to create a separate library for me at the moment. A friend told me about Lightroom and I'm happy with that as well but the iPhoto interface is just a little less "busy" so I like that.

I unchecked the copy to iPhoto library option when importing all my pictures. If I modify them in iPhoto, is Lightroom going to get confused if/when I open it up to make changes?

What happens if I edit a photo in Photoshop, will it automatically be added to my iPhoto library if the saved file in the pictures folder the iPhoto originally is importing/reading from?

Hope that makes sense

 

[Mac In School]

Quite honestly, if you don't want iPhoto to do your file management for you, I wouldn't use iPhoto.

I had the same thinking when I switched over from Windows. I wanted to do things the way I had always done them on Windows. I had to be so careful about file management in Windows that I was afraid to let go of that and let an application take over.

Then somebody asked me why I bought a Mac if I wanted to do everything the same way I did it in Windows. He pointed out that it's a different platform and that I should at least try to embrace it.

I did, and I haven't looked back. Organizing by Events, faces, places, keywords, ratings, albums and smart albums is soooooooo much more intuitive (once you get used to it), that I can't imagine having to go back to layering event folders inside month folders in side year folders, etc. Blech. I can't believe I used to work that way.

Throw caution to the wind. Let iPhoto do it's thing. Try it with a handful of photos for a month and see how you like it. EMBRACE iPhoto's management tools.

If you're considering a switch from iPhoto to something beefier, consider Aperture. I like it a lot better than Lightroom and it's less than 1/3 the price.