Syncing iPhoto with a Folder

[Jetheat]

I have just spent a few hours sorting my photos into events within iPhoto.

I can export the event structure to a folder structure (with the export option within the menu) but how do I keep it all synced up?

So, if I add a photo to the folder structure, iPhoto automatically updates, and vice versa.

What, the native way to do this?

Thanks,

JH

 

[waynep]

I am not aware of anything like that. I did find a script that someone wrote on the Internet that would export you photos into a folder structure with the folder names being your event names.

 

[Jetheat]

I am not aware of anything like that. I did find a script that someone wrote on the Internet that would export you photos into a folder structure with the folder names being your event names.

You can do this from within iPhoto anyway but I wanted a way to Sync between a folder and iPhotos (after it has been exported to that folder).

 

[snberk103]

You can do this from within iPhoto anyway but I wanted a way to Sync between a folder and iPhotos (after it has been exported to that folder).

Why?

The point of iPhoto is to keep your photos organized within it's own library structure. When you import images into iPhoto you have the ability to add keywords to the image, which you would lose if it was importing by synching with a folder.

Not quite what you are looking for, but Adobe's Lightroom can be set up to "watch" a folder. Whenever it detects a new photo in a folder it will automatically import it... but it will be imported into its own catalogue structure.

 

[Jetheat]

If you rely on iPhoto only, what happens if the iPhoto file becomes damaged? All your photos may be inaccessible.

Furthermore, I don't want to launch iPhoto everytime I want to load a photo in it. I'd like to be able to put the photo in a certain place which would then be reflected within the iPhoto event structure.

 

[jason2811]

I don't use iPhoto at all. However, I'd like to start using PhotoStream so that photos I take on my iPhone instantly transfer to my MacBook Air. Is there anyway I can do this and make pictures transfer to a specified folder on my laptop (rather than into iPhoto)? Thanks!

 

[snberk103]

If you rely on iPhoto only, what happens if the iPhoto file becomes damaged? All your photos may be inaccessible.

No, that is not entirely true. Your original photos are always accessible, and you can recover them. This is assuming that you are not experiencing file structure problems on the HDD (because if you were, it doesn't matter where those photos are - the HDD is potentially toast and everything is gone.) I am assuming you are worried about corruption of the library database. In that case what you lose are the edits to the photos and the key wording/albums. However, the photos are safe. Once iPhoto moves the images into its library structure, it doesn't touch them again. Everything it knows about those photos, and all the edits are recorded to the library database. This is why it is called non-destructive editing.

You need to do backups, of course. But you need to backup your images whether they are stored in iPhoto's library structure or your own. Your images are at more risk of being damaged outside of iPhoto than in it. Images inside iPhoto are, by design, hidden from inquiring minds. Images outside of iPhoto are liable to be deleted or overwritten by mistake.

Furthermore, I don't want to launch iPhoto everytime I want to load a photo in it. I'd like to be able to put the photo in a certain place which would then be reflected within the iPhoto event structure.

Then iPhoto may not be what you want to use. The design of iPhoto is that it works best if you use it to access your photos. However, there is a setting for iPhoto '11 under the Preferences > Advanced to 'deselect' the default behaviour. From the Help file...

This preference is turned on by default. When you import photos from a hard disk, iPhoto copies (duplicates) the photos to the iPhoto library and uses the copies. The original photos remain untouched in their current locations.
If you have an extensive collection of photos on your computer and you want to keep your current file organization, you can have iPhoto point to your original photo files instead of importing them into your iPhoto library. To have iPhoto access your photos from their current locations on your hard disk (rather than making copies of them), deselect this checkbox. Note that if you edit one of these images in iPhoto, the edited version is saved in the iPhoto library and the original file remains untouched.
If you turn off this preference, be sure not to move the photos from the location from which they were imported. If you move the files, your iPhoto library won’t work correctly.

But note that you still need to fire up iPhoto and 'import' any photos you want to add. The 'import' function is what creates the database entry. And, also note that any edits you make in iPhoto are not reflected in the original photos - you can only access the edited version from within iPhoto. If you go with this hybrid route you will be making more work for yourself, using up more disk space, and constantly firing up iPhoto in any case because you can't remember if the image you want is edited or not.

 

[r0k]

If you rely on iPhoto only, what happens if the iPhoto file becomes damaged? All your photos may be inaccessible.

Furthermore, I don't want to launch iPhoto everytime I want to load a photo in it. I'd like to be able to put the photo in a certain place which would then be reflected within the iPhoto event structure.

No, that is not entirely true. Your original photos are always accessible, and you can recover them. This is assuming that you are not experiencing file structure problems on the HDD (because if you were, it doesn't matter where those photos are - the HDD is potentially toast and everything is gone.) I am assuming you are worried about corruption of the library database. In that case what you lose are the edits to the photos and the key wording/albums. However, the photos are safe. Once iPhoto moves the images into its library structure, it doesn't touch them again. Everything it knows about those photos, and all the edits are recorded to the library database. This is why it is called non-destructive editing.

You need to do backups, of course. But you need to backup your images whether they are stored in iPhoto's library structure or your own. Your images are at more risk of being damaged outside of iPhoto than in it. Images inside iPhoto are, by design, hidden from inquiring minds. Images outside of iPhoto are liable to be deleted or overwritten by mistake.


Then iPhoto may not be what you want to use. The design of iPhoto is that it works best if you use it to access your photos. However, there is a setting for iPhoto '11 under the Preferences > Advanced to 'deselect' the default behaviour. From the Help file...


But note that you still need to fire up iPhoto and 'import' any photos you want to add. The 'import' function is what creates the database entry. And, also note that any edits you make in iPhoto are not reflected in the original photos - you can only access the edited version from within iPhoto. If you go with this hybrid route you will be making more work for yourself, using up more disk space, and constantly firing up iPhoto in any case because you can't remember if the image you want is edited or not.

Losing photos when iPhoto Library becomes corrupted is true enough because it happened to me. Sure I could use show package contents and dig around inside for original photos, but why would I want to do something like that for 67 gigabytes worth of files? Luckily I kept my original photo structure outside iPhoto so when iPhoto Library got the flu, I simply deleted it and started over. Perhaps it was only the library file that was affected but I didn't care as iPhoto had slowed down to the point of being useless.

This time I switched OFF "copy items to iPhoto Library". Now I have an iPhoto Library that is just over 11 GB that manages metadata (faces, places, events, etc, etc) for about 220 GB of photos. And there's no performance penalty either.

 

[snberk103]

Losing photos when iPhoto Library becomes corrupted is true enough because it happened to me. Sure I could use show package contents and dig around inside for original photos, but why would I want to do something like that for 67 gigabytes worth of files? Luckily I kept my original photo structure outside iPhoto so when iPhoto Library got the flu, I simply deleted it and started over. Perhaps it was only the library file that was affected but I didn't care as iPhoto had slowed down to the point of being useless.

This time I switched OFF "copy items to iPhoto Library". Now I have an iPhoto Library that is just over 11 GB that manages metadata (faces, places, events, etc, etc) for about 220 GB of photos. And there's no performance penalty either.

That's the good thing about that setting, it allows people to tailor how iPhoto works best for them. I would like to just point out though, that if you had had a backup you could have simply copied the database back into place and be back up and running. Doesn't solve the performance issues though, and if your system works well for you, then great. The OP is trying to do something with iPhoto that it won't do - or at least won't do well.

Tell me this... with your referenced library, do you create duplicates - and if so, do you do so inside or outside iPhoto?

Cheers

 

[r0k]

That's the good thing about that setting, it allows people to tailor how iPhoto works best for them. I would like to just point out though, that if you had had a backup you could have simply copied the database back into place and be back up and running. Doesn't solve the performance issues though, and if your system works well for you, then great. The OP is trying to do something with iPhoto that it won't do - or at least won't do well.

Tell me this... with your referenced library, do you create duplicates - and if so, do you do so inside or outside iPhoto?

Cheers

What do you mean by duplicates? If I edit a photo in iPhoto, the edited version sits in iPhoto Library while the original sits safely in my folder structure (and in my off site backup) (and in my primary on site backup) (and in my secondary on site backup) (and in Time Machine for what that's worth).

BTW, I didn't have a proper backup because Time Machine wireless backup to Time Capsule was so unreliable I wound up starting over several times. I now use Time Machine as more of a convenience and do my own backups using a combination of crashplan and NAS drives. Case in point: My wife's Mac mini TM backup was corrupted and useless but the crashplan image of her machine, made over the same crappy wifi connection, was good enough to bring all her files back when I needed it.

 

[snberk103]

What do you mean by duplicates?

Sorry.... should have been more clear. Some people will resize a photo, so the newly sized image is a duplicate of the original. Or they will make a second (third, and fourth) copy because the image should be filed in several different places. Those kinds of duplicates. Some people make a lot of those, and some people don't. So I was asking if you did or not.

If I edit a photo in iPhoto, the edited version sits in iPhoto Library while the original sits safely in my folder structure (and in my off site backup) (and in my primary on site backup) (and in my secondary on site backup) (and in Time Machine for what that's worth).

Lots of backups.... of the images.

BTW, I didn't have a proper backup because Time Machine wireless backup to Time Capsule was so unreliable I wound up starting over several times.

So the image folders were being backed up to the on and off-site spots... but not the iPhoto library? Even with your system, I strongly recommend getting a copy of the iPhoto library. The database in it is the most vulnerable part, and the key to everything. I've now moved to Lightroom, but I have the whole system being backed up to a Time Machine. Plus I make nightly cloned copies of the photos (inside Lightroom) including the database. Plus I have Lightroom make daily backups of the database over to the system disk, which is also being backed up by Time Machine and nightly cloned backup. It's the catalogue that is key. That is 5 copies of the catalogue... not counting the off-site backups.

I now use Time Machine as more of a convenience and do my own backups using a combination of crashplan and NAS drives. Case in point: My wife's Mac mini TM backup was corrupted and useless but the crashplan image of her machine, made over the same crappy wifi connection, was good enough to bring all her files back when I needed it.

Yeah - Time Machine can be very convenient.... but I don't rely on it.

 

[r0k]

Sorry.... should have been more clear. Some people will resize a photo, so the newly sized image is a duplicate of the original. Or they will make a second (third, and fourth) copy because the image should be filed in several different places. Those kinds of duplicates. Some people make a lot of those, and some people don't. So I was asking if you did or not.
Lots of backups.... of the images.
So the image folders were being backed up to the on and off-site spots... but not the iPhoto library? Even with your system, I strongly recommend getting a copy of the iPhoto library. The database in it is the most vulnerable part, and the key to everything. I've now moved to Lightroom, but I have the whole system being backed up to a Time Machine. Plus I make nightly cloned copies of the photos (inside Lightroom) including the database. Plus I have Lightroom make daily backups of the database over to the system disk, which is also being backed up by Time Machine and nightly cloned backup. It's the catalogue that is key. That is 5 copies of the catalogue... not counting the off-site backups.


Yeah - Time Machine can be very convenient.... but I don't rely on it.

My present backup strategy wasn't in place when I lost my 67 GB iPhoto library. Losing it was no big deal, really. The darn thing was so slow it was useless. But losing did cause me to upgrade my backup strategy.

My whole machine goes to Time Machine on an external drive connected to a 500 GB Time Capsule (which has been replaced once by Apple under warranty with total loss of my daughter's data).

My photos go to an external firewire drive as well as to two NAS drives and the ones I really want to keep go to either flickr, picasa or smugmug. They once went to MobileMe but we all know how that turned out.

I recently decided I needed yet another backup strategy. This one doesn't rely on the internet. I'm working on getting some USB drives I can CCC my HDD (or at least certain "important folders" to and leave them off site (possibly at a friend's house, safe deposit, or even my desk at work). I'd like to put the "extra special" stuff there like tax returns, scanned documents, college transcripts, offers of employment, vital records, etc. Perhaps I'll expand to include templates for common documents I maintain such as newsletters.

I just picked up an SSD for my Macbook so I guess backup of rotating media isn't the main thing. I'm just very cautious about my data.

I don't consider the iPhoto library to be of much value. I can import the events again (again disabling copy of originals to iPhoto Library), and let it run faces and places overnight and it's all back again. BTW, I don't use iPhoto to touch up my photos. I use Gimp, Seashore or PhotoFX. So the modified photos live in my folder structure.

I've been thinking about Aperture. I can't allow another Adobe product on my Mac unless I really need it. Dreamweaver with all its activation DRM was terrible. Most recently I spent close to an hour on the phone with Adobe support over failed activation of a piece of software that's been sitting in my Applications volder unused since 2009. Finally they gave up and told me I needed to shell out close to five hundred bucks for the current version to run it on Snow Leopard. No thanks. I'll fire up my old G4 if I need Dreamweaver. Maybe someday I might get Illustrator or Photoshop but never anything else from Adobe-land especially not acrobat reader or any sort of flash. When I watch a movie in html5, my fans start running. When I click the puzzle piece in chrome to allow flash to run, my fans start running even when it isn't playing a movie. Yuck.