"Watch" Folders in iPhoto?

[Diomedes]

I'm a fairly new iPhoto user (having been persuaded by a demo at MWSF '05). I use Photoshop Elements on both my Mac & PC. The PC version has an organizaer that, so far, seems vastly superior to iPhoto.

Does iPhoto have a "Watch" folder - in other words, a folder that it automatically scans for additions and then prompt you to add them to your library?

Also, is there a different way to rename files in iPhoto other than the EXTREMELY counter-intuitive "Batch Change..." command???

 

[mkrishnan]

Does iPhoto have a "Watch" folder - in other words, a folder that it automatically scans for additions and then prompt you to add them to your library?

Can you please explain how you use this feature on your PC? It might be something that is just most easily accomplished in another way in MacOS. One thing you can do is drag files to the iPhoto icon on the dock, instead of a folder, which will cause them to automatically be imported by iPhoto.

Also there is a feature called Folder Actions. It allows you to assign scripts to act on files dropped into a certain folder. It is a base OS X feature. If you can find/make a script for dropping the resultant file into iPhoto, you should be good.

This article describes the latter option:

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/11/03/iphoto_import.html

 

[Diomedes]

Sorry, maybe I should have clarified. The "Watch Folder" feature is in Photoshop Elements. Whenever Elements detects new pictures are in the specified directory, it alerts you and prompts you to add them to your library.

 

[mkrishnan]

Sorry, maybe I should have clarified. The "Watch Folder" feature is in Photoshop Elements. Whenever Elements detects new pictures are in the specified directory, it alerts you and prompts you to add them to your library.

If all you want is to be alerted, there is a Folder Actions script already written and included in Panther that does that. Just enable folder actions and assign the script to the folder you want to drop your photos in. Maybe three or four clicks total.

 

[Diomedes]

Maybe I am not being clear...

In Elements for Windows, you set "Watch" folders. Anytime you add new pictures to this folder or folders, Elements automatically prompts you and asks you if you want to add the new files to your album. It's really quite simple. Portfolio has a similar feature called FolderSync, where it automatically syncs changes to folders you've specified. So, I want iPhoto to say "hey, you've got new pictures in your Pictures folder. Wanna import them into iPhoto?"

Apparently, this functionality doesn't exist in iPhoto. I wish Adobe would've made their Album part of Elements for the Mac. It is far, far superior to iPhoto. I've pretty much given up on iPhoto because of the weird way it operates. I was hoping for a simple, easy-to-use photo manager, but aside from its niceties like publishing to a .Mac and burning directly to iDVD, iPhoto is still a work in progress. Apple should look at the elegant job Adobe has done with its Windows version.

 

[Phatpat]

I know what you're talking about, Picasa has it as well. Seems like a pretty common-sense feature, not sure why its not there. Tiger definitely increases the odds of seeing something like this though.

This is more of an "auto-import" feature. Less hassle for the user.

 

[mcmav37]

Maybe I am not being clear...

In Elements for Windows, you set "Watch" folders. Anytime you add new pictures to this folder or folders, Elements automatically prompts you and asks you if you want to add the new files to your album. It's really quite simple. Portfolio has a similar feature called FolderSync, where it automatically syncs changes to folders you've specified. So, I want iPhoto to say "hey, you've got new pictures in your Pictures folder. Wanna import them into iPhoto?"

It seems to me that the original reply to your question addressed this questions with the "Folder Actions" suggestion as well as a link about how to do it. No?

Also, where are these pictures magically appearing from in your specified folder? Why don't you just import all your pictures directly into iPhoto?

 

[thecosas]

Same issue

I have Foldershare (I know I know... microshaft) set up on my Macbook so I can automatically get pictures of my family when they post them (and vice versa). Specifically I'm looking for a folder action that:

• Copies (not moves) the file to iPhoto
• Only does this when new files are added
• Doesn't overwrite existing files in iPhoto
• Optional: creates a new roll/album if an entire folder shows up in the folder

If I could get some technical guidance as to how to write this, it would be much appreciated. I'm guessing it would be something fairly similar to the iTunes import script from doug's scripts.

 

[thehotrod11]

Did anyone figure this out? I'm relatively new to Macs and I'm trying to figure out iPhoto.

New pictures get added to my "Pictures" folder on my Mac via Sugarsync software...I don't import them from my camera to my Mac.

I want iPhoto to notice that there are new pictures in my "Pictures" folder and automatically add them to the library and scan them for faces and such. Like stated above, Picasa does this, can iPhoto?

Thanks in advance.
Rodney