where does iPhoto save imported files???? how do you "save"?

Larry:

"1 - in seeing and helping thousands upon thousands of users I have not seen a single photos lost by iPhoto"

I've taken my old (now dead) mac to professionals to fix, all of which told me they've NEVER seen the situation that my computer had. I would imagine they've seen hundreds, if not thousands, of computers.

While your #1 sounds nice, appeal to popularity does not suade me to follow you, not just because it's a fallacy, but because I inevitably end up being the exception to the rule (even though I don't want to be).

So let's say I want to transfer my pictures. If I move iPhoto to a external USB port,

I assume you mean Disk no port...

will I be able to open those pictures and movies on ANY computer

Depends.

You need to distinguish between the Library and the Pics and Movies. The pics and movies are not changed in any way by iPhoto they will play no matter what.

The Library, however, will only be available to a Mac with the current version of iPhoto installed. iPhoto has no cross platform ability whatever - nor does it claim any - and the Library contains the various versions of the photos too, which tends to confuse other folks surfing with a File Browser. In that scenario, simply export the pics from iPhoto for use on the other machines. However, if this is a constant requirement... don't use iPhoto.

Can I back up without making all my pictures and videos STUCK in iPhoto?

File -> Export. But this will only back up your Files, not your Library - Albums, Books, Slideshows etc.

What if this iPhoto file becomes corrupt and just can't open up anymore. How do I extract me pictures and videos then?

It's not a File. As I said above, it's not a File, once more, it's not a File. You can always get to the Pics using the RIght-Click -> Show Package Contents trick. If, for some reason you can't do that, then you have bigger problems than iPhoto.

What is iPhoto Library? Is that the file disguised as a folder? Or is this something else?

In your Pictures Folder you'll see an icon called... iPhoto Library. That's it.

Logic Pro quits and truncates my projects ALL THE TIME. How do I know iPhoto won't freak out and lose a batch of my pictures too?

As I said above, that's why we have back ups, right?

If you read these forums you'll see lots of people posting that 'iPhoto has lost my Photos', but if you read the threads 99.9% of those cases resolve with no data lost whatever.

As of the .01%, well User Error can play a part too.

Regards

TD

As I said above, that's why we have back ups, right?

I back up a few different ways, and one way is by having the data on two separate computers. Sooo, this long time Windows user brought his 4000 picture files over to the new Mac. Besides some real challenges with dates, and the shift away from classifying pictures via "folders", I'm loving iPhoto. Right now the 4000 pictures are in a folder I created named Pix, and they are also in that "Originals" folder. I'm okay with that. My question is, if I import new photos from a camera into iPhoto, they will not be stored twice, will they? Because I think I want to continue my strategy of having copies of the untouched photos in a Pix folder, with arrangement by dates and folder names. So am I right that if I hooked a camera up to iPhoto and got the pictures out of the camera...those would be stored only in that "Originals" folder.

My question is, if I import new photos from a camera into iPhoto, they will not be stored twice, will they?

iPhoto will only import files to the iPhoto Library Folder. You can use Image Capture to place the files where you want them from your camera and afterwards import them to iPhoto.
A comment on this way of working: It's rather pointless.

1. It doesn't serve as a back up as the files are on the same disk.
2. It's a waste of disk space.
3. It achieves nothing. Your files are perfectly available in iPhoto following any of the methods described not once but twice in this very thread.

Regards

TD

Whoa, you don't have to call my preferred way of organizing photos pointless, a waste of time, and take up "disk space" in this forum generally disparaging the way I've worked for ten years, do you? It achieves a backup when I pull them off to disk, or get them to another Machine. I like having the originals, unedited and unmanipulated. I'm just gathering that if I import them from a camera to iPhoto, I'll have to take additional steps if I wish to continue my cross-platform thirteen-year long photo archive on external backups by saving them out to a folder, or by putting them in a folder first, then importing into iPhoto. Geeze dude, relax okay?

It achieves a backup when I pull them off to disk, or get them to another Machine.

Yes - exactly like backing up the iPhoto library to another disk or another machine does

I like having the originals, unedited and unmanipulated.

iPhoto does that for you automatically - it ALWAYS maintains the digital negative for you without modification of any sort.

I'm just gathering that if I import them from a camera to iPhoto, I'll have to take additional steps if I wish to continue my cross-platform thirteen-year long photo archive on external backups by saving them out to a folder, or by putting them in a folder first, then importing into iPhoto.

Yes - if you want to have them on two different platforms you must somehow copy them to the additional platform(s), of course.

LN

Whoa, you don't have to call my preferred way of organizing photos pointless, a waste of time, and take up "disk space" in this forum generally disparaging the way I've worked for ten years, do you?

No I don't have to. I was just being helpful. One of the problems of being on an Internet forum is that I'm have no idea how experienced you are. Your system +as described+ sounded like the work of someone quite inexperienced.

And still does for the reasons I mentioned.

That you then go on to back up - you didn't mention that. And if you don't mention that, how am I to know - especially as you offer this system as a response to a comment of mine, about the importance of backing up. More than one person has posted on here over the years thinking that a copy on the same disk constituted a back up. That's why I thought it important to point out.

Of course, you system is still using unnecessary disk space as you can easily File -> Export Kind: Original and export directly to your back up location.

And as you note: You "like having the originals, unedited and unmanipulated." Well iPhoto does that for you too - another reason your system is contains redundancy.

But it was just a comment, aimed to point out the limitations of the system +you described+. Like always, you can ignore it, adopt it whatever.

Regards

TD

Ok, so here's what I've concluded.

iPhoto is a device made easy to navigate through pictures.

iPhoto can only be used on a MAC with an updated iPhoto.

Therefore you cannot transfer ANY of your pictures with the iPhoto library if you plan on transfering them to a place that has no updated iPhoto (i.e. PC, external USB harddrive like G-raid or Western Digital). You can transfer the pictures, but all of your organization done in iPhoto is completely LOST when you do.

iPhoto becomes exclusive, just like Logic Pro 7 did, forcing users to either use it or not, as it's not compatible with anything that's not an updated MAC.

What an awful concept. iPhoto fails in this aspect.

Terence wrote:It's not a File. As I said above, it's not a File, once more, it's not a File. You can always get to the Pics using the RIght-Click -> Show Package Contents trick. If, for some reason you can't do that, then you have bigger problems than iPhoto.

Yes I know it's not a file. It's a folder disguised as a file right? So you think you can go in and scroll through the pictures but as you said right-clicking will mess up iPhoto. So it's completely pointless.

Anyway, you didn't answer my question as to what happens when iPhoto becomes corrupt. So what happens when iPhoto breaks? Can I still just right-click on the folder disguised as a file and extract everything through there? Or save everything from the Library?

1 - it is true that with any powerful database application like iPhoto that the "organization" is only available when using the database applications (that is like saying the speed of my Jaguar is only available when I'm driving it)

2 - if you do not want or need the power that an SQL database gives you - it is very simple - do not use it

LN

Here's another reason why I hate iPhoto and why I want it to change so that I don't hate it as much (because I really would like to use it):

I can organize my photos outside iPhoto and then throw them into iPhoto organized
I cannot organize my photos in iPhoto and then take them out of iPhoto organized
Or can I?

And all I read on this aspect is, "It's a new way of thinking! It's better! You just don't get it." No I do get it. iPhoto wants you to use it forever and discourages you from taking your pictures out of it by making sure all your hard work organizing pictures inside iPhoto completely dissolves once you take the photos out.

LarryHN wrote:

2 - if you do not want or need the power that an SQL database gives you - it is very simple - do not use it

LN

Or how about this novel concept: CHANGE iPHOTO so it's not discouraging! Hmmm, let's think about it. Is it possible? Probably not because whoever works at MAC wants it's users to be stuck using iPhoto and its "SQL database" that is SO powerful it cannot maintain your organization once you take your pics outside of iPhoto.

You ask this question:

I cannot organize my photos in iPhoto and then take them out of iPhoto organized
Or can I?

And then presume the answer:

iPhoto wants you to use it forever and discourages you from taking your pictures out of it by making sure all your hard work organizing pictures inside iPhoto completely dissolves once you take the photos out.

Of course you can migrate your organisation from iPhoto.

Some apps (Aperture, for instance) will import the iPhoto Library. For any that don't you can export each Event and/or Album to folders in the Finder. On the way you can write any metadata that you have added - captions, keywords, titles, GPS data - to the IPTC date of the files. IPTC Is standard photography metadata understood by every serious photo app on any platform

Perhaps you should learn something about the app before you decide you hate it, and not the other way around.

😉

Regards

TD

iPhoto is a device made easy to navigate through pictures.

No. While it is true that it makes it easier to "navigate through pictures." it's rather more than that. It's a database that allows you pretty much infinite ways to organise your photos, has non-destructive editing, and excellent sharing features.

iPhoto can only be used on a MAC with an updated iPhoto.

Yes. iPhoto can only be used on a Mac.

Therefore you cannot transfer ANY of your pictures with the iPhoto library if you plan on transfering them to a place that has no updated iPhoto (i.e. PC, external USB harddrive like G-raid or Western Digital). You can transfer the pictures, but all of your organization done in iPhoto is completely LOST when you do.

In the list you mention, this is true only of a PC. You can put the Library on any appropriately formatted external disk.

As for losing your organisation: see my post about exporting.

What an awful concept. iPhoto fails in this aspect.

What's so awful? iPhoto is a Mac app. So, for instance, is Aperture. Other notable Mac only apps include iMovie, GarageBand, the entire Final Cut studio series of apps. When you aggregate out the cost of iPhoto from iLife it's a $16 app. It does what +it's intended to do+ really quite well. It's just not intended to be a cross platform app. As I recall there are many apps on Windows and Linux that are not cross platform.

Regards

TD

Yes I know it's not a file.

The why do you keep calling it one?

So you think you can go in and scroll through the pictures but as you said right-clicking will mess up iPhoto. So it's completely pointless.

You really should read what I wrote, not what you think I wrote. At no point did I say that "right-clicking will mess up iPhoto." What I said was:

Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.

Anyway, you didn't answer my question as to what happens when iPhoto becomes corrupt. So what happens when iPhoto breaks? Can I still just right-click on the folder disguised as a file and extract everything through there? Or save everything from the Library?

Most problems folks have with the iPhoto Library are solved by either rebuilding with iPhoto's own tools are using a wee app called iPhoto Library Manager. In other situations yes, you can manually recover files from the Library.

Regards

TD