bryanfromburlington

Q: how do i stop iphoto from searching for faces?

everytime i open iphoto the faces section starts searching for and saving faces i have previously deleted the faces

MacBook

Posted on May 15, 2011 11:46 AM

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Q: how do i stop iphoto from searching for faces?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN May 15, 2011 12:51 PM in response to bryanfromburlington
    Level 10 (85,205 points)
    Photos for Mac
    May 15, 2011 12:51 PM in response to bryanfromburlington

    You can not - just let it finish and then ignore it from now on

     

    You can suggest to Apple - iPhoto menu ==> proide iPhoto feedback

     

    LN

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 15, 2011 2:06 PM in response to bryanfromburlington
    Level 10 (141,390 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2011 2:06 PM in response to bryanfromburlington

    You can't prevent iPhoto from searching for faces but you can prevent it from saving face image files. Here's how:

     

    1 - open the library like this in the Finder.

     

     

    2 - in the Database folder move this file to the Trash: Faces.db.

    3 - close the package/folder and launch iPhoto.  Close it after a moment.

    4 -  open the package, find the new version of the file and lock it via the Info window for the file.

     


    5 - while viewing the contents of the package type Command+F to start a search.

    6 - set the criteria of the search to:  Kind is Image and Name Contains "face".

    7 - select all of the files in the search results window and drag to the Trash.

    8 -close the package and launch iPhoto. 

     

    You will get the faces spinning wheel as it tries to index the library the first time it's opened but it won't be able to write to the database file if you should try to add a face and won't create any new jpeg faces files. Of course make a backup of your library before trying this and no guarantee implied.

     

    OT

  • by ArleighB,

    ArleighB ArleighB May 21, 2014 5:15 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 21, 2014 5:15 AM in response to Old Toad

    old toad, thanks.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin May 21, 2014 5:20 AM in response to ArleighB
    Level 10 (139,582 points)
    iLife
    May 21, 2014 5:20 AM in response to ArleighB

    A poster called lopezio claims the following will do the job:

     

    This is how you can disable (turn off) Face detection, without deleting faces found so far (just in case you want to restart processing at another time):

     

    1. Quit iPhoto

    2. Open Terminal Application (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)

    3. Type the following (exactly as is):

     

    defaults write com.apple.iPhoto PKFaceDetectionEnabled 0

     

    (then return)

     

    4. - Start iPhoto - Faces stops getting on your nerves...

     

    If you ever need to re-enable faces, just do the same again and replace the 0 with 1.

     

    I've not tested this so I'd offer a significant warning to back up first and even if it does work then to be wary if you're updating or upgrading as it may have an impact there too.

     

    What definitely works, and safely, is to upgrade to Aperture as that has an option to disable faces. Pay more get more options.