ALYVEGA84

Q: iPhoto title change

Is there any way I can go back to a previous title after I accidently changed all titles in a file to be the same. I was trying to add 600 photos to places and I stupidly changed the title of all 600, wiping out hours of work individualizing the titles.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 9, 2014 10:16 AM

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Q: iPhoto title change

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 9, 2014 10:23 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 10 (141,390 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2014 10:23 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    You can restore a backup copy of the library made just prior to the title misstep.

     

    In the future if a big error has been made like that immediately use the undo command: ⌘-Z. It must be done immediately for it to work.

     

     

    OT

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 10:27 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 10:27 AM in response to Old Toad

    I did command z but I couldn't figure out what was going on and panicked. I'm in the process of restoring but why does iPhoto treat it like I am importing photos?

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 10:28 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 10:28 AM in response to Old Toad

    The back up was useless. Now all the imported photo titles are back to the original file names.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 9, 2014 10:35 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 10 (141,390 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2014 10:35 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    Looks like you'll have to redo them all over again.

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 10:37 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 10:37 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    I now also have an inordinate number of identical photos. I know from experience I can't start deleting them willy-nilly or I might ruin the original. It took me months and months to organize and name the photos.

     

    To add insult to injury, all the photos did not even end up in the correct PLACES sort.

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 10:38 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 10:38 AM in response to Old Toad

    I HATE IPHOTO.

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad May 9, 2014 10:40 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 10 (141,390 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2014 10:40 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    If you're seeing those duplicate photos in the iPhoto window you can use one of these applications to identify and help remove duplicate photos from an iPhoto Library:

     

     

    • Duplicate Annihilator - $7.95 - only app able to detect duplicate thumbnail files or faces files when an iPhoto 8 or earlier library has been imported into another.

     

    • PhotoSweeper - $9.95 - This app can search by comparing the image's bitmaps or histograms thus finding duplicates with different file names and dates.

     

    • DeCloner - $19.95 - can find duplicates in iPhoto Libraries or in folders on the HD.

     

    • DupliFinder - $7 - shows which events the photos are in.

     

     

    • PhotoDedupo - $4.99 (App Store) -  this app has a "similar" search feature which is like PhotoSweeper's bitmap comparison.  It found all duplicates

     

     

    Some users have reported that PhotoSweeper did the best in finding all of the dups in their library: iphoto has duplicated many photos, how...: Apple Support Communities.

     

    If you have an iPhone and have it set to keep the normal photo when shooting HDR photos the two image files that are created will be duplicates in a manner of speaking (same image) but there are only twp apps that detected the iPhone HDR and normal photos as being duplicates:  PhotoSweeper and Duplicate Cleaner for iPhoto.  None of the other apps detected those two files as being duplicates as they look for file name as well as other attributes and the two files from the iPhone have different file names.

     

    iPLM, however, is the best all around iPhoto utility as it can do so much more than just find duplicates.  IMO it's a must have tool if using iPhoto.

     

    HOWEVER, if you're seeing the "duplicate" photos via the Finder then they probably are not duplicates but necessary files required by iPhoto.

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 10:41 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 10:41 AM in response to Old Toad

    Is it possible to merge all the duplicate files?

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad May 9, 2014 10:46 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 10 (141,390 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2014 10:46 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    Yes.  In iPLM's merge preferences you can set it to include duplicates.

     

    iPhoto Library Manager001.jpg

  • by mtngoatjoe@mac.com,

    mtngoatjoe@mac.com mtngoatjoe@mac.com May 9, 2014 11:12 AM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 2 (150 points)
    May 9, 2014 11:12 AM in response to ALYVEGA84

    Old Toad said to "Restore" your library, not import your backup. What are the steps you did when you were trying to fix your problem? I suspect you imported a library, but you'll have to confirm what you did. If you did import a library, there is hope for your situation.

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 9, 2014 11:51 AM in response to mtngoatjoe@mac.com
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 9, 2014 11:51 AM in response to mtngoatjoe@mac.com

    I went under browse back-ups (which appears to open Time Machine from my back up disk), selected the File that was affected and clicked "restore." I think it was "restore."

     

    I can't really go rooting around now because I followed OT's advice and bought iPhoto Library Manager. I am now merging my last two libraries, doubles and all so I can get the titles back.

     

    After that I plan to sweep out all the doubles and then possibly slit my wrists.

  • by mtngoatjoe@mac.com,Helpful

    mtngoatjoe@mac.com mtngoatjoe@mac.com May 9, 2014 1:22 PM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 2 (150 points)
    May 9, 2014 1:22 PM in response to ALYVEGA84

    I would not give up yet. Did you go far enough back in Time Machine? Time Machine makes a backup every hour, so you have to go "back in time" to where the problem didn't exist.

     

    You have Time Machine, so this shouldn't be an issue. I'm not convinced that you need to manually fix this problem or buy any software.

     

    Try this...

    1. Quit iPhoto.
    2. Go to your Pictures directory.
    3. Change the name of your iPhoto library.
    4. Click on the Time Machine icon in your Dock.
    5. Use arrow buttons on the screen to go back in time. Go back to when you know the problem didn't exist.
    6. Select the iPhoto library, and click Restore.

     

    If this process doesn't work, then you can still use your library (the one your renamed).

     

    Like I said, you have Time Machine, so this should be easy. Give it a try before you continue. It might just work.

     

    This video might be helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3osFFNulAQ

  • by ALYVEGA84,

    ALYVEGA84 ALYVEGA84 May 10, 2014 5:51 AM in response to mtngoatjoe@mac.com
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 10, 2014 5:51 AM in response to mtngoatjoe@mac.com

    That was so much more helpful and it wouldn't have cost me a dime...if I had seen this first. Unfortunately, I already plunked downed $29.95 for software that won't even let me manually decide which duplicate to keep. In addition, the file size of each photo was greatly reduced.

     

    Any clue as to why this happens. When I originally load a photo, it might say 1.2 mb and then later I might notice it is 120 and I can't use it to order prints.

  • by mtngoatjoe@mac.com,

    mtngoatjoe@mac.com mtngoatjoe@mac.com May 14, 2014 1:05 PM in response to ALYVEGA84
    Level 2 (150 points)
    May 14, 2014 1:05 PM in response to ALYVEGA84

    Did you get it resolved?

     

    As for the small versions of your photots, I still think it's because you imported your backup. I'm not sure how that would happen with Time Machine, but maybe???

     

    Anyway, I hope you got things straightened out.