Edit photo in album without changing original

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Level 1

0 points

Edit photo in album without changing original

In iPhoto '08, it seems like any photo that I edit in an album also edits the original. This is why I stopped using one of the earlier versions of iPhoto. It seemed like this was fixed in iPhoto 6, so that iPhoto would automatically preserve the original and save the changes in a copy of the photo.

Is there a setting that can be changed in the preferences somewhere? If I'm working on two albums (i.e. one for each child) I often want to use the same photos but crop them differently, and I'd rather not have to remember to make a copy any time I do so.

iMac 20", Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Feb 23, 2008 1:53 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,978 points

Feb 23, 2008 1:57 PM in response to kbruckne

kbruckne

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.

iPhoto always preserves the original pic. The mistake you're making is that you think the pic in the Album is different from the pic on the Library. It's the same pic, same file referenced on the Hard Disk. It was exactly the same in v6.

If you want to have two different crops of the same pic you'll need to duplicate it first.

Regards

TD

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

215,736 points

Feb 23, 2008 2:45 PM in response to JGolomb

No, all occurrences of a photo in the library other than in an event is just an alias of the original or the edited version. Change one and you change all.

TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

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Answer 3

JGolomb

Level 1

0 points

Feb 23, 2008 2:30 PM in response to Yer_Man

How about if you save it in a Book? Can't you edit it there and not have it change the Events or Album version?

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Feb 23, 2008 3:23 PM in response to Old Toad

One slight exception - the book zoom and pan function and mirror image functions are local to the book and do not change the photo its self - only its view in the book

LN

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Answer 5

JGolomb

Level 1

0 points

Feb 23, 2008 5:12 PM in response to LarryHN

Check out iPhoto, Help, Book, Show All Results, Editing Photos in book, calendar or card view.

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