RGB color space

Cynthia Dorminey wrote:
Also, if I go to Edit-Convert to Color Profile, the Source space is shown as sRGB-IEC61966-2.1.

So I should be good to go. Right?

Yes, there are a few name variations, but this is the right one. The one called *Camera RGB Profile* is almost identical to the sRGB profile and fine to use, too.

I have iPhoto set to "point" to my imported photos rather than copy them into the Library. Does this make a difference?

Not that I know of.

So therefore, to print them from iPhoto, it's best to save them as JPG and Convert to Color Profile (sRGB-IEC61966-2.1). Correct?

I don’t think it’s necessary to print from iPhoto to your personal printer since iPhoto honours colour profiles. For using Apple’s print services I’d recommend converting to sRGB though.

Do you always have to go to Edit-Convert to Color Profile, or does going to Image-Mode do the same thing?

Using *Image > Mode > RGB* will convert the image to the *default RGB working space* set in the colour preferences. That could be any RGB space and hence profile, for instance AdobeRGB which isn't what you’d want.

To make sure you get sRGB use the Convert command. You can define a keyboard shortcut to apply it more quickly.

I have iPhoto set to "point" to my imported photos rather than copy them into the Library. Does this make a difference?

This will not affect your color, printing or other such things

However, it is highly advised against because it will probably create major management problems in the future - moving to a new computer, wanting to move you library to an (or a different) external drive, etc become much more difficult and many people have lost photos by deleting the referenced photo thinking that iPhoto had a copy when they specifically said not to.

I'm not sure anyone has yet come up with a good, valid reason to use a referenced library (other than stuborness - and that's ok, its there if you want) so i would recommend that you reconsider this decision

LN

Cynthia

The problems with running a referenced library are as follows:

1. Import and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.

The real problem is when you need to move your files to an external disk (all those big files, for instance), and thereafter go an migrate to a new machine.

iPhoto tracks your files by aliases. In your referenced library there are aliases to your actual files. Move your photos and iPhoto cannot find them. Then you need to resolve those aliases.

In a worst case scenario, you need to resolve all of them, for every pic.

There are other advantages to letting iPhoto manage the files - apart from the inverse of 1,2 and 3 above. Backing up is easy. Simply back up the iPhoto Library and get Pics, Albums, metadata the whole lot at one go. Migrating is easy. It's all easy.

Some folks feel that if they keep their own file structure it will be easier to find the files: There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:

For 10.5 users: You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Apple-Click for selecting multiple pics.

To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.

This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. If you're using Gmail you can use THIS

If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.

If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.

Or, if you want to access the files with iPhoto not running, then create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use THIS

Other options include:

1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.

2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.

3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

As to the files you have on your Mac: once you have imported them, and feel comfortable and trust iPhoto the obvious thing to do is to trash them. But you don't have to do that straight away. You can wait until your happy to do it.

Mind you - no matter what system you settle on - remember it's vital to have a good back up.

Always allowing for personal preference, I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers. But I can see a lot of potential issues from doing it.

My 2 cents.

Regards

TD

Thanks for the advice. I am still trying to figure out a good working solution for my photo files. I have a large collection now on my computer, and many of the files are very large. I've been afraid that copying the files into iPhoto would result in basically have duplicates that take up lots of space on my hard drive.

Having a referenced library like you have does not change he amount of disk space used by your library - it ONLY changes HOW the "original" of the photo is referenced - in a referenced library like your via an aliases in iPhoto, in a managed library (recommended) in the iPhoto "original" folder which is fully and easily accessible (BUT YOU can not modify without causing problems - but then you can not modify your originals in a referenced library without causing troubles either)

Looking at managed library - you can place it anywhere you want - you can (by using Old Toad's work flow) totally control the folder names in the managed library and you can always directly access the photos in that library (although it is best not to for several reasons - to me the biggest one being that when I directly reference them I never know when I have the latest version)

iPhoto always keeps the original photo (either in the originals folder in a managed library or here you place it in a referenced library) and always places a modified version in the modified folder (no matter which style library you are using) and always has a thumbnail in the data folder (no matter which style library you are using)

Plus, I like being able to see all my photo files listed in my hard drive. It appears that if you import photos only into iPhoto from your camera, the only way you can get to them is through iPhoto. Double-clicking on the iPhoto Library file doesn't list the files, it opens the application.

Simply incorrect - see TD's discussion in this thread for a complete discussion of access methods - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1371662&tstart=15

In addition you can right (alt) click the iPhoto library and show package contents to make them fully (and dangerously) accessable - you can even place an aliases to the iPhoto library somewhere so you can access it (again not recommended and dangerous but possible)

THink about it - ask more questions

LN

Cynthia Dorminey wrote:
Yes, that's what I meant--using Apple print services.

Definitely go for sRGB then.

So, actually, if I have my default RGB working space set to sRGB in the Color Settings, I could just use the Image>Mode method?

Yes.

Although, I guess it would be safer to use the Convert command to avoid any mistakes.

You’re right, it works more transparently.

Photoshop also has an Apple RGB color profile. Have any idea what that's about?

Adobe applications still include colour profiles for legacy working spaces such as Apple RGB and Color Match RGB. There’s no need to ever use these unless you have loads of images from the 90’s or before that were created in these colour spaces 😉

Cynthia:

If you're using Photoshop for your primary editor and are not using it from within iPhoto here's how:

Using Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.

1 - select Photoshop as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.

2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.

3 - however, if you get the navigation window that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.

This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..

If you want to use both iPhoto's editing mode and PS without having to go back and forth to the Preference pane, once you've selected PS as your editor of choice, reset the Preferences back to "Open in main window". That will let you either edit in iPhoto (double click on the thumbnail) or in PS (Control-click on the thumbnail and seledt "Edit in external editor" in the Contextual menu). This way you get the best of both worlds

Additionally, with a "managed" library all you need to do after importing photos into it from the Finder is delete that first set of photos via the Finder. Then you don't have duplicate original files.

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.

Anastassios T's Treatise on Printing in iPhoto 08






Most of the features are still there, you just need to locate tthem a bit differently:

1 - don't have a Brother printer so I am not sure how to access the paper/quality settings. On my Epson, I go to the Advanced features of the printer. To access the Advanced features on your printer you should do the following. Select a photo and cllick on the Print icon. Select the Paper size and Print Size from the panel and click on the Print button. When the print panel comes up, click on the Advanced button. There you can select type of paper and other priinter settings. When you are done click the Print button to finish printing.


2 - To Print N-Up do the following: Select let's say 4 photos and click on the Print icon. When the anel comes up select the paper size (let's say 8.5x11) and just below the paper size select a Print Size. For ex. if you select 4x6 you will print 2 pages containing two 4x6 photos each. If you select 3x5 you will get 4 photos on a single sheet. Click on Cutomize to re-arrange the photos on the page or add any other effects you want. Go to the advanced settings to access any printer specific quality setting. When you are done click on the print button.


3 - The Standard Prints are still there, try these steps:Select let's say 4 photos and click on the Print icon. When the Panel comes up select the paper size (let's say 8.5x11) and just below the paper size select a Print Size, let's say 4x6. In the Preview window you will see two photos on the 8.5x11 sheet. If you want to print just one 4x6 sized photo on the 8.5x11 page, click on Customize. On the middle of the next window that comes up, click on the Settings icon and select One photo per page. You can then click on the Print button.




Try the different themes, borders and backgrounds. Overall I think printing with iPhoto '08 offers a lot more options and flexibility the iPhoto 6. Including the ability to add your own text in the printed photos.




My other post does not cover how to print the same image multiple times on the same page without having to duplicate i. So here are the steps:

1 - Select 4 photos (the one you want to print and three other photos) in the library or from an album.


2 - Click on the Print icon, when the Print panel comes up select US Letter from Paper Size and 3x5 from the Print size options


3 - Click on Customize (when the page shows up you will see the 4 photos you selected on the page)


4 - In the thumbnail tray, click on the icon that shows the photos (the icon looks like a stack of photos)


5 - Click and drag the photo you want to print three times in the spots occupied by the photos you don't want printed.


6 - Now all 4 photos on the page are the same.


7 - Click on the print button and you will get the same photo printed four times on the same page.



You can do the same if you want to print the same photo twice on the page. In this case select 4x6 or 5x7 from the Print Size options.

Cynthia

When iPhoto copies a file into the Library that's exactly what it does -copy it. It does not change it in any way unless you tell it to. iPhoto supports any format that Quicktime does: tif, psd etc.

But best of all, don't take our word for it. Create a library and set it to copy. Then import 30 or 50 pics and make sure you're content that you understand how it's working.

Regards

TD

You guys have almost won me over to letting iPhoto manage my photos. I definitely see the advantages, but I'd like to make sure I can use it strictly as an organization tool--I don't want it to alter my photos.

Believe me you are dealing with the BEST of the BEST - Terence Devlin has 18,010 points in iPhoto alone and 22,570 in all and Old Toad has 17,280 iPhoto points and 47,325 in total (soon to be a LEVEL 5 user - the highest rank)

And they have gotten there by making LOTS of MISTAKES 😉 and figuring our how to overcome them - take full advantage of their amazing background and knowledge

LN

Cynthia:

Unfortunately iPhoto does not read and display all of the EXIF data that's available in a file and Color Space is one that it does not read.

I also prefer to print from Photoshop as I can control color management of the photo and printing with it:



Since PS has such powerful management capability why not make use of them?