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Level 3

934 points

Does iPhoto not sort photos by time???

I have a large batch of photos that I am trying to sort by date in the photos view, but iPhoto seems unable to sort them properly. To be more specific, it is three separate batches of the same event taken on the same day. For example, the first batch of photos shown in the photos view were taken between 12:35 PM and 2:38 PM. This is followed by the next batch, taken between 10:59 AM and 4:39 PM. Finally a third batch is listed, with photos taken between 10:12 AM and 11:49 AM. Note that they are not listed in the correct time order.

I have already gone through all 250 pictures and confirmed that they all have the same date. I have also confirmed that view is set to sort photos by date. I have also tried forcing it to re-sort the photos by clicking "descending order", then re-selecting "ascending order". I have even re-built the iPhoto database. Despite all this, iPhoto seems intent on keeping these batches separate, even though the time stamps on all the photos is not sequential.

Is iPhoto incapable of sorting photos by time, even though it can sort by date? Is it because the bacthes of photos were taken with different cameras? Is it possible to look at the metadata and see if, perhaps, the camera was set to an incorrect time zone, and iPhoto is adjusting for it?

Please advise...

Posted on Jul 15, 2008 3:25 PM

Best reply

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Posted on Jul 15, 2008 5:44 PM

iPhoto sorts just fine - maybe you have them in three events - if so either merge the three events or turn off show event titles in photo view

If not then I suspect that your cameras may have had different time settings - select a photo in iPhoto and right click (control click on a single button mouse) or under the photo menu select show photo info - you can now select different photos and look at their dates and times

LN

View in context

20 replies

hotoru

Level 1

13 points

Nov 24, 2008 12:25 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for the reply. The View--> Sort photos seems to be a global sort. It seems to sort the photos within each event but does not sort the events as a whole. Thus, the oldest event will still be at the top of the list as you look at a collection of several events.

I was hoping for a more specific sort of a particular smart list of photos that may include several events.

Thanks,
Hotoru

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Nov 24, 2008 12:32 PM in response to hotoru

That View -> Sort Photos will sort photos in an Album and you asked about sorting photos in an Album right?

I cannot figure out how to sort my smart album in iPhoto 08. I have a "Recently Added" smart album that I use to update pictures on my iphone. By default, it seems to put the most recent pictures on the bottom.

Regards

TD

amcclay

Level 1

0 points

Nov 26, 2008 11:51 PM in response to Brad DeMoss

The reason for this is that iPhoto considers the "date" of a photo based on its EXIF information and NOT on the date modified / added information.

This is utterly annoying as it gives you no way to see your recently added photos (imported from the web or from mail for example) in the place you expect it to be. Am I supposed to be able to KNOW the EXIF date on some random image I just downloaded? iPhoto thinks so.

What iPhoto needs (and really, every single part of the Mac OS needs) is a 'DATE ADDED' sort parameter as is available in iTunes and is also available in the dock folders.

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Nov 27, 2008 12:14 AM in response to amcclay

You can find the most recently added photos in your Library in the ‘Last Import’ smart album in the Source Pane.

Personally, the date a photo was added is of no interest. I’m more concerned with when the photo was taken - as is iPhoto. It’s optimised to post processing photos from your camera. Perhaps it’s not the application for you?

In any event, you can make a feature request:

iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback

Regards

TD

hotoru

Level 1

13 points

Dec 3, 2008 6:57 PM in response to Yer_Man

I photo will sort within events but it will not sort globally within a smart album. Thus, if you have a smart album with more than one event, the oldest event/photos will always appear at the bottom.

Does iPhoto not sort photos by time???