Adding text or captions onto photos

You're best using an external editor for this. In order of cost - starting at free:

Seashore
Graphic Coverter
Acorn
Photoshop Elements

You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.

Regards

TD

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Have you considered printing the photos to a contact sheet with the titles below the image? You can change the size of the photo by changing the number of columns. iPhoto 08 also lets you include comments, date, and most of the metadata from the camera under each photo in a contact sheet.

TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) 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 or later), 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 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger 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.

Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Why would Apple make it so difficult to add simple text onto a Photo?

I mean I like having around all the neat photoediting utilities and all that stuff but I cant even add on simple text without installing a whole seperate program where I have to insert the text from a file????

This is too much.

Why would Apple make it so difficult to add simple text onto a Photo?

It's not difficult, you just have to use an application that's designed for that use, and iPhoto is not that application.

iPhoto is about organising and post-processing photos. It's not an image editor, it has no ability to add to photos. It has no layers, it cannot be used to join two images together, for instance, nor can you add items from other images to a particular image. It's about what a camera makes, and has no pretence to being anything else.

So, if you want an image editor - that's an app that can do these things, then use one. There are several mentioned above. But don't complain because you misunderstand what iPhoto is. You might as well complain that you can't write your post graduate thesis in iPhoto. It would make as much sense.

Regards

TD

Hi, Yannakos, and welcome to Apple Discussions. You aren't required to use iPhoto if it lacks features you need. There's a whole universe of other applications out there to choose from. None of them does everything. Even Photoshop lacks a number of popular features that are offered in iPhoto, and of course iPhoto lacks a lot of features that Photoshop has (but then Photoshop costs seven or eight times more than the whole iLife suite of applications). Each app has its limitations and advantages, and chances are that not one of them was written just for you, with precisely the feature set you want. Use whatever app or combination of apps fills your needs best.

You can request new features in future iPhoto versions via this Product Feedback channel:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html

Setup iPhoto's preferences to use Acorn as your editor of choice when you double click on a thumbnail. It has the capability of layers and can add text. And it's free. So iPhoto with a little help from its friends can do the job.

TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) 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 or later), 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 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger 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.

Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.