Iphoto 09 vs. Picasa for Mac

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.

What does "it just loads too long" mean? And " doesn't give me the option for space saving like the picasa"?

I don't have Picasa on my machine (for the 6th reason below) so my comments are based on reviews that I have read, and a cursory glance when the apps was released for the Mac. If I'm misrepreenting anything here, please feel free to correct me.

There are a few very significant differences between iPhoto and Picasa. As to whether they are important to you, only you can decide.

1. iPhoto is integrated throughout the entire Operating System. It's available in every Open... or Attach.. dialogue in the OS. It integrates with pretty much every app on your HD via media Browsers - not only Apple apps such as iMovie, Mail, but also apps by other software makers too. Pretty much any app that wants to integrate with iPhoto can.

2. iPhoto has a better system of working with external editors. In Picasa the app defaults to whatever is set as the Default Viewer, so you'll need to change that for the entire OS. iPhoto's external editor is quite independent of the default photo viewer in the OS.

3. iPhoto's slideshows much stronger. Templates and a wide range of export options just aren't available on Picasa.

4. iPhoto is colour managed.

5. Keepsakes: Books, Cards, Calendars, etc etc.

6. When you install Picasa you give Google the right to update the Google software on your machine without any further intervention from you. While this might seem convenient it could also spell disaster if the update is flawed in any way. Other software manufacturers release updates and allow the user to decide when - or eve if - they want to update. This gives the user time to research and check out the impact of the update. Frankly, I wouldn't let +anyone else+ decide what changes on my machine.

Regards

TD

To speed loading make sure that sharing and show item counts are off

As to space - not sure what you mean - but running your iPhoto library on an external drive is the ultimate "space saver"

As to stopping you fro doing something - that is totally up to you - none of the users here have any say in that - we can probably help you with your problems but you have to make your personal decisions like dropping a program you love for an inferior one without trying to resolve the issues

LN

it just loads too long

Which mode are you in? If you are in the Photos mode do you have iPhoto set to display the thumbnail of ALL the photos in the library? That will cause iPhoto to have to render all of the thumbnails giving much longer load times. If in the Photos mode use the View option to show the Event titles and close all events that you're not using. That will greatly speed up loading. Also uncheck all boxes in iPhoto's Sharing preference pane; set Check for newly published photos to Manually in the Web preference pane; don't select Outline and Drop shadow in the Appearance preference pane and turn off Show Item Counts in the General preference pane.

That will increase the speed of iPhoto. Also, if you've been running iPhoto for a while launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed to rebuild the library. Select the last three options.

Click to view full size

Option #6 will definitely speed up iPhoto's load time. I run it about every couple of weeks.

BTW - to speed loading you also should set internet syncing to manual so MobileMe, Flickr, Facebook etc are not synced each time you launch iPhoto
LN

the thing i do like about picasa is that it organizes the files according to the way i organize it in folders.

This is a key difference. iPhoto is designed so that you can easily organise your photos without having the even think about the files.

If you want to organise files as opposed to photos then you could use a Referenced Library.

Simply go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import'.

Now iPhoto will not copy the files, but rather simply reference them on your HD. To do this it will create an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file. It will still create a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder.

However, you need to be aware of a number of potential pitfalls using this system.

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 on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.

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.

If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:

1. Quit iPhoto

2. Copy the iPhoto Library as an entity from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.

3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.

4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.

If you're concerned about accessing the files, There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:

*For Users of 10.5 and later*

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



You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:



*For users of 10.4 and later* ...

Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:

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. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail

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.

*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:

For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.

For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser

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.


Regards

TD