iPhoto on new Mac won't detect Faces

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Level 1

9 points

iPhoto on new Mac won't detect Faces

Have just got a new 27" iMac and assumed I was saving time just by copying the iPhoto library from my old iMac into my pictures folder and opening it. But I'm now having problems with recognising faces - iPhoto (on the new mac) is either not pulling up any new suggestions for faces already on my corkboard, or is just recognising one or two suggestions while I know there are . Other people already in my iPhoto library that I want to add to Faces are having to be added manually for every single photo. Is there someway of re-scanning my entire iPhoto library for general Faces recognition, or is there a preferences file or folder I should have transferred over from my old iMac to make sure that people already in the iPhoto library I've transferred onto my new iMac will be recognised and not be so time consuming trying to add them to the corkboard. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

G5 iMac, Intel MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Sep 12, 2010 12:30 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Sep 12, 2010 12:45 AM in response to Neil Myners

I was saving time just by copying the iPhoto library from my old iMac into my pictures folder and opening it.

That wasn't "saving time". That's the only way to migrate a Library from one machine to another. Anything else means starting a new Library over from scratch.

To rescan your entire Library would require removing the Faces you have.

Try trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder. (Remember you'll need to reset your User options afterwards. These include minor settings like the window colour and so on. Note: If you've moved your library you'll need to point iPhoto at it again.)

*What's the plist file?*

For new users: Every application on your Mac has an accompanying plist file. It records certain User choices. For instance, in your favourite Word Processor it remembers your choice of Default Font, on your Web Browser is remembers things like your choice of Home Page. It even recalls what windows you had open last if your app allows you to pick up from where you left off last. The iPhoto plist file remembers things like the location of the Library, your choice of background colour, whether you are running a Referenced or Managed Library, what preferences you have for autosplitting events and so on. Trashing the plist file forces the app to generate a new one on the next launch, and this restores things to the Factory Defaults. Hence, if you've changed any of these things you'll need to reset them. If you haven't, then no bother. Trashing the plist file is Mac troubleshooting 101.

Regards

TD

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