File structure and pictures

If you don't want to use iPhoto then don't, is the simple answer. But it's a whole lot more flexible and effective way of managing your Photos then folders in the Finder.

You need to answer one question first: Do you want to organise your Photos or do you want to organise your files

If you want to organise files, stick to the Finder. If you want to organise your Photos, then have a look at iPhoto.

The point of iPhoto is that it allows you to manage your photos without constant recourse to the files on the HD.

So, you can add titles to photos in iPhoto, you can add descriptions, keywords, locations and faces to them too. You can search on all of these - and more - in the iPhoto Window or in every "Open..." dialogue in the entire OS.

You can use iPhoto to edit the pics, or you can use any editor you choose for the job. You can access them all throughout the entire OS.

Can't do any of that with Folder of files.

And yes, if you choose to export a pic from iPhoto you can write all this metadata to the file - including using the Title you added as a filename.

Additionally, I'm not thrilled with the iPhoto organizes things.

iPhoto doesn't - you do.

So, make your decision: do I want to manage files or photos? Everything will flow from that.

Regards

TD


And yes,

Here's what I suggest: Use iPhoto, but start over with different settings so that it works for you.

First, change your iPhoto settings so that this doesn't happen again: Go to iPhoto-> Preferences-> Advanced and uncheck Copy items to the iPhoto library. This way, iPhoto leaves your photos alone and you can do whatever you want with them.

Next, you'll need to get all your photos ready for adding back to iPhoto under the new settings. There are two ways to do this: Copy them back from the PC (this way, you get to keep all your organization and folder structure), or copy them from iPhoto (this way, you'll need to reorganize them yourself). If you still have the PC, use that way; it will save a lot of work. If not, write back and I'll give you directions on how to do it from iPhoto.

Once you've got your photos where you want them, you can erase your current iPhoto library. Select all your events and press delete. Then, right-click (control-click) on the Trash on the left and choose Empty Trash.

Now you can add your photos back to iPhoto. You know how to do this. It will still have an Import process because iPhoto needs to process the photos and generate thumbnails.

To check what iPhoto has done (and for future reference), here's how to get inside the iPhoto Library bundle. Right-click it and choose Show Package Contents. A new window opens with a bunch of folders. That's the iPhoto library. Links to your photos are under Originals.

NOTE: If you edit your photos with iPhoto, the edited version will go back into the iPhoto Library bundle, into the Modified folder.

First, change your iPhoto settings so that this doesn't happen again: Go to iPhoto-> Preferences-> Advanced and uncheck Copy items to the iPhoto library. This way, iPhoto leaves your photos alone and you can do whatever you want with them.

That's not quite true... If you rename a file, move it, change the path to it then iPhoto will lose track of it. If you edit it directly instead of via the iPhoto Interface then iPhoto will not know of the changes, and the view in the iPhoto Window will not reflect what you've done. Precisely the only thing that running in the mode (Referenced mode) will do is allow you to see the actual folders of images.


Other things to consider:

1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures. You have to to put the files where they will be stored before importing them. When you delete them you'll need to remove the files from the HD yourself.

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.

4. Because iPhoto has no tools for managing Referenced Files, if, for some reason, the path to the photos changes then you could find yourself resolving aliases for +each photo in the Library+ one by one.

My own opinion:

I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organiser

here's how to get inside the iPhoto Library bundle. Right-click it and choose Show Package Contents. A new window opens with a bunch of folders. That's the iPhoto library. Links to your photos are under Originals.

And here's how to actually +use iPhoto+ to access the images:

*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.



(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)


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.

*To use a 3rd Party Editor*

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.

Note that iPhoto sends a copy+ of the file to Photoshop, so when you save be sure to use the Save command, not Save As... If you use Save As then you're creating a new file and iPhoto has no way of knowing about this new file. iPhoto is preserving your original anyway.

Regards

TD

I use Adobe Bridge CS5/4 and Photoshop CS5/4 Extended. The only things I use iPhoto for are the Faces feature and the nice slideshows. I don't want iPhoto to edit or restructure my pictures at all, and that's how I've got it set up. Also, I keep all my photos on an external drive, and I don't want them on my computer.

The setup I described is working great for me, so I recommend it for anyone who wants to view their photos with iPhoto but not edit them there.

In many ways, I agree with you here.

With your needs, I highly recommend Adobe Lightroom. It offers great organization as well as good editing.

As for transferring your photos from iPhoto to a PC: iPhoto offers an export option, but it puts all of your photos into one folder. iPhoto organizes things by date, so you can copy files out of the Modified folder and have them organized by year and then date. The problem with that is that only photos you've edited show up there, so if you haven't edited every single photo, they won't all be there.

Adobe Lightroom: Manufacturer's page, Amazon.com page.

what happens if I find I want to go back to a using a PC and want to take all of my photos onto a different system

That's a very sensible question. Simply, that's what File -> Export is for.

Select an Event or Album and go File -> Export. In the resulting dialogue you have a lot of options: export the untouched original
export the edited vesions as jpeg, tiff or png
Write the metadata to the files on export (uses standard IPTC so it will be readable by any photo app on any system)
Use any of several naming conventions - including using the Title you added in iPhoto as a filename.

Export to a folder on the desktop.

Want to do the entire Library at once: use a free app like [iPhotoToDisk|http://www.iphototodisk.com/index.html]

Simply, anything you put into iPhoto can be got out again.

Regards

TD

Message was edited by: Terence Devlin

At $275 Lightroom is a rather expensive alternative to iPhoto. Perhaps the free Picasa might be more the thing.

iPhoto offers an export option, but it puts all of your photos into one folder.

Yes, if you export the whole library at once.

so you can copy files out of the Modified folder and have them organized by year and then date.

But if you do that you lose masses of metadata.

Regards

TD

You might also want to consider Graphic Converter - it's an excellent application for a very reasonable price. I use it, as well as Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and a couple of others. I do not use iPhoto - I simply do not like the way things are organized there. I keep all my photos organized in a folder I created ("Photos") with all sorts of sub-folders and have it in my Documents folder.

http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/188/graphicconverter.html