Can Faces be turned off in iPhoto 11 ?

Question

Level 1

11 points

Can Faces be turned off in iPhoto 11 ?

I have a very large photo library which I use for reference as a professional artist. I gave up trying to upgrade to iPhoto '09 from '08 because it just kept crashing after hours of trying update my large library. I decided it must be because it was trying to apply the Faces technology to too big of a library. So I am wondering if Apple finally has put the option in iPhoto '11 to turn off Faces before you update your library like you can in Aperture. I like working in the clean simple interface of iPhoto so I don't really want to go to Aperture.

Dual-core Intel Xeon 2x2.66 GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Oct 22, 2010 12:17 AM

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Answer 1

T Leach

Level 1

0 points

Oct 30, 2010 7:37 AM in response to RKart

Evidently not Im attempting to do the same thing and can't find anything about turning it off.
I too have a huge photo library and it completely crashes every 5 minutes..

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

164,520 points

Oct 30, 2010 8:32 AM in response to RKart

No, faces cannot be turned off.

Regards

TD

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Answer 3

RKart Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 31, 2010 2:30 PM in response to RKart

So is this a known bug with iPhoto 9 and iPhoto 11 that pretty much makes it unusable with large libraries? Why can Apple make turning off faces an option with Aperture but won't let iPhoto users have that ability?

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,124 points

Oct 31, 2010 2:46 PM in response to RKart

No it is not a bug - it is the way iPhoto works - just let it finish and ignore it - only the first scan is long - FYI - the fact that the program is not designed the way you think it should be is certainly not a bug

LN

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Answer 5

RKart Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 1, 2010 11:14 AM in response to RKart

LarryHN, I think you are missing my initial point. The program would never finish importing my library. It would take hours and hours and then lock up. After days of trying to figure it out I gave up trying to update to Iphoto 9. I have read multiple accounts of people having the same type of problem with large libraries and iPhoto 9 and 11. So I think it is a problem and I think it has to do with Faces trying to link photos with very large libraries. Just my opinion. So I just wish that Apple would give people the option to turn Faces off. They can do it with Aperture. Why not iPhoto? I like the program a lot, otherwise!

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Answer 6

Yer_Man

Level 10

164,520 points

Nov 1, 2010 11:31 AM in response to RKart

So I just wish that Apple would give people the option to turn Faces off.

iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback though I would point out that a lot of folks wanted this on 09 too.

They can do it with Aperture. Why not iPhoto?

Pay more to get more options?

Regards

TD

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Answer 7

RKart Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 1, 2010 12:39 PM in response to RKart

Yeah, I get it. And I do own the latest version of Aperture, as well as five Apple computers, the ipad and about every apple product in the last twenty years. It just seems like things are kind of screwed up when you have to pay more to be able to turn features off. In other words, pay more to use less.
And if Apple is going to advertise that the program handles up to 250,000 photos then it should be able to handle those photos with all the features like Faces that you are stuck with, since they won't let you turn it off!
Thanks to all for your input on my question,
All the best, RKart

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Answer 8

Nov 5, 2010 3:43 PM in response to RKart

I wanted to disable faces so I set the permissions of the faces database file to read only.

My library isn't very large so I'm not sure if it still scans photos for faces but my faces section is completely empty.

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

164,520 points

Nov 5, 2010 4:04 PM in response to Cristofer Cruz

It still scans.

Regards

TD

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Answer 10

Nov 7, 2010 10:42 AM in response to RKart

Rkart,,completely agree with you! i've bought iphoto 11..the way how to trash money..i can suggest you to switch to picasa...it does almost the same things as iphoto..and it's working! take a look

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Answer 11

RKart Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 8, 2010 11:15 AM in response to RKart

Zubatac75,
Thanks for your suggestion, I'll try it. It's just too bad Apple seems oblivious to these concerns. I love the company and their products but it gets depressing when they start showing Big Brother tendencies.

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Answer 12

Dabach

Level 1

9 points

Jan 29, 2011 12:32 PM in response to RKart

You are so right and it is a bug when an app keeps crashing after startup.
Iphoto 11 is a mess. I am unable to even use it or trust it with my valuable memories.
I cant stand the faces thing and find it completely worthless.
What really ticks me is the fact that I paid $50.00 for this so called upgrade.

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Answer 13

Apr 3, 2011 11:04 AM in response to RKart

This inability to disable Faces is an aggravation. Somebody at Apple ought to be held accountable.
The Big Brother comment is right. This is discouraging after 17 years of being very happy with my
Apple products. Can I trash this version of iPhoto and load version 7 from my old computer?

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Answer 14

Old Toad

Level 10

211,901 points

Apr 3, 2011 1:10 PM in response to RKart

There is a way to hobble Faces, i.e. prevent it from creating the many face images and write to the database. It will still scan but that's all:

1 - open the library like this.
2 - in the Database folder move this file to the Trash: Faces.db.
3 - close the package/folder and launch iPhoto. Close it as soon as it has opened.
4 - open the package, find the new version of the file and lock it via the Info window for the file.

Click to view full size

5 - while viewing the contents of the package type Command+F to start a search.
6 - set the criteria of the search to: Kind is Image and Name Contains "face".
7 - select all of the files in the search results window and drag to the Trash.
8 -close the package and launch iPhoto.

You will get the faces spinning wheel as it tries to index the library the first time it's opened but it won't be able to write to the database file if you should try to add a face and won't create any new jpeg faces files.

+*Of course make a backup of your library before trying this and no guarantee implied.*+

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Answer 15

ElTocino

Level 1

0 points

Apr 10, 2011 6:30 PM in response to RKart

I have an issue that I was in a play and in the rehearsal room the walls were lined with various actors head shots, 100's of them and now I have a whole bunch, 1000's of these face shots. Can I delete them from my hard drive without screwing up the original image?

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